Background: Birth defects are the leading cause of both neonatal and post-neonatal deaths, as an estimated 240,000 neonates die in their first month of life worldwide each year. In Iraq, local studies have shown varying frequencies and types of congenital anomalies. Objectives: To provide new insight into the incidence and types of congenital anomalies and to explore their possible risk factors in Baghdad City. Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, a total of 2007 neonates were enrolled from six hospitals in Baghdad during the period extending between September and December 2020. Hospital records and personal interviews were used for data collection. These data included the neonates' demographic and clinical characteristics, maternal, pregnancy, and immediate postnatal conditions. Description of the defects in those with birth defects was recorded from hospital records and as described by the parents. Statistical analysis was performed as required. Results: There were 64 (3.2%) neonates with birth defects, i.e., an incidence of 32/1000 total births (28/1000 live births); of them, 38 (59.4%) were males, 8 (12.5%) were stillborn, 43 (66.2%) were born with a cesarean section, the majority (87.5%) had maternal age between 20 and 40 years, and 35 (54.6%) had a low birth weight and were statistically significant. In addition, reduced fetal movement, prematurity, and not receiving tonics during pregnancy were also statistically significant. Among the 64 births with congenital anomalies, multiple congenital anomalies were the most common defects [26 (40.6%)]. An isolated defect was detected in 38 (57.8%) of them. The predominant system involved was the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) [12 (18.8%)] cases, followed by the central nervous system (CNS) with 11 (17.2%) cases, and the musculoskeletal system (MS) with 6 (9.4%) cases. Conclusion: The incidence of birth defects in Baghdad is close to global figures at 28/1000 live births with multiple congenital anomalies, gastro-intestinal, central nervous, and musculoskeletal systems defects being the most frequent, while cardiovascular, genitourinary, and skin defects being the least frequent. Possible risk factors included maternal age, drug intake, and not receiving tonics during pregnancy.
Probiotics are live microbes that give many health benefits to human beings and animals, the most studied and commonly used probiotics are Gram-positive bacteria; lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. At nowadays, Lactobacillus spp. constitute more than two-thirds of the total numbers of probiotic species. The present study aimed to characterize Lactobacillus that locally isolated from human mouth and feces as probiotics. A total of three Lactobacillus isolates; Lactobacillus fermentum Lb2, Lactobacillus rhamnosus Lb9, and Lactobacillus paracasei Lb10 were investigated in respect to acid and bile salts tolerance, antibiotics susceptibility, and cell surface hydrophobicity in vitro using bacterial adhesion to hydrocarbons method. In compa
... Show MoreThe present study examines the extraction of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) from a contaminated soil by washing process. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (Na2EDTA) and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution were used as extractants. Soil washing is one of the most suitable in-situ/ ex-situ remediation method in removing heavy metals. Soil was artificially contaminated with 500 mg/kg (Pb , Cd and Ni ). A set of batch experiments were carried out at different conditions of extractant concentration , contact time, pH and agitation speed. The results showed that the maximum removal efficiencies of (Cd, Pb and Ni ) were (97, 88 and 24 )&nbs
... Show More(28)Bacterial local isolates of Bacillus sp. were obtained from soil samples. Isolates were tested for thermostable alpha- amylase production on solid media; fifteen isolates were able to develop clear zone around the bacterial growth after floating the plates with iodine reagent (Lugol's solution). There were further tested in submerged culture which led to selection of Bacillus sp. H14since it was the most efficient .Microbial and biochemical tests showed that the local isolate Bacillus sp.H14was refered to the species B.licheniformis that signed as H14 was refered to the species B.licheniformis H14 .,To get ahigher yield of alpha – amylase(48.70unit/mg protein) production from the local isolate B.licheniformis H14 . This study used
... Show MoreThe removal of Anit-Inflammatory drugs, namely; Acetaminophen (ACTP), from wastewater by bulk liquid membrane (BLM) process using Aliquat 336 (QCl) as a carrier was investigated. The effects of several parameters on the extraction efficiency were studied in this research, such as the initial feed phase concentration (10-50) ppm of ACTP, stripping phase (NaCl) concentration (0.3,0.5,0.7 M), temperature (30-50oC), the volume ratio of feed phase to membrane phase (200-400ml/80ml), agitation speed of the feed phase (75-125 rpm), membrane stirring speed (0, 100, 150 rpm), carrier concentration (1, 5, 9 wt%), the pH of feed (2, 4, 6, 8, 10), and solvent type (CCl4 and n-Heptane). The study shows that high ext
... Show MoreBackground and Objectives: Urinary tract infections (UTIs), among a wide range of microbial infections, are of a double-edged worry with health-care and economic implications. They are serious diseases that can influence various parts of the urinary tract. The aim of this study was characterization of the enteric bacteria isolated from urine of human UTIs and studying their antimicrobial sensitivity. Materials and methods: A total of 50 urine samples were collected from patients with UTIs of both genders. The isolates identification was done using routine diagnostic methods and confirmed by Vitek2. Antimicrobial susceptibility was done against 10 antimicrobials. Results: Both genders of human were found to suffer from urinary tract problems
... Show MoreRefractories are mineral and chemical-, based, materials with excellent heat resistance, making them ideal for use in the construction of ovens, furnace walls industries. According to this our research is concerned to study the effect of addition of (4% CaO) and (5% graphite) on the silica brick properties. Different amounts of CaO and Graphite were included in the white sand (raw ingredients) of silica bricks as a binder to prepare the composition then the composition were sintered using Different sintering temperatures ranging from (1000–1400)𝛐C under static air. Density, thermal conductivity, porosity, and water absorption Compression there was power tested after sintering. XRD analysis was used to identify raw materials’
... Show MoreObjective of the study was to rate and analyze the physical fitness of female students from Iraq and Russia to find similarities, differences and regularities. Sampled for the study were 44 female non-sporting students: 20 students from Pedagogical University in Bagdad; and 24 students from Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism in Moscow. The study was designed to obtain the joints flexibility, coordination, speed-strength and static endurance rates. The Iraqi students were tested with higher coordination abilities than their Russian peers, whilst the latter were ranked higher in the speed-strength, shoulder joints and spine flexibility tests, albeit lower than their Iraqi peers in the hip flexibility test
... Show MoreWater flow into unsaturated porous media is governed by the Richards’ partial differential equation expressing the mass conservation and Darcy’s laws. The Richards’ equation may be written in three forms,where the dependent variable is pressure head or moisture content, and the constitutive relationships between water content and pressure head allow for conversion of one form into the other. In the present paper, the “moisture-based" form of Richards’ equation is linearized by applying Kirchhoff’s transformation, which
combines the soil water diffusivity and soil water content. Then the similarity method is used to obtain the analytical solution of wetting front position. This exact solution is obtained by means of Lie’s
Biosorption of cadmium ions from simulated wastewater using rice husk was studied with initial concentration of 25 mg/l. Equilibrium isotherm was studied using Langmuir, Freundlich, BET and Timken models. The results show that the Freundlich isotherm is the best fit model to describe this process with high determination coefficient equals to 0.983. There was a good compliance between the experimental and theoretical results. Highest removal efficiency 97% was obtained at 2.5g of adsorbent, pH 6 and contact time 100 min.
The possibility of using zero-valent iron as permeable reactive barrier in removing lead from a contaminated groundwater was investigated. In the batch tests, the effects of many parameters such as contact time between adsorbate and adsorbent (0-240 min), initial pH of the solution (4-8), sorbent dosage (1-12 g/100 mL), initial metal concentration (50-250 mg/L), and agitation speed
(0-250 rpm) were studied. The results proved that the best values of these parameters achieve the maximum removal efficiency of Pb+2 (=97%) were 2 hr, 5, 5 g/100 mL, 50 mg/L and 200 rpm respectively. The sorption data of Pb+2 ions on the zero-valent iron have been performed well by Langmuir isotherm model in compared with Freundlich model under the studied