An environmental study conducted on diatoms in Al Yusifiya river beyond its branching from Euphrates river. Four sites were selected along the river for the period from march 2013 to September 2013. The present study involved the measurement of physicochemical parameters, also the qualitative and quantities of diatoms. The studied parameters values ranged as follows: 19-44Cº and 16-30 Cº for air and water temperature respectively, 6.9-8.7, 595-1248 µS/cm, 6.4-8.0 mg/l for pH, electric conductivity and dissolved oxygen respectively. A total of 74 taxa were recorded for diatoms, where the pinnate diatom was the predominant and recorded 64 taxa while 10 taxa for centric diatoms. The total number of diatoms was 1197.55*104 cell /l. The tota

A single step extraction-cleanup procedure using porous membrane-protected micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) in conjunction with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the extraction and determination of aflatoxins (AFs) B1, B2, G1 and G2 from food was successfully developed. After the extraction, AFs were desorbed from the μ-SPE device by ultrasonication using acetonitrile. The optimum extraction conditions were: sorbent material, C8; sorbent mass, 20 mg; extraction time, 90 min; stirring speed, 1000 rpm; sample volume, 10 mL; desorption solvent, acetonitrile; solvent volume, 350 μL and ultrasonication period, 25 min without salt addition. Under the optimum conditions, enrichment factor of 11, 9, 9 and 10 for AFG2, AFG1

BACKGROUND: Montelukast (Singulair) is a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, used for the maintenance treatment of asthma and to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis and asthma, also used for exercise-induced bronchospasm. AIM: This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Montelukast use as an add-on therapy among Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment. Comparing the effectiveness of regimens with and without montelukast. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 73 Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment of both sexes with age range (18-60) years old, attending Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and Al-Zahraa Centre of Asthma and Allergy, Baghdad, for the period between February

BACKGROUND: Montelukast (Singulair) is a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist, used for the maintenance treatment of asthma and to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis and asthma, also used for exercise-induced bronchospasm. AIM: This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Montelukast use as an add-on therapy among Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment. Comparing the effectiveness of regimens with and without montelukast. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 73 Iraqi asthmatic patients on treatment of both sexes with age range (18-60) years old, attending Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and Al-Zahraa Centre of Asthma and Allergy, Baghdad, for the period between February

The clinical impact of interaction between body iron status (serum iron and ferritin) and type 2 diabetes has been investigated in this study. Thirty-six females were enrolled, eighteen type 2 diabetes and eighteen apparently healthy. These two groups were matched for age and body mass index BMI. The eighteen diabetes females were matched for age, BMI, pharmacological treatment (oral hypoglycemic agent), and chronic diabetes complications. The biochemical parameters measured for both groups (control and diabetes patient) were fasting insulin (Io), fasting blood glucose (Go), serum iron and ferritin. A significant increase in all parameters in patients compared to healthy control was noticed. The insulin resistance (IR) which was calculat

In this work, the copper metal was treated using Nd:YAG laser with energy 1Joul to enhance corrosion resistance and improve surface properties. The copper metal has many applications in industry as well as water, oil and gas pipes. The same conditions, (laser power density, scan speed, distance between paths, medium gas-air) were applied in the laser surface treatment, After laser treatment, the samples microstructures were investigated using optical microscope (OM) to examine micro structural changes due to laser irradiation. Specimen surfaces were investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), macro hardness, and corrosion test before and after laser treatment to

The bubbled slab, a type of reinforced concrete (RC) slab with plastic voids, is an innovative design that employs a biaxial distribution of voiding formers within the slab to reduce the slab’s self-weight while preserving a load-carrying capacity that is approximately comparable to that of solid slabs. This paper presents a new approach for figuring out the effective critical shear perimeter of voided slabs using the reduced-volume concept of concrete. This approach aims to reduce the coefficient of variation of the current design standards, namely the ACI 318-19 and Eurocode 2, for assessing the slabs’ resistance to punching shear. Our experimental program investigated the impact of voiding former patterns and the location of

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a ubiquitous environmental organism, is a difficult-to-treat opportunistic pathogen due to its broad-spectrum antibiotic resistance and its ability to form biofilms. In this study, we investigate the link between resistance to a clinically important antibiotic, imipenem, and biofilm formation. First, we observed that the laboratory strain P. aeruginosa PAO1 carrying a mutation in the oprD gene, which confers resistance to imipenem, showed a modest reduction in biofilm formation.We also observed an inverse relationship between imipenem resistance and biofilm formation for imipenem-resistant strains selected in vitro, as well as for clinical isolates.We identified two clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa from the sputum