Heavy metal (HM) pollution has long been a significant source of environmental deterioration and a problem for the safety of food. Iraqis prefer rice over any other food, and since heavy metals have a direct impact on health, their traces in rice have drawn particular attention. Before cooking rice, it is usual in Iraq to wash and soak it. Some 55 varieties of imported and local rice were sampled from Erbil city markets in 2022 with the aim of determining the concentration of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb before and after soaking. Standard procedure of acid digestions was applied on the raw and soaked samples. The solutions were analyzed using ICPE-9820 Shimadzu. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb (in mg/kg) in the rice samples before soaking was 0.655, 0.170, 0.160, 0.387, 0.489, respectively and after soaking 0.421, 0.109, 0.115, 0.124 and 0.336, respectively. The concentration of As and Pb was found to be beyond the optimum level of 0.2 mg/kg codex standards for rice; whereas Cd and Cr were within the proposed level of codex standards. Moreover, local rice showed higher concentration of (Cd and Cr), whereas (AS and Pb) concentration in imported rice was higher. Further, results validated that rice soaking can decrease levels of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb (32.5%, 40.2%, 27.9%, 61.6% and 31.3%, respectively). These findings suggest that soaking as a kitchen practice has efficiency to evaporate metals and has a great influence on the reduction of toxic heavy metals and thus reduces exposure to toxic metals in rice
The Evaluation of the immune response in Golden Hamsters experimentally infected with Leishmania donovani was determined in this study, particularly, the cellular immune response. Follow up has maintained to determine the Delayed Type of Hypersensitivity using skin test both in infected and control lab animals. Chicken red blood cells were used as a parameter to evaluate the immune system; they are dull and have the ability of immunization. Two concentrations of chicken R.B.C were examined to determine which gives the higher titration in Hamsters and those were 1.5 X 109 cell/ml and 3 X 109 cell/ml , the second concentration gave the maximum titration where then used in this work. After sensitization with Chicken R.B.C for both infected a
... Show MoreBackground: There is a significant molecular response to imatinib given at standard doses in individuals with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) whose ABCB1 polymorphisms are present. Objective: To investigate the impact of the polymorphism in the ABCB1 gene rs1128503 on the effectiveness of nilotinib or imatinib therapy. Methods: From May 2022 until the end of January 2023, the current study was carried out in a single research institution, the National Center of Hematology, Baghdad Teaching Hospital at Medical City, Iraq. 76 people with chronic phase myeloid leukemia (CML-CP), who had previously received a diagnosis using the European Leukemia Net (ELN) criteria, enrolled in the trial. The PCR product was delivered to Macrogen Corpora
... Show MoreBackground: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a genetically heterogeneous leukemia characterized by abnormal myeloid blast accumulation, disrupting normal hematopoiesis and leading to rapid progression. Objective: To investigate SNPs within the 3’UTR of the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha (CEBPA) gene and its association with AML in Iraqi patients. Methods: The study was carried out on 120 AML patients classified into newly diagnosed, induction chemotherapy, and consolidation chemotherapy stages (40 each), and 40 individuals as a control group. Genomic DNA was extracted from AML patients and controls, followed by PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing of the 3’UTR region of the CEBPA gene. The AML patients were characterized
... Show MoreThe study examines Julia Alvarez's role as a Dominican American author, poet, and essayist. Despite being born in New York City in 1950, she was raised in the Dominican Republic by a family with Dominican heritage. Her residence in her ancestral homeland significantly influenced her subsequent literary works. Upon her father's implication in a conspiracy against Dominican President, he departed from the Dominican Republic. Alvarez encountered the challenge of the English language. They were compelled to acquire proficiency in English due to the prevailing perception that anyone who spoke a language other than English were deemed "un-American" during that period. Alvarez recounted her initial encounters in the United States and the subseque
... Show MoreThe goal of the study is to discover the best model for forecasting the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar by analyzing time series using the Box Jenkis approach, which is one of the most significant subjects in the statistical sciences employed in the analysis. The exchange rate of the dollar is considered one of the most important determinants of the relative level of the health of the country's economy. It is considered the most watched, analyzed and manipulated measure by the government. There are factors affecting in determining the exchange rate, the most important of which are the amount of money, interest rate and local inflation global balance of payments. The data for the research that represents the exchange r
... Show MoreObjective: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of Vibriophage Universiti Sains Malaysia 8 (VPUSM 8), a bacteriophage that destroys bacteria, in managing the proliferation of Vibrio cholerae, specifically the El Tor serotype, as an alternate therapeutic strategy. Methods: The study entailed subjecting water samples from Kelantan, Malaysia, to reproduce the natural circumstances that promote the growth of V. cholerae. Subsequently, the samples were contaminated with the V. cholerae O1 El Tor Inaba strain and treated using VPUSM 8. The study employed a controlled experimental design, wherein the samples were divided into three groups, each experiencing different treatment methods. Quantifying the number of colony-
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to investigate the relationship between corticosterone hormone in the blood of local Iraqi white chicken mothers and the sexual ratio of the hatching chicks. A field experiment located at the Poultry Research Station, Livestock Department, Agricultural Research Department, Ministry of Agriculture for the period from 16 of September 2018 to 25 of December 2018. One hundred and forty birds of Iraqi local chicken mothers (100 females+ 40 males) at the age of 28 weeks were provided from the poultry research station. The birds were raised in individual cages and distributed sequentially to the cages after the numbering of the females. Data were recorded in three periods, each period was of 28 days, and then the general a
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