Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is problematic and still the leading cause of urinary tract infections worldwide. It is developed resistance against most antibiotics. The investigation, surveillance system, and efficient strategy will facilitate selecting an appropriate treatment that could control the bacterial distribution. The present study aims to investigate the epidemiology and associated risk factors of uropathogenic E. coli and to study their antibiotic resistance patterns. 1585 midstream urine specimens were collected from symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI) patients (225 males and 1360 females) admitted to Zakho emergency hospital, Zakho, Kurdistan Region, Iraq from January 2016 until the end of December 2018. Specimens were inoculated on blood and MacConkey plates and incubated at 37оC for 24 hours. Uropathogenic E. coli was diagnosed based on gram staining, colony characteristics, and standard biochemical tests in accordance with local standards and guidelines. All isolates were screened for their antibiogram pattern using the disk diffusion method based on the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. The results showed that out of 1585 urine specimens, 1026 (64.7%) were UTIs positive with a statistically higher rate in 2016 (83.6%) (P< 0.0001). The UTIs frequency in females was significantly higher than males (P< 0.0001). Generally, the uropathogenic E. coli represented 21.1% with the highest level in 2016 (22.9%). The uropathogenic E. coli rate was higher, statistically not significant, in females (21.4%) than males (18.5%) (P=0.4946). Additionally, through the three years of study, uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) was in high frequency in February and May 2016. The female’s age group from 20 to 39 years was the most vulnerable (46%) form total infected females, while those from 70-74 years (1%) were the least susceptible in males and females. A high percentage (80.56 %) of multidrug resistance E. coli isolates was observed with high resistance against -lactamase and macrolides antibiotics. However, higher sensitivity was towards imipenem and meropenem. In conclusion, the wrong and overuse of antibiotics will increase the resistance rate of E. coli. For this reason, proper use of available antibiotics is necessary. Also, the educational programs and periodic monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility are essential for reducing the antibiotic resistance rate.
The present study aimed to assess the potential impact of serum concentration of undercarboxylated osteocalcin (the active form of osteocalcin) and fibroblast growth factor-23 on the incidence of cardiovascular diseases in type 2 diabetics with carotid artery calcification and the possible association with metabolic changes in relation to glucose and minerals homeostasis.
This study included 52 men with carotid artery calcification type 2 diabetes mellitus. These patients were categorized; as follows: group A includes 30 patients who had cardiovascular disease and group B includes 22 patients who had no cardiovascular disease. These groups were compared with 25 apparently healthy control (Group C).
It has been shown
... Show MoreThe study objective was to conduct Pharmacoeconomics study (cost-effective analysis) between infliximab reference (Remicade) and its biosimilar (Remsima) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Iraqi hospitals.
This is a retrospective multicenter pharmacoeconomic analysis conducted at two large teaching governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq which provided infliximab to patients with RA. Data were collected from patient’s medical records and face-to-face interviews with the patients from December 2021 to April 2022.
The study included 57 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The patients were categorized into two groups according to the type of infliximab they received over 30 weeks: 27 patients received
... Show MoreIn this manuscript, the effect of substituting strontium with barium on the structural properties of Tl0.8Ni0.2Sr2-xBrxCa2Cu3O9-δcompound with x= 0, 0.2, 0.4, have been studied. Samples were prepared using solid state reaction technique, suitable oxides alternatives of Pb2O3, CaO, BaO and CuO with 99.99% purity as raw materials and then mixed. They were prepared in the form of discs with a diameter of 1.5 cm and a thickness of (0.2-0.3) cm under pressures 7 tons / cm2, and the samples were sintered at a constant temperature o
... Show MoreThis paper aimed to investigate the effect of the height-to-length ratio of unreinforced masonry (URM) walls when loaded by a vertical load. The finite element (FE) method was implemented for modeling and analysis of URM wall. In this paper, ABAQUS, FE software with implicit solver was used to model and analysis URM walls subjected to a vertical load. In order to ensure the validity of Detailed Micro Model (DMM) in predicting the behavior of URM walls under vertical load, the results of the proposed model are compared with experimental results. Load-displacement relationship of the proposed numerical model is found of a good agreement with that of the published experimental results. Evidence shows that load-displacement curve obtained fro
... Show MoreThe present study aimed to determine the serum sex hormone levels among Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) patients before and after 3 months of oral administration of 5-α reductase inhibitor(finasteride). Forty BPH patients and 40 healthy men from Amara city were involved in this study, their ages were between 40-59 year. They were all subjected to direct estimation of hormones by MinVidas method including Testosterone (T), Estradiol (E2), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), Luteinizing Hormone (LH), Prolactin (PRL), and Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) before and after 3 months of treatment with 5α-reductase inhibitor (finasteride) (the healthy individuals didn’t take finasteride).The results showed that T level was significantly lo
... Show MoreBackground: Blood group system and the ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) are the most studied traits in human genetics which have been extensively used in describing genetic variations among human populations around the world that may had an effect on dental caries. The aims of present study were to investigate the caries experience among students with different bitter taste threshold in relation to blood type. Materials and Methods: The sample of present study includes dental students female aged19-21 years. The diagnosis of dental caries was done according to the criteria of Manjia et al, 1989 recording decayed lesion by severity (D1-4) MFS. Furthermore, bitter taste sensitivity was measured according to PTC (phenylthiocarbamid
... Show MoreThe aim of this research is to construct a cognitive behavior program based on the theory of Meichenbaum in reducing the emotional sensitivity among Intermediate school students. To achieve the aims of the research, two hypotheses were formulated and the experimental design with equal groups was chosen. The population of research and its sample are determined. The test of negative emotional sensitivity, which is constructed by the researcher, was adopted. The test contains (20) items proved validity and reliability as a reliable test by presenting it to a group of arbitrators and experts in education and psychology. An educational program is constructed based on the theory of Meichenbaum. The test was applied to a sample of (60) second i
... Show MoreVisceral leishmaniasis(VL) or kala-azar is one of the world most neglected tropical diseases in mortality and fourth in morbidity, rK39 dipstick was used to diagnose the suspected infected patients as easiest and rapid technique for VL diagnostic, the disease out-coming required to the differentiation of cell mediated immunity either T-helper 1(Th-1) or (Th-2). One of main pointers that may be considered as one of immune evasion strategy in the host-parasite interplay is HLA-G level alteration. HLA-G Known as a special proteins (non-classical HLA class I) molecules which can suppress the immune system by T-cell functions impaired in the aid with target receptors as LILRB4. The development of the cell mediated immunity initiated with Interle
... Show MoreThe heavy metals Cd, Cu, Fe, pb, and Zn were determined in dissolved and particulate phases of the water,in addition to exchangeable and residual phases of the sediment and in the selected organs of the fish Cyprinus carpio collected from the Euphrates River near Al-Nassiriya city center south of Iraq during the summer period / 2009 .Also sediment texture and total organic carbon(TOC) were measured. Analysis emploing a flam Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometers . The mean regional concentrations of the heavy metals in dissolved (µg/l) and particulate phases (µg/gm) dry weight were Cd (0.15,16.13) ,Cu (0.59,24.48) ,Fe (726,909.4) ,Pb (0.20, 49.95) and Zn (2.5,35.62) respectively,and those for exchangeable and residual phases of the
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