Background Several studies have addressed the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), among Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients in different countries, and the potential association between the infection and PD; the results of these studies were conflicting. The study aims to investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection among sample of Iraqi PD patients. Also, to examine the potential association of age, PD duration, gender, smoking habit, zone of residence and family history of PD, with the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in PD patients.

Patients and Methods Seventy-four PD patients attaining Dr. Saad Al-Witry Neuroscience Hospital in Baghdad/ Ir

Objectives To compare the clinical efficacy of microvascular decompression surgery (MVD) and gamma knife radiosurgery (GKR) as a treatment for patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and evaluate the outcome regarding pain relief, recurrence, and complications with both modalities of treatment. Patients and Methods A randomized prospective study conducted in SaadAlwitry Neurosciences Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. Eighty-four patients with TN from January 2016 to January 2018, 45 patients had GKR while 39 patients treated with MVD. The pain evaluated pre-and post-operatively using the Barrow Neurological Institute Pain Intensity scale (BNIPI), visual analog scale (VAS) and Brief Pain Inventory Facial (BPI-Facial) scoring systems. In GKR p

Bacteria strain H8, which produces high amount of exopolysaccharide (EPS), was isolated from soil, and identified as strain of Azotobacter chrococcum by its biochemical /physiological characteristics, EPS was extracted, partially purified and used as bioflocculant. The biochemical analysis of the partially purified EPS revealed that it was an alginate. analysis of EPS by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) show that the -OH groups present in bioflocculant are clearly seen at 3433.06 cm-1, the peaks attributed to the -CH3 groups present at 2916.17 cm-1 , and some distinct peaks such as carboxyl group showed strong absorption bands at 1604.66 cm-1, 1411.80 cm-1 and 1303.79 cm-1 indicate the chemical structure of alginate. The effe

Low grade crude palm oil (LGCPO) presents as an attractive option as feedstock for biodiesel production due to its low cost and non-competition with food resources. Typically, LGCPO contains high contents of free fatty acids (FFA), rendering it impossible in direct trans-esterification processes due to the saponification reaction. Esterification is the typical pre-treatment process to reduce the FFA content and to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The pre-treatment of LGCPO using two different acid catalysts, such as titanium oxysulphate sulphuric acid complex hydrate (TiOSH) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid dihydrate (5-SOCAH) was investigated for the first time in this study. The optimum conditions for the homogenous catalyst (5-SOCAH) wer

For this research, the utilisation of electrocoagulation (EC) toremove theciprofloxacin (CIP) and levofloxacin (LVX) from aqueous solutions was examined. The effective removal efficiencies are 93.47% for CIP and 88.00% for LVX, under optimum conditions. The adsorption isotherm models with suitable mechanisms were applied to determine the elimination of CIP and LVX utilizingtheEC method. Thefindingsshowed the adsorption of CIP and LVX on iron hydroxide flocs followed the Sips isotherm, with correlation coefficient values (R2) of 0.939 and 0.937. Threekinetic models were reviewed to determine the accurate CIP and LVX elimination methods using the EC method. The results showed that itfittedfor the second-order model, which indicated that the c

A new synthesis of Schiff (K) 6 and Mannich bases (Q) 7 had formed compound (Q) 7 by reacting compound (K) with N-methylaniline at the presence of formalin 35% to given Mannich base (Q). Additionally, new complexes were formed by reacting Schiff base (K) with metal salts CuCl2·2H2O, PdCl2·2H2O, and PtCl6·6H2O by 2:1 of M:L ratio. New ligands and their complexes were characterized, exanimated, and confirmed through several techniques, including FTIR, UV-visible, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR spectroscopy, CHN analysis, FAA, TG, molar conductivity, and magnetic susceptibility. These compounds and their complexes were screened against breast cancer cells. It was determined that several of these compounds had a significant anti-breast cancer effec

rop simulation models play a pivotal role in evaluating irrigation management strategies to improve water use in agriculture. The aim of this study is to verify the validity of the Aquacrop model of maize under the surface and sprinkler irrigation systems, and a cultivation system, borders and furrows, and for two varieties of Maze (Fajr and Drakma) At two different sites in Iraq, Babylon and Al-Qadisiyah governorates. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Aquacrop model in simulating canopy cover (CC), biomass (B), dry yield, harvest index (HI), and water productivity (WP). The results of RMSE, R2, MAE, d, NSE, CC, Pe indicated good results and high compatibility between measured and simulated values. The highest a

    Synthesis of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (A₁) is performed from the reaction of  o-aminothiophenol and carbon disulfide CS₂ in ethanol under basic condition. Compound (A₁)  is reacted with chloro acetyl chloride to give compound (A₂). Hydrazide acid compound (A₃) is obtained from the reaction of compound (A₂) with  hydrazine hydrate in ethanol under reflux in the presence of glacial acetic acid .The reaction of hydrazide acid compound (A₃) with ethyl acetoacetate gives pyrazole compound (A₄). The new hydrazone  compound (A₅) was prepared from the reaction of compound (A₃) with  benzaldehyde. Reaction of compound