Baylisascaris procyonis is a helminth parasite of raccoons Procyon lotor and represents a health concern in paratenic hosts, including humans and diverse domestic and wildlife species. In North America the helminth is expanding its geographic range. To better understand patterns of infection in the Ozark region of the USA, raccoons (n = 61) were collected in 2013-2014 from five counties in Missouri and Arkansas, USA and necropsied. We documented B. procyonis in all surveyed locations. The overall prevalence of B. procyonis was 44.3 % (95 % CI = 31.9 - 57.4) and was significantly higher in females than males. There were also significant differences in prevalence among raccoons sampled north and south of the Missouri River. Mean intensity was 9.9 (CI = 5.44 - 17.22), and parasites were highly aggregated among hosts such that approximately 20 % of hosts harbor 90 % of parasites. These levels of parasitism indicate that B. procyonis is common in the region and its impacts on paratenic hosts could be qualitatively similar to effects observed in other localities.
Mechanical rock properties are essential to minimize many well problems during drilling and production operations. While these properties are crucial in designing optimum mud weights during drilling operations, they are also necessary to reduce the sanding risk during production operations. This study has been conducted on the Zubair sandstone reservoir, located in the south of Iraq. The primary purpose of this study is to develop a set of empirical correlations that can be used to estimate the mechanical rock properties of sandstone reservoirs. The correlations are established using laboratory (static) measurements and well logging (dynamic) data. The results support the evidence that porosity and sonic travel time are consistent i
... Show MoreThe presence and prevalence of V. cholerae were investigated in forty five water samples collected from different locations of Tiger River/ Baghdad city. Twenty one isolates were isolated by adopting a simple isolation techniques. The final identification revealed that only three isolates were confirmed as V. cholerae. They were named 1J, 1R and Dial 131 which are all serogrouped as non-O1. Toxin Coregulated Pili (TCP) and heat labile enterotoxin (LT) were determined in only the environmental isolate 1J while non of the isolates produced heat stabile toxin (ST). The purification scheme was improved, few steps were adopted to include back extraction of ammonium sulfate, saturation between 80-20%, desalting through Sephadex G25, and gel filt
... Show MoreRare earth metal oxides (REMOs) have gained considerable attention in recent years owing to their distinctive properties and potential applications in electronic devices and catalysts. Particularly, cerium dioxide (CeO2), also known as ceria, has emerged as an interesting material in a wide variety of industrial, technological, and medical applications. Ceria can be synthesized with various morphologies, including rods, cubes, wires, tubes, and spheres. This comprehensive review offers valuable perceptions into the crystal structure, fundamental properties, and reaction mechanisms that govern the well-established surface-assisted reactions over ceria. The activity, selectivity, and stability of ceria, either as a stand-alone catalyst or as
... Show MoreBiosorption is an effective method to remove toxic metals from wastewaters. In this study biosorption of lead and chromium ions from solution was studied using Citrobacter freundii and Citrobacter kosari isolated from industrial wastewater. The experimental results showed that optimum grwoth temperature for both bacteria is 30oC and the optimum pH is 7 &6 for C. freundii and C. kosari respectively. While the optimum incubation period to remove Pb and Cr for C. freundii and C. kosari is 4 days and 3days respectively. Also the biosorption of Pb and Cr in mixed culture of bacteria and mixed culture of Pb and Cr was investigated. Result indicate that uptake of Cr and Pb for C.freundii, C. kosari and in mixes culture of both bacteria is 58%, 53%
... Show MoreBackground: Few updated retrospective histopathological-based studies in Iraq evaluate a comprehensive spectrum of oro-maxillofacial lesions. Also, there was a need for a systematic way of categorizing the diseases and reporting results in codes according to the WHO classification that helps occupational health professionals in the clinical-epidemiological approach.
Objectives: to establish an electronic archiving database according to the ICD-10 that encompasses oro-maxillofacial lesions in Sulaimani city for the last 12 years, then to study the prevalence trend and correlation with clinicopathological parameters.
Subjects and Methods: A descri
... Show MoreNaturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) contaminated sites at Al-Rumaila Iraqi oil fields have been characterized as a part of soil remediation project. Activity of radium isotopes in contaminated soil have been determined using gamma spectrometer High Purity Germanium detector (HPGe) and found to be very high for Al-Markezia, Al-Qurainat degassing stations and storage area at Khadhir Almay region. The activity concentration of samples ranges from 6474.11±563.8 Bq/kg to 1232.5±60.9 Bq/kg with mean value of 3853.3 Bq/kg for 226Ra, 843.59±8.39 Bq/kg to 302.2±9.2 Bq/kg with mean value of 572.9 Bq/kg for 232Th and 294.31±18.56 Bq/kg to 156.64±18.1 Bq/kg with mean value of 225.5 for 40K. S
... Show MoreThe increasing demand for energy has encouraged the development of renewable resources and environmentally benign fuel such as biodiesel. In this study, ethyl fatty esters (EFEs), a major component of biodiesel fuel, were synthesized from soybean oil using sodium ethoxide as a catalyst. By-products were glycerol and difatty acyl urea (DFAU), which has biological characteristics, as antibiotics and antifungal medications. Both EFEs and DFAU have been characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The optimum conditions were studied as a function of reaction time, reactant molar ratios, catalyst percentage and the effect of organic solvents. The conversion ratio of soybea
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