This study is carried out to investigate the prevalence of Coxiella burnetii (C. burnetii) infections in cattle using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting IS1111A transposase gene. A total of 130 lactating cows were randomly selected from different areas in Wasit province, Iraq and subjected to blood and milk sampling during the period extended between November 2018 and May 2019. ELISA and PCR tests revealed that 16.15% and 10% of the animals studied were respectively positive. Significant correlations (P<0.05) were detected between the positive results and clinical data. Two positive PCR products were analyzed phylogenetically, named as C. burnetii IQ-No.5 and C. burnetii IQ-No.6; and then recorded in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) under an accession numbers of MN473204.1 and MN473205.1. Comparative identity of the local strains with NCBI-BLAST strains/isolates revealed 97% similarity and 0.1-0.6% of total genetic mutations/changes. NCBI-BLAST Homology Sequence reported high significant identity (P<0.05) between the local, C. burnetii IQ-No.5 and C. burnetii IQ-No.6; strains and C. burnetii 3345937 (CP014354.1) Netherlands isolate at 99.10% and 99.06%, respectively. The current study concluded that the percentage of infected cows with coxiellosis is relatively high, and Coxiella should be listed as abortive pathogen. Therefore, additional studies should be performed including different animals, samples, and regions.
The present research deal with ecological and geographical distribution of species and genera of Primulaceae in Iraq. The results were revealed that species distributed in the north , north-east and west of Iraq. Anagallis arvensis L. is the most prevalent species tolerant to different environmental conditions, while the species of Primula L. characterized as less widespread and limited in one District. In addition, the districts Rawanduz (MRO) and Sulaymaniyah (MSU) have ranked first in distribution of the species on geographical districts with (75%), while the districts southern desert (DSD) and Basra (LBA) in last place with (16.7%). Maps for geographical distribution for all species were illustrated.
A significant increase in the incidence of non-O157 verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) infections have become a serious health issues, and this situation is worsening due to the dissemination of plasmid mediated multidrug-resistant microorganisms worldwide. This study aims to investigate the presence of plasmid-mediated verotoxin gene in non-O157 E. coli. Standard microbiological techniques identified a total of 137 E. coli isolates. The plasmid was detected by Perfectprep Plasmid Mini preparation kit. These isolates were subjected to disk diffusion assay, and plasmid curing with ethidium bromide treatment. The plasmid containing isolates were subjected to a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for investigating
... Show MoreThis article studies a comprehensive methods of edge detection and algorithms in digital images which is reflected a basic process in the field of image processing and analysis. The purpose of edge detection technique is discovering the borders that distinct diverse areas of an image, which donates to refining the understanding of the image contents and extracting structural information. The article starts by clarifying the idea of an edge and its importance in image analysis and studying the most noticeable edge detection methods utilized in this field, (e.g. Sobel, Prewitt, and Canny filters), besides other schemes based on distinguishing unexpected modifications in light intensity and color gradation. The research as well discuss
... Show MoreHuman skin detection, which usually performed before image processing, is the method of discovering skin-colored pixels and regions that may be of human faces or limbs in videos or photos. Many computer vision approaches have been developed for skin detection. A skin detector usually transforms a given pixel into a suitable color space and then uses a skin classifier to mark the pixel as a skin or a non-skin pixel. A skin classifier explains the decision boundary of the class of a skin color in the color space based on skin-colored pixels. The purpose of this research is to build a skin detection system that will distinguish between skin and non-skin pixels in colored still pictures. This performed by introducing a metric that measu
... Show MoreEye Detection is used in many applications like pattern recognition, biometric, surveillance system and many other systems. In this paper, a new method is presented to detect and extract the overall shape of one eye from image depending on two principles Helmholtz & Gestalt. According to the principle of perception by Helmholz, any observed geometric shape is perceptually "meaningful" if its repetition number is very small in image with random distribution. To achieve this goal, Gestalt Principle states that humans see things either through grouping its similar elements or recognize patterns. In general, according to Gestalt Principle, humans see things through genera
... Show MoreCommunity detection is useful for better understanding the structure of complex networks. It aids in the extraction of the required information from such networks and has a vital role in different fields that range from healthcare to regional geography, economics, human interactions, and mobility. The method for detecting the structure of communities involves the partitioning of complex networks into groups of nodes, with extensive connections within community and sparse connections with other communities. In the literature, two main measures, namely the Modularity (Q) and Normalized Mutual Information (NMI) have been used for evaluating the validation and quality of the detected community structures. Although many optimization algo
... Show MoreIn recent decades, the identification of faces with and without masks from visual data, such as video and still images, has become a captivating research subject. This is primarily due to the global spread of the Corona pandemic, which has altered the appearance of the world and necessitated the use of masks as a vital measure for epidemic prevention. Intellectual development based on artificial intelligence and computers plays a decisive role in the issue of epidemic safety, as the topic of facial recognition and identifying individuals who wear masks or not was most prominent in the introduction and in-depth education. This research proposes the creation of an advanced system capable of accurately identifying faces, both with and
... Show MoreIntroduction: Ostrich farming has emerged as a new livestock industry in Iraq, but scientists lack sufficient information on health concerns, including intestinal parasites that cause significant production losses and financial instability over extended periods. Methods: Researchers collected 150 fecal samples from ostriches that dwelled in central and southern Iraq for microscopic examination of intestinal parasite occurrence. Results: The six parasite species included Entamoeba sp., which made up 26.66% of the population, and Cryptosporidium sp. at 11.33%, Ascaridia galli at 10%, Giardia sp. at 4.6%, Raillietina sp. at 2%, and Trichostrongyl. Molecular analysis was performed on a subset of positive samples because Entamoeba sp. is
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