Search

Abstract The effects of heterogeneous infection, vaccination and boosting histories prior to and during pregnancy have not been extensively studied and are likely important for protection of neonates. We measure levels of spike binding antibodies in 4600 patients and their neonates with different vaccination statuses, with and without history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We investigate neutralizing antibody activity against different SARS-CoV-2 variant pseudotypes in a subset of 259 patients and determined correlation between IgG levels and variant neutralizing activity. We further study the ability of maternal antibody and neutralizing measurements to predict neutralizing antibody activity in the umbilical cord blood of neonates. In this work, we show SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and boosting, especially in the setting of previous infection, leads to significant increases in antibody levels and neutralizing activity even against the recent omicron BA.1 and BA.5 variants in both pregnant patients and their neonates.

360-degree feedback is the process of collecting and measuring co-worker feedback from multiple sources. The descriptive objectives of this study to discussed the conceptual framework of the 360-degree feedback method, which is part of an extensive study conducted by the researcher. Objectives: presenting the concept of the feedback method, defining the objectives of the method, discussing the reasons for use, the advantages and disadvantages of the method, application requirements, and finally the conditions for the success of the feedback (360) degrees. The study adopted the descriptive analytical approach, and the method of collecting quantitative. The results showed that the objectives of the method are useful for work and career development, including self-development, leadership development, management and implementation development, identifying the training needs of employees, reducing traditional performance appraisal errors, and introducing the individual to his or her level of performance. As for the reasons that led to the use of the method, they are: the transformation of companies from hierarchical organization to horizontal organization, widening the scope of supervision, obtaining broader points of view, improving the school climate based on justice. Among the advantages are for revealing the gap between the individual's perspective in evaluating his or her performance, and the perspective of others for this performance, building training programs for employees, enhancing the orientation towards teamwork and exchanging experiences, helping to make decisions related to promotion and wage increase. As for the defects, they included: the possibility of being affected by various biases, such as the halo effect, the recency bias, the indulgence bias, in addition to the employees' reluctance to provide negative feedback even if it was honest, the delay in the feedback process, and low participation rates. The errors were limited to (13) errors that may occur when using this method. As for the requirements, they included: defining objectives, defining target individuals. Determine the method of analyzing the information, carrying out an awareness and communication campaign, and following up the implementation accurately. Among the conditions for the success of the assessment: that the feedback is done honestly in the light of specific objectives, adopt impartiality, objectivity, scientific and professional properly. Focus on the performance, not the person. Taking into account the feelings of workers when providing negative feedback. It should be comprehensive and provide positive and negative feedback. Share external sources.

New record of two species of genus Psallopsis Reuter, 1901 belongs to Subfamily phylinae and to the Family Miridae and to the suborder of Heteroptera of order Hemiptera, these species as Psallopsis minimus (Wagner, 1967) and P. kalidiicola Konstantinov, 1997, which collected 23 twenty three insects from Baghdad / Al- Husayniya and Abu-Gharib, the other collected 20 twenty insects from Baghdad / Taji and Abu-Gharib and Al- Rashdiya, this species are a new record in Iraq during the study at 2018 – 2019. The insects Indented by used taxonomic keys depended on morphological characters and male genitalia. Used camera Lucida to draw bodies' part and picture by Dino- Lite microscope camera.

The automatic control of the fabric is one of the important steps in the spinning and weaving industry in order to preserve the quality of the fabric. The manual methods have been used for decades to control the product using human vision. The monitoring process is very strenuous, time consuming and cost effective. To reduce the costs required there arise the needing of automated systems appearance to examine, detect and apply tissue defects. The aim of the proposed work is to build an efficient system for detecting and classifying textile defects using advanced image processing techniques based on new methods of combining the practical implementation of image segmentation and features extraction, as well as the use of artificial intelligence techniques of neural networks for detection and classification. The system was built in two phases: the first is the defect detection phase, and the second phase is the classification phase, where live images were collected as a textile database from the textile factory in Mosul as well as the local market. The fabrics were carefully selected and these fabrics are of different types and colors, some of these have no defect at all and some of them have up to fourteen types of defects. 560 images were collected; 280 of which were non defective fabrics, 280 were defective, and there are 20 images for every type of defect, at the defect detection phase, the statistical second-class attributes of the GLCM matrix (energy, variance, correlation, homogeneity) are extracted, while in the classification phase, the statistical first-class attributes, mean and skewness, and the geometric attribute of the total defect size. Two neural networks were used as determinants of detection and classification: the Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) and the Elman network. The proposed system showed a 95.7% discrimination rate compared with other similar work in the same field.

Face recognition is one of the most important biometrics techniques used to identify people. The research aims to build an efficient system by devising a new method of discrimination that includes advanced image processing techniques and intelligent techniques. This work has been implemented in several stages, the first of which is the arrangement of the database, Followed by pre-processing based on the integration of Gaborand DCT conversion. And then adopt two methods in extracting statistical features, the first dependent first-class statistics, the second dependent second-class statistics of the GLCM matrix and then draw the important features of them. In the phase of discrimination, two types of artificial neural networks were used after their construction in the 2016 MATLAB environment, BPNN and Elman. Finally, the efficiency of the methods used and the identification of the best were compared.

Abstract Background Polyomavirus hominis1, also called BK virus (BKV) is a well-known etiological agent of renal transplant nephropathy and cystitis. Recently, it got great attention from the researcher as a principal predisposing factor for different kinds of cancers including prostate cancer (PCa). Thus, this study aims to determine the correlation between BKV infection and PCa through a descriptive case-control based study. Methods A total of 55 paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of patients with PCa and another 55 tissue blocks from BPH patients were obtained. In parallel, respective urine samples were collected from all the cases and controls. The existence of BKV large T antigen (LTAg) was analyzed by Direct Immunofluorescence assay. Only BKV LTAg positive specimens were further analyzed for the presence of viral DNA by using a conventional PCR then subjected to viral load quantitation by using Q-PCR. Result BKV LTAg was identified in 30% (17/55) of cases tissue specimens and only in 7% (4/55) of the controls tissue specimens with P-value 0.002 and Odd ratio 5.7. The conventional PCR detects the BKV DNA in 16 out of 17 cases specimens while only two out of four controls specimens were identified with a viral DNA. The mean of the BKV DNA load was higher significantly among cases 6733 ± 6745 copies/ml when compared to controls 509.0 ± 792.9 copies/m with a p-value of 0.002. Conclusion More BKV prevalence with high viral load was observed in PCa patients tissue compared to BPH specimens. PCa Gleason scores 9 and 7 were the most cancer grades identified with the presence of BKV DNA. Our findings are thus consistent with a significant link between the BKV infection and the PCa risk. Prostate or seminal fluids should be selected as principal specimens for future studies and can, therefore, be designated as screening samples to find early virus evidence in the prostate tissue. Detection of early virus evidence may help to reduce the risk of PCa cancer due to BKV.

Pregnant patients have increased morbidity and mortality in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The exposure of pregnant patients in New York City to SARS-CoV-2 is not well understood due to early lack of access to testing and the presence of asymptomatic COVID-19 infections. Before the availability of vaccinations, preventative (shielding) measures, including but not limited to wearing a mask and quarantining at home to limit contact, were recommended for pregnant patients. Using universal testing data from 2196 patients who gave birth from April through December 2020 from one institution in New York City, and in comparison, with infection data of the general population in New York City, we estimated the exposure and real-world effectiveness of shielding in pregnant patients. Our Bayesian model shows that patients already pregnant at the onset of the pandemic had a 50% decrease in exposure compared to those who became pregnant after the onset of the pandemic and to the general population.

Introduction: In small biopsies standard morphology cannot specifically subtype the tumor. Histologic subtyping of lung cancer is mandatory for treatment. Immunohistochemical staining is a valuable tool for diagnosis of lung cancer. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of minimal panel of Napsin A, CK 5/6 and CD 56 versus H&E of lung cancer in small biopsies. Methods: 84 small sized tissue samples were obtained. Seventy samples were obtained via fiberoptic bronchoscope (FOB) and 14 samples were obtained with transothoracic CT guided trucut needle. All samples were stained with H&E for morphologic diagnosis, then the same samples were stained with immunohistochemical (IHC) staining including 3 antibodies (Napsin A, CK 5/6 and CD 56), then we compared the diagnostic yield of both methods. Results: After H&E staining, according to WHO 2004 classification: 40 cases were adenocarcinoma (AC), 10 were squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 22 were large cell carcinoma (LCC) and 12 were neuroendocrine tumors (NET). After IHC; 54 (64.3%) were AC, 11 (13.1%) were SCC, 11 (13.1%) were NET and 8 (9.5%) were non small cell lung cancer not otherwise specified NSCLC NOS (Counterpart of large cell carcinoma in 2004 WHO classification). Napsin A was expressed in 98% (53/54) and CK 5/6 in 90.9% (10/11) of SCC. CD 56 in 100% (11/11) of neuroendocrine tumors. Conclusion: IHC with Napsin A, CK 5/6 and CD 56 has a more diagnostic value in precise typing of different cell types of lung cancer than H&E in small biopsies.

Antimicrobial, anti-diatom and anti-larval activities of both water soluble (water extracts) and non-water soluble metabolites (methanol: chlorophorm, 1:1 extracts) of the sea cucumbers Holothuria atra and Holothuria edulis from Bander AL-Khiran region, Oman were tested in this study. There was no significant effect of the extracts from sea cucumbers on bacterial (3 reference bacteria from seawater and pathogens Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis) and the diatom Chaetoceros sp. growth. Both water extracts and methanol: chlorophorm extracts caused significant mortality of Artemia salina nauplia. This study suggests that Omani sea cucumbers might be a good source of toxic anti-larval compounds.

Background: Obesity has become a prevalent issue worldwide, leading to various complications such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. Statins, as FDA approved anti-hyperlipidemic drugs, still pose some concerns upon their administration. Recently, researchers have looked for natural products as an alternative to manage hyperlipidemia and obesity. Aim: This work aimed to study the hypolipidemic effect of Lepidium sativum garden cress (GC) from different preparations; orally administered seeds, and hydrogel, in comparison to atorvastatin. Methods: GC hydrogel was prepared from the GC aqueous extract and pharmaceutically evaluated for its pH, spreadability, seeds content, homogeneity, rheology, and in vitro release. The rat's body weight, blood glucose levels, total lipid profile, and liver biomarkers were evaluated on obese rats for one month. In addition, the histopathology study was also performed. Results: GC hydrogel had acceptable pharmaceutical properties and showed a sustained release performance over 24 h. Oral and topical GC significantly reduced the lipid profiles, blood sugar and ALT, AST levels more than the negative control group and comparable to atorvastatin. It was found that oral GC showed a significant effect on the percentage decrease in the rat's body weight than the applied hydrogel. Histopathology study revealed a better outcome in the histological structure of pancreas and liver compared with rats feed on high fat diet post-treatment for one month. Conclusion: GC orally administered, or topically applied hydrogel could be a promising, safe alternative formulation to atorvastatin in managing hyperlipidemia and normalizing body weight of obese rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nearly 45 million individuals worldwide are internally displaced annually by conflicts. While the psychological effects of war have been extensively documented, there is less understanding of the psychological and mental health symptoms experienced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of forced displacement. (IDPs). Aim: This study aims to assess the mental health status of people displaced in Hamam Al-Alil Camp. Methods: The cross-sectional survey study design was performed in Hamam Al-Alil camps (Situated on the western bank of the Tigris River in the Nineveh Governorate in Iraq, to the south of Mosul) for the period of 26th December 2017 throughout 1st March 2018. The sample of the study consists of (869) participants. Results: The study distributed 869 surveys which show that the estimation of females was (54%), while males (46%), most of the participants in this study were at age (18-30) years old, and a majority of the participants reported at least one or more mental conditions such as PTSD and anxiety Conclusions: Most of the participants were female and housewives (54%) (52%) respectively, and in terms of age (39%) they ranged in age from 18 to 30 years old as well as Hamam Al-Alil residents people reported a high prevalence of mental health symptoms. Recommendation: Resettlement partners must be mindful of the specific health concerns within this population to effectively meet the needs of the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This in vitro study aimed to compare and evaluate the effectiveness of different irrigation solutions, including Triton, 0.5% Chitosan nanoparticles (CNP), and 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), on the smear layer removal of the root canal walls. Methods: Forty extracted sound mandibular premolars were examined; the samples were decoronated to obtain a root length of 14 mm. Each sample was instrumented using ProTaper Next rotary file X4 (40/0.06). The samples were longitudinally sectioned and examined under a scanning electron microscope at 3000x magnification in the coronal, middle, and apical thirds using a four-level scoring system. Results: Triton demonstrated the lowest mean smear layer removal (p>0.05) compared to the other irrigation solutions at all the levels of the root canal. No significant differences were observed (p>0.05) at the coronal and middle levels of the root canal between the CNP and EDTA groups. CNP demonstrated significantly more smear layer removal at the apical level compared to EDTA. Conclusion: Smear layer removal was least effective with Triton at all the levels of the root canal compared to the other irrigation solutions tested in this study. CNP demonstrated superior smear layer removal at the apical level compared to the other irrigation solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

360-degree feedback is the process of collecting and measuring co-worker feedback from multiple sources. The descriptive objectives of this study to discussed the conceptual framework of the 360-degree feedback method, which is part of an extensive study conducted by the researcher. Objectives: presenting the concept of the feedback method, defining the objectives of the method, discussing the reasons for use, the advantages and disadvantages of the method, application requirements, and finally the conditions for the success of the feedback (360) degrees. The study adopted the descriptive analytical approach, and the method of collecting quantitative. The results showed that the objectives of the method are useful for work and career development, including self-development, leadership development, management and implementation development, identifying the training needs of employees, reducing traditional performance appraisal errors, and introducing the individual to his or her level of performance. As for the reasons that led to the use of the method, they are: the transformation of companies from hierarchical organization to horizontal organization, widening the scope of supervision, obtaining broader points of view, improving the school climate based on justice. Among the advantages are for revealing the gap between the individual's perspective in evaluating his or her performance, and the perspective of others for this performance, building training programs for employees, enhancing the orientation towards teamwork and exchanging experiences, helping to make decisions related to promotion and wage increase. As for the defects, they included: the possibility of being affected by various biases, such as the halo effect, the recency bias, the indulgence bias, in addition to the employees' reluctance to provide negative feedback even if it was honest, the delay in the feedback process, and low participation rates. The errors were limited to (13) errors that may occur when using this method. As for the requirements, they included: defining objectives, defining target individuals. Determine the method of analyzing the information, carrying out an awareness and communication campaign, and following up the implementation accurately. Among the conditions for the success of the assessment: that the feedback is done honestly in the light of specific objectives, adopt impartiality, objectivity, scientific and professional properly. Focus on the performance, not the person. Taking into account the feelings of workers when providing negative feedback. It should be comprehensive and provide positive and negative feedback. Share external sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lepidium sativum, Garden Cress (GC), seeds have a lot of natural molecules with a pronounced activity against different disorders. It was reported that GC seeds have the ability to lower the blood glucose level. The aim of this work was to formulate GC seeds into oral tablets containing a fixed dose of the grounded seeds. Furthermore, the anti-diabetic performance of the prepared tablets was studied in the streptozotocin rats' model in comparison with positive control metformin. Micrometrics of GC grounded seeds with different excipients were investigated. Then, GC tablets were prepared via direct compression technique. GC tablets were characterized for their uniformity of dosage unit, friability, hardness, disintegration time, and in vitro release. The antidiabetic effect was studied in rats for a period of 28 days. Glycosylated hemoglobin, liver performance, and lipid levels include total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGs), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were also estimated. In addition, histopathological study of liver and pancreas was also performed. Prosolv®EasyTab produced tablets with higher hardness, lower disintegration time, and fast release. GC tablets significantly lower the elevated blood glucose level. In addition, they have antihyperlipidemic activity, hepatocellular protective role and restore the histology of the liver and pancreas. GC tablets could be a promising alternative formulation to control the high blood glucose level in diabetic rats rather than chemically derivatized drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many years, researchers have directed their attention primarily toward developing written corpora, with the consequence that spoken corpora have consistently remained rare compared to written ones. The laborious transcription and annotation tasks make creating and maintaining spoken corpora a challenging endeavor. This project aims to build a transcribed corpus of Oman Royal Speeches and make it available online through a custom-made concordance tool. The study also aims to test the corpus for fundamental corpus-based lexical, stylistic, and discourse-analytical implementations. Compiling the Oman Royal Speeches Corpus is meant to fill a gap by contributing to the development of Arabic spoken language corpora and make available a research tool that can facilitate corpus-based research, uses, and applications in various areas of investigation. The corpus-building process underwent a five-stage process, including data capture, data processing, concordance tool development, testing and evaluation, and online deployment. With 98,511 tokens, the resultant corpus represents a searchable archive of Royal Speeches with a built-in online concordance tool that allows multiple search types and Keyword-in-Context query result display. The corpus has been tested for various corpus-analytic uses and has been found to provide significant findings in these areas. Thus, it has the potential to function as a reliable and authentic record and source of information for researchers and specialists in various fields, as well as a research tool allowing for various applications and analyses in language-related topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of medicines; in general, is divided into prescription-only medicines and over-the-counter drugs. The former requires a medical prescription; the latter are available for self-medication of common minor and easily treated illnesses. However, in the developing countries, prescription-only medicines can easily be purchased without a prescription, resulting in potential misuse and unnecessary risk for individuals. Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge and practice among University of Kerbala students of about self-medication. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study has been implemented in the University of Kerbala among seven colleges included both medical and nonmedical colleges selected by a multistage cluster sampling technique while the students were chosen by simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through questionnaire papers in Arabic during April and May 2019. Results: The selected sample have a low mean knowledge score (4.83 ± 2.16) about the proper use of medications and drug safety. Especially regarding appropriate antibiotic use, with a correctness rate of 25.4. Two thirds of the sample (62.1%) practiced self-medication with no significant difference between medical and non-medical students. Conclusion: This study showed that selected sample from the University of Kerbala has low level of knowledge about the proper use of medications and drug safety. About two-thirds of selected sample practiced self-medication for both over the counter and prescription-only medications. There is an irrational use of antibiotics, which needs attention by health institutions in Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]