Background: Folic acid (vitamin B9) is one of the important vitamins that are necessary for growth and development of the embryo and preventing the occurrence of congenital malformations which are one of the important health problems in the developing countries and the world as it has a direct effect on the affected babies, their families and the community. It affects an estimated 3% of newborns worldwide.Periconceptional supplementation with folic acid (before conception and during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy) was found to decrease many important types of these anomalies. Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of periconceptional use of folic acid in pregnant women who are attending antenatal care unit in three Primary Health Care Centers in Baghdad / AL-Russafa side. Type of the study: Descriptive cross-sectional study Patients and Methods: The study used a convenient sample technique for pregnant women who are attending antenatal care unit in three primary health care centers in Baghdad/ALـRussafa at the period from January to April 2014. The sample size was 200. Non-pregnant women were excluded. Results: a large proportion (86%) of pregnant women who had been interviewed knew about folic acid. 61% of them gained the information about it from doctors and 44.5% know its importance in protection from congenital anomalies. Although there was a good practice regarding folic acid supplementation during the current pregnancy; only 10% of them had used it in the proper time (at least one month before pregnancy to the end of the first trimester). It has been found that the largest rate of its use was in the second month (28%), Still 22% of them realize that it must be taken before pregnancy. Conclusion: From 200 pregnant women interviewed in the current study, the majority knew about folic acid but nearly only half of them states its importance in protection from congenital anomalies. Most of the women usedfolic acid in the current pregnancy on a daily bases and take it as pure folic acid. Although some of the pregnant women were aware about the proper time of taking folic acid, only few took it before pregnancy. Doctors were the main source of information.
rop simulation models play a pivotal role in evaluating irrigation management strategies to improve water use in agriculture. The aim of this study is to verify the validity of the Aquacrop model of maize under the surface and sprinkler irrigation systems, and a cultivation system, borders and furrows, and for two varieties of Maze (Fajr and Drakma) At two different sites in Iraq, Babylon and Al-Qadisiyah governorates. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of the Aquacrop model in simulating canopy cover (CC), biomass (B), dry yield, harvest index (HI), and water productivity (WP). The results of RMSE, R2, MAE, d, NSE, CC, Pe indicated good results and high compatibility between measured and simulated values. The highest a
... Show MoreHelicobacter pylori (H. Pylori) is one of the most common infectious human pathogens. H. pylori could induce inflammation, that causes illnesses and disorders of upper gastrointestinal which including peptic ulcer diseases, dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux disease and gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. It is important to use a better tolerated and greatly effective eradication regimen. In this study, 75 newly diagnosed adult patients with H. pylori infection were included and completed the study, they were allocated into three groups with three different treatment regimens for H. pylori eradications; Group A (25 patients) received oral standard clarithromycin-based tr
... Show MoreThe settlement evaluation for the jet grouted columns (JGC) in soft soils is a problematic matter, because it is influenced by the number of aspects such as soil type, effect mixture between soil and grouting materials, nozzle energy, jet grouting, water flow rate, rotation and lifting speed. Most methods of design the jet-grouting column based on experience. In this study, a prototype single and group jet grouting models (single, 1*2, and 2*2) with the total length and diameter were (2000 and 150 mm) respectively and clear spacing (3D) has been constructed in soft clay and subjected to vertical axial loads. Furthermore, different theoretical methods have been used for the estimation
Commercial, industrial, and military activity, largely in the 19th and 20th centuries, have led to environmental pollution that can threaten human health and ecosystem function, liquid gas petroleum (LPG) products are the major sources of energy for industry and daily life that cause environmental contamination during various stages of production, transportation, refining and use. Screening of bacterial isolate by using clear zone techniques and biomass and optical density. Results revealed that isolate Burkholdaria cepatia showed a high ability for hydrocarbons biodegradation and this isolate identified depending on morphological cultural, gram stain, microscopic features, biochemical tests, and VITEK2 compact. In this study,
... Show MoreHigh-volume traffic with ultra-heavy axle loads combined with extremely hot weather conditions increases the propagation of rutting in flexible pavement road networks. Several studies suggested using nanomaterials in asphalt modification to delay the deterioration of asphalt pavement. The current work aims to improve the resistance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) to rutting by incorporating Nano Silica (NS) in specific concentrations. NS was blended into asphalt mixtures in concentrations of 2, 4, and 6% by weight of the binder. The behavior of asphalt mixtures subjected to aging was investigated at different stages (short-term and long-term aging). The performance characteristics of the asphalt mixtures were evaluated using the Marshall s
... Show MoreThe disposal of textile effluents to the surface water bodies represents the critical issue especially these effluents can have negative impacts on such bodies due to the presence of dyes in their composition. Biological remediation methods like constructed wetlands are more cost-effective and environmental friendly technique in comparison with traditional methods. The ability of vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands units for treating of simulated wastewater polluted with Congo red dye has been studied in this work. The units were packed with waterworks sludge bed that either be unplanted or planted with Phragmites australis and Typha domingensis. The efficacy of present units was evaluated by monitoring of DO, Temperature, COD
... Show MoreAbstract
Objective: the idea of this study to improve transdermal permeability of Methotrexate using eucalyptus oil, olive oil and peppermint oil as enhancers.
Method: eucalyptus oil (2% and 4%), peppermint oil (2% and 4%) and olive oil (2% and 4%) all used as natural enhancers to develop transdermal permeability of Methotrexate via gel formulation. The gel was subjected to many physiochemical properties tests. In-vitro release and permeability studies for the drug were done by Franz cell diffusion across synthetic membrane, kinetic model was studied via korsmeyer- peppas equation.
Result: the results demonstrate that safe, nonirritant or cause necrosis to rats' skin and stable till 60 days gel was successfully formulated.<