Background: Birth defects are the leading cause of both neonatal and post-neonatal deaths, as an estimated 240,000 neonates die in their first month of life worldwide each year. In Iraq, local studies have shown varying frequencies and types of congenital anomalies. Objectives: To provide new insight into the incidence and types of congenital anomalies and to explore their possible risk factors in Baghdad City. Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, a total of 2007 neonates were enrolled from six hospitals in Baghdad during the period extending between September and December 2020. Hospital records and personal interviews were used for data collection. These data included the neonates' demographic and clinical characteristics, maternal, pregnancy, and immediate postnatal conditions. Description of the defects in those with birth defects was recorded from hospital records and as described by the parents. Statistical analysis was performed as required. Results: There were 64 (3.2%) neonates with birth defects, i.e., an incidence of 32/1000 total births (28/1000 live births); of them, 38 (59.4%) were males, 8 (12.5%) were stillborn, 43 (66.2%) were born with a cesarean section, the majority (87.5%) had maternal age between 20 and 40 years, and 35 (54.6%) had a low birth weight and were statistically significant. In addition, reduced fetal movement, prematurity, and not receiving tonics during pregnancy were also statistically significant. Among the 64 births with congenital anomalies, multiple congenital anomalies were the most common defects [26 (40.6%)]. An isolated defect was detected in 38 (57.8%) of them. The predominant system involved was the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) [12 (18.8%)] cases, followed by the central nervous system (CNS) with 11 (17.2%) cases, and the musculoskeletal system (MS) with 6 (9.4%) cases. Conclusion: The incidence of birth defects in Baghdad is close to global figures at 28/1000 live births with multiple congenital anomalies, gastro-intestinal, central nervous, and musculoskeletal systems defects being the most frequent, while cardiovascular, genitourinary, and skin defects being the least frequent. Possible risk factors included maternal age, drug intake, and not receiving tonics during pregnancy.
The phytoremediation technique has become very efficient for treating soil contaminated with heavy metals. In this study, a pot experiment was conducted where the Dodonaea plant (known as hops) was grown, and soil previously contaminated with metals (Zn, Ni, Cd) was added at concentrations 100, 50, 0 mg·kg-1 for Ni and Zn, and at concentrations of 0, 5, 10 mg·kg-1 for cadmium. Irrigation was done within the limits of the field capacity of the soil. Cadmium, nickel and zinc was estimated in the soil to find out the capacity of plants to the absorption of heavy and contaminated metals by using bioconcentration factors (BCFs), bioaccumulation coefficient (BAC) and translocation factor (TF). Additionally, BCF values of both Ni and Zn were l
... Show MoreThe present work is to investigate the feasibility of removal vanadium (V) and nickel (Ni) from Iraqi heavy gas oil using activated bentonite. Different operating parameters such as the degree of bentonite activation, activated bentonite loading, and operating time was investigated on the effect of heavy metal removal efficiency. Experimental results of adsorption test show that Langmuir isotherm predicts well the experimental data and the maximum bentonite uptake of vanadium was 30 mg/g. The bentonite activated with 50 wt% H2SO4 shows a (75%) removal for both Ni and V. Results indicated that within approximately 5 hrs, the vanadium removal efficiencies were 33, 45, and 60% at vanadium loadings of 1
... Show MoreNew 1,2,4-triazole derivatives of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (MB) are reported. Ethyl (benzimidazole-2-yl thio) acetate (1) has been prepared by condensing 2-mercaptobenzimidazole with ethylchloroacetate. The ester (1) on reacting with hydrazine hydrate gave the corresponding acetohydrazide(2)which was reacted separately with phenylisocyanate and phenylisothiocyanate, followed by ring closure in an alkaline medium giving 3-[(benzimidazole-2-yl thio) methyl]-4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazole-5-ol and 3-[(benzimidazole-2-yl thio) methyl]-4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiol respectively (6,7). Reaction of acetohydrazide (2) with CS2 and ethanol/KOH, gave dithiocarbazate salt (8). Cyclization of (8) with hydrazine hydrate gave 3-[(benzimi
... Show MoreThe presence of alkaloids in Crassula ovata is a topic that is still unexplored, as there are no published studies on the matter. This study demonstrates the presence of an alkaloid compound (and its class) for the first time in Crassula ovata. The plant material was defatted with n-hexane, and a Soxhlet apparatus was used for the extraction process, while the acid-base method was used for the isolation of alkaloids from the chloroform fractions. The quaternary alkaloid was precipitated from the aqueous layer spontaneously, in high quantity. By using standard spectroscopic methods (including liquid chromatography - mass spectroscopy) we were able to clarify the structure of the precipi¬tated compound as a tetrahydroprotoberberine a
... Show MoreThe aim of this work was to prepare zeolite type 13X from locally available kaolin and to study the effects of using some binding materials through the process of agglomeration of this zeolite. This study was focused on using kaolin binder in different weight percents (10,15,25,35 and 45%).Physical and mechanical properties of the agglomerates such as porosity , apparent density , pore volume, crushing strength , loss on attrition , surface area and finally the adsorption capacity had been measured and evaluated .The preparation step was achieved by mixing the reactants consisting of metakaolin , source of silica as ( sodium trisilicate ) and sodium hydroxide . The conditions was temperature of 70° C and time of mixing as 8, 10,24,34,50
... Show MoreIn this work 2-hydrazino pyrimidine (1) was prepared from 2-mercapto pyrimidine with hydrazine hydrate. Treatment of (1) with active methylene compounds gave 2-(3,5-dimethyl -1 H – Pyrazole-1-yl) pyrimidine , whereas the reaction of (1) with carboxylic anhydride namely maleic anhydride or 1,2,3,6-tetra hydro phthalic anhydride yielded 1-Pyrimidine-2-yl-1,2-dihydro pyridazine-3,6-dione (3) and 2 – Pyrimidin -2-yl -2,3,4 a ,5,8 a – hexahydro phthalazine 1,4 – dione (4) . Reaction of (1) with phenyl isothiocyanate and ethyl chloro acetate afforded 3-Phenyl-1,3-thiazolidine-2,4-dione-2( pyrimidine -2- yl hydrazone (6) Azomethine (7-10) were prepared through condensation of (1) with aromatic aldehydes or ketones, then comp
... Show MoreThe synthesis of zeolite NaX from locally available kaolin has been studied. The operating conditions for zeolite NaX production from kaolin with good crystallinity were as follows; a gel formation step of metakaolin in alkaline medium in presence of additional silica to crystallize the zeolite was achieved at 60 oC for 1 hr,and with stirring. In ageing step of the reactants at room temperature for 5 days and crystallization step at 87±2 oC for 24 hr. The catalytic activity of catalyst prepared from local kaolin was studied by using cumene cracking as a model for catalytic cracking and compared with standard HY zeolite and HX zeolite catalysts. The activity test was carried out in a laboratory continuous flow unit with fixed bed re
... Show MorePublication and edition of two tablets from the library in the Ebabbar Temple of Sippar, a manuscript of the ‘Babylonian Poem of the Righteous Sufferer’ (
A large amount of thermal energy is generated from burning hazardous chemical wastes, and the temperature of the flue gases in hazardous waste incinerators reaches up to (1200 °C). The flue gases are cooled to (40°C) and are treated before emission. This thermal energy can be utilized to produce electrical power by designing a system suitable for dangerous flue gases in the future depending on the results of much research about using a proto-type small steam power plant that uses safe fuel to study and develop the electricity generation process with water tube boiler which is manufactured experimentally with theoretical development for some of its parts which are inefficient in experimental work. The studied system gen
... Show MoreThe objective of this study was to isolate and identify the asparaginase-producing bacteria, then purify and characterize the enzyme in order to investigate their properties in the future. Fifteen local bacterial isolates were isolated from various sites in the city of Baghdad, identified by conventional morphological and biochemical procedures, and confirmed using vitek 2 methods, and submitted to primary screening processes for asparaginase production. For secondary screening, eight isolates with the greatest yellow zone ability on a specific solid medium were chosen. Bacillus sp. was reported to have the highest enzyme production (7.5 U/mg proteins). After 24 hours of incubation, submerged fermentation yielded optimal conditi
... Show More