Background: Legionella pneumophila (L. pneumophila) is gram-negative bacterium, which causes Legionnaires’ disease as well as Pontiac fever. Objective: To determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in pneumonic patients, to determine the clinical utility of diagnosing Legionella pneumonia by urinary antigen testing (LPUAT) in terms of sensitivity and specificity, to compares the results obtained from patients by urinary antigen test with q Real Time PCR (RT PCR) using serum samples and to determine the frequency of serogroup 1 and other serogroups of L. pneumophila. Methods: A total of 100 pneumonic patients (community acquired pneumonia) were enrolled in this study during a period between October 2016 to April 2017; 92 samples were collected from patients attended and admitted to Al-Imamein Al-Kadhimein Medical City and 8 samples from those in the (Center of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation) in the Medical City of Baghdad. All patients were under therapy with antibiotics. Serum and urine specimens were obtained from all patients; urine samples were processed for urinary antigen test (rapid test). Serum samples were collected and submitted to DNA extraction for detection of L. pneumophila mip gene by q RT PCR assay. Results: The percentage of L. pneumophila in two hospitals in Bagdad was 30%. Of these 26% was serogroup 1 detected by urinary antigen testing (UAT). In the other hand, 23% of samples were positive by q RT PCR based mip gene, of these 19 % were serogroup 1 and 4% were another serogroup. The sensitivity of UAT is high (P value < 0.001), which means statistically highly significance than q RT PCR. Conclusion: LPUAT is a rapid tool for early diagnosis of Legionella infection, which highlights the need of using this test in hospitals and health institutions and there is a high prevalence of L. pneumophila in Iraq that refer to the necessity of considering this microorganism point of view in future studies for detection and treatment in pneumonic patients. Keywords: L. pneumophila, mip gene, quantitative real time PCR, urinary antigen. Citation: Gauad SA, Abdulrahman TR, Muhamad AK, Jawad AA, Hassan JS. Clinical utility of urinary antigen test and molecular method for detection of Legionella pneumophila. Iraqi JMS. 2018; 16(2): 207-215. doi: 10.22578/IJMS.16.2.13
Earth dams are constructed mainly from soil. A homogenous earth dam is composed of only one material. The seepage through such dams is quite high. Upstream impervious blanket is one of the methods used to control seepage through the dam foundations. Bennet's method is one of the commonly used methods to design an impervious upstream blanket. Design charts are developed relating the length of blanket, total reservoir head, total base width of the dam (excluding downstream drainage), the coefficient of permeability of the blanket material, blanket thickness, foundation thickness, and coefficient of permeability of the foundation soil, based on the equations governing the Bennet's method for a homogenous earth dam with a blanket of uniform
... Show MoreEpilepsy is considered as one of the common neurological disorders.About 50 million persons have affected by epilepsy .Carbamazepine is one of the common drugs used by pregnant women with epilepsy. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of carbamazepine on the process of brain development during day 13 of pregnancy.Fifty pregnant albino mice have been used. They were divided into two groups. The control group that had been orally drenched with normal saline. The other group was treated group that had been given 15 mgKg of Carbamazepine orally. The fetuses have been collected after killing of the mice. Boun’s solution was selected as fixative. 5-8 µm thick sections from the fetuses were cut to be stained with hematoxyli
... Show MoreThe research aims to find a contemporary model in analyzing the reasons behind the delay of the investment plan projects suffered by the North Oil Company. This model is able to understand the environment surrounding the implementation of projects in the light of the changes facing the company at the present time, which in turn requires the need to identify the most important strengths and weaknesses Internal and external opportunities and threats using the SWOT matrix and identify the appropriate strategic alternative based on clear policy, strategies and programs to address weaknesses and look to the future prospects as the company can be stronger and more flexible environmental changes surrounding the reality of implementation
... Show MoreAccording to the circumstances experienced by our country which led to Occurrence of many crises that are the most important crisis is gaining fuel therefore , the theory of queue ( waiting line ) had been used to solve this crisis and as the relevance of this issue indirect and essential role in daily life .
This research aims to conduct a study of the distribution of gasoline station in (both sides AL – kharkh and AL Rusafa, for the purpose of reducing wasting time and services time through the criteria of the theory of queues and work to improve the efficiency of these stations by the other hand. we are working to reduce the cost of station and increase profits by reducing the active serv
... Show MoreThe research aims at conducting a follow-up evaluation of a number of strategic projects implemented by the Directorate of Public Municipalities, one of the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Municipalities and Public Works. The sample included (35) varied strategic projects implemented in most Iraqi governorates. Buildings, municipal buildings, minarets, massacres, multi-story parking, paving and rehabilitation of streets and residential neighborhoods. The difference between the actual and planned times and costs of these projects was then measured and analyzed. These projects were used as a tool for collecting data and information. The questionnaire included four axes, each representing one of the parties to the project, whi
... Show MoreThe construction sector consumes large amounts of energy during the lifetime of a building. This consumption starts with manufacturing and transferring building materials to the sites and demolishing this building after a long time of occupying it. The topic of energy conservation and finding the solution inside the building spaces become an important and urgent necessity. It is known that the roof is exposed to a high amount of thermal loads compared to other elements in a building envelope, so this needs some solutions and treatments to control the flow of the heat through them. These solutions and treatments may be achieved by using nanomaterials. Recently, nanomaterials have high properties, so that this made them go
... Show MoreThe smart city concept has attracted high research attention in recent years within diverse application domains, such as crime suspect identification, border security, transportation, aerospace, and so on. Specific focus has been on increased automation using data driven approaches, while leveraging remote sensing and real-time streaming of heterogenous data from various resources, including unmanned aerial vehicles, surveillance cameras, and low-earth-orbit satellites. One of the core challenges in exploitation of such high temporal data streams, specifically videos, is the trade-off between the quality of video streaming and limited transmission bandwidth. An optimal compromise is needed between video quality and subsequently, rec
... Show MoreCeruloplasmin (Cp) is one of the acute phase protein, in this review ,we studied the level of ceruloplasmin with copper (Cu) and iron in 90 patients with coronary heart diseas ( those patients are divided into three groups, whom are stable angina , unstable angina and myocardial infarction compared with 30 healthy volunteers) and the roles of them as diagnostic and prognostic tools.The diagnosis was attend by a clinical examination carried out by the consult medical staff in Ibn AL-Nafis hospital. The result: ceruloplasmin recorded a significantly(p<0.05)higher level in all patient groups compared with the control, so this result supports the hypothesis that a high serum ceruloplasmin level is a risk factor for coronary heart di
... Show MoreAsmari is the main productive reservoir in Abu Ghirab oilfield in the south-east part of Iraq. It has history production extends from 1976 up to now with several close periods. Recently, the reservoir suffers some problems in production, which are abstracted as water production rising with oil production declining in most wells. The water problem type of the field and wells is identified by using Chan's diagnostic plots (water oil ratio (WOR) and derivative water oil ratio (WOR') against time). The analytical results show that water problem is caused by the channeling due to high permeability zones, high water saturation zones, and faults or fracturing. The numerical approach is also used to study the water movement inside the reser
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