Leishmania parasites reproduce wherever there are cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, almost in macrophages. These are most copious in the liver and spleen;therefore, infection leads to an expansion of both of them. This study determined the burden of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) infection on liver and spleen. A total of 20 mice were infected peritoneally with 2x107promastigotes of Leishmania donovani / ml and other 12 mice left without infection as a healthy control. The weight of whole body, liver and spleen were measured and the histological development using hematoxylin and eosin stains were determined after 15, 30, 45-and 60-days post infection. The results represent that the mean weights of liver and spleen were increased in inf

Some biological aspects of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha have been studied at Al-Musayab thermal power plant ,sixty km. south west of Baghdad. Data collected during the period extended from November, 2002 to October, 2003 except for the month of April The population consisted of five age groups; O, I, II, III, and IV which have 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 annuli respectively. The study also proved the validity of annuli readings for age and growth determination. The average annual growth rates for age groups O,I, II, III, and IV were 5.7, 5.5, 5.4, 5.2 and 5.4 respectively. Average calculated length for laboratory reared mussel was 2.5 mm compared to 5.4 mm in natural environment. Correlation coefficients were very high between age an

The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project aims to establish a free geospatial database for the entire world which is editable by international volunteers. The OSM database contains a wide range of different types of geographical data and characteristics, including highways, buildings, and land use regions. The varying scientific backgrounds of the volunteers can affect the quality of the spatial data that is produced and shared on the internet as an OSM dataset. This study aims to compare the completeness and attribute accuracy of the OSM road networks with the data supplied by a digitizing process for areas in the Baghdad and Thi-Qar governorates. The analyses are primarily based on calculating the portion of the commission (extra road) and

The objective of this study is to evaluate the level of cytokines IL-1?, IL-10 and IL-17A in the serum of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD) and down syndrome (DS). The results showed that Serum level of IL-1? was significantly increased in AD patients (3.79 ± 0.26 pg/ml) as compared with DS patients (2.78 ± 0.39 pg/ml) or controls (2.78 ± 0.22 pg/ml), while no significant difference was observed between AD and VD (3.25 ± 0.20 pg/ml) patients or between VD patients, DS patients and controls. The serum level of IL-10 was approximated in VD and DS patients and controls (3.39 ± 0.24, 2.77 ± 0.39 and 3.41 ± 0.35 pg/ml, respectively), but was significantly (P ? 0.05) increased in AD patients (5.73 ± 0.55 pg/ml

Introduction: The stringent response is a bacterial adaptation mechanism triggered by stress conditions, including nutrient limitation. This response helps bacteria survive under harsh conditions, such as those encountered during infection. A key feature of the stringent response is the synthesis of the alarmone (p)ppGpp, which influences various bacterial phenotypes. In several bacterial species, stringent response activation significantly affects biofilm formation and maintenance. Methods: Clinical specimens were collected from multiple hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Staphylococcus aureus was identified using conventional biochemical tests. The PCR technique was applied to detect mecA, icaA, and icaD genes, while the Vitek 2 compac