Monitoring lotic ecosystems is vital for addressing sustainability issues. The Al-Shamiyah River is the primary source of water for various daily activities in the Al-Shamiyah district. This study assessed the pollution levels of the river by measuring the concentration and distribution of heavy metals—specifically chromium, cadmium, manganese, copper, zinc, and lead—in both the river's water and sediments. The concentrations of heavy metals in the water ranged from 0.05 to 1.44µg/ L for copper (Cu), 1.57 to 7.25µg/ L for manganese (Mn), 0 to 1.7µg/ L for cadmium (Cd), 0.02 to 1.33µg/ L for lead (Pb), 0.08 to 2.74µg/ L for zinc (Zn), and 0.44 to 1.84µg/ L for chromium (Cr). In the particulate phase, the concentrations ranged from

Objective: 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-

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative autoimmune disease mediated by autoreactive T cells against myelin-basic proteins. Cytokines are suggested to play a role in the etiopathogenesis of the disease. Among these cytokines is interleukin-2 (IL-2). Aim of the study: To investigate the association between IL2+166 G/T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP: rs2069763) and MS in Iraqi patients. Serum level of IL-2 was also detected. Anti-rubella IgG antibody was further determined in the sera of patients. Patients and methods: Eighty MS patients (28 males and 52 females; age mean ± SD: 39.2 ± 16.1 years) and 80 healthy control matched patients for age (32.15 ± 16.13 years) and gender (28 males and 52 females) were en

Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are the two most important types of anemia in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Functional iron deficiency in ACD can be attributed to overexpression of the main iron regulatory hormone hepcidin leading to diversion of iron from the circulation into storage sites resulting in iron-restricted erythropoiesis. The aim is to investigate the role of circulating hepcidin and to uncover the frequency of IDA in RA. The study included 51 patients with RA. Complete blood counts, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, ferritin, and hepcidin- 25 were assessed. ACD was found in 37.3% of patients, IDA in 11.8%, and combined (ACD/IDA) in 17.6%. Serum hepcidin was higher in ACD than in con

     Staphylococcus haemolyticus is one of the most frequently isolated coagulase-negative staphylococci. The ability to form biofilm is considered as one of the most important virulence factors of coagulase negative staphylococci. There is only limited knowledge of the nature of S. haemolyticus biofilms. This study was aimed at evaluating the ability of S. haemolyticus strains to produce biofilm in the presence of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs). The biological synthesis of nanoparticles is an environmentally friendly approach for large-scale production of nanoparticles. Copper oxide nanoparticles were produced in the current study from the S. haemolyticus viable cell filtrate. UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffra

Nanoparticles (NPs) based techniques have shown great promises in all fields of science and industry. Nanofluid-flooding, as a replacement for water-flooding, has been suggested as an applicable application for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The subsequent presence of these NPs and its potential aggregations in the porous media; however, can dramatically intensify the complexity of subsequent CO2 storage projects in the depleted hydrocarbon reservoir. Typically, CO2 from major emitters is injected into the low-productivity oil reservoir for storage and incremental oil recovery, as the last EOR stage. In this work, An extensive serious of experiments have been conducted using a high-pressure temperature vessel to apply a wide range of CO2-pres

The enrollment of students in the university represents a new stage in their life that differ from the previous educational stages that student has previously established. It should be noted that students with special needs at the University of Baghdad are not large numbers. It appears that these students have an excel role in their colleges most often, That is, the handicap was not a barrier to their scientific progress, but rather an incentive for them to excel. The most important conclusion reached by the researcher is that the University of Baghdad had no role in caring for people with special needs and caring for them financially, socially, psychologically, healthily and economically, they need to pay attention to them and take care

Cinnamon plant is considered one of important medicinal plants because it is rich with many active compounds. This research is aimed to study possible effects of extract in culture media of Gardenia jasmenoides. Alcoholic extract was prepared from the bark of cinnamon at different concentrations (0.0, 1.0, 2.0) mg/L, then added to culture media to notice the effect of these concentrations on the growth and development of tissues and organs of Gardenia jasmenoides Ellis in vitro. Results showed the positive effect of increasing callus fresh weight and shoot proliferation from single nodes with presence of plant regulators, 5.0 mg/L Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 3.0 mg/L Benzyl adenine (BA). Results showed that extract has a slight eff

Cover crops (CC) improve soil quality, including soil microbial enzymatic activities and soil chemical parameters. Scientific studies conducted in research centers have shown positive effects of CC on soil enzymatic activities; however, studies conducted in farmer fields are lacking in the literature. The objective of this study was to quantify CC effects on soil microbial enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, and dehydrogenase) under a corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation. The study was conducted in 2016 and 2018 in Chariton County, Missouri, where CC were first established in 2012. All tested soil enzyme levels were significantly different between 2016 and 2018