When the guard honey bees, Apis mellifera L., form a clump at the hive entrance or on the flight board, the oriental hornet, Vespa orientails L., either creeps toward the clump or hovers over it in order to take a bee. Once the hornet creeps, only few bees facing the hornet become alert, rock their heads and antennae, open their wings, and take a posture of defense. The rest of the clump stays listless without any signal of concern. However, the clump stays dense and the defending bees do not detach themselves neither from the rest of the clump nor from each other. For this reason, it is very difficult for the hornet to grab a bee unless the latter makes a “mistake” by detaching herself from other adjacent bees. If the hornet grabs s

Background: Human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G)and Toll-like receptor-9 (TLR-9)play a role in the regulation of autoimmune diseases and inflammatory processes. Aim of the study: To detect the HLA-G + 3142G > C gene polymorphism that associated with the susceptibility to SLE patients and associated with Hepatitis B infection and TLR-9 serum level. Patients and methods: This study was done on 75 SLE patients and 75 healthy control groups. Genotyping of HLA-G + 3142G > C were detected by PCR and PCR-RFLP methods. In addition to the estimation of Hepatitis B surface (HBs)antigen status by immunochromatography technique and TLR-9 serum level by ELISA technique. Results: The HLA-G + 3142G > C gene polymorphism between the SLE patients and controls

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a widespread, yet often overlooked, parasitic disease caused by the Leishmania protozoan, which is prevalent in numerous countries, including Iraq. This condition is marked by the appearance of skin lesions on various exposed areas of the body. In most old-world regions, sodium stibogluconate (SSG) is the classical widely used drug to treat CL. The progression of skin ulceration is controlled by different inflammatory modulators including cytokines and enzymes. In this study, the possible role of the enzyme Matrix metalloproteinase9 (MMP-9) and its inhibitor Metallopeptidase inhibitor-1 (TIMP-1) as immunological markers was evaluated in CL patients suffering from cutaneous leishmaniasis before and aft

Background Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) and trinucleotide repeat-containing 9 (TNRC9) gene polymorphisms have been associated with some cancers. We aimed to assess the association of FGFR2 rs2981582 and TNRC9 rs12443621 polymorphisms with hepatocellular cancer risk. Methods One hundred patients with HCV-induced HCC, 100 patients with chronic HCV infection, and 100 controls were genotyped for FGFR2 rs2981582 and TNRC9 rs12443621 using allele-specific Real-Time PCR analysis. Results FGFR2 rs2981582 genotype TT was associated with increased risk of HCC when compared to controls (OR = 3.09, 95% CI = 1.24–7.68). However, it was significantly associated with a lower risk of HCC when using HCV patients as controls (OR =

 The present work focuses on the changing of the structural characteristics of the grown materials through different material characterization methods. Semiconductor CdS_xSe _1-x nano crystallines have been synthesized by chemical vapor depostion. (X- ray Diffraction; XRD), (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy; FESEM), measured the characterization of Semiconductor CdS_xSe_1-x nano crystallines. The optical properties of semiconductor CdS_xSe_1-x nanocrystallines have been studied by the photoluminescence (PL) (He-Cd pulsed ultraviolet laser at 325nm excitation wavelength) at room temperature. The results showed the change rule of photoluminsence peak at different S

       A new class of biologically active nanocomposites and modified polymers based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with some organic compounds [II, IV, V and VI] were synthesized using silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). All compounds were synthesized using nucleophilic substitution interactions and characterized by FTIR, DSC and TGA. The biological activity of the modified polymers was evaluated against: gram (+) (staphylococcus aureus) and gram (-): (Es cherichia coli bacteria). Antimicrobial films are developed based on modified poly (vinyl alcohol) MPVA and Ag-NPs nanoparticles. The nanocomposites and modified polymers showed better antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli (Gram negative) than against Staphyloc

This study synthesized nanocomposite photocatalyst materials from a mixture of Cu₂O nanoparticles, ZnO nanoparticles, and graphene oxide (GO) through coprecipitation and hydrothermal methods. This study aims to determine the optimum composition of Cu₂O/ZnO/GO nanocomposites in degrading methylene blue. The nanocomposite was synthesized in two steps:  1  the synthesis of Cu₂O and ZnO nanoparticles through the coprecipitation method and the preparation of GO through the modified Hummer method.  2  The preparation of Cu₂O and ZnO nanoparticles mixtures with GO through the hydrothermal method to form Cu₂O/ZnO/GO nanocomposites. The adsorption-photocatalysis process of methylene blue

Nanosilica was extracted from rice husk, which was locally collected from the Iraqi mill at Al-Mishikhab district in Najaf Governorate, Iraq. The precipitation method was used to prepared Nanosilica powder from rice husk ash, after treating it thermally at 700°C, followed by dissolving the silica in the alkaline solution and getting a sodium silicate solution. Two samples of the final solution were collected to study the effect of filtration on the purity of the sample by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). The result shows that the filtered samples have purity above  while the non-filtered sample purity was around  The structure analysis investigated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), found that the Nanosilica powder has an amorphous

Infection with cryptosporidiosis endangers the lives of many people with immunodeficiency, especially HIV patients. Nitazoxanide is one of the main therapeutic drugs used to treat cryptosporidiosis. However, it is poorly soluble in water, which restricts its usefulness and efficacy in immunocompromised patients. Surfactants have an amphiphilic character which indicates their ability to improve the water solubility of the hydrophobic drugs. Our research concerns the synthesis of new cationic Gemini surfactants that have the ability to improve the solubility of the drug Nanazoxide. So, we synthesized cationic Gemini surfactants. N1,N1,N3,N3-tetramethyl-N1,N3-bis(2-octadecanamidoethyl)propane-1,3-diaminium bromide (CGSPS18) and 2,2‘-(etha