Background: Lowering the amount of iodinated contrast material and tube voltage may increase pulmonary artery opacification and thrombus identification without compromising picture quality.

Objectives: To explore the efficiency of using lower tube voltage and a lower contrast medium dose for conducting computed tomography for pulmonary angiography (CTPA) aiming to increase its accuracy in detecting pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE).

Subjects and Methods:100 patients scheduled for CTPA with a preoperative diagnosis of PTE were grouped into two: group A, (50 patients) got 1 mL/kg at 120 kV and group B, (50 patients) received 0.5 mL/kg at 80 kV.The tec

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

     Urotensin-II (UII), a pluripotent vasoactive cyclic peptide, exhibits the progression of cardiovascular diseases and the glucose metabolic disorder of insulin resistance. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is entirely associated with insulin resistance. This study aimed to demonstrate the association of UII with insulin resistance in diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. A total of 73 male and female subjects aged 40-60 years were recruited in this case-control study. They included 35 non- diabetic subjects with a body mass index of (BMI) ≤ 25 and 38 patients with Diabetes Mellitus and BMI ≥ 25. UII levels were assessed beside other vasoactive and clinical parameters.     The results re

Moringa oleifera Lam. tree has often been considered a medicinal and economical plant for its nutritional and medicinal properties. This study is intended to use plant tissue culture and elicitation technologies to increase secondary metabolites in the callus cultures of the M. oleifera. Young nodal segments were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations of plant growth regulators (PGRs). A combination of 1.5 mg/l NAA plus 0.5 mg/l TDZ resulted in a high callusing rate (70%) with the largest size. Various concentrations of Salicylic acid (SA) and Methyl jasmonate (MeJa) were individually added to the growth medium to evaluate their impact on the biomass of callus cul

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death among type 2 diabetic patients. Higher levels of plasminogen activator urokinase receptor have been found to predict morbidity and mortality across acute and chronic diseases in the common populace. This study aims to explore the role of serum plasminogen activator urokinase receptor levels as a cardiometabolic risk factor among type 2 diabetic Iraqi patients. Methods: Seventy type 2 diabetic patients (40 male and 30 female) (mean age: 46.20±7.56 years) participated in this study; 35 patients were with cardiovascular disease and 35 were without cardiovascular disease; their ages range was 40-55 years. In addition, 30 individuals who apparently healthy were selected a

Despite extensive investigations, an effective treatment for sepsis remains elusive and a better understanding of the inflammatory response to infection is required to identify potential new targets for therapy. In this study we have used RNAi technology to show, for the first time, that the inducible lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 (LPCAT2) plays a key role in macrophage inflammatory gene expression in response to stimulation with bacterial ligands. Using siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that, in contrast to the constitutive LPCAT1, LPCAT2 is required for macrophage cytokine gene expression and release in response to TLR4 and TLR2 ligand stimulation but not for TLR-independent stimuli. In addition, cells transfe

      Cytokines and chemokines are small-secreted proteins involved in many aspects of cell development, differentiation, and activation functions. A prominent characteristic of these molecules is their effect on the immune system in relation to the development of cell trafficking and immune tissues and organs. Furthermore, they play an important role in initiating and coordinating the organized and sequential recruitment and activation of cells into Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected lungs. We aimed to evaluate the levels of interleukin -17 (IL-17) and the chemotactic chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5) in the sera of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. About 90 subjects were included, involving 5

     The objective of this research is to select the most suitable drilling location of new groundwater exploration wells, with a decision-making tool from Geographic Information System (GIS). The optimum location will be evaluated base on the hydro-geoelectrical parameter derived from Vertical Electrical Sound (VES) including Longitudinal Conductance, the thickness of the aquifer, the apparent resistivity and Transmissivity. From the Geo-electrical method (VES) the finds shows that the aquifers in the study area have Apparent Resistivity ranging from 0.32 to 40.24 Ωm, Thickness between 0.21 m to 15.06 m, Longitudinal Conductance ranging from 0.006 to 10.246Ω^-1 and Transmissivity ranging from 0.14 to

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of business environment on the relationship between Entrepreneurial Skills (ES) and business performance of Small Business (SB) in Iraq, Baghdad. This study aims to resolve the inconsistencies found in the contemporary literature regarding the relationship between ES and business performance. Questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale was adopted from previous work to ascertain the responses of the respondents. Survey research design was adopted, and self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data from small business owners in 9 districts in Baghdad the capital of Iraq. The analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23.0. The direct relationship and hierarchical regre