Prevalence of Anemia, Iron Deficiency Anemia and its Socio-Demographic Factors among Pregnant Women in Garmian Province, Kurdistan region of Iraq

Anemia is the most common hematologic abnormality in pregnancy. Maternal anemia is associated with adverse fetal, neonatal, and childhood outcomes. This study aims to determine the prevalence of anemia, and iron deficiency anemia (IDA), the severity of the condition, and study the effect of some socio-demographic factors on pregnant women in Garmian province. The study was conducted among 157 pregnant women in Garmian province between 17 and 49 years old. Participants completed a questionnaire that included sociodemographic characteristics, disease, and gestational age. A hematological evaluation, including a complete blood count (CBC) and serum for ferritin testing. Results of this study have shown that the prevalence of anemia and IDA were 34.4% and 15.3%, respectively. Almost three-quarters of the pregnant women had mild anemia, while 31 % of the subjects had moderate anemia, and about 60% of the participants were diagnosed with normocytic anemia. The second trimester had the highest prevalence, with 51.9% for the anemic and 45.8% for IDA subjects, while the first trimester showed the lowest prevalence, with 14.8 % for anemic and 12.5% for IDA subjects. Age, occupation, gravidity with anemia, and iron deficiency anemia did not make a significant difference. Moreover, there was no significant difference in blood indices between anemic and IDA participants. The serum ferritin level was unaffected by the pregnancy trimesters

Rilonacept and Anakinra in Recurrent Pericarditis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Interleukin 1 (IL-1) has been indicated as a mediator of recurrent pericarditis. Rilonacept, a soluble IL-1 receptor chimeric fusion protein neutralizing interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1α) and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), has demonstrated promising results in a phase II study in recurrent or refractory pericarditis. Anakinra is a recombinant inhibitor of the IL-1 receptor with a demonstrated reduction in the incidence of recurrent pericarditis. Definite pharmacological management of pericarditis is key to preventing recurrences, mostly treatment options for recurrent pericarditis refractory to conventional drugs. Here we critically discuss the existing therapy options for recurrent pericarditis, with a focus on new pharmacological approaches: rilonacept and anakinra. A systematic search was conducted across online databases such as PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase to obtain clinical trials that assess the effectiveness of anti-interleukin 1 therapy such as anakinra and rilonacept in the management of recurrent pericarditis. Our study concluded that anti-interleukin 1 therapy significantly improved both the quality of life and the clinical outcomes of the study population. These outcomes were most prominent with the use of rilonacept and anakinra in the trial treatment. Rilonacept and anakinra are valuable options in case of recurrent pericarditis refractory to conventional drugs

Obesity, starch digestion and amylase: association between copy number variants at human salivary (AMY1) and pancreatic (AMY2) amylase genes

The human salivary amylase genes display extensive copy number variation (CNV), and recent work has implicated this variation in adaptation to starch-rich diets, and in association with body mass index. In this work, we use paralogue ratio tests, microsatellite analysis, read depth and fibre-FISH to demonstrate that human amylase CNV is not a smooth continuum, but is instead partitioned into distinct haplotype classes. There is a fundamental structural distinction between haplotypes containing odd or even numbers of AMY1 gene units, in turn coupled to CNV in pancreatic amylase genes AMY2A and AMY2B. Most haplotypes have one copy each of AMY2A and AMY2B and contain an odd number of copies of AMY1; consequently, most individuals have an even total number of AMY1. In contrast, haplotypes carrying an even number of AMY1 genes have rearrangements leading to CNVs ofAMY2A/AMY2B. Read-depth and experimental data showthat different populations harbour different proportions of these basic haplotype classes. In Europeans, the copy numbers of AMY1 and AMY2A are correlated, so that phenotypic associations caused by variation in pancreatic amylase copy number could be detected indirectly as weak association with AMY1 copy number.We showthat the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay previously applied to the high-throughput measurement of AMY1 copy number is less accurate than the measures we use and that qPCR data in other studies have been further compromised by systematic miscalibration. Our results uncover new patterns in human amylase variation and imply a potential role for AMY2 CNV in functional associations

Tourismus, Freizeit, Erholung und Ermittlung der planerischen Grundlagen zur regionalen Entwicklung dieses Wirtschaftszweiges in der Region Tschustan des irakischen Kurdistan

Bibliothek Weltwirtschaft Kiel A 146,355 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Adsorption Study and Removal of Basic Fuchsin Dye from Medical Laboratory Wastewater Using Local Natural Clay

Local natural clay from Sulaimani zone-Takiya (TKC), Kurdistan Region of Iraq, was characterized and used for the removal of basic fuchsin (BF) dye from laboratory bacterial wastewater. The characterization of the adsorbent was carried out with XRD, XRF, and FT-IR. The clay sample was dominated by vermiculite. Adsorption tests under different conditions of contact time, pH of the solution, temperature, initial dye concentration, and adsorbent amount were performed to analyze the effect of various experimental parameters. Equilibrium time was reached within 180 minutes, and maximum BF adsorption was achieved at pH 6.8 at a temperature ranging from 20 to 50°C. The experimental data fitted the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, with the activation energy of 22.68 kJ·mol-1. Adsorption isotherms could be well-fitted by the Langmuir isotherm model. The thermodynamic parameters such as ΔG°, ΔH°, and ΔS° were determined, and the negative values of ΔG° indicated that adsorption was spontaneous at all temperatures. Furthermore, the values of ΔH° indicated an endothermic reaction. Wastewater contaminated by BF dye from the bacterial laboratory was collected (BF concentration: 160 mg·L-1) and treated by TKC. The resulting concentration of BF after adsorption was 4.76 mg·L-1. The maximum amount of dye adsorbed is about 149.2 mg/g or 0.44 mmol/g, which is close to the range of the cation exchange capacity (CEC) value of the vermiculite which indicated that cation exchange was the dominant adsorption mechanism

Physicochemical Characterization and Evaluation of Seasonal Variations of Landfill Leachate and Groundwater Quality around Tanjaro Open Dump Area of Sulaymaniyah City, Kurdistan, Iraq

The current study is concerned with the primary environmental assessment of the physicochemical characterization of seasonal fluctuations in the leachate of Tanjaro open dump site in Sulaymaniyah City, and its impact on the quality of the groundwater. The primary characteristics of the leachates were their high levels of organic and inorganic components and their toxicity because of the presence of heavy metal concentrations. For almost all physicochemical parameters, the leachate from the Tanjaro area dumping has incredibly high values. All heavy metals were present in leachate, with the exception of cadmium and mercury, albeit at levels below their respective permitted limits. The characterization revealed that Leachate 1 (L1) may be referred to as young leachate, whereas Leachate 2 (L2) and Leachate 3 (L3) can be referred to as old leachate due to their pH values. It was indicated that the Tanjaro dumping is operating and in the early stages of stabilization. BOD5/COD was around 0.63, and the leachate was highly biodegradable in the anaerobic phase. Groundwater, which contains little to no organic matter, was not found to be severely affected by monitoring wells located close to the dumpsites. The conductivity, total dissolved solids, total hardness, Mn, and Fe were some of the values that went above the WHO guidelines. Correlation analysis was used as a preliminary descriptive technique to establish the strength of the association between the relevant variables. Some parameters were discovered to be statistically significantly correlated with one another, pointing to a close connection between these parameters

Just Dead, Not Alive: Reconsidering Belief in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories

A well-established finding is that beliefs in contradictory conspiracy theories (e.g., Princess Diana was murdered vs. faked her own death) are positively correlated. This is commonly interpreted as evidence that people systematically believe blatant inconsistencies. Here, we propose that the field has insufficiently acknowledged a compelling alternative explanation: Disbelieving both conspiracy theories also yields a positive correlation. In four preregistered studies (total N = 7,641 adults), online participants evaluated 28 sets of contradictory conspiracy theories. Although the positive correlation was replicated in all cases, this was mostly due to participants who believed the official versions of these events (e.g., Princess Diana died in a car accident). Among participants who disbelieved these official stories, the correlation was inconsistent at best. A mini meta-analysis revealed a negative correlation among these participants, which was particularly due to the dead-or-alive cases. Apparently, researchers should reconsider the notion of systematic belief in contradictory conspiracy theories