ABSTRACTBackground: In Iraq smoking is a common habit in both the urban and rural areas. There are many respiratory diseases like chronic bronchitis, bronchial carcinoma and emphysema which are related to chronic tobacco smoking.Objectives: To study the effect of tobacco smoking on the respiratory system, to establish a correlation between chronic tobacco smoking and its effects on the parameters which were studied and to create awareness in tobacco smokers about the effects of tobacco on their healthMethod: In this study 100 male subjects, 50 chronic smokers and 50 non- smokers were assessed for their pulmonary function tests by using a computerized spirometer.Results: Almost all their respiratory parameters were significantly reduced.

  Quantitative and qualitative composition of benthic invertebrate communities was studied during the period from January to December2012 at four stations that were selected on the Tigris River at Baghdad Province. One of the stations S2 located near Al-Rasheed Power Plant (RPP) to represent the ecological features of the plant site, whereas other stations, S1 were located at  the upstream of the RPP as a control station to investigate the ecological characters of the Tigris River.  Moreover, the two other stations S3 and S4 were located down to the impact of RPP to reflect the possible effects of the plant on the ecology of the river by comparison with the control stations. The present study recorded 44 taxa belong to 4 o

  The present study aims to give some details about the normal anatomical and histological structure of the liver, pancreas and gall bladder in Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 and Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi (Günther, 1874). Anatomical results revealed that the liver of C. carpio is a reddish-brown in color, located in the anterior part of abdominal cavity and dispersed between most of the intestines, which is divided into two lobes; while in M. sharpeyi the liver is light brown in color located in the anterior part of abdominal cavity and extends to the end of the intestinal tract with two lobs. The gallbladder situated in the right side of the liver in both species. Histological results in both species showed that the liver consists

Twenty four bacterial isolates were identified from (10) places for wandering sellers in south Baghdad city (Bayaa garage). They were Staphylococcus aureus (9 isolates), Bacillus subtilis (6 isolates), Salmonella spp. (4 isolates) and Psudomonas aeruginosa (5 isolates). Agar well diffusion method was used to definition sensitivity of the fresh and dried juice of Capsicum grossum L. and Allium cepal L. at different concentrations. The fresh juice had no inhibitory activity against the bacterial isolates in contrast to the fresh juice , dried juice which show marked activity against all bacterial isolates at (30) mg/ml.

The Current status of biomedical waste of solid, liquid and gaseous formulations from medical and educational laboratories in Iraqi universities and research centers was assessed using a well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to scientists, researchers, medical technicians and graduate students who are directly involved in laboratoiy daily activities. The responses were analyzed statistically and interpreted accordingly. The results showed diat the frequency of questionnaire respondent's affiliation gave the highest percentage frequency (69.4%) with the questionnaire of Technical Medical Institute/Al-Mansour while constitute die responses of the Dnig Control Department/Ministry of Sciences and Technology gave the l

Toxoplasma gondii is a unique intracellular parasite, which infect a large proportion of the world population, but uncommonly causes clinically significant disease. The present study was performed to estimate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in 400 apparently healthy blood donor males, their ages were between 18 and 57 years using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, and to examine the effects of infection on total testosterone, free testosterone and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) levels in their sera. Seroprevalence showed 10 (2.5 %) and 121 (30 %) of them had IgM and IgG antibodies respectively. Both acute and chronic toxoplasmosis in males recorded higher significant (P < 0.05) mean concentration for total and free testosterone hormone,

Back ground: Intestinal parasitic infections are among the most common infections world wide and are regarded as a serious public-health problem.
Methods: The study was carried out during the period from October 2008 to the end of January 2009 in five different markets of Baghdad. Six different type of vegetables were selected for this study including tomato, onion, cabbage, lettuce, carrot and pepper. The vegetables soaked for 10 minutes and washed in saline, centrifuged and the sediment examined for the presence of intestinal parasites. A total of 168 specimens of faeces were collected from vegetables handlers of the markets studied then, specimens were examined for the presence of intestinal parasites by the direct smear method and

Chickenpox is a viral disease caused by a virus called varicella zoster (VZ). Chickenpox cases were counted in Al-Dora city (southern Baghdad). Data of disease was obtained from the records of Bilat Al-Shuhadaa health center at the period from January to July 2012. Diagnosis of cases was achieved by the physicians of the health center. Studied risk factors were including the gender, address, school and age. Total of cases recorded was 73cases (66.9 per 100,000) populations for seven months. Males reported cases were 48 (65.7%) while female’s cases were 25(34.3%). The highest reported cases were signed in Al-Mhdia-1 sector (24.6%).Also highest reported cases were signed in Al-Mhdia primary school (17.8%). Most VZ cases were reported in

Background Epilepsy is one of the most widespread neurological illnesses in the world with a prevalence rate of 2.8–19.5 per 1000 of the general population, and it is more prevalent in childhood. The understanding of the teachers about epilepsy has a significant impact on the academic performance and social skills of schoolchildren with epilepsy. Aim of Study This study aimed to assess teachers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding epilepsy in schoolchildren and the association of certain studied variables with the level of schoolteachers’ knowledge, attitude, and practice. Subjects and Methods This was a cross-sectional study that included 402 participants and was conducted in Al-Rusafa/Baghdad during the period from November