The genus Latrodectus Walckenaer, 1805 (Araneae: Theridiidae) is a worldwide distribute genus (Graudins et al., 2001), it includes a group of species commonly referred to as widow spiders. It's considered a taxonomically complex genus as the status of several forms had not been properly evaluated and specific boundaries are not well defined or understood (Levi, 1959; 1967; Garb et al., 2001), therefore, in multiple cases, populations has been uncritically referred to as different taxa. Discriminating between Latrodectus species using morphology has always been problematic (Levi, 1983), it is difficult taxonomically and readily separated from members of other Theridiid genera (Mirshamsi, 2005). The Genus Asagena Sundevall, 1833 was revalidated by Wunderlich (2008), this genus was earlier considered as a junior synonym of Steatoda Sundevall, 1833. The information and knowledge about the widow spiders in Iraq are very limited; in general spider in Iraq was neglected and rarely studied until the last few years, recently the interest in studying of this group was increased because of the emergence of several cases of bites, which was supposed to be caused by black widow spiders, researchers have revealed the existence of three Latrodectus species in Iraq, L. scelio (Abdul-Rassoul et al., 2012), L. hasselti (Al-Hadlag and Najim, 2015), while Zamani and El-Hennawy (2016) rejected these two species from the list of Iraqi spiders fauna and attributed them to L. renivulvatus. The difficulties of diagnosis underlines the importance of molecular characters in creating a valid phylogeny for this genus, this study characterizes the first phylogenetic …
Rock failure during drilling is an important problem to be solved in petroleum technology. one of the most causes of rock failure is shale chemical interaction with drilling fluids. This interaction is changing the shale strength as well as its pore pressure relatively near the wellbore wall. In several oilfields in southern Iraq, drilling through the Tanuma formation is known as the most challenging operation due to its unstable behavior. Understanding the chemical reactions between shale and drilling fluid is determined by examining the features of shale and its behavior with drilling mud. Chemical interactions must be mitigated by the selection of suitable drilling mud with effective chemical additives. This study is describing t
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Background: Direct measurement of intracellular magnesium using erythrocytes has been suggested as a sensitive indicator for the estimation of body magnesium store. Marked depletion in plasma and erythrocyte magnesium levels was particularly evident in diabetic patients with advanced retinopathy and poor diabetic control. While insulin has been shown to stimulate erythrocyte magnesium uptake, hyperglycemia per se suppressed intracellular magnesium in normal human red cells.
Aim of the study: To investigate the erythrocyte magnesium level in Iraqi type I and II diabetic patients, with specific emphasis on the effect of both, metabolic control and the type of antidiabetic treatments.
Methods: Sixty two diabetic patients (7 with type
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Some biological aspects of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha have been studied at Al-Musayab thermal power plant ,sixty km. south west of Baghdad. Data collected during the period extended from November, 2002 to October, 2003 except for the month of April The population consisted of five age groups; O, I, II, III, and IV which have 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 annuli respectively. The study also proved the validity of annuli readings for age and growth determination. The average annual growth rates for age groups O,I, II, III, and IV were 5.7, 5.5, 5.4, 5.2 and 5.4 respectively. Average calculated length for laboratory reared mussel was 2.5 mm compared to 5.4 mm in natural environment. Correlation coefficients were very high between age an
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Since its first description as a cytotoxic agent, Olea europaea leaves extract gained significant popularity against human breast cancer, ethyl acetate extract of Olea europaea leaves obtained by acid hydrolysis method was evaluated in vitro as cytotoxic agent against new human breast cancer (AMJ13) cell line, using the MTT assay. One main pentacyclic triterpenoid; oleanolic acid, was isolated from leaves of Olea europaea by well-known two different methods, but not used for this compound before, the acidic hydrolysis method and basic acidic method. The presence of oleanolic acid was proved in both methods with qualitative and quantitative d
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Chronic inflammation can induce proliferative events and posttranslational DNA modifications in prostate tissue through oxidative stress. The present study was designed to evaluate the changes in serum levels of TNF-α, malomdialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant status (TAS) patients with different stages of malignant prostatic cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). One hundred males (age range of 58-72 years) with different stages of malignant PCa were recruited from the Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Teaching Hospital in Baghdad during the period from September 2010 to April 2011. The patients were categorized according to the 4 disease stages (I, II, III, and IV); 25 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
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The current study aimed to determine the morphometric and meristic characteristics of the North African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822). Six specimens of C. gariepinus were collected from the Tigris River, in central Iraq. This study is considered the confirmation first record of this species in Iraq, and the second documentation of this exotic fish. The present species is characterized by a very long dorsal fin, a rounded caudal fin and four pairs of barbels.
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The current study aimed to determine the morphometric and meristic characteristics of the North African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822). Six specimens of C. gariepinus were collected from the Tigris River, in central Iraq. This study is considered the confirmation first record of this species in Iraq, and the second documentation of this exotic fish. The present species is characterized by a very long dorsal fin, a rounded caudal fin and four pairs of barbels.
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Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an acute disease that affects the respiratory system which initially appeared in Wuhan, China. In Feb 2019 the sickness began to spread swiftly throughout the entire planet, causing significant health, social, and economic problems. Time series is an important statistical method used to study and analyze a particular phenomenon, identify its pattern and factors, and use it to predict future values. The main focus of the research is to shed light on the study of SARIMA, NARNN, and hybrid models, expecting that the series comprises both linear and non-linear compounds, and that the ARIMA model can deal with the linear component and the NARNN model can deal with the non-linear component. The models
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Oil pollution of the soil due to a leakage in oil tubes, transportation of products, or during oil excavations can change the soil physical and mechanical, chemical, and biological properties. Consequently, the soil may or may not be eligible for engineering construction projects and it may need a significant treatment. Therefore, it is required to have a better understanding of the general behavior and the corresponding geotechnical properties upon pollution particularly for those areas associated with oil explorations and industry like Thi-Qar Governorate. Fine and coarse soils from two sites at the University of Thi-Qar are artificially contaminated with oil products ranging from 0% to 10% of their dry weight. Testing programs have been
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