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.
The m-consecutive-k-out-of-n: F linear and circular system consists of n sequentially connected components; the components are ordered on a line or a circle; it fails if there are at least m non-overlapping runs of consecutive-k failed components. This paper proposes the reliability and failure probability functions for both linearly and circularly m-consecutive-k-out-of-n: F systems. More precisely, the failure states of the system components are separated into two collections (the working and the failure collections); where each one is defined as a collection of finite mutual disjoint classes of the system states. Illustrative example is provided.
Objective Advantageous properties of silicone elastomer made it one of the favorable materials in maxillofacial prosthesis construction, but these properties may change after months of usage or after pigments addition. This study aimed to define the optimum concentration for a mixture of two types of intrinsic pigments that added to VST-50 maxillofacial silicone material and study their effects on mechanical properties before and after artificial aging. Methods After the pilot study was conducted, 0.1% by weight of rayon flocking and 0. 2% by weight of burnt sienna intrinsic pigment concentration was selected because of improvement in tested mechanical properties of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. A total of one hundred and eighty samples we
... Show MoreMost of the mosques in the Islamic world fall under specific and known forms and patterns to a large extent, and such patterns have grown and evolved from the few basic and uniform models, but they changed slowly due to the impact with a mixture of changing functional requirements and cultural landscapes because of the variables of time and place to form patterns known and famous in this day across parts of the Islamic world and its borders. There was no exception to these patterns, but small numbers of mosques that were probably the result of personal experiences or improvisational resolutions, or in response to specific or temporary stimuli. However, the emergence of a specific pattern which does not belong to any of these patt
... Show MoreAn experiment was conducted in the plastic house of the Botanical Garden in the Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Sciences (Ibn Al-Haitham), University of Baghdad during one growth season. The experiment included the study of the effect of three concentrations of citric acid (0, 75, 150) mg. L-1 and four concentrations of malic acid (0, 50, 100, 150) mg. L-1 and their interaction in some of the growth and yield parameters of the broad bean plant, plant height, dry weight, number of leaves, total chlorophyll content, the number of flowers and pods and the weight of the pod. The experiment was carried out in full random design (4× 3) and with three duplicates, the results showed a significant effect of citric and malic aci
... Show MoreThis work deals with preparation of zeolite 5A from Dewekhala kaolin clay in Al-Anbar region for drying and desulphurization of liquefied petroleum gas. The preparation of zeolite 5A includes treating kaolin clay with dilute hydrochloric acid 1N, treating metakaolin with NaOH solution to prepare 4A zeolite, ion exchange, and formation. For preparation of zeolite 4A, metakaolin treated at different temperatures (40, 60, 80, 90, and 100 °C) with different concentrations of sodium hydroxide solution (1, 2, 3, and 4 N) for 2 hours. The zeolite samples give the best relative crystallinity of zeolite prepared at 80 °C with NaOH concentration 3N (199%), and at 90 and 100°C with NaOH concentration solution 2N (184% and 189%, respectively). Ze
... Show MoreObjectives: Six different Schiff bases were synthesized from ampicillin and amoxicillin with isatin, 5-bromoisatin, and 5-nitroisatin. Methods: Ampicillin and Amoxicillin are linked directly through their α-amino groups to the acyl side chain with isatin and isatin derivatives by nucleophilic addition using glacial acetic acid as a catalyst. Results: chemical structures of these Schiff bases were confirmed using FTIR, 1H NMR and elemental microanalysis. The antibacterial activity was evaluated by measuring minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values and showed various degrees of antibacterial activities when compared with parent drugs. Compounds 1a and 2b, which are the Schiff bases of ampicillin and amoxicillin with isatin, showed very
... Show MoreIn this work, The effect of annealing treatment at different temperatures (373, 423 and 473) K and chemical treatment with talwen at different immersion time (40, 60 and 80) min on structural and optical properties of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blend copper phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt/poly dioxyethylenethienylene doped with polystyrenesulphonic acid (CuPcTs/PEDOT:PSS) thin films were investigated. The films were fabricated using spin coating technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements displayed only one peak at 2θ =4.5o corresponding to (001) direction which has dhkl larger than for standard CuPcTs. The dhkl increase then decrease with increasing annealing temperature and
the time of chemical treatment w
The adsorption of Pb(II) ions onto bentonite and activated carbon was investigated. The effects of pH, initial adsorbent dosage, contact time and temperature were studied in batch experiments. The maximum adsorption capacities for bentonite and activated carbon were 0.0364 and 0.015 mg/mg, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy change, Enthalpy change and Entropy change have been calculated. These thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption process was thermodynamically spontaneous under natural conditions and the adsorption was endothermic in nature. Experimental data were also tested in terms of adsorption kinetics, the results showed that the adsorption processes followed well pseudo second- order
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