Background: Childhood meningitis is a major
cause of morbidity and mortality, Hemophilus
influenza b (Hib) is the most common cause in
many countries, especially below 5 years and
before the development of conjugated Hib vaccine,
it is followed by Streptococcus Pneumonia, and
then N. meningitides, in addition to other
microorganisms.
Objective: To identify the causative organisms
of bacterial meningitis and to identify the factors
predisposing significantly to the incidence of
bacterial meningitis.
Method: This cross sectional , study was done in
Al-Elwia Pediatric Hospital during the period 1st
of January 2007 to 30th of June 2007.Eighty four
patients with presumptive diagnosis of meningitis
were included in this study, from the age of 2
months -12 years, History about some risk factors
were taken in details. Analysis of cerebrospinal
Fluid (CSF) with Gram stains & cultures were
done in all cases.
Results: The number of cases of meningitis was
50 (20 proved meningitis & 30 partially treated
meningitis), while 34 patients are found to have no
meningitis.
Streptococcus pneumoniae was identified in
45%, Hemophilus Influenza b in 20%, while
Nisseria meningitides 5%, other organisms include
Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus,
Klebsiella, & salmonella.
Many factors affecting the occurrence of
bacterial meningitis & these include: age, sex,
residence, body weight and home overcrowding.
Conclusions: Streptococcus pneumoniae was
found to be the predominant microorganism
causing bacterial meningitis in children aged 2
months-12 years, followed by Hemophilus
influenza b, while N. meningitides were one of the
rare bacteria which had been identified. E. coli was
found to be the major cause in cases of ventriculoperitoneal
(VP) shunt meningitis.
Bacteria strain H8, which produces high amount of exopolysaccharide (EPS), was isolated from soil, and identified as strain of Azotobacter chrococcum by its biochemical /physiological characteristics, EPS was extracted, partially purified and used as bioflocculant. The biochemical analysis of the partially purified EPS revealed that it was an alginate. analysis of EPS by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) show that the -OH groups present in bioflocculant are clearly seen at 3433.06 cm-1, the peaks attributed to the -CH3 groups present at 2916.17 cm-1 , and some distinct peaks such as carboxyl group showed strong absorption bands at 1604.66 cm-1, 1411.80 cm-1 and 1303.79 cm-1 indicate the chemical structure of alginate. The effe
... Show MoreThe reinforced fiberglass in cement slurry reflects the effect on its properties compared to usual additives. Fiberglass is typically used in cement slurry design for one or another of the following goals: (Earth earthquake, bearing storage, and with differential stresses, to enhance cement durability and increase its compressive strength). The main goal is to use glass fiber and ground fiberglass to improve the tensile strength and moderate compressive strength significantly. On the other hand, the use of glass fibers led to a slight increase in the value of thickening time, which is a desirable effect. Eleven glass fiber samples and milled glass fiber were used to show these materials' effect on Iraqi cement with (0.125, 0.25, 0.5
... Show More
(2)
Cultivation of the green seaweed Enteromorpha compressa was performed under natural laboratory spring environmental conditions of temperature, light intensity and photoperiod to study the salinity tolerance of this intertidal green macroalga. Cultivation was carried out under artificial seawater (ASW) of different concentrations (18, 35, 53 and 106 g/l sea salt) compared to the control using natural seawater (NSW). Growth rate and pigment content of the cultivated alga were recorded at regular intervals during the experimental duration. Antioxidant activity of the crude ethanolic extract and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and acetone) was performed against DPPH radical scavenging assay and compared to
... Show More
(4)
(3)
(5)
(1)
The nuclear size radii, density distributions and elastic electron scattering charge form factors for Fluorine isotopes (17,19,20,24,26F) were studied using the radial wave functions (WF) of harmonic-oscillator (HO) potential and free mean field described by spherical Hankel functions (SHF) for the core and the valence parts, respectively for all aforementioned isotopes. The parameters for HO potential (size parameter ) and SHF were chosen to regenerate the available experimental size radii. It was found that using spherical Hankel functions in our work improved the calculated results quantities in comparison with empirical data.
(3)
(1)
General Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer affecting women, with increasing incidence worldwide. Specific Background: Recent research has focused on the role of epigenetic changes in DNA damage, repair mechanisms, and the potential therapeutic effects of probiotics. Probiotics have shown promise in promoting tissue regeneration and DNA repair. Knowledge Gap: However, the precise impact of probiotics on DNA repair in cancer cells, specifically breast cancer cells, remains underexplored. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of probiotics on DNA damage repair in AMJ13 Iraqi breast cancer cells and assess the cytotoxic effects of probiotics on these cells. Results: Using the comet assay, we found significan
... Show More
The aim of the research is to investigate the effect of cold plasma on the bacteria grown on texture of sesame paste in its normal particle and nano particle size. Starting by using the image segmentation process depending on the threshold method, it is used to get rid of the reflection of the glass slides on which the sesame samples are placed. The classification process implemented to separate the sesame paste texture from normal and abnormal texture. The abnormal texture appears when the bacteria has been grown on the sesame paste after being left for two days in the air, unsupervised k-mean classification process used to classify the infected region, the normal region and the treated region. The bacteria treated with cold plasma, t
... Show More
(9)
(4)
Several toxigenic cyanobacteria produce the cyanotoxin (microcystin). Being a health and environmental hazard, screening of water sources for the presence of microcystin is increasingly becoming a recommended environmental procedure in many countries of the world. This study was conducted to assess the ability of freshwater cyanobacterial species Westiellopsis prolifica to produce microcystins in Iraqi freshwaters via using molecular and immunological tools. The toxigenicity of W. prolifica was compared via laboratory experiments with other dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria isolated from the Tigris River: Microcystis aeruginosa, Chroococcus turigidus, Nostoc carneum, and Lyngbya sp. signifi
... Show More
(4)
Background: White spot lesions (WSLs) are subsurface enamel demineralization manifested as white opacities which had an esthetic problem. The purpose of this in-vitro study was to evaluate the lesion depth improvement of WSLs following application of fluoride varnish, tooth mousse and resin infiltration (ICON). Materials and methods: Artificial WSLs were created on 120 premolar teeth using demineralization solution with pH (4-4.5). Samples randomly allocated into four groups; fluoride varnish, tooth mousse, ICON and untreated group. Groups were discolored in Cola and orange juice for 24 hours. Teeth were ground sectioned by longitudinal cutting then these sections examined and photographed under stereomicroscope at 12X magnification then an
... Show More
(7)