This study investigates the stomach morphology and histochemistry of Clarias gariepinus. Grossly, the stomach is a J-shaped organ with three distinct regions: cardiac, fundic, and pyloric. Histologically, its wall comprises four layers: mucosa, submucosa, muscularis externa, and serosa. The mucosa exhibits broad longitudinal folds lined by high columnar cells with basal oval nuclei. These cells contain apical mucosubstances that react positively with Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) stain and negatively with Alcian Blue (AB). Gastric pits result from mucosal invaginations. Glands are present in the fundic and cardiac regions but absent in the pyloric. Oxynticopeptic cells exclusively line the fundic glands. Enteroendocrine cells are distr

This study investigates the stomach morphology and histochemistry of Clarias gariepinus. Grossly, the stomach is a J-shaped organ with three distinct regions: cardiac, fundic, and pyloric. Histologically, its wall comprises four layers: mucosa, submucosa, muscularis externa, and serosa. The mucosa exhibits broad longitudinal folds lined by high columnar cells with basal oval nuclei. These cells contain apical mucosubstances that react positively with Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) stain and negatively with Alcian Blue (AB). Gastric pits result from mucosal invaginations. Glands are present in the fundic and cardiac regions but absent in the pyloric. Oxynticopeptic cells exclusively line the fundic glands. Enteroendocrine cells are distr

The monogenean Gyrodactylus bychowskianus Bogolepova, 1950 is recorded in the present study for the first time in Iraq from the gills of the cyprinid fish Arabibarbus grypus (Heckel, 1843); which was collected from the Tigris River at Al-Taji Beach north of Baghdad Province during the period from July until November 2018.

Background: CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking are among several risk factors for various types of cancers, but their influence on breast cancer remains controversial. We analyzed the possible association of CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking-related breast cancer in women from Iraq. Materials and methods: In this case-control study, gene polymorphism of CYP1A1 gene (CYP1A1m1, T6235C and CYP1A1m2, A4889G) of 199 histologically verified breast cancer patients' and 160 cancer-free control women's specimens were performed by using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: Three genotype frequencies (TT, TC, and CC) of CYP1A1m1T/C appeared in 16.1, 29.6, and 54.3% of women with breast cancer, respectiv

Several specimens of the avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta L. are found infected with
Himantocestus gigantivcus sp. nov. ( Cestoda , Diploposthidae) . This cestode is related to H.
blanksoni Ukoli 1965 but easily differentiated from it in having longer and wider strobila,
larger size of testes but lesser in number, cirrus situated in the middle of mature segment
histead of anterior third and slightly posterior to the middle in gravid segment instead of the
middle , ovary and vitelline gland are larger , and the uterus has more branches.

The present study reports Morchella conica Pers.1818, which belongs to the family, Morchellaceae as a new record of Iraqi macromycota based on the morphological and molecular methods. During their short and often sporadic fruiting season, this fungal species was found in mixed forest unburned areas in Branan ranges (Suliamaniya Province, Northeast Iraq). Currently, M. conica is the second Morchella species reported from Iraq. The current study aimed to introduce this new record, which is poorly studied in the Middle East. M. conica is morphologically described and phylogenetically confirmed. The relationship between this species and other species within the genus was studied using the nrDNA ITS sequences from different species and divers

Many stone tools were found on a hill south of the Hor Al-Dalmaj which is located in the central part of the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The types of rocks from which the studied stone tools were made are not found in the alluvial plain, because it consists of friable sand, silt, and clay. All existing sediments were precipitated in riverine environments such as point bar, over bank, and floodplain sediments. The collected stone tools were described with a magnifying glass (10 x) and a polarized microscope after they were thin sectioned. Microscopic analysis showed that these stone tools are made of sedimentary, volcanic igneous and metamorphic rocks, such as: sandstones, limestones, chert, con

Contracaecum rudolphii Hartwich, 1964 is a nematode which causes major concerns to human and wildlife animal’s health. However, the population genetics of C. rudolphii has been poorly studied in Iraq. In order to gain a deeper understanding in the outline of the genetic diversity of the nematode C. rudolphii that were isolated from its host cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758), in the middle areas of Iraq, twenty specimens of C. rudolphii adults were isolated from nine individuals of P. carbo. The first (ITS-1) internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of C. rudolphii were amplified using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR); then, the amplicons were subjected to sequencing. Concatenation of ITS