Objectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical hospital at Bagdad. The histological diagnosis had been revised, and all cases were stained by the immunohistochemical technique with HER2/NEU antibody and assessed independently by three pathologists.Results: Out of 42 cases, only two which represent 4.76% showed positive results manifested by a strong membranous staining when immunohistochemically evaluated using the same scoring system established for HER2/NEU in breast cancer. 14 cases (33.3%) showed incomplete membranous and five cases (11.9%) showed only cytoplasmic reaction patterns.Conclusion: The rate of expression of HER2/NEU in medulloblastoma among Iraqi patients is very low and found only in aggressive anaplastic histological type when immunohistochemically evaluated using the same scoring system established for HER2/NEU in breast cancer. However, a good number of negative cases showed cytoplasmic and incomplete membranous staining patterns highlighting the importance of establishing medulloblastoma - specific HER2/NEU scoring criteria and testing methods to discover the unique feature of expression of this therapeutic target in medulloblastoma.
Humanity is confronted with a growing array of environmental challenges that demand immediate attention and cannot be disregarded. One of the issues the world faces is air pollution, which presents a significant risk to both the environment and human well-being. The capitalist system has a great impact on the exacerbation of air pollution and environmental deterioration. This impact is reflected in Caryl Churchill’s post-apocalyptic play Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen (1971). The play presents a futuristic scenario in which humanity faces grave consequences due to the polluting practices of capitalism and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. It depicts a future in which environmental degradation drives people
... Show MoreA phytoremediation experiment was carried out with kerosene as a model for total petroleum hydrocarbons. A constructed wetland of barley was exposed to kerosene pollutants at varying concentrations (1, 2, and 3% v/v) in a subsurface flow (SSF) system. After a period of 42 days of exposure, it was found that the average ability to eliminate kerosene ranged from 56.5% to 61.2%, with the highest removal obtained at a kerosene concentration of 1% v/v. The analysis of kerosene at varying initial concentrations allowed the kinetics of kerosene to be fitted with the Grau model, which was closer than that with the zero order, first order, or second order kinetic models. The experimental study showed that the barley plant designed in a subsu
... Show MoreThis study involved the treatment of textile wastewater contaminated with direct blue 15 dye (DB15) using a heterogeneous photo-Fenton-like process. Bimetallic iron/copper nanoparticles loaded on bentonite clay were used as heterogeneous catalysts and prepared via liquid-phase reduction method using eucalyptus leaves extract (E-Fe/Cu@BNPs). Characterization methods were applied to resultant particles (NPs), including SEM, BET, and FTIR techniques. The prepared NPs were found with porous and spherical shapes with a specific surface area of particles was 28.589 m2/g. The effect of main parameters on the photo-Fenton-like degradation of DB15 was investigated through batch and continuous fixed-bed systems. In batch mode, pH, H2O2 dosage, DB15 c
... Show MoreThe Manganese doped zinc sulfide nanoparticles of the cubic zinc blende structure with the average crystallite size of about 3.56 nm were synthesized using a coprecipitation method using Thioglycolic Acid as an external capping agent for surface modification. The ZnS:Mn2+ nanoparticles of diameter 3.56 nm were manufactured through using inexpensive precursors in an efficient and eco-friendly way. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy are used to examine the structure, morphology and chemical composition of the nanoparticles. The antimicrobial activity of (ZnS:Mn2+) nanocrystals was investigated by measuring the diameter of inhibition zone using well diffusion mechanism
... Show MoreIn this study, the antimicrobial properties of newly synthesized Schiff bases (4a-4e) and thiazolidinone compounds (5a-5e) generated from 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid were assessed. These compounds were obtained by reacting 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (1) with ethanol in a few drops of concentrated H2SO4 to produce the ester (2). The acid hydrazide (3), which was produced by treating the ester with hydrazine hydrate, reacted with the proper aldehydes, including 4-bromobenzaldehyde, 4-chlorobenzaldehyde, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, respectively, to form Schiff bases (4a-4e). The thiazolidinone compounds (5a-5e) were produced by the cyclocondensation reaction of compounds (4a-4e) with thio
... Show MoreIn addition to the primary treatment, biological treatment is used to reduce inorganic and organic components in the wastewater. The separation of biomass from treated wastewater is usually important to meet the effluent disposal requirements, so the MBBR system has been one of the most important modern technologies that use plastic tankers to transport biomass with wastewater, which works in pure biofilm, at low concentrations of suspended solids. However, biological treatment has been developed using the active sludge mixing process with MBBR. Turbo4bio was established as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for wastewater treatment plants in the early 1990s and ran on minimal sludge, and is easy to maintain. This
... Show MoreThe ring modulator described in part I of this paper is designed here for two operating wavelengths 1550nm and 1310nm. For each wavelength, three structures are designed corresponding to three values of polymer slot widths (40, 50 and 60nm). The performance of these modulators are simulated using COMSOL software (version 4.3b) and the results are discussed and compared with theoretical predictions. The performance of intensity modulation/direct detection short range and long rang optical communication systems incorporating the designed modulators is simulated for 40 and 100Gb/s data rates using Optisystem software (version 12). The results reveal that an average energy per bit as low as 0.05fJ can be obtained when the 1550nm modulator is d
... Show MorePhytochemical Screening and Antibacterial Effect of Stevia Rebaudiana (Bertoni) Alcoholic Leaves Extract on Streptococcus Oralis (Dental Plaques Primary Colonizer), Manar Ibrahim