Colibactin is a genotoxin produced by Enterobacteriaceae via a polyketide synthase (pks) island cluster. There is less knowledge regarding the distribution of colibactin genes in E. coli isolates in Iraq and its correlation with biofilm and antibiotic susceptibility. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the frequency of some colibactin genes (CIbA and CIbQ) in uropathogenic E. coli in Iraq and evaluate the correlation with biofilm and antimicrobial resistance. Between October 2023 and January 2024, 70 E. coli isolates were isolated from 120 females diagnosed with UTIs. Isolates were identified first by biochemical methods and confirmed molecularly by amplification of 16S rRNA gene with specific primers. PCR was employed to detect the CIbA and CIbQ genes. Biofilm production was assessed by the microtiter plates method, and antibiotic susceptibility was determined by the disc diffusion method. Results indicate a high prevalence of pks+ E. coli (40%, 28/70) compared to pks-E. coli (60%, 42/70) with non-significant differences (p > 0.05). E. coli produce different levels of biofilm with significant differences (p < 0.05). However, a statistically significant correlation has been found between E. coli (pks+) and a moderate biofilm formation with a significant difference (p < 0.05). pks+ E. coli isolates are more sensitive to all antibiotics under investigation, with a significant relation to fluoroquinolone group. Interestingly, current and previous results show that pks+ E. coli prevalence in Iraq has gradually increased over the last five years.
Colonialism radically transformed the cultures of colonized peoples, often rupturing Indigenous traditions and folklore. Whether creating colonial discourse, promoting orientalist literature, advocating western educational institutions, or through biased media representations, imperial powers systematically oppressed Indigenous and Native peoples. Subjugated communities, however, created, and still form postcolonial discourse from their knowledge systems. This discourse insists on Indigenous and Native culture as central to Indigenous and Native peoples identity. This study examines the postcolonial literature of three groups: Kānaka Maoli, African Americans, and Iraqis. The scope of this dissertation scrutinizes how folklore is employed
... Show MoreToxoplasmosis is regarded as one of the most important global life-threatening diseases in immune-compromised people. The intracellular protozoon Toxoplasma gondii is the causative pathogen of toxoplasmosis. Aim of this study is to investigate the possible association between T. gondii infection and breast cancer (BC) in Iraqi women, also to assess the effect of T. gondiion interleukin 10 (IL-10) of the immune response. By ELISA method, blood samples from 81 women with breast cancer and 60 apparently healthy women have been examined for presence of anti-toxoplasmaantibodies, also the levels of serum IL-10 were estimated in these subjects. Results showed that women with BC had the highest prevalence rate of toxoplasmosis. The anti- T.gondii
... Show MoreThe study aims at identifying the sources of information and explaining their role in e-learning from the viewpoint of the Iraqi college students. The researchers relied on the descriptive method of the survey method to collect data and know the point of view of undergraduate students from the Department of Information in the College of Arts / Tikrit University and the Department of Quranic Studies at the College of Arts / University of Baghdad. The questionnaire was used as an instrument of the study, the research sample is (120) students; each section has (60) male and female students. The study concluded that there are many types and forms of information sources that students receive through electronic educational platforms from text con
... Show MoreIn light of the corona pandemic, educational institutions have moved to learning and teaching via the Internet and e-learning ,and this is considered a turning point in course of higher education in Iraq in particular and education in general, which generated a great challenge for educational institutions to achieve the highest possible levels in practices and processes to reach the highest quality of their outputs from graduate students to the labor market that auditing performance by adopting e-learning standards is one of the effective tools that help the management of educational institutions by providing information on the ex
... Show MoreBackground: Non-nutritive sucking habits are common in infants and toddlers. One of the most common non-nutritive sucking habits is pacifier; its prevalence varies from one population to another. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of pacifier sucking habit among children aged 1-5 years old in Baghdad city and to assess its effect on the occlusion of primary dentition concerning posterior crossbite. Materials and methods: The study was carried out among 1222 children aged 1-5 years old, from which 50 children with continues pacifier sucking habit were chosen to be the study group, compared to 50 children without any sucking habit (control group) matching the study group in age and gender. Children were examined clinically t
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The research aimed to test the relationship between the size of investment allocations in the agricultural sector in Iraq and their determinants using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method compared to the Error Correction Model (ECM) approach. The time series data for the period from 1990 to 2021 was utilized. The analysis showed that the estimates obtained using the ECM were more accurate and significant than those obtained using the OLS method. Johansen's test indicated the presence of a long-term equilibrium relationship between the size of investment allocations and their determinants. The results of th
... Show MoreThis research was aimed to the purification and characterization of cytosine deaminase as a medically important enzyme from locally isolated Escherichia coli; then studying its cytotoxic anticancer effects against colon cancer cell line. Cytosine deaminase was subjected to three purification steps including precipitation with 90% ammonium sulfate saturation, ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose column, and gel filtration chromatography throughout Sephadex G-200 column. Specific activity of the purified enzyme was increased up to 9 U/mg with 12.85 folds of purification and 30.85% enzyme recovery. Characterization study of purified enzyme revealed that the molecular weight of cytosine deaminase produced by E. coli was about 48 KDa,
... Show MoreBackground: Poly cystic ovary syndrome is a common disorder in women of reproductive age, it is associated with disturbance of reproductive, endocrine and metabolic functions. The pathophysiology of PCOS appears to be multifactorial and polygenic. Leptin seems to play an important role in pathophysiology of PCOS especially in women with BMI ≥25kg/m2. Objectives: To assess leptin level in both PCOS and healthy women and explore the relation to their body weight and body mass index. Patient and Methods: A total of 120 women were enrolled in this study, 60 women (50%) had PCOS (study group) and the reminder 60 women (50%) were healthy women and considered as control group. BMI was calculated first. Both groups were further sub
... Show MoreThe literature shows conflicting outcomes, making it difficult to determine how e-learning affects the performance of students in higher education. The effect of e-learning was studied and data has been gathered with the utilization of a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods, especially in relation to students' academic achievements and perceptions in higher education, according to literature review that has been drawn from articles published in the past two decades (2000-2020). The development of a sense of community in the on-line environment has been identified to be one of the main difficulties in e-learning education across this whole review. In order to create an efficient online learning community, it could be claim
... Show MoreIn petroleum industry, the early knowledge of “pore pressure gradient” is the basis in well design and the extraction of these information is more direct when the pore pressure gradient is equal to normal gradient; however, this matter will be more complex if it deviate from that limit which is called “abnormal pore pressure”, if this variable does not put in consideration, then many drilling problems will occur might lead to entire hole loss. To estimate the pore pressure gradient there are several methods, in this study; Eaton method’s is selected to extract the underground pressure program using drilling data (normalized rate of penetration) and logs data (sonic and density log). The results shows that an abnormal high press
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