Heavy metals concentration in the soils and sediments has increased worldwide during the last century as a result of the rapid increase in population which combined by an increase in human activity as agriculture,  industrial and many other activities. Ten soil and three river sediment samples were collected from 10 main sampling stations at Shatt Al-Hilla River from Sada area to Dora Bridge in Babylon province. The chemical analysis of the sedimentation sample in the laboratory included pH calculation, electrical conductivity (EC) (Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), organic matter (OM), and heavy metals as (Mn, Ni, Cr, Zn, Cu, Co, Pb, Cd, As and Fe). Indirect geochemical background (IGB) of heavy metal was calculated by the iterative

Clostridioides difficile is an emerging pathogen of One Health significance. Its highly variable genome contains mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as transposons and prophages that influence its biology. Systematic deletion of each genetic element is required to determine their precise role in C. difficile biology and contribution to the wider mobilome. Here, Tn5397 (21 kb) and ϕ027 (56 kb) were deleted from C. difficile 630 and R20291, respectively, using allele replacement facilitated by CRISPR-Cas9. The 630 Tn5397 deletant transferred PaLoc at the same frequency (1 × 10⁻⁷

Biodegradation is utilizing microorganisms to degrade materials into products that are safe for the
environment, such as carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. The current study aims to isolate and characterize
bacteria with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) degradation ability isolated from Shatt al-Arab water and
sewage from Basra, the bacteria were identified as Klebsiella pneumonia. According to the findings, the
isolates showed a highly significant difference in degradation of PET (24% during 7 days) and the percent of
degradation increased to 46% at 4 weeks compared to the control. The study also involved determining the
optimum temperature of K. pneumonia growth, which was 37°C, while the preferred

Concrete structures are exposed to aggressive environmental conditions that lead to corrosion of the embedded reinforcement and pre-stressing steel. Consequently, the safety of concrete structures may be compromised, and this requires a significant budgets to repair and maintain critical infrastructure. Prediction of structural safety can lead to significant reductions in maintenance costs by maximizing the impact of investments. The aim of this paper is to establish a framework to assess the reliability of existing post-tensioned concrete bridges. A time-dependent reliability analysis of an existing post-tensioned involving the assessment of Ynys-y-Gwas bridge has been presented in this study. The main cause of failure of this bridge was c

SARS-CoV-2 stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 which is the causative agent of spreading coronavirus disease 2019 that is known as COVID-19 pandemic, the disease leads to severe acute respiratory illness. Matrix metalloproteinases- 9 (MMP-9) plays several important physiological functions. This enzyme could also be implicated in the "cytokine storm" in some way, which may represent one of the possible scianrios during coronavirus infection, in addition to its role in the mechanism of lung fibrosis on molecular basis.. The tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMPs) are well characterized for controlling the activity of MMPs in extracellular matrix remodeling. They also considered as signaling molecules anal

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using different plant parts has shown a great potential in medicinal and industrial applications. In this study, AgNPs were in vitro green synthesized using A. graecorum, and its antifungal and antitumoractivities were investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image result indicated spherical shape of AgNPs with a size range of 22-36 nm indicated by using Image J program. The functional groups indicated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) represented the groups involved in the reduction of silver ion into nanoparticles. Alhagi graecorum AgNPs inhibited MCF-7 breast cancer cell line growth in increased concentration depend manner, significant differences shown at

Background: Mitral regurgitation (MR) is the most commonly encountered valve lesion in modern clinical practice. Severe mitral regurgitation may cause systolic dysfunction. Left ventricular ejection fraction may not be an accurate measurement of LV function in patients with mitral insufficiency. Myocardial performance index (MPI) is a simple non invasive measure of myocardial function. Methods: The study involved 50 patients with valvular mitral regurgitation and 50 healthy subjects as a control group. Transthoracic echocardiography was carried out for all patients and control group. The echocardiographic measurements included left ventricular end diastolic and end systolic dimensions, left atrial diameter, ejection fraction (EF), and myoca