Journal of University of Babylon

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Piezoelectric nanocomposites are very important for many applications as a pressure sensors. Fabrication of (polyvinyl alcohol - polyvinyl pyrrolidinone -titanium carbide) nanocompos- ites and study their structural, electrical, dielectric and optical properties have been in- vestigated. The effect of adding the TiC nanoparticles on structural, electrical, dielectric and optical properties of polymeric blend has been studied. The results showed that the electrical conductivity of (PVA-PVP-TiC) nanocomposites is increasing with the increase of TiC nanoparticles concentrations at room temperature. The FTIR analysis showed there is no interactions between (PVA- PVP) polymer blend and TiC nanoparticles. The dielectric studies showed the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of nanocomposites increase with the increase of TiC nanoparticles concentrations and they decrease as frequency increased. The A.C electrical conductivity increases with the increase of TiC nanoparticles concentra- tions and frequency. The results of optical properties showed that the optical absorbance of (PVA- PVP) polymer blend increases with the increase of TiC nanoparticles concentrations. The optical constants change with increase in TiC nanoparticles concentrations. The piezo- electric application results of (PVA-PVP-TiC) nanocomposites showed that the electrical resistance of (PVA-PVP-TiC) nanocomposites decreases with an increase of the pressure which make it is suitable for piezoelectric applications or pressure sensors.

Background: Since its invention in the first quarter of the last century, diphtheria toxoid was successfully used for vaccination against diphtheria. However, sporadic case and even an epidemic have been recorded in many parts of the world, suggesting the presence of genetic factors influencing the immune response to this vaccine.
Aim: To assess the role of three single nucleotide polymorphisms(miRNA-146a G> C, miRNA-49 T> G and miRNA-196a2 C> T) in miRNA genes in immune response to diph- theria vaccine.
Subjects and Methods: This study recruited 68 children and adolescents who received three doses of diphtheria toxoid. DNA was isolated from the blood lymphocytes and miRNA- 146a,miRNA-149 and miRNA-196a2 genes were amplified, and then directly sequenced. Serum levels of anti-diphtheria toxoids IgG antibodies were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, and accordingly the immune response was categorized into good, moderate and low immunity .The association of different genotypes and alleles with immune status was illustrated statistically.
Results: Good immune response to diphtheria vaccine was significantly associated with the C allele of the polymorphism miRNA-146a G> C. Out of 14 carriers of GG geno- type,11(78.57%)showed good immunity compared to only 48.15% of GG carriers who had such immunity (P=0.039).The mutant allele of miR-149 T> G was more prevalent than wild type allele G among subjects with good immunity .However, the difference was insignificant
.Genotypes and allele frequencies of the SNP miR-196a2 C> T were very close in different immunological statuses.
Conclusion: The results of the current study suggest the significant role of miRNA-146a G> C gene polymorphism and the insignificant role of both miRNA-149 T>G and miRNA- 196a2 C>T gene polymorphisms in response to diphtheria toxoids vaccine. More studies are required to find out the associations of different polymorphisms in miRNA genes with immune response for different vaccines.

In the present work, nanocomposites of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), carboxymethyl cellu- lose (CMC) and lead oxide nanoparticles (PbO2) have been prepared to use for gamma ray shielding applications. The nanocomposites have been prepared by casting technique. The lead oxide nanoparticles were added to the mixture of (PVP 55 wt.% and CMC 45 wt.%) with different concentrations are (0,1.5,3 and 4.5) wt.%. The D.C electrical conductivity and optical properties of nanocomposites were studied. The experimental results showed that the D.C electrical conductivity increases with increase the lead oxide nanoparticles concentrations. The absorbance and optical constants increase with the increase of PbO2 concentrations but the energy band gap decreases with the increase of PbO2 concentrations. The results of (polyvinyl pyrrolidone, carboxymethyl cellulose and lead oxide nanoparticles) nanocomposites application for gamma ray shielding showed that the (PVP-CMC-PbO2) nanocomposite have high linear attenuation coefficients for Cs-137 gamma ray sources.

Background and objective: Low back pain (LBP) is an important clinical, social, economic, and public health problem affecting the population erratically and random. The aim of the study was to determine the factors associated with low back pain among patients attending physiotherapy department at Hawler teaching hospital in Erbil City.
Methods: the study was carried out from November 3rd, 2014 to November 3rd 2015.
The study involved of 100 cases diagnosed with low back pain in the physiotherapy depart- ment at Hawler teaching hospital subjects in control group are of the same age and gender of those in the experiment group , and 100 participants as a 100 as control group free from low back pain.
Result: Multiple logistic regression of risk factors of low back pain revealed that body mass index7.55 , non using lumbar support in sitting chair during work31.81, non-practice exercise 5.58, standing erect 34.836, sitting on a high backrest chair 27.986, sitting on a low backrest chair 65.167, drinking water per day 18.989, emotional stress 14.636 time have risky effect on low back affect low back pain respectively.
Conclusion: The study concluded that most of the participants in the study were employers and they perform different types of positions such as bending, squatting and sitting during work time, there were statistical significant association between body mass index, lifting heavy objects, driving and emotional stress with development of low back pain.

Background and objective: Mental health and patient safety is necessary in hospitals and health care settings .Nurses should know perception of patient safety in their field so patient safety includes everyone in all aspects of health care. Nurses understood patient safety as taking care of patient with psychiatric problems and maintain health through good treatment and respecting self-determination and avoiding coercion. The aims of this study were to assess the patient safety in Hawler psychiatry hospital/Erbil city and find out the association between demographic characteristics of the nurses and their roles regarding patient safety.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 33 nurses in Hawler psychiatry hospital/Erbil city. A questionnaire was designed for the purpose of the study. Data were collected through interview with nurses. Frequency and Chi-square test was used for data analysis.
Results: 45.5 % of participants were in the age group 38-50 years old. Majority (69.7%) of them were male, 78.8 % from urban areas, 42.4 % of them were Preparatory School of nursing graduated, had income was somehow sufficient (78.8 %), married (90.9%). The overall nurse practice regarding patient safety was 81.8 was moderate, the overall patient safety related to environment of psychiatric hospital as estimated 84.8 % was poor. Regarding overall nursing practice related to patient safety and socio-demographic data of nurses, there were statistically significant differences between level of education of nurses (p-value=0.007) and level of economic status of nurses (p-value= 0.005) with patient safety. Conclusion: The overall practice regarding patient safety was moderate, and the overall nurse practice regarding patient safety was poor in Hawler psychiatric hospital ,so continuous education the nurses regarding patients’ safety and provide all equipment’s that needed for
provide proper environment are necessary .

During a period of two months ((March and April, 2014), 16 clinical strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp. pneumoniae were isolated from urine samples of inpatients in the Martyr Gazi Al-Hariry hospital in Baghdad. Bacterial strains showed different degrees of sensitivity towards antibiotics, they were resist 100% to Ampicillin and 68.75% to Cefazolin. On the other hand 87.5% of those strains were sensitive to Imipenem, Ertapenem and Levofloxacin, 81.25% to Piperacillin/ Tazobbactam, 75% to Aoxicillin/ Clavulanic acid and Ampicillin/ Sulbactam, 68.75% to Nitrofurantoin, Ceftriaxon, Ceftazidime and Cefepime, 56.25% to Gentamicin, Tobramycin and Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole and 50% to Ciprofloxacin. Two strains were KPC-producing by phenotypic detection and genotyping detection was confirmed by PCR detection of blaKP C−1 gene in these two strains. Out of 16 strains 10 ( 62.5%) strains were positive (+) for slime production while 6(37.5%) strains were negative (-) for slime production. The K. pneumoniae ssp. pneumoniae strains showed different degrees of biofilm formation by tube method while results by microtitre plate method showed all strains were biofilm forming when compared with the OD of the control, strains number 12 and 14 achieved the highest biofilm thickness (OD: 1.134 and 1.019, respectively) followed by strains number 11, 4 and 16 gave moderate biofilm thickness (OD: 0.805, 0.791 and 0.773, respectively), and other strains showed weak biofilm thickness in comparison to control.
The inhibitory effect of four hot and cold watery plant extracts (Allium sativum, Adi- antum capillus-veneri ,Elettaria cardamomum and Zingiber officinale) was investigated and the results revealed that the OD of the K. pneumoniae ssp. pneumoniae biofilm was de- clined in comparison with the data of biofilm pretreatment with extracts (P<0.05). All four extracts had a significant effect (P<0.05) on biofilm of both K. pneumoniaessp. pneumoniae (KPC-producing strains). Hot watery extract ofAllium sativumwas the most effectivewatery plant extract on biofilm in comparison with other watery plant extracts used in this study (P<0.05).

Density function theory with LSDA/3-21G basis set is used to investigate the optimization parameters such as (angles and bonds) and some electronic properties include (cohesive energy, energy gap and lattice constant) of AlSb at nano diamantine and different size of(Linear, Ring, Diamantine and Tetramantine). The results of the present work show that the angles of AlSbH nano molecule in range (96,21-126.05 Å) are near to standard angle of diamond (109.47 Å). Therefore, it is found that the cohesive energy for molecules of studied in decrease state with increase size but the energy gap decreased in gradually shape from (5.2-2.1eV) with increase of the number of atoms, that typical is on the lattice constant. It is finally shown that the size molecules has direct effect on electronic properties to material studied that can used this material in different applications and according to the purpose asked for.

Background: THilnahyroid cancer is a cancer that starts in the thyroid gland and thought to be related to a number of environmental and genetic predisposing factors .Human Papil- loma Virus (HPV) the virus that causes cervical cancer ,is also linked to throat cancer and is one among their associated infective agents.
Objective: This study aimed at detecting DNA of HPV genotype-18 using in situ hybridization technique in thyroid tissues from benign thyroid hyperplasia and thyroid car- cinoma, and elucidate the association between this HPV-18 and thyroid carcinogenesis.
Patients and Methods: Sixty (60) formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded thyroid tissue blocks were obtained ,among them (30) tissue biopsies from thyroid carcinoma with grade I and (20) benign thyroid neoplasm tissue blocks as well as (10) autopsies from apparently normal thyroid tissues were collected from the archives of Forensic Medicine Institute / Babil and used as thyroid healthy control group. Detection of HPV-18 was done by using highly sensitive version of in situ hybridization technique.
Results: Among malignant thyroid tumors 56.7% patients had HPV-18 while 35% HPV- 18 positivity was detected in benign thyroid tumor group. None of healthy thyroid tissues revealed ISH reactions. There was 32.7% female had HPV-18, and 24% male had HPV-18. No significant statistical associations were noticed between the presence of HPV-18 and the age of those patients.
Conclusion: Human Papilloma virus genotype-18 could share a role in pathogenesis of this group of patients with thyroid cancers.

In the present work, nanocomposites of polyvinyl alcohol and alumina nanoparticles, have been prepared by casting technique. The alumina nanoparticles were added to polyvinyl alcohol with different concentrations are(0, 4, 8, 12 and16) wt.% .The electrical properties of nanocomposites were studied. The experimental results showed that the D.C electrical conductivity increases with increase the alumina nanoparticles concentrations and temperature. The activation energy of D.C electrical conductivity decreases with increase of alumina nanoparticle concentrations," and by find the samples by the microscopic photographs.

Background: Periodontitis (PD), the most common oral disease, is a destructive inflammatory disease of the teeth supporting tissues and is caused by group of specific microorganisms included: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythia, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetem-comedias and this condition is categorized by both destruction of connective tissue and alveolar bone due to a chronic inflammation. In periodontitis the clinical findings of bone resorption and the clinical attachment loss around the tooth are a result of inflammatory mediated alterations to remodeling balance of the bone.
Material and Method: The samples consist of 60 female participants, 30 were in healthy condition (not suffering from systemic disease and not taking any medication) and 30 with rheumatoid arthritis, with age between (40-45) years. Periodontal status of the two groups was assessed by measuring the probing pocket depth, periodontal attachment loss, plaque index, calculus index and gingival index and salivary sample were collected after subjecting all participants for saliva stimulation and measuring the salivary PH and flow rate for them.
Results: The rheumatoid arthritis(RA) group showed a highly significant difference in probing pocket depth(PPD), Plaque index(PI),gingival index(GI),calculus index(CAL.I) and loss of attachment(L.A) compared to Non-RA group, while there is significantly decrease in salivary flow rate among RA patients when compared to control groups and there is no significant difference in salivary PH between two groups.
Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidence of a highly significant relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and periodontal disease this may be due to the similar pathophysiology nature of both diseases.

The plantation of rubber tree in different countries throughout the world are expanded rapidly in areas that are not known before in planting such as these vegetation species. Estimating and mapping the distribution of rubber trees stand ages in these regions is very necessary to get better understanding of the effects of the changes of land cover on the Carbon and Water Cycle and also the productivity of the latex in different ages. Many remote sensing techniques that have been used to estimate the land cover / land use for mapping and monitoring the distribution of rubber trees growth based on different remote sensing classification algorithms (Maximum likelihood, SAM classification, Decision Tree and Mahalanobis Distance) with different types of data (Multispectral, Hyperspectral or statistical) by using many sensors

Heavy metals accumulated in plants influence human health. The objectives of the present study are to estimating heavy metals contamination in soil and rice plant (Oryza saghdtiva L.), in agricultural lands of Al-Mishkhab area and assessment the health risk for heavy metals in soil and plants. Transfer factors (TF) of heavy metals from soil to variuos parts of paddy plant and its health risk were detected. Concentrations of toxic heavy metals (Cd, Cr, As, and Pb) and the micronutrients (Cu,Mn Mo, Se and Zn) were detected in the paddy field soil and plant parts by Inductively coupled plasma – Mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique. Results displayed that Mn and Cd are found to be accumulated more in stem than in root. The concentrations of heavy metals were found to be within allowable worldwide limits for ordinary soils, except As, Cr, Mn and Ni which were higher than the amount of uncontaminated soil. whereas heavy metals in cultivated soil are higher than those in close uncultivated land soil expect; As, Cr and Mo. Transfer of Mn and Zn from roots to stem and from stem to grain were higher as their concentrations were higher in stem than that of roots and grains. Health Index (HIs) rates for seven metals (As,Cd,Cr,Cu,Ni,Pb,Zn) of rice consuming were 1.7627 for adults and 0.9159 for children propose their adverse health effects in the near futurity.

In this research stopping power was calculated theoretically by using Bohr and Bethe theories. Protons and Carbon stopping power were calculated in Cobait ,Lead by using Bragg’s Rule for compounds. The equations were programmed by using (MATLAB) language. The values of shell corrections, using kinetic theory of energy range (10-1000) MeV have been calculated. The calculations were compared with the practical results of the SRIM 2013 and there were some differences between practical and theoretical results .

A cross-sectional study of 138 married couples and their offspring was done in Babylon Province from the period between the first of February till the end of April 201 6 .
The parents; who were either consanguine or no consanguine, came from mixed urban and rural backgrounds. Socio -demographic and obstetric data were recorded. Neonatal data were extracted from the medical records of the labor and neonatal care wards. The incidence of congenital and birth defects was significantly higher for those born to consanguine parents especially for first cousin couples. The incidence of congenital abnormalities in newborns of all non-consanguineous parents was 7.1% as compared to 23.2 % for newborns of all consanguineous group. In addition prematurity, history of previous prenatal mortality, and low birth weight were more common in the consanguineous group.

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Meat has comprised a significant part of the human diets worldwide. Nevertheless, pollution is a great health risk to human health, especially the bioaccumulation of heavy metals from anthropogenic. The study examined the concentrations of cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), selenium (Se), nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) metals from imported meat of cattle, buffalo and lambs consumed in Erbil city by using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. The estimate of essential metals investigated in meat samples indicates that meat from cattle, buffalo and lamb was found to have significantly higher levels of heavy metals and the concentration of these metals except for copper, iron, selenium and mercury in cattle and lambs exceeded the permissible limits set by international standard. Therefore, people of Erbil governorate that consume imported red meat such as cattle and lamb are likely to be exposed to higher metal levels.

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Objective: Silica nanoparticles have been discovered to exert cytotoxicity in normal and cancerous human cells. Therefore, this study is aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of silica nanoparticle on some tumor cell lines.
Materials and Methods: Six concentrations (100,200,400,600,800, and1000 µg/ml) of silicon oxide SiO2nanoparticles (SONPs)with particle size 20-30 nm were prepared and their cytotoxic effect was tested on Hela, RD and ANM3 cancer cell lines as well as REF normal cell line as a control for 24 and 48 hr by using MTT assay to estimate the optical density (OD) of cell growth at wave length 500nm.
Results: All tumor cell lines (RD, HeLa, and AMN3) demonstrated significant inhibition in the cell growth index (GI%) after 24 and 48 hr exposure to all concentrations of SONPs, however the GI% of Ref cell showed non-significant change after both incubation periods of treatment. On the other hand, only RD cell line showed significant negative correlation (r=- 0.8178, P=0.047) between GI% and the concentration of SONPs after 24 hr exposure, while those HeLa, AMN3,and REF cell lines showed non-significant correlation whether after 24 hr or 48 hr of treatment.
Conclusion: The SONP per se at diameter 20-30 nm revealed significant cytotoxic effect based on MTT assay in different tumor cell lines, and the magnitude of their cytotoxic effect is dose-independent in the majority of cell lines which indicated that they are acting in cell type-dependent manner. Therefore, pathways by which SONPs induced their cytotoxic effect in tumor cells need further investigation.

In the present work, effect of addition AgNO3 on some optical properties of polystyrene has been studied. for that purpose, many samples has been prepared by adding AgNO3 on the polystyrene by different volume percentages from these salts with polymer and by different thickness.The absorption and transmission spectra has been recorded in the wavelength range (190-1100)nm. The absorption coefficient and energy gap of the indirect, allowed, forbidden transition have been determined.

In this work 1,2,4-triazole derivatives were synthesized from [4-(2-hydroxy naphthyl)diazenyl]benzoic acid [N1] then converted to [4-(2-hydroxy naphthyl)diazenyl] benzoate [N2] which reacted with thiosemicarbazide and then cyclization by using sodium hydroxide. Then different alkyl halides like (methyl iodide, allyl chloride, proprgyl chloride and benzyl chloride) were added to[4-(2-hydroxy naphthyl)diazenyl]-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol [N4] that led to alkylation of thiol to afforded compounds [N5] – [N8]. These compounds were characterized by the following techniques: FT-IR, and 1H , 13C NMR spectroscopies, and elemental analysis C.H.N.S. The physical properties of prepared compounds were studied.

In this work 1,2,4-triazole derivatives were synthesized from [4-(2-hydroxy naphthyl)diazenyl]benzoic acid [N1] then converted to [4-(2-hydroxy naphthyl)diazenyl] benzoate [N2] which reacted with thiosemicarbazide and then cyclization by using sodium hydroxide. Then different alkyl halides like (methyl iodide, allyl chloride, proprgyl chloride and benzyl chloride) were added to[4-(2-hydroxy naphthyl)diazenyl]-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thiol [N4] that led to alkylation of thiol to afforded compounds [N5] – [N8]. These compounds were characterized by the following techniques: FT-IR, and 1H , 13C NMR spectroscopies, and elemental analysis C.H.N.S. The physical properties of prepared compounds were studied.

One hundred (100) swabs were collected from women with vaginitis ,from the hospital of Babylon city and private clinics. All the samples were taken from married women from pregnancy. The age of patient (17– 40) years. The sample was collected by disposable swabs .These swabs stored in freezing until were used, DNA was extracted from these swabs. The DNA genomic standard is prepared for the 16 S r RNA gene after the using of nanodrop spectrophotometer ( ng / ml ) for detection agent causing vaginitis by polymerase chain reaction technique .The result appeared that Candida albicans was more common in 79.17% while Trichomonas in 22.92%, other causes were bacterial vaginosis. Also study the role of the infection agent with abortion, the result appeared that Megasphaera sp was high risk with abortion.

Purpose
To make a comparison between the primary implantation of the foldable hydrophilic acrylic and the polymethylmethacrylate intraocular lenses of pediatric cataract surgery that generally includes short term complications and visual results.
Methods
This clinical study includes 40 eyes of 31 consecutive patients who aged from 1 to 6 years complaining from unilateral or bilateral, congenital or developmental cataracts. Two kinds of IOLs, including foldable hydrophilic acrylic and PMMA were randomly implanted in the capsular bag during surgery. Primary posterior capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy were performed in all eyes. Patients were followed up for at least 1 year. Perioperative complications, visual results and refractive errors were compared between the study categories.
Results
In the study, regarding age, it was 3.2±1.8 years of the hydrophilic acrylic group and 3.7±1.3 years of the PMMA group. Regarding follow up mean period was 19.6±5 (12–28) months. Intraoperative complications don’t occurr in any group. Postoperative uveitis was observed in 2 (10%) eyes in the acrylic group patient versus 5 (25%) eyes in the PMMA group patient (P=0.40). Other postoperative complications include pigment deposition (30%), posterior synechiae formation (10%) and iridocorneal adhesions (10%), were observed only in the PMMA group. Visual outcomes in these groups study were good and comparable and the visual axis was completely clear
Conclusion
In pediatric eyes in whom lensectomy was doing with the primary posterior capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy, the comparison between the hydrophilicacrylic IOLs and PMMA IOLs was made including biocompatibility and visual axis. The observation was that hydrophilic acrylic IOLs is less frequent postoperative complications.

This work includes a theoretical study to the effect of different diffusion lengths of electron on the parameters of the single crystal silicon solar cell.
Different values of diffusion length of electron are used and by using electronic calculator programme in visual basic language. The results show increasing the parameters of single crystal silicon solar cell with increasing the diffusion length of electron and consequently calculating the theoretical efficiency of the cell, which varied between (13.352 - 30.076) %.
The relationship between values of the diffusion length of electron and the input parameters in calculating the cell efficiency has been drawing and then drawing the relationship between these diffusion lengths and the theoretical efficiency of this cell as well as noticing effect of other parameters on that efficiency and important notes and conclusions is achieved which can be summarized in two features:
Firstly: Improving the diffusion lengths in both the top surface and the back surface would reduce losses due to bulk and surface recombination velocities at the front and back surface and bring measured photocurrents closer to the idealized values.
Secondly: Using a base layer of a thickness smaller than the minority carrier diffusion length, which improve the collection efficiency of the solar cell.

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