Q fever is an infectious disease of animals and humans, caused by globally distributed C. burnetii. In Iraq, there are no previous studies associated with the detection of the organism in cattle. An overall of 130 lactating cows were submitted to direct collection of milk samples. Initially, the samples of milk were tested using the molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting three genes (16S rRNA, IS1111a transposase, and htpB). However, positive results (18.46%; 24/130) were detected only with the 16s rRNA gene. Concerning risk factors, the highest prevalence of C. burnetii was showed in the district of Badra (42.86%), whereas the lowest - in Al-Numaniyah and Al-Suwaira districts (P=0.025). There was no significant variation in positivity between the months of sampling period (P=0.082) and between age groups (P=0.076). Crossbred cows (20.69%) showed a higher positivity than local and pure breeds (P=0.043). Milk of positive samples (n=24) was used for cultivation of C. burnetii into specific pathogen free-embryonated chicken eggs (SPF-ECEs). After three passages into SPF-ECEs, contents of yolk sac were collected, subjected for DNA extraction, and re-tested by PCR assay using the primer of 16s rRNA gene only. Of 24 cultivated milk samples, 12.5% (3/24) were positive for C. burnetii. Finally, the positive local isolates were analysed phylogenetically and reported in NCBI-Genbank under the accession numbers of MN121700.1, MN121701.1, and MN121702.1. In conclusion, this is a unique study as it detected C. burnetii in Iraqi lactating cows, and confirmed that organism was shed actively through milk, suggesting that these animals can play a role as a reservoir for organism with potential risk for transmission of infection from these animals to humans as well as to other animal species.
يعتبر "تاج الأشواك" أو نبات شوكة المسيح، وهو من نباتات الزينة الطبية ، ينتمي إلى جنس يوفوربيا. E. milii يحتوي كميات وفيرة من المركبات الفينولية ، التربينات، الستيرويدات والقلويدات. كانت الأهداف الرئيسية لهذه الدراسة هي فحص مستخلصات الفلافونويد والنانو فلافونويد ضد نوعين من خطوط الخلايا السرطانية. تم تصنيع مركبات الفلافونويد النانوية عن طريق تفاعل مركب الكيتوسان والماليك اسد. تم تحليل مركبات الفلافونويد ال
... Show MoreBy- products of corn starch industry were used to prepare media for propagation the lactic acid bacteria as a natural auxotroph. The by- products used were the corn steep water (S) and gluten extract (G) after a proper treatment to get them ready for media preparation. The results showed that it was possible to replace the peptone and meat extract by gluten extract in MRS medium. The growth was approximately similar to that obtained in standard MRS media. Corn steep water (S) was used as well and the growth enhanced by including Tween – 80 at 1% level. The later media named MZ, which was superior for growing standard and local strains and starters. The MZ medium modified by adding acetate and glacial acetic acid similarly to
... Show MoreTherapeutic contact lenses TCLs is an approach used to enhance corneal residence time and reduce frequent instillation, which is a problem with eye drops. The problem with CLs is loading of hydrophobic drugs. In this research the CLs were prepared with molecular imprinting MI to enhance the loading of itraconazole, which is used as antifungal drug for fungal keratitis. CLs using different concentration of hydroxyethyl methacrylate HEMA and methacrylic acid MAA were prepared with and without MI using PEGDA (25 μL) and AIBN (37 mg) as crosslinker and initiator respectively. All the prepared CLs were clear and have good folding endurance. MICLs had significantly higher drug loading compared to conventional CLs. The release of i
... Show MoreThis study was conducted at the College of Education for Pure Sciences (Ibn Al-Haitham), University of Baghdad. The aim of this study was to isolate and diagnose fungi from fish feedstuff samples, and also detection of aflatoxin B1 and ochratoxin A in fish muscles and feedstuffs. Randomly, the samples were collected from some fish farms from Baghdad, Babil, Wasit, Anbar, and Salah al-Din provinces. This study included the collection of 35 feedstuff samples and 70 fish muscle samples, and each of the two fish samples fed on one sample of the feedstuff. The results showed the presence of several genera of different fungi including Aspergillus spp, Mucor spp., Penicillium spp., Yeast spp., Fusarium spp., Rhizopus spp., Scopiolariopsis spp., Ep
... Show MoreObjective: Synthesis, Characterization of formazan derivatives and studies the antioxidant activity of prepared compounds and molecular docking. Methods: In this study, formazan compounds (III–XIV) were produced by combining Schiff base compounds (I), (II) with diazonium salts resulting from reactions of different aromatic amines with sodium nitrate in the presence of Con.HCl at 0–5°C. When isonicotinic acid hydrazide reacts with (N,N-dimethylbenzaldehyde, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde) in the presence glacial acetic acid as a solvent Schiff base compounds are created. Results: The prepared compounds were identified by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, then the antioxidant activity of the derivatives and molecular docking were studied. D
... Show MoreThis article aims to determine the time-dependent heat coefficient together with the temperature solution for a type of semi-linear time-fractional inverse source problem by applying a method based on the finite difference scheme and Tikhonov regularization. An unconditionally stable implicit finite difference scheme is used as a direct (forward) solver. While by the MATLAB routine lsqnonlin from the optimization toolbox, the inverse problem is reformulated as nonlinear least square minimization and solved efficiently. Since the problem is generally incorrect or ill-posed that means any error inclusion in the input data will produce a large error in the output data. Therefore, the Tikhonov regularization technique is applie
... Show MoreBackground: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is gram-negative bacterium, which causes Legionnaires’ disease as well as Pontiac fever. Objective: To determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in pneumonic patients, to determine the clinical utility of diagnosing Legionella pneumonia by urinary antigen testing (LPUAT) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, to compares the results obtained from patients by urinary antigen test with q Real Time PCR (RT PCR) using serum samples and to determine the frequency of serogroup 1 and other serogroups of L. pneumophila. Methods: A total of 100 pneumonic patients (community acquired pneumonia) were enrolled in this study during a period between October 2016 to April 2017; 92 sam
... Show MoreThis article reports the first record of Aenasius arizonensis (Girault, 1915) (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) parasitizing the recently introduced species of cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsly (Hemiptera, Psedococcidae) infesting Lantana camara L. (Verbeneceae) as well as other ornamental plants in Baghdad province, Iraq. A short morphological description is also presented.