The plants of genus Heliotropium L. (Boraginaceae) are well-known for containing the toxic metabolites called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in addition to the other secondary metabolites. Its spread in the Mediterranean area northwards to central and southern Europe, Asia, South Russia, Caucasia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and over lower Iraq, Western desert. The present study includes the preparation of various extracts from aerial parts of the Iraqi plant. Fractionation, screening the active constituent, and identification by chromatographic techniques were carried out.Heliotropium europaeum herbs were first defatted with n-hexane then extracted exhaustively by soxhlet apparatus using absolute methanol. The extract was filtered and the solvent was evaporated by applying a reduced pressure by a rotary evaporator. The residue suspended in distilled water and partitioned with chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol. The hydrolysis step was done for the two fractions (n-butanol and ethyl acetate). Phytochemical analysis for the screening and identification of bioactive substances of the Heliotropium europaeum plant was done for each fraction. The identification of n-butanol and ethyl acetate fractions was carried out by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and HPLC technique. For quantitive analysis, the concentration was calculated by serial concentrations of external standard materials to build a calibration curve between concentration and its equivalent peak area. The outcomes of this study were the identifications of new six phenolic compounds from H. europaeum ethyl acetate fraction, which exhibited wide biological activity. The identified compounds were kaempferol (1), Silybin (2), caffeic acid (3), Genistein (4), Apigenin (5), in addition to syringic acid (6). In the present study, we regard the first to report such results about the phenolic compounds in H. europaeum extract. A total of six discovered phenolics were identified in this extract for the first time. Our results on H. europaeum constituents provide a scientific base to examine the pharmacological effects of this plant in the future.
Oil pollution of the soil due to a leakage in oil tubes, transportation of products, or during oil excavations can change the soil physical and mechanical, chemical, and biological properties. Consequently, the soil may or may not be eligible for engineering construction projects and it may need a significant treatment. Therefore, it is required to have a better understanding of the general behavior and the corresponding geotechnical properties upon pollution particularly for those areas associated with oil explorations and industry like Thi-Qar Governorate. Fine and coarse soils from two sites at the University of Thi-Qar are artificially contaminated with oil products ranging from 0% to 10% of their dry weight. Testing programs have been
... Show MoreThe article presents the results of studying the conchological variability of the terrestrial mollusk Chondrulopsina fedtschenkoi (Ancey, 1886), known to occur in three regions of the Zaravshan Range (Central Asia): the Urgutsay Gorge, the vicinity of the Gissarak Reservoir and the Ingichka-Irmak Gorge. Conchological variability was determined based on statistical analysis. The climate of the three regions is different, and environmental factors have led to changes in the mollusk shell. The shells have changed in response to environmental factors, these are their adaptive traits for survival; the variability of conchological features is also reflected in the color of the shell, and the intensive development of the color of the shell in m
... Show MoreCodes of red, green, and blue data (RGB) extracted from a lab-fabricated colorimeter device were used to build a proposed classifier with the objective of classifying colors of objects based on defined categories of fundamental colors. Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors namely red, green, orange, yellow, pink, purple, blue, brown, grey, white, and black, were employed in machine learning (ML) by applying an artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm using Python. The classifier, which was based on the ANN algorithm, required a definition of the mentioned eleven colors in the form of RGB codes in order to acquire the capability of classification. The software's capacity to forecast the color of the code that belongs to an object under de
... Show MoreAbstract- Asymptomatic or clinically silent kidney stones are possibly serious because, in their expected passage, they may cause infection, obstruction and renal impairment. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of silent kidney stones in a sample of Baghdad population and consider how this value could affect the justification for a screening system. To our best knowledge, this is the first study of its kind conducted in Iraq. We investigated 714 consecutive patients who sustained an abdominal ultrasound at our hospital with further kidney screening. All these patients did not have clinical signs and symptoms of nephrolithiasis. Age, sex, the indication for ultrasound, the size, side, and the number of the disco
... Show MoreBackground: The scarce literature regarding oral hygiene attitude and periodontal awareness in Iraqi adults warranted the conduction of this study in order to provide a public profile and a baseline data for further researches. Aims of the study: assessing the oral hygiene attitude and periodontal awareness in a sample of Iraqi adults. Materials and Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 500 adults. Results: Out of the 500 questionnaires distributed, 482 were included in the study.92% of the sample practiced tooth brushing, 69% out of them reported a daily brushing pattern with variable frequency,69% of the sample did not receive oral hygiene education from any source ,more than half of the sample 60 % used the hori
... Show MoreBackground: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is one of the largest causes of mortality worldwide. Clopidogrel, antiplatelet drug, has been widely used for management of CAD. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of clopidogrel on the oxidative stress in CAD patients. Methods: One hundred CAD patients, who were followed-up for 5 days after receiving clopidogrel, and 50 healthy volunteers were included in this study. Parameters include catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidant capacity (TOC), total protein, albumin, and globulins were determined before and after treatment with clopidogrel. Results: CAT, TAC, and Tp were significantly decreased (P<0.0001) in CAD patients compared to healthy control and
... Show MoreThe present work is an attempt to develop design data for an Iraqi roof and wall constructions using the latest ASHRAE Radiant Time Series (RTS) cooling load calculation method. The work involves calculation of cooling load theoretically by introducing the design data for Iraq, and verifies the results experimentally by field measurements. Technical specifications of Iraqi construction materials are used to derive the conduction time factors that needed in RTS method calculations. Special software published by Oklahoma state university is used to extract the conduction factors according to the technical specifications of Iraqi construction materials. Good agreement between the average theoretical and measured cooli
... Show MoreBackground: Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitorsrestore nitric oxide (NO) signaling and may reducecirculating inflammatory markers, and improve metabolicparameters through a number of mechanisms. Dailyadministration of the PDE-5 inhibitor, tadalafil (TAD) mayattenuate inflammation; improve fasting plasma glucose andtriglyceride levels and body weight. This study aims toevaluate the efficacy of low dose PDE-5 inhibitor, tadalafil(TAD) in controlling dysglycemia and body weight in obesediabetic men.Methods: Forty obese men with type 2 diabetes aged 30-50years incorporated in this study, all with A1c of 7-8.5%,attending obesity unit in AL-Kindy college of medicine.Weight, height, BMI, FPG, A1c, cholesterol, TG, HDL andLDL measured for all
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