Background and objective: Viral Hepatitis Type B&C is serious public health challenge throughout the world.Hepatitis B and C viruses still remain to be the major causes of chronic hepatitis.It is estimated that around 350-400 million people in the world are chronic carriers of HBV, which represents approximately 7% of the total populationwhereas infection with HCV is found in approximately 3% of the world population, which represents 160 million people. Hepatitis B infection has a wide range of seroprevalence in the Mediterranean countries ranging from intermediate (=>2% ) to high prevalence ( =>7%). World Health Organization estimated a prevalence rate for HCV infection of about 4.6% in Eastern Mediterranean in 1999. During the eightieths years of the last century, Iraq was considered to be of intermediate endemicity with hepatitis B as reflected by 3% seroprevalence of HBsAg in normal population. Hepatitis C was found to be of low endemicity among blood donors 0.5%. There were no national wide epidemiological studies regarding the prevalence of hepatitis B&C accordingly we conduct this study to determine the prevalence of both types all over the Iraq. Methods: From the 1st of January 2005 to 31st of December 2006, a community based cross-sectional study was conducted all over Iraqi governorates. A total of 9610 persons, recruited by surveying a nationally representative random sample of households were analyzed. A stratified random sample proportional to size of each of the 18 Iraqi governorates, both urban and rural areas were included. Prevalence estimates were therefore weighted and age-adjusted. Five (5ml) of blood samples were taken from the study subjects, and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen, antibody to hepatitis B core antigen antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis C antibodies . Results: The national prevalence rate of HBs Ag was 1.6% and correlated positively with age. The prevalence rate of anti-HBs antibodies was 17%. The prevalence of anti-HBc was 9.7%. The prevalence of anti-HCV was low (0.4%). The prevalence rate of anti-HBs antibodies in <10 years children is only 32.2%, which raise the issue of incomplete coverage of hepatitis B vaccine during the years preceding the study years. Conclusion: The findings revealed that Iraq is of low prevalence with HBsAg.On the other hand,hepatitis C was found to be of very low prevalence. As a marker of exposure to hepatitis B, Anti HBcIgG was found to increase with age.
TNF-α-induced osteoclastogenesis is central to post-menopausal and inflammatory bone loss, however, the effect of phytoestrogens on TNF-α-induced bone resorption has not been studied. The phytoestrogens genistein, daidzein, and coumestrol directly suppressed TNF-α-induced osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption. TRAP positive osteoclast formation and resorption area were significantly reduced by genistein (10(-7) M), daidzein (10(-5) M), and coumestrol (10(-7) M), which was prevented by the estrogen antagonist ICI 182,780. TRAP expression in mature TNF-α-induced osteoclasts was also significantly reduced by these phytoestrogen concentrations. In addition, in the presence of ICI 182,780 genistein and coumestrol (10(-5) -10(-6) M) augmente
... Show MoreAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) represents the most prevalent type of acute leukemia in adults and is responsible for approximately 80% of all cases. The tumor suppressor gene (TP53) is a gene that has been frequently studied in cancer, and mutations in this gene account for about 50% of human cancers. This study aims to evaluate the correlation between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene: rs1042522 and rs1642785, and a group of Iraqi patients suffering from pre-diagnostic acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Blood samples were collected from sixty patients (26 males and 34 females) and sixty controls (26 males and 34 females); these subjects were matched in gender, age, and ethnicity. Genomic DNA has been extracted fro
... Show MoreAll major organs may be impacted by the connective disease systemic lupus erythematosus, a separate risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Adhesion molecules like intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM) and vascular cell adhesion molecules (VCAM) can detect endothelial damage and dysfunction, which appear to play a crucial role. This study investigated whether people with SLE had elevated subclinical and clinical atherosclerosis risk factors. Traditional CAD risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia cannot entirely explain this elevation. It is thought that immunological dysfunction also increases CAD risk in SLE patients. The study aimed to assess early endothelial changes in SLE Iraqi female patients w
... Show MoreAbstract Daily dressing changes cause distress and pain for victims of burn injuries. The study aimed to determine the effect of music in reducing the pain and anxiety of thermally burned children during routine dressing changes. This quantitative study employed a randomized controlled trial design. The participants comprised 80 children at the Specialized Burns Hospital, in Baghdad, Iraq who were divided into two groups. The intervention group were exposed to three generic musical pieces (children’s music, nature sounds, and classical music) for 10-15 minutes. The researchers used the Objective Pain Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and physiological parameters to measure the children’s responses immediately before the dressing cha
... Show MoreBackground: H1N1 influenza pandemic or swine flu was an influenza pandemic first described in Iraq in October 2009 .The virus appeared to be anew strain of H1N1 causes wide range of morbidity and mortality among different genders and age groups as part of worldwide pandemics.Seasonal flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year.
Objectives: Is to determine the morbidity and mortality in different age groups in patients with H1N1 influenza versus those patients with seasonal influenza who were admitted at the same time to AL-kindy
... Show MoreThe issue of the Circular Economy is not a new issue to several countries, especially the developed ones. Here in Iraq it is considered newly introduced, despite the few attempts to establish projects that concern recycling most of them were doomed to fail, due to two main reasons: the first one is the financial and administrative corruption widespread in all departments of the country, the second one is the priorities of public spending. It is well known that Iraq was subjected to two major attacks, the ISIS entry attack in 2014 to Iraq. ISIS occupied about a third of Iraqi lands which resulted in a collapse in oil prices, as Iraq depends almost entirely on oil revenues in its budget which is the second attack. This made the Iraqi governme
... Show MoreBackground Type two diabetes (T2DM) is characterized by insufficient insulin production and secretion. Additionally, the body develops insulin resistance which affects 90–95% of diabetics. Complex cytokines, receptors, genetic pathways, and the immune system are involved in T2DM. Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is one of the inflammatory cytokines associated with Type 2 diabetes. Environmental and genetic variables, including genetic polymorphisms, can increase T2DM risk and its consequences. Single nucleotide gene polymorphisms (SNPs) are important risk factors for diabetes that can be used to find the disease early and treat it better. Objective This study aimed to determine the levels of IL-18 in the serum of Iraqi patients with Type 2 diabetes
... Show MoreThe current paper aims to identify potential factors associated with employees’ intentions to leave information and communication technology companies in Iraq. There is evident variability in the literature regarding these factors; hence, a factor analysis approach was employed to identify these factors within the surveyed environment. Due to the difficulty in precisely delineating the size of the research population, a purposive sampling method was employed to reach an appropriate number of respondents within the aforementioned companies. A total of 288 employees responded to the survey conducted via Google Forms. The test results revealed the presence of five primary factors associated with employees’ intentions to leave, name
... Show MoreAbstract
The study aims to identify the extent to which the applied colleges at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences meet the comprehensive quality standards in light of the national education strategy for the 2040 Vision in the Sultanate of Oman. To do this, the researchers used the descriptive approach. They used a questionnaire as a tool for data collection that was applied to (237) administrators, academics, and support functions. The study found that the extent to which the applied colleges at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences meet the comprehensive quality standards in the light of the National Education Strategy 2040 in the Sultanate of Oman recorded a high range. The study als
... Show MoreA revised checklist of the robber fly genera (Diptera, Asilidae) was given during this study in Iraq. The investigation showed (21) genera belonging to seven subfamilies, two genera new recorded to entomofauna of Iraq (Promachus Loew, 1848 and Genus: Dysmacus Loew, 1860). Eight genera showed in this investigation and eleven genera were recorded previously to Iraq.