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

Phytophagous stink bugs (Hemiptera, Pentatomidae) are economically important insect pests of fruit, vegetable, nut and field crops. This study was carried out during the season of 2013 in orchards within Erbil city, to follow the stink bug Mustha spinulosa (Lefebvre, 1831) seasonal fluctuation on some fruit trees: olive, plum, apricot, pear, apple and almond.
The stink bug reaches its maximum abundance throughout the second week of August (38.2/tree) coinciding with mean temperature and relative humidity of 33.40C and 28.14% respectively, and the highest total mean of the number of the insect was recorded on the olive trees (181.8/tree). The study reveals that the stink bug attacked 22 trees (fruit and forest) while it has not atta

In this work, an estimation of the key rate of measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocol in free space was performed. The examined free space links included satellite-earth downlink, uplink and intersatellite link. Various attenuation effects were considered such as diffraction, atmosphere, turbulence and the efficiency of the detection system. Two cases were tested: asymptotic case with infinite number of decoy states and one-decoy state case. The estimated key rate showed the possibility of applying MDI-QKD in earth-satellite and intersatellite links, offering longer single link distance to be covered.

Freshwater mussels are a guild of stationary, suspended-feeding species; they perform significant ecological functions like nitrogen cycling, bioturbation that gives oxygen and habitat that other creatures need to survive, and increasing water clearance by filtration. Knowledge of the freshwater mussel Unio tigridis Bourguignat, 1852, distribution, and molecular study in Iraq was inadequate. In the current study, this species of freshwater Mussels belonging to the family Unionidae was collected from different locations in the Greater Zab River, from April 2022 to November 2022. The average water temperature of the site was arranged between (17.8 to 36.1 C°). All previous studies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq were based on morphologic

In situ gel can be defined as a polymer solution administered as a liquid and when exposed to some physiologic condition such as thepH, ionic, temperature modulation or solvent and UV induced gelation undergo to phase transition to a semisolid gel. Ketotifenfumarate belongs to the histamine H1 receptor antagonists, and Ketotifen fumarate is used in the treatment of allergic conditions likeconjunctivitis and rhinitis. This work aims to study the natural polymer effects (xanthan gum,gellan gum) on the properties of pH-trigger in situ ocular gel, then compared the drug-releasing rate of optimized formula with the market ketotifen eye drop. Eightformulations (F1-F8) were prepared using different concentrations of xanthan gum, gellan gum with ca

T-cell activation and alteration of cytokine levels are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. However, the profile of circulating T-lymphocyte subsets and related cytokines during asthmatic attacks is still unclear. We compared the serum concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines Interleukine-18( IL-18) and Interleukine-12(IL-12), T-helper 2 (Th2) cytokine Interleukine-13(IL-13 ) and Immunoglobuline-E ( IgE) in 27 asthmatic children and 21 sex and age matched healthy control subjects. Serum cytokines and IgE concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum IL-13 , IL-18 and IgE concentrations were significantly higher in asthmatic patients than normal control subjects ( IL-13: median 9.73 versus 4.43 pg/ml, P&l

Water is a resource and a crucial aspect of living and surviving. In Iraq, the Tigris River is one of the most critical water sources. The present study aimed to provide an insight analysis of some water quality parameters including the microbial content of drinkable tap water and river water. Ten Water samples (T1- T10) in triplicate were collected from sampling sites -Site I (Tap water) from home water taps, supplied by the Water Filtration Station/ Al Karama Project/ Al-Karkh> 10 from Site II (R1- R10)River water from Tigris River (around or near the Water Filtration Station/ Al Karama Project) every week (from September to half of November 2022), then were immediately placed in sterile bottles and transported to Microbiolo