Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistance to rifampicin is mainly mediated through mutations in the rpoB gene. The effects of rpoB mutations are relieved by secondary mutations in rpoA or rpoC genes. This study aims to identify mutations in rpoB, rpoA, and rpoC genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates and clarify their contribution to rifampicin resistance. Seventy isolates were identified by acid-fast bacilli smear, Genexpert assay, and growth on Lowenstein Jensen medium. Drug susceptibility, testing was performed by the proportional method. DNA extraction, PCR, and sequencing were accomplished for the entire rpoA, rpoB, and rpoC genes. Twenty-three isolates (32.85%) showed resistance to rifampicin by either proportion method or Genexpert assay. Sequence analysis of the rpoB gene revealed fourteen different mutation patterns. Inside the rifampicin resistance determining region (RRDR), codons: S531L, D516V were highly mutated with frequencies of (21.73%, 17.39%) respectively. Outside the RRDR, there were nine different types of mutations, and M479L was the most prevalent one. Out of 23 RIF resistant isolates, seven isolates (30.43%) carried mutations in the rpoA gene, and twelve isolates (52.17%) harbored a mutation in rpoC. Most of the mutations were identified for the first time in this study. The current study demonstrated that mutations in rpoB, rpoA, and rpoC contributed to RIF resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and this new finding may be relevant to realize how compensatory mutations in the rpoA and rpoC genes restore the fitness cost caused by rifampin resistance-conferring mutations in rpoB.
This work aimed to study the effect of laser surface treatment on the mechanical characteristics and corrosion behaviour of grey cast iron type A159. Many technical applications used conventional surface treatment, but laser surface hardening has recently been used to enhance the surface properties of many alloys. The mechanical characteristics, including microstructure, microhardness, and wear resistance of A159 grey cast iron, were studied, in addition to corrosion behaviour. The experimental laser parameters in this work were 0.9, 1.2, and 1.5 KW power with continuous wave carbon dioxide lasers with scanning speeds of 10 and 12 mm/s were used. The results found that phase-transitional alterations in microstructure were influenced by lase
... Show MoreSheep are considered as an important part of livestock in the worldwide, particularly in Iraq, as they provide meat, milk, leather, wool, and manure. The present study aim is isolation and identification of staphylococci, enteric bacteria and Pseudomonas spp. Totally, 115 samples were collected from sheep (100 samples were collected from the nasal cavity of local sheep suffering from respiratory infections, and 15 samples were collected from apparently healthy local sheep). All the samples were collected from seven flocks located in Abu Ghraib and Al-Radwaniyah, Baghdad governorate, Iraq. The samples were taken during the period from October 2020 to February 2021. Staphylococcus spp., Pseudomonas spp., and enteric bacteria were detected fi
... Show MoreThis study assessed the effect of co-substitution of strontium (Sr) and magnesium (Mg) ions into the hydroxyapatite (HA) coating which was deposited on Ti–6Al–4V dental alloys by an electrochemical deposition process. The deposited layers were examined using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The corrosion behavior of Ti–6Al–4V alloys in an artificial saliva environment was studied through potentiodynamic polarization technique and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results indicated that the substituted Sr and Mg ions in HA improved the HA coating, where the protection efficiency percentage (PE%) for Ti
... Show MoreThis paper aims at studying the illocutionary speech acts: direct and indirect to show the most dominant ones in a presidential speech delivered by the USA president. The speech is about the most critical health issue in the world, COVID-19 outbreak. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted by observing the first speech delivered by president Trump concerning coronavirus outbreak and surveying the illocutionary acts: directive, declarative, commissive, expressive, and representative. Searle's (1985) classification of illocutionary speech acts is adopted in the analysis.
What are the main types of the illocutionary speech acts performed by Trump in his speech?; Why does
... Show MoreForeign trade receives a good deal of economists' attention for its active contribution to economic growth, and imports of goods and services that could not be produced locally constitute an important share of the local economy. Agricultural imports constitute an important share of the total imports due to their role in fulfilling the needs of local markets; however, the agricultural sector in Iraq contributes no more than a limited share of the country's need, which has encouraged the import of a variety of fruits, vegetables and strategic crops and different types of red and white meat. For the sake of identifying the factors affecting the demand on agricultural imports in Iraq, the following factors has been analyzed: th
... Show MoreBackground: This in vitro study compares a novel calcium-phosphate etchant paste to conventional 37% phosphoric acid gel for bonding metal and ceramic brackets by evaluating the shear bond strength, remnant adhesive and enamel damage following water storage, acid challenge and fatigue loading. Material and Methods: Metal and ceramic brackets were bonded to 240 extracted human premolars using two enamel conditioning protocols: conventional 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and an acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) paste. The CaP paste was prepared from β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powders mixed with 37% phosphoric acid solution, and the resulting phase was confirmed using FTIR. The bonded premolars were exp
... Show MoreThe efforts embedded in this paper have been devoted to designing, preparing, and testing warm mix asphalt (WMA) mixtures and comparing their behavior against traditional hot mix asphalt mixtures. For WMA preparation, the Sasobit wax additive has been added to a 40/50 asphalt binder with a concentration of 3%. An experimental evaluation has been performed by conducting the Marshall together with volumetric properties, indirect tensile strength, and wheel tracking tests to acquire the tensile strength ratio (TSR), retained stability index (RSI), and rut depth. It was found that the gained benefit of reduction in mixing and compaction temperatures was reversely associated with a noticeable decline in Marshall properties and moisture s
... Show MoreUropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is problematic and still the leading cause of urinary tract infections worldwide. It is developed resistance against most antibiotics. The investigation, surveillance system, and efficient strategy will facilitate selecting an appropriate treatment that could control the bacterial distribution. The present study aims to investigate the epidemiology and associated risk factors of uropathogenic E. coli and to study their antibiotic resistance patterns. 1585 midstream urine specimens were collected from symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) patients (225 males and 1360 females) admitted to Zakho emergency hospital, Zakho, Kurdistan Region, Iraq from January 2016 until the end of December 2
... Show MoreA new simple and sensitive spectrophotometric method is described for quantification of Nifedipine (NIF) and their pharmaceutical formulation. The selective method was performed by the reduction of NIF nitro group to yield primary amino group using zinc powder with hydrochloric acid. The produced aromatic amine was submitted to oxidative coupling reaction with pyrocatechol and ammonium ceric nitrate to form orange color product measured spectrophotometrically with maximum absorption at 467nm. The product was determined through flow injection analysis (FIA) system and all the chemical and physical parameters were optimized. The concentration range from 5.0 to 140.0 μg.mL-1 was obeyed Beer’s law with a limit of detection and quantitatio
... Show MoreSingle Point Incremental Forming (SPIF) is a forming technique of sheet material based on layered manufacturing principles. The sheet part is locally deformed through horizontal slices. The moving locus of forming tool (called as toolpath) in these slices constructed to the finished part was performed by the CNC technology. The toolpath was created directly from CAD model of final product. The forming tool is a Ball-end forming tool, which was moved along the toolpath while the edges of sheet material were clamped rigidly on fixture.
This paper presented an investigation study of thinning distribution of a conical shapes carried out by incremental forming and the validation of finite element method to evaluate the limits of the p
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