Introduction: Candida spp. has become increasingly resistant to antifungal drugs, with elevated MIC levels causing a negative medical impact and increasing the number of patients at risk of candidiasis. According to the CDC, about 7% of Candida blood samples show reduced susceptibility to fluconazole. Monitoring the antifungal resistance profile of Candida spp. is vital, as non-Albicans species may limit treatment options. Objective: Evaluate the antifungal effectiveness against clinical Candida spp. isolates of six antifungals: amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, caspofungin, and 5-fluorocytosine. Methods: 100 samples were collected from various clinical samples at the National Centre of Teaching Laboratories in Baghdad, Iraq, from May to December 2023. The effectiveness of six antifungals (fluconazole (FLC), itraconazole (ITR), voriconazole (VRC), amphotericin B (AMB), caspofungin (CAS), and 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC)) was tested using the MA120 Automated ID and AST System (Render) according to CLSI standards. Results: Out of 100 isolates, nine Candida species were identified: C. albicans (54%), C. glabrata (20%), C. dubliniensis (10%), C. tropicalis (6%), C. krusei (5%), C. parapsilosis (2%), and C. rugosa, C. lusitaniae, and C. kyfer (each 1%). The non-susceptible rates to the six antifungals were: 5-FC (42%), FLC (21% intermediate, 9% resistant), AMB (11%), ITR (8%), VRC (6%), CAS (4% intermediate, 1% resistant). Conclusion: We observed increased resistance rates to 5-FC, FLC, ITR, AMB, and VRC, but not to caspofungin. C. albicans showed a high 5-FC non-WT phenotype (72%) with elevated MIC values, while C. glabrata had a 7% non-WT rate against AMB. C. tropicalis and C. parapsilosis revealed limited susceptibility to azoles
Background: Environmental chemicals are thought to
adversely affect human reproductive function.
Objective : To estimate the concentration of cadmium(Cd)
, lead ( Pb ) and Zinc ( Zn ) in serum and seminal plasma
among infertile men .
Methods: A sample of 70 infertile men was investigated.
The relationship of trace elements concentration in serum and
seminal plasma was studied in relation to sperm density,
motility and sperm count.
Results: Except for Zinc the concentration of (Pb) and (Cd)
were generally higher in serum than in seminal plasma. The
mean concentration of (Zn) in seminal plasma was more than
25 times higher than in serum There were no statistical
significant differences observed in the
Rice (Oryza sativa) is a fundamental food for the majority of world population. Cyclin Dependent Kinase -A (CDKA) accelerates transition through different stages of cell cycle and contributes in gametes formation. In the present investigation, a CDKA encoding gene along with the corresponding protein were characterized in O. sativa Indica Group, O. glaberrima, O. barthii, O. brachyantha, O. glumipatula, O. longistaminata, O. meridionalis, O. nivara, O. punctata and O. rufipogon using in silico analyses. The results reflected little variation in most species except O. longistaminata and O. brachyantha. Compared with the remaining species, O. longistaminata
... Show MoreSludge worm samples were collected from the Tigers River sediment during the period from November 2018 to June 2019 in Al Sarafiya District/ Baghdad- Iraq. Biometric morphological measurements focusing on the form of penis sheath and chaetal morphology were used for species identification, in addition to molecular analysis by amplification of conserved 18s rRNA encoding gene using ITS1 and ITS4 universal primers.According to the morphological measurement records, the results revealed the existence of Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri Claparede 1862, L. claparedeianus Ratzel, 1868 and L. cervix Brinkhurst 1963. Other two groups of specimens, with short penis sheath, were identified by molecular technology as L
Eimeriosis is a major problem affecting ruminants worldwide. The disease is primarily caused by Eimeria species, which are specialized for each host and grow in the small and large intestine of animals. The losses due to subclinical infections (especially weight loss) and clinical disease (diarrhea) make the species of this genus a very significant economic concern. Therefore, this study was conducted in some areas of Wasit Province. A total of 180 fecal samples from goats, of both sexes and covering different age groups and months, were collected. All fecal samples were examined microscopically, and 75 positive fecal samples were taken for molecular examination and further analyzed using conventional PCR, sequencing and phylogeneti
... Show MorePathogenic microorganisms from hospitals, communities, and the environment remain great threats to human health. The increasing concern about antibiotic resistance has also necessitated the search for robust alternatives. Therefore, this study aims to isolate, screen and evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from a soil sample taken from northern, western and eastern parts of Kelana Jaya Lake against four antibiotics (gentamycin, tetracycline, ampicillin, and penicillin) on a Mueller-Hinton Agar media plate. Pseudomonas identification was done by using API 20 kit. Disc diffusion was employed as well as the oxidase test. From the positive oxidase result, the isolated bacteria were identified as Burkhold
... Show MoreTwo groups of chronic hepatitis B and C virus patients were divided into Pre-treated patients (25 CHB patients with positive HBs Ag for more than 6 months and 40 CHC patients), and post-treated patients [12 CHB patients (4, 6, and 2 were treated with lamivudine, IFN-? and combination of LMV + IFN-? respectively), and 27 patients for CHC (3, 13 and 11 patients were treated with Ribavirin, IFN-? and combination therapy (RBV+ IFN-?) respectively].These patients were followed up for 6 months. By using ELISA technique, levels of IL-6, IL-10, IFN-? and TNF-? were measured in vivo and in vitro (supernatant of PBMCs stimulated with PHA) and compared with healthy control. The mean level of IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-? in CHB patients showed significant dif
... Show MoreThe natural ventilation in buildings is one of effective strategies for achieving energy efficiency in buildings by employing methods and ways of passive design, as well as its efficiency in providing high ranges of thermal comfort for occupants in buildings and raises their productivity. Because the concept of natural ventilation for many people confined to achieve through the windows and openings only, become necessary to provide this research to demonstrate the various passive design strategies for natural ventilation. Then, research problem: Insufficient knowledge about the importance and mechanism of the application of passive design strategies for natural ventilation in buildings. The research objective is: Analysis of passive desi
... Show MoreThe need for detection and investigation of the causes of pollution of the marshes and submit a statistical study evaluated accurately and submitted to the competent authorities and to achieve this goal was used to analyze the factorial analysis and then obtained the results from this analysis from a sample selected from marsh water pollutants which they were: (Electrical Conductivity: EC, Power of Hydrogen: PH, Temperature: T, Turbidity: TU, Total Dissolved Solids: TDS, Dissolved Oxygen: DO). The size of sample (44) sites has been withdrawn and examined in the laboratories of the Iraqi Ministry of Environment. By illustrating SPSS program) the results had been obtained. The most important recommendation was to increase the pumping of addit
... Show More
Abstract
Due to the lack of previous statistical study of the behavior of payments, specifically health insurance, which represents the largest proportion of payments in the general insurance companies in Iraq, this study was selected and applied in the Iraqi insurance company.
In order to find the convenient model representing the health insurance payments, we initially detected two probability models by using (Easy Fit) software:
First, a single Lognormal for the whole sample and the other is a Compound Weibull for the two Sub samples (small payments and large payments), and we focused on the compoun
... Show More