Poisoning with toxic substances accidently or deliberately can be life threatening and especially in some countries that lack the essential tests and facilities to identify the types and causes of these toxic substances. In Iraq, as many other countries, poisoning is one of the chronic public health problems. However, very little literature about the pattern of poisoning cases, types and age is available in Duhok Governorate. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the most common patterns of poisoning and the related age and gender in Duhok Governorate from 2016-2018, which would possibly contribute to the early diagnosis and treatment of poisoning. The present study was conducted for three years, started from 1st of January 2016 until31st of December 2018. Data were collected from Duhok General Directorate of Health database, based on the data collected from all Duhok Governorate hospitals and health care centers concerning poisoning types, patient’s age and gender. Descriptive statistic was used to analyze the data including (frequency, mean and percentage). A total of 27831 poisoned patients admitted to Duhok city and their districts health centers. Thirteen separated pattern cases of poisoning were recorded. The most common pattern of poisoning cases was food poisoning (61%) in 2016, (75%) in 2017, and dropped to 48% in 2018. In addition to other types of poisoning such as (herbals, sagwa, allergies, metals, organophosphate, rat poising and others) (11.7% in 2016, 4.8% in 2017 and 19.7% in 2018) and scorpion bites (5% in 2016, 5.7% in 2017 and 11.5% in 2018). Poisoning by drugs was the highest in 2018 (667 cases 9.6%) compared to 2017 (574 cases 5.7%) and 2016 (476 cases 4.3%). All other poisoning pattern (insect bite, soaps and other detergents, snake bits, animal’s bits and insecticide) were about or less than 1%. No recorded cases were poisoned by illegal addictive drugs during the period of study. Out of 27831 cases of poisoning, females were much prone to be poisoned than males during the three years 2018, 2017 and 2016. Females were affected by food poisoning (80%) as compared to male (70%). The age between 15-48 years old composed about 43.8% of the total cases, which is the highest % ration among other age groups. In Duhok Governorate, patterns of poisoning in the present study were the first to be documented. The study concludes that the majority of victims were female and food poisons were the most common type. It also seems that less effort is taken from the Committee of Health and Safety Issues. Our study suggests that establishment of specialist poison health centers, and raising awareness among people help effectively to resolve this public problem.
Extract from cell culture of medicinal plant like Nigella sativa have been assessed for its cytotoxic properties. Thymol is likely responsible for the theraputic effects of Nigella sativa leaf callus extract. In this short study the inhibitory effect of Nigella sativa leaf callus extract (Thymol) has been studied on Human Lorgnx Epidrmoid Carcinoma (Hep-2) cell line during different exposure period of time (24, 48 and 72 hrs.) using different concentration of the extract (1000, 500, 400, 300, 200 and 100 µg/ml). The optical density of the Hep-2 cells has been readed on 492 nm wave length. Thymol –induced cytotoxicity was (500 µg/ml) which inhibit cell growing compared to the control and this
... Show MoreGeneral Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer affecting women, with increasing incidence worldwide. Specific Background: Recent research has focused on the role of epigenetic changes in DNA damage, repair mechanisms, and the potential therapeutic effects of probiotics. Probiotics have shown promise in promoting tissue regeneration and DNA repair. Knowledge Gap: However, the precise impact of probiotics on DNA repair in cancer cells, specifically breast cancer cells, remains underexplored. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of probiotics on DNA damage repair in AMJ13 Iraqi breast cancer cells and assess the cytotoxic effects of probiotics on these cells. Results: Using the comet assay, we found significan
... Show MorePure grade II titanium disks were coated with a thin coating of polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) polymer by RF magnetron sputtering using either nitrogen or argon gas. Sputtering technique was employed at 50 W for one hour at 60°C with continuous flow of nitrogen or argon gas. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed a continuous, homogeneous, rough PEKK surface coating without cracks. In addition, cross-sectional FE-SEM revealed an average coat thickness of 1.86 μm with argon gas and 1.96 μm with nitrogen gas. There was homogenous adhesion between the coating layer and substrate. The elemental analysis of titanium substrate revealed the presence of carbon, titanium, and oxygen. The RF magnetron sputtering with argon or ni
... Show MoreM(II) Ions using amino acid L- proline as a primary ligand and either Nicotinamide or 8- hydroxyqinoline as secondary ligand, respectively: a. The mixed ligand complexes of composition,[M(pro)2(na)2]. b. The mixed ligand complexes of composition , Na[M(pro)2(Q)]. Where proline (C5H9NO2) symbolized as pro H , Nicotinamide (C6H6N2O) symbolized as (NA) , 8- hydroxyqinoline, (C9H7NO2) symbolized as (8-HQ). The ligands and the metal chlorides were brought into reaction at room temperature (37ºc) in ethanol as solvent .The reaction required the following molar ratios [(1:2:2) metal:2NA:2pro-] and [(1:1:2) metal:Q:2pro-] with M+2 ions, where M = [Mn (II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and pd(II)]. Products were found to be solid crystall
... Show MoreIn the present work, the phthalic acid (phthH2) and 1.10 phenonthroline (phen), and their complexes were synthesized and isolated as [M(phth)(phen)2], Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II) Cu(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) ions. These complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, melting point, conductivity, percentage metal, UV–Vis, FT-IR, and magnetic moment measurements. The molar conductance indicates that all the metal complexes in DMSO are nonelectrolytic. phthalic acid (phtha), and 1,10-Phenanthroline (phen), behaved as bidentate, coordinating to the metal ion through their two oxygen and two pyridinyl nitrogen atoms respectively, as corroborated by. Electronic spectra, FTIR, spectroscopy amusement indicated that all the metal complexes ad
... Show MoreSeveral toxigenic cyanobacteria produce the cyanotoxin (microcystin). Being a health and environmental hazard, screening of water sources for the presence of microcystin is increasingly becoming a recommended environmental procedure in many countries of the world. This study was conducted to assess the ability of freshwater cyanobacterial species Westiellopsis prolifica to produce microcystins in Iraqi freshwaters via using molecular and immunological tools. The toxigenicity of W. prolifica was compared via laboratory experiments with other dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria isolated from the Tigris River: Microcystis aeruginosa, Chroococcus turigidus, Nostoc carneum, and Lyngbya sp. signifi
... Show MoreThe study included isolation and diagnosis of fungi that infect Foeniculum vulgare Mill planted in the Department of Drugs and Medicinal Plants, Pharmacy College - University of Baghdad, different symptoms such as wilting and yellowing, stunting on the plants were observed fungi: Alternaria alternata, Rhizoctonia solani, Phoma herbarum and Fusarium oxysporum, The disease incidence ranging between 5-10%. Studied the effect of Foeniculum vulgare plant seeds extract against Alternaria alternata, Rhizoctonia solani, Phoma herbarum and Fusarium oxysporum,where tested the concentrations 0,2.5 and 5% of alcoholic extract of fennel seeds showed ef
... Show MoreA true random TTL pulse generator was implemented and investigated for quantum key distribution systems. The random TTL signals are generated by low cost components available in the local markets. The TTL signals are obtained by using true random binary sequences based on registering photon arrival time difference registered in coincidence windows between two single – photon detectors. The true random TTL pulse generator performance was tested by using time to digital converters which gives accurate readings for photon arrival time. The proposed true random pulse TTL generator can be used in any quantum -key distribution system for random operation of the transmitters for these systems
Environmental pollution is experiencing an alarming surge within the global ecosystem, warranting urgent attention. Among the significant challenges that demand immediate resolution, effective treatment of industrial pollutants stands out prominently, which for decades has been the focus of most researchers for sustainable industrial development aiming to remove those pollutants and recover some of them. The liquid membrane (LM) method, specifically electromembrane extraction (EME), offers promise. EME deploys an electric field, reducing extraction time and energy use while staying eco-friendly. However, there's a crucial knowledge gap. Despite strides in understanding and applying EME, optimizing it for diverse industrial pollutant
... Show MoreFrom the sustainability point of view a combination of using water absorption polymer balls in concrete mix produce from Portland limestone cement (IL) is worth to be perceived. Compressive strength and drying shrinkage behavior for the mixes of concrete prepared by Ordinary Portland Cement (O.P.C) and Portland limestone cement (IL) were investigated in this research. Water absorbent polymer balls (WAPB) are innovative module in producing building materials due to the internal curing which eliminates autogenous shrinkage, enhances the strength at early age, improve the durability, give higher compressive strength at early age, and reduce the effect of insufficient external curing. Polymer balls (WAPB) had been used in the mixes of thi
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