Tikrit Journal of Pure Science

Amoebic dysentery is a frequent infectious disease that is acquired by contaminated food and water carrying the infective stage of the parasite. Entamoeba histolytica is a parasite that has spread internationally as a generating growing illness and death in underdeveloped nations. The disease is considered more frequent in conditions were insufficient cleanliness and congested population is present. Although the first diagnostic methods of the parasite in infected patient is microscopy, it is not feasible to depend on this approach since it is not able to discriminate between amoebic forms that imitate this parasite. Thus, the requirement for a more advanced approach to offer accurate diagnosis of the parasite is important to represent the genuine frequency of the parasite. The present research includes the assessment of (220) fecal samples from children under (15 years) over the period of 1st December 2023 to 1st of February 2024. It involves microscopic inspection of fecal samples confirmation of diagnosis with two distinct Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay test (ELISA) that catch E. histolytica/disbar and E. histolytica alone. Also, microscopic positive samples were submitted to nucleic acid identification of E. histolytic by Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) The findings indicated that the proportion of microscopic positive samples were 93(42.27 %), with males representing (68.82 %) and females by (32.18 %). The most afflicted age group was between (1-5 years) with an infectivity rate (47.31 %). Most of the patients with amoebic dysentery (66.67 %) were dwelling in urban areas, while (33.33 %) were from rural areas. Regarding E. Histolytica /dispar stool antigen ELISA, this test was positive in (63.44 %) of a total of (93) microscopy positive specimens with sensitivity and specificity of (73.17 %) and (96.42 %) correspondingly. On the other hand, E. Histolytica specific ELISA test was positive in (25.81 %) out of (93) microscopy positive fecal samples with a sensitivity and specificity of (69.28 %) and (97.91 %), respectively. As far as RT-PCR is involved, E. histolytica nucleic acid was positive in (20.44 %) out of (93) microscopy positive fecal samples. In conclusion, microscopy positive Entamoeba complex is a crude mean of detection of Entamoeba complex and diagnosis and should always be validated using better means like ELISA or PCR.

The study involved collecting drinking water samples from Kirkuk Teaching Hospital (A) and the Hospital of Pediatrics (B), with three sampling sites in each hospital. Sampling occurred once a month from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM, starting from September 2022 until January 2023. The biological examination involved culturing blood agar and Mannitol salt agar to detect Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, but none were found. Instead, other bacteria appeared, which were not the focus of our study. These included three types: Kocuria rosea, Kocuria rhizophila, Kocuria kristinae, Alloiococcus otitidis, and Serratia marcescens. Physicochemical tests conducted included temperature (T), pH value (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), and total dissolved solids (TDS). Temperature and pH levels were within the natural range recommended by the World Health Organization. However, the biochemical oxygen demand was very high in both hospitals, and total dissolved solids were within the natural range at Kirkuk Teaching Hospital (A) but were elevated at the Hospital of Pediatrics (B) in September only.

The hlyA gene in Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria codes for the protein hemolysin, which is a toxin produced by these bacteria and contributes to their ability to cause disease. Hemolysin is part of the bacteria\'s mechanism to increase their harmful effect by lysis red blood cells releasing hemoglobin. This toxin creates holes in the host cell membrane, leading to leakage of cell components and eventual death. The main objective of the current study is to investigate the presence and gene expression of hemolysin toxin genes in E. coli isolates from clinical infection cases, including samples from urinary tract infection and diarrhea from patients in Tikrit city, using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique. The study was carried out on 50 isolates, divided into 20 isolates from urinary tract infections, 20 isolates from diarrhea cases and 10 isolates as control samples (stool samples from healthy people without diarrhea). The overall prevalence of hemolysin in E. coli isolates was 18 out of 40 (45 %). The occurrence of hemolysin-producing E. coli isolates detected by RT-PCR was 10 out of 20 (50 %) in urinary tract infection samples and 8 out of 20 (40 %) in diarrhea samples. The production of the hemolysin toxin by E. coli isolates varies depending on the type of sample. The results also showed that the gene expression level of hemolysin gene was higher in cases of urinary tract infections compared to cases of diarrhea, with the gene expression level being (Mean folding = 5.933) in urinary tract infection cases, while it was (Mean folding = 3.712) in diarrhea cases, with significant differences at a probability level of (P value ≤ 0.05). The results showed that the prevalence of the gene responsible for the secretion of hemolysin toxins by E. coli is higher in cases of urinary tract infection (UTIs) than in cases of diarrhea. and the gene expression level of the hlyA gene showed a significant increase in cases of urinary tract infections compared to cases of diarrhea.

One kind of autoimmune thyroid disease is Hashimoto\'s thyroiditis (HT), which is more frequent in women than in males. The purpose of our study was to demonstrate any possible variations in vitamin D levels between ladies with HT and healthy women.
METHODS: Fifty healthy Individuals (HI) and fifty HT patients made up the research group of 100 volunteers. Anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPO-Ab) and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (Tg-Ab) levels were used to diagnose HT. The amounts of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxin (fT4), free triiodothyronine (fT3) and Vitamin D (Vit-D) were also assessed.
RESULTS: In comparison to the HI, the patients\' levels of anti-TPO, anti-TG and TSH were considerably greater, with an overall decrease in vitamin D levels in the three categories Vit-D < 20 (Deficiency), Vit-D 20–30 (Insufficiency) and Vit-D > 30 (Sufficiency). Furthermore, there was a significant increase in anti-TPO levels in patients compared to HI in all categories. This study also found a significant positive association between the anti-TPO and TSH levels in HT patients whose serum vitamin D level was more than 30 and a negative correlation between the levels of TSH and fT3 in HT patients whose serum vitamin D level was less than 20.
CONCLUSIONS: A lower 25(OH)D level is seen in HT patients, and TSH is a separate risk factor for HT. Additionally, a significant increase in anti-TPO levels was observed overall and in the categories (deficient, insufficient, and sufficient) in women with HT.

A seasonal taxonomic study was conducted of Attached Cyanophyceae algae on biological treatment pond in Dura refinery at Baghdad city for three seasons (Summer, Autum 2020, Winter 2021). The current study recorded (41 species) belonging to (13 Genus) of attached Cyanophyceae algae, including three Orders: Oscillatoriales were the dominant group (4genus, 16 species), followed by Chroococcales (5 genus, 15 species), and Nostocales (4 genus, 10 species). Cyanophyceae are characterized by ability to live, grow and reproduce in a wide range of environmental changes and pollution levels especially industrial waste. Cyanophyceae can be revived in the pond as it has the ability to break down petroleum and organic compounds

Blastocystis hominis is a single-celled parasite found in the human gastrointestinal tract. Information about treatment options indicates that successful anti-parasitic eradication of this parasite is yet to be straightforward. Furthermore, the parasite has demonstrated some resistance to metronidazole. To evaluate the anti-Blastocystis effect of Tamarindus indica in vitro among patients who visit Kirkuk hospitals. Between September 2023 and March 2024, a total of (300) stool samples, including (224) patients who were referred to the Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit in Kirkuk Teaching Hospital and private laboratories complaining of abdominal pain and diarrhea and (76) healthy individual’s control. The study included (134) males and (166) females; their ages ranged (from 5 to 70 years). Stool samples were examined by direct microscopic examination using double wet preparation, cultured on Modified Boeck and Drbohlav's medium, then tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using Blastocystis copro-antigen ELISA kit, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted, followed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The susceptibility of (36) Blastocystis hominis (B. hominis) isolates was tested for Tamarindus indica (T. indica) using the broth macrodilution method. The Tamarindus was diluted two-fold dilution to obtain concentrations of (0.5-1042 µg/mL) and added to the broth. The detection rate of Blastocystis was (100 %) using PCR-RFLP, followed by culture (90 %). Tamarindus indica's aqueous extract demonstrated anti-Blastocystis hominis activity with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging within (4-512 µg/mL). Following (72 hours) of incubation, the parasite counts were completely eliminated at a concentration of (4 µg/mL) of the T. indica aqueous extracts. Our study revealed the potential anti-parasitic effect of T. indica aqueous extract at a concentration of (4 µg /mL) in the growth inhibition of B. hominis, and it could be a source of new anti-parasitic agents.

In this study, the porosity measurement of fourteen outcrop samples from different locations is examined using an in-house vacuum chamber. The vacuum chamber is tested for any leak to secure the experiment's integrity. To meet the process development required, part of the samples was tested in a more sophisticated device to provide well-aimed results and decrease the margin of error where B (1,2) and S5 were measured using a nitrogen porosimeter to attain further accuracy and reliability and compare the results to a saturation method. Both measurements of porosity can provide insights into the outcome of the constructed porosimeter. Afterward, the water saturation for the remaining samples was commenced and the results of the last nine samples in crude oil are compared. Notably, S6 has a porosity of (9.89 %) by water imbibition and (3.46 %) by crude oil imbibition which suggests that the S6 sample is strongly water-wet rock. S7 and S13 have a porosity increase of (1.46 %) and (3.84 %), respectively in crude oil saturation and it can be an indication of oil-wet rock. The objective of this research is to design and assemble an affordable porosimeter and evaluate through porosity measurement the samples from various formations.

Urban regions are commonly plagued by traffic congestion, which results in substantial economic losses and a diminished quality of life. Accurate prediction of traffic flow and effective management of congestion are important in reducing the impacts of traffic. This paper presents a new approach using hybrid neural network models to enhance the accuracy of traffic predictions and improve strategies for congestion management. The proposed Materials and methods integrates Diffusion Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (DCRNN) with graph-based models, allowing information to be shared among related sensors over large distances. The METR-Los Angeles (METR-LA) dataset consists of traffic data collected from 207 loop detectors located on highways in Los Angeles. Validation is done through various methods that prove the practicality and efficiency of the developed deep learning methodologies for real-time congestion monitoring and management systems.

In this research, we introduce a modified direction update formula to improve the descent features of iterative optimization, therefore presenting a fresh approach to the Conjugate Gradient (CG) method. The proposed method adjusts the search direction at each iteration by incorporating gradient and step projections, weighted by inner products between gradient and step vectors. The modified HS-CG approach seeks to decrease the computational cost often associated with conventional approaches and speed up convergence by carefully balancing these projections. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach outperforms standard CG algorithms in achieving faster convergence on a range of benchmark problems, especially in high-dimensional spaces. This enhancement makes the method particularly promising for large-scale optimization challenges encountered in fields such as machine learning and engineering design.