This study aimed to obtain a local isolation of Aspergillus niger and then studied its ability to produce citric acid from raw materials available locally using solid state fermentation. Six local isolates were collected from different sources including some samples of the damaged fruits such as grapefruit, oranges and sindi. Wheat bran was used as a raw material or as culture medium for the production of citric acid from the collected isolates. The conditions for citric acid production were determined by humidity percentage of 1: 1 (water: culture medium), temperature of 28 C, pH 4 and inoculum dose with 5× 106 spore/ml and for 3 days of incubation. The orange was the best model for citric acid production with a concentration of 12.8 mg/m

    The current study presents the cellar spiders genus Nita Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007 (Araneae, Pholcidae) as the first record for Iraq spider fauna, this genus represented by the species Nita elsaff Huber & El-Hennawy, 2007 were identified based on morphological characteristics and DNA sequence data. A short morphological description is also presented for cellar spiders listed in Iraq; including this species in addition to Artema Atlanta Walckenaer, 1837.

This work revealed the spherical aromaticity of some inorganic E4 cages and their protonated E4H+ ions (E=N, P, As, Sb, and Bi). For this purpose, we employed several evaluations like (0D-1D) nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS), multidimensional (2D-3D) off-nucleus isotropic shielding σiso(r), and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The magnetic calculations involved gauge-including atomic orbitals (GIAO) with two density functionals B3LYP and WB97XD, and basis sets of Jorge-ATZP, 6-311+G(d,p), and Lanl2DZp. The Jorge-ATZP basis set showed the best consistency. Our findings disclosed non-classical aromatic characters in the above molecules, which decreased from N to Bi cages. Also, the results showed more aromaticity in E4 than E4H+

The species of Opilio kakunini Snegovaya, Cokendolpher & Mozaffarian, 2018 was recorded for the first time in Iraq; as well as to four species belonging to this order which were recorded previously. In this paper, we added a new species to the checklist of Iraqi opilionid fauna with a description of the most important characteristics, along with genitalia, for both males and females are presented with digital photographs. Specimens of males and females were collected from Al- Rifai district northern of Dhi-Qar Province, southern of Iraq.
 

Parasitological examination of gills of three species of sparid fishes in the territorial waters of Iraq was performed, two diplectanid monogenoids were isolated and described; Lamellodiscus indicus Tripathi, 1959 from both Haffara seabream Rhabdosargus haffara (Forsskål, 1775) and Goldline seabream R. sarba (Forsskål, 1775) and Protolamellodiscus senilobatus Kritsky, Jiménez-Ruiz and Sey, 2000 from King soldierbream Argyrops spinifer (Forsskål, 1775). The record of the parasites is considered new to the parasite fauna of Iraq. The redescription of L. indicus for the first time which is collected from a new distribution area (Arabian Gulf). R. haffara is considered a new host record .

Clausena excavata (Lour.), locally known as “Kemantu hitam,” is a common plant in Malaysian folklore medicine. This study evaluated the antioxidant properties of the solvent extracts of C. excavata leaves and determined the acute toxicity of methanolic extract C. excavata (MECE) leaves in Sprague‐Dawley rats. Harvested leaves were dried and subjected to solvent extraction using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol in succession. The antioxidant activity of each extract was determined using the ferric‐reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl dihydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. The total pheno

Off-nucleus isotropic magnetic shielding (σiso(r)) and multi-points nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS(0-2 Å)) index were utilized to find the impacts of the isomerization of gas-phase furfuraldehyde (FD) on bonding and aromaticity of FD. Multidimensional (1D to 3D) grids of ghost atoms (bqs) were used as local magnetic probes to evaluate σiso(r) through gauge-including atomic orbitals (GIAO) at density functional theory (DFT) and B3LYP functional/6-311+G(d,p) basis set level of theory. 1D σiso(r) responses along each bond of FD were examined. Also, a σiso(r) 2D-scan was performed to obtain σiso(r) behavior at vertical heights of 0–1 Å above the FD plane in its cis, transition state (TS) and trans forms. New techniques fo