Rafidain journal of science

Rosemary Rosemarinus officinalis is a medicinal plant that has long been used by people all over the world, but many of its constituents may be harmful to the body. This study looks at the effect of R. officinalis oil extract on the ovaries and mammary glands structure of Sprague Dawley female rats. The chemical analysis of the tested essential oil was performed with the help of gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Suckling female rats were given orally R. officinalis oil extract at doses of 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg body weight for 21 days, while control rats were given corn oil. Following this, tissue samples were obtained from these organs in order to study histomorphometric and histological changes. The number of primaries, secondary, graffian, and atretic follicles, as well as corpora lutea, were then determined. When compared to the control group, all doses of rosemary oil significantly reduced the number of graffian follicles and corpora lutea in the ovary. Furthermore, the number of atretic follicles significantly increased. Different doses of rosemary oil extract were used appeared congestion, collagen fiber deposition, ovarian atrophy, vascular degeneration, coagulative necrosis, oedema, degenerated lactating alveoli, and fatty replacement phenomenon in the ovary and mammary gland tissue. The current study demonstrates that rosemary oil effects on the ovary and mammary glands of female rat can cause significant structural changes, these changes increased with increasing doses of rosemary oil, this can have an impact on the reproductive function and fertility of exposed animals, as a result, the use of rosemary oil in pediatrics and pregnant or suckling women should be approached with caution due to the toxicity

A new strain Mesobacillus foraminis (M. foraminis) locally isolated from hot spring water at Hammam Al-Aleel in the south of Mosul city/ Iraq was identified using phylogenetic analysis. Its ability to synthesize gold nanoparticles has been studied for the first time as a micro-factory for GNPs by observing the colour change. To prove the formation of GNPs, X-diffraction (XRD) analysis was done and the best formation of crystalline GNPs was observed at the (III) crystal plane. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) technique was used to determine the shape, size, and surface smoothness of nanoparticles, while Transmission and Scanning Electron Microscope (TEM and SEM, respectively) were applied to characterize the size and morphology. Moreover, fluorescent microscope was used for the first time as a novel method in determining the characteristic morphology of GNPs polymers by using acridine orange which used for GNPs staining and examined under a fluorescent microscope. The fluorescent images show amazing GNPs polymers with shiny spots with more details of dendroid structures in the polymers. Since there was no previous study on using a fluorescent microscope and acridine orange stain in the field of nanotechnology, this study is considered the first effort to characterize biosynthesized GNPs using this technique

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is considered one of the endocrine disorders common in females of reproductive age. The study aims to evaluate the role of some myokines (hormones follistatin and irisin) among the causes of infection, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is one of the inflammatory cytokines and is considered a primary indicator of inflammation in women infected with PCOS. The study included 75 blood samples, drawn from 50 married women (25 primary infertility, 25 secondary infertility) and 25 single women infected with PCOS, whose ages ranged between (15-45) years, collected from Al-Batoul Teaching Hospital in Nineveh Governorate, after they were diagnosed by obstetricians, gynecologists and infertility doctors. As well as 50 blood samples from women (25 married and 25 single) who were healthy and did not infect with PCOS and of the same ages were considered as a control group. Determination of follistatin, irisin and TNF-α in serum using kits based on the ELISA-sandwich principle.
The results showed a significant increase in follistatin, irisin and TNF-α levels in serum of both married and single women infected with PCOS, and in infected married women with primary and secondary infertility compared with the control. We conclude that follistatin and TNF-α are linked to the inflammatory state of women infected with PCOS, and irisin can be considered a biomarker to detect this syndrome

The study highlights the importance of common carp in the Tigris River, especially in Mosul Dam, and the internal parasites that infect it. The study of 70 samples of common carp from Mosul Dam Lake, Nineveh governorate, aims to examine the prevalence of internal carp parasites in Mosul Dam Lake, Iraq. The study was conducted in 2023, and fish samples were collected between April and September. The fish were immediately transferred to the research laboratory within the Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Duhok. Each sample was carefully dissected to determine the presence of internal parasites in various internal organs, including the body cavity, urinary bladder, intestine, stomach, kidney, liver, and muscles. All collected parasite samples were carefully identified and fixed in 70% hot ethanol for further analysis. The infection rate in this study was 31% (22/70). Four types of internal parasites, a kind of protozoan, and three types of tapeworms were identified: Balantidium polyvacuolum (21%), Schyzocotyle acheilognathi (4.2%), Khawia armeniaca (5.7%), and Khawia sinensis (1.4%). The study emphasizes the critical importance of monitoring fish parasites, enhancing aquaculture efficiency and their care, and preventing the discharge of pollutants into the water, noting that parasitic infections did not show any noticeable pathological effects or changes in the infected fish.

In this research, a series of pyrazole derivatives were prepared through a series of reactions starting from the reaction of the starting material mercaptobenzothiazole with ethyl cyanoacetate to prepare the thioester compound (1) and then reacting it with some benzaldehyde derivatives to prepare the α, β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds (2a-h) after which hydrazine is added to obtain the pyrazole derivatives. (3a-h). The prepared compounds were identified and confirmed by FT-IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. A comparative study was also conducted between finasteride, 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, and pyrazole derivatives through a computational comparative survey using molecular docking. Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) continues to be widespread skin issue caused by hormones, mainly due to dihydrotestosterone. The purpose of the current study was to prepare and evaluate the pyrazole derivatives as the 5α-reductase inhibitors responsible for DHT synthesis. Molecular docking uses the crystal structure of steroid 5α-reductase (PDB: 7BW1) to show that compounds 3a, 3c and 3b exhibit good MolDock and Rerank scores as well as strong hydrogen bonding with the active site of the enzyme. Among these, compound 3a has the highest binding affinity (MolDock Score of -172.891). The docking studies revealed crucial interactions between the docked molecules and the targeted enzyme amino acids, including conventional hydrogen bonds, π-stacking, and van der Waals forces, all of which stabilize the ligand-enzyme complex. The pyrazole derivatives can be used as a drug in AGA treatment as per results. Although, more laboratory and animal tests are needed to prove the effect and safety in humans of these medicines

Diabetes mellitus (DM) or hyperglycemia is spreading quickly worldwide. When infections coexist, the oral hypoglycemic medication metformin is co-administered with an antimicrobial agent. The current study examined the effects of co-administering Amoxicillin/Clavulanate (AMC) and metformin in female rats with alloxan-induced diabetes. AMC is an antibiotic used to treat inflammation. Rats used in the study were separated into five groups of five albino rats each. Tap water and the same meal were given to group I negative control without any treatment. Group II positive control administrations of alloxan monohydrate 200 mg/kg body weight allowance, recipients in group three receiving 625 mg of AMC over the course of two weeks, and recipients in groups four receiving metformin form in 500 mg/kg with alloxan A last group V recipient will take AMC, metformin, and alloxan for two weeks. On days 0, 7, and 14, measurements of serum glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and electrolytes (Cl-, Na+, and K+) were made. Samples of blood were collected weekly and parameters were measured. Results revealed no discernible change in total cholesterol, triglycerides, or electrolytes chloride and potassium. When compared to rats treated with metformin and alloxan, animals treated with AMC. These results indicate that the glucose-depletion impact of metformin could be accelerated by co-administration with the AMC. Low levels of sugar and sodium have been observed of animals caused by diabetes with alloxan.

The effect of doping with vanadium (V) at various weight fractions on the nanostructural and optical characteristics was evaluated. Thin films of zinc oxide (ZnO) were produced using the chemical spray pyrolysis (SP) process and deposited on a hot glass substrate at a temperature of 500oC and (500±40 nm) film thickness is an important feature in the applications and physical properties of thin films using the Gravimetric method.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images indicated that there was a difference in the nature of the produced thin film morphologies. All of the obtained films are polycrystalline with a single crystallization phase and have a structure of the wurtzite hexagonal type (002) plane, according to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses except for doped films with a proportion of (4%) which was (101) plane.
By determining the optical energy gap data, the nature and characteristics of electronic transitions in the prepared films were investigated. V-doping of ZnO films modifies the values of all optical curves in the visible and infrared spectrums depending on the transmittance and absorbance spectra.

Raman spectroscopy is an effective tool for detecting pollutants in water. The technique becomes even more powerful when combined with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). In this work, tri-sodium phosphate (Na3PO4) was detected in water in low concentrations as a pollutant using surface-enhanced Raman scattering technique. Colloidal silver nanocubes (AgNCs) were synthesized and characterized to be used as a liquid SERS substrate for detecting the pollutant in water. The excitation source used for illuminating samples was a CW 532nm Nd:YAG laser. The samples were detected with and without SERS technique to see the effect of the technique. The Na3PO4 concentrations of the detected samples were 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, and 1M. The AgNCs were examined by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), and X-ray Diffractometer (XRD). Almost all the vibrational mode spectra of the pollutant were detected by the normal Raman test, with varied peak intensities based on the pollutant concentrations. After using AgNCs colloid as SERS substrate, samples showed a discernible increase in the Raman signal. After analyzing the Raman signal intensities of the pollutant in all SERS samples, the maximum value of the analytical enhancement factor (AEF) was found to be 11.75, at the lowest phosphate concentration (0.05M) which indicates that SERS has higher efficiency with lower concentrations.

The reports of biodiversity state for food and agriculture in the world, providing mounting and alarming evidence that the biodiversity that supports our food systems is disappearing, posing a major threat to the future of our food, livelihoods, health and environment, and as a result of the increase in the numbers of the world's population. Agriculture is one of the human activities most dependent on the environment factors. Therefore, interest in the sustainability of agriculture must have a high priority not only because of its connection to the goals of production, development and food security only, but also because of its necessity to maintain a more balanced and stable environment. The biological diversity of agricultural fields is necessary to ensure increased and stable food production, as green areas are characterized by the richness and diversity of their components. crop biodiversity maintains the sustainability of our food systems and makes them able to withstand these real and dangerous threats and a large proportion of indigenous and local communities in the world are trying to conserve agricultural biodiversity. This study showed the importance for biological diversity in the abundance of crop productivity.

Infectious hospital-associated diarrhea linked to Clostridioides difficile, a gram-positive anaerobic that forms spores. In North America and Europe, it is the most frequent infection associated with hospitals, and it is likely to be just as widespread elsewhere in the world. C. difficile has the ability to produce both TcdA and TcdB toxins, certain strains of C. difficile produces a binary toxin. The aim of our article is to show the importance of this bacterial species, its pathogenesis, virulence factors, and modern guidelines for treating the infection caused by this anaerobic bacterial species. It was also pointed out that it is difficult to isolate and deal with it.

Steroids are important compounds in living systems, and widely available in nature. These compounds are made up of various sterols, bile acids, and steroid hormones. Steroid compounds are among the most widely marketed pharmaceutical products. The benefits of biotransformation include the synthesis of novel compounds that cannot be synthesized using chemical tools, high material recovery and yield, low energy consumption, and eco-friendly processes. Microbial transformation techniques are increasingly being used to structurally modify natural and synthetic compounds. Since the early 1950s, several steroid metabolic transformations have been identified, along with the first-time identification of microbial hydroxylation. This work aims to provide an overview of steroid biotransformation, including the various types. This theoretical research will be valuable to students and researchers in the field of steroid biotransformation.

Radiation shielding materials are of utmost importance in the production or handling of radioisotopes, nuclear reactors, accelerators, medical centers, and so on. Therefore, the present research is dedicated to the attenuation coefficients of gamma rays by alloys composed of different proportions of (Al, Cu, PbO) using the XCOM and Phy-X/PSD programs for the energy range (0.662-1.4 MeV). The accuracy of the results for the linear and mass attenuation coefficients for the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair production, as well as the half-value layer (HVL), tenth-value layer (TVL), and mean free path (MFP) were evaluated using XCOM and Phy-X/PSD. The agreements between the models were good. It was found that they depend on the incident photon energy and material density. The effect of adding lead oxide PbO was significant

In this research, the linear and mass attenuation coefficients were found for a quaternary alloy of (AL-Cu-Zn-Cu) with different weight ratios that was manufactured in the physics laboratory. It was simulated theoretically using the XCOM program to study its behavior to attenuate gamma rays. This work included finding the mass attenuation coefficient (µm), the half-value layer (HVL), and the free path rate (MFP), which were calculated theoretically using the XCOM program for energies from (1-2000) keV and different concentrations of lead (Pb) (8.5-6.5%). The results showed that alloys containing a higher concentration of lead (Pb) absorb the largest number of photons and thus the attenuation coefficients increase, while the value of both the half-value layer (HVL) and the rate of free path (MFP) decrease. It is clear from the results that the highest value of the mass attenuation coefficient was for alloy (A1), which contains the highest percentage of lead (Pb), and is equal to (1.098 cm2/gm) at the energy of (60keV), while the lowest value was equal to (0.04567cm2/gm) at The energy is )1765 keV) and this alloy contains the lowest percentage of lead (Pb), and we find that the highest value for the half-value layer was in alloy (A5), which is equal to (4.38146 cm) at the energy (1765 keV), while the lowest value is needed to become the gamma ray intensity. Half of what it was, approximately equal to (0.16367cm) at energy (60keV)

In this study, some shielding parameters for gamma rays with different energies were theoretically investigated using the XCOM program for some binary (Cu-Sn) and ternary (Cu-Sn-Pb) alloys, which were practically fabricated in the laboratory with different ratios. The theoretical results indicated that in the case of binary alloys, the highest value of the mass attenuation coefficient (μm) was 2.214 cm²/gm in sample (A4) at an energy of 60 keV. It was also found that the highest values of the half-value layer (HVL) and the mean free path (MFP) were 1.658 cm and 2.245 cm, respectively, in sample (A4) at an energy of 1332 keV. In the case of ternary alloys, the highest value of the mass attenuation coefficient was 1.810 cm²/gm in sample (B4) at an energy of 60 keV. It was also found that the highest values of the half-value layer (HVL), and mean free path (MFP) were 1.5622 cm, and 2.2544 cm, respectively, in sample (B4) at an energy of 1332 keV

Given the importance of nanoparticles due to their unique properties resulting from their small size and large surface area-to-volume ratio, in this study, copper nanoparticles were prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL), as the ablation was performed in deionized water (DIW) and acetone. Using an Nd-YAG laser with a wavelength of 532 nm and laser energies (400 mJ, 1000 mJ) and a repetition rate of 1 Hz and a number of pulses (500, 700). The effect of laser energy, number of pulses and type of solution on the structural and optical properties of nanoparticles produced using pulsed laser ablation in liquid was studied. The results of the transmission electron microscope (TEM) examination showed that the average size of the produced nanoparticles was 23.8 nm at the lowest energy, while at the highest energy it was (19.7 nm). The optical measurements (UV-Vis) showed an increase in the concentration of the material with increasing the laser energy and the number of pulses due to the increase in the number of particles removed. Increasing the laser energy led to a decrease in the transmittance, which in turn led to an increase in the absorbance. The results of the photoluminescence (PL) examination showed that the intensity of the photoluminescence for the lowest energy was (96a.u.) at a wavelength of 433.9nm, while at the highest energy it was (27.07a.u.) at a wavelength of 418nm. Finally, copper nanoparticles with laser energy of 400mJ and pulse number of 500 pulses prepared with deionized water were selected for deposition on silicon solar cells, using drop casting technique.