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Background: Commonly heard statements such as "Christmas comes around more quickly each year" suggest that the passage of time between annual events can become distorted, leading to the sensation of time passing more quickly than normal. At present however, it is unclear how prevalent such beliefs are and, what factors are predictive of it. Aim: To explore the prevalence of beliefs that annual events such as Christmas (Study 1 UK sample) and Ramadan (Study 2 Iraqi sample) feel like they come around more quickly each year. To establish the association between distortions to the passage of time between annual events and emotional wellbeing, event specific enjoyment, memory function and self-reported attention to time. Methods: Participants completed an online questionnaire exploring their subjective experience of time in relation to Christmas and Ramadan. In addition, measures of attention to time, memory function, quality of life and event specific emotion were also taken. Findings: There was widespread agreement that Christmas and Ramadan appeared to come around more quickly each year. In both countries, this belief was associated with greater prospective memory errors, greater attention to time and greater enjoyment of the event. Furthermore, in the UK greater belief that Christmas comes around more quickly was associated with lower social quality of life and in Iraq, greater belief that Ramadan comes around more quickly each year was associated with lower age and female gender. Conclusions: Distortions to the passage of time for annual events are widespread, occur across multiple cultures and are consistently predicted by prospective function, event enjoyment and attention to time. The absence of an association between older age (above 55 years) and a faster passage of time suggests that caution should be taken when concluding that time passes more quickly with increasing age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vaccine hesitancy poses a significant risk to global recovery from COVID-19. To date however, there is little research exploring the psychological factors associated with vaccine acceptability and hesitancy in Iraq. Aim: To explore attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination in Iraq. To establish the predictors of vaccine uptake and vaccine hesitancy in an Iraqi population. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 7,778 participants completed an online questionnaire exploring their vaccination status, likelihood of infection, perceived severity infection, benefits of vaccine, barriers to vaccine, anticipated regret, subjective norms, and trust in government. Findings: Vaccination rates increased with age and were greater in males, those who were married, divorced or widowed, those with children and those with underlying conditions. Vaccine hesitancy was widespread with 61.40% of unvaccinated individuals reported an unwillingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. In unvaccinated groups, vaccine hesitancy was associated with lower trust in the government, more negative social norms, greater perceived barriers to vaccination and reduced perceived benefits. Conclusions: There is significant COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Iraq. Public health institutions should be aware of the influence of demographic factors, as well as personal beliefs and social norms, on individuals' decisions to vaccinate. Public health messaging should therefore aim to be tailored to address the concerns of citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-related issues have become a growing concern due to the impact of human activities and climate change unpredictability, and Iraq faces a significant challenge with freshwater scarcity and poor quality. Field measurements are expensive, while remote sensing is a cost-effective alternative. This study aimed to monitor the water quality of the Tigris River in Baghdad using Sentinel-2 satellite images. The study employed the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and field data from 14 different stations during 2018 and 2019 to measure water quality parameters, including temperature (Temp), electrical conductivity (Cond), total dissolved solids (TDS), potential of hydrogen (pH), turbidity (Turb), Chlorophyll-a (Chl_a), Blue-Green Algae (BGA), and Dissolved Oxygen (DO). The incorporation of spectral indices significantly improved the models' effectiveness, with R2 greater than 0.8, except for Cond, which was 0.73. Water Quality Index (WQI) based on Iraqi standards was estimated and showed that the river water quality was categorized as poor and very poor. This approach can enhance water resource management and decisionmaking in areas where traditional monitoring approaches may be challenging and costly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The covid-19 global pandemic has influenced the day-to-day lives of people across the world. One consequence of this has been significant distortion to the subjective speed at which people feel like time is passing. To date, temporal distortions during covid-19 have mainly been studied in Europe. The current study therefore sought to explore experiences of the passage of time in Iraq. An online questionnaire was used to explore the passage of time during the day, week and the 11 months since the first period of covid-19 restrictions were imposed in Iraq. The questionnaire also measured affective and demographic factors, and task-load. The results showed that distortions to the passage of time were widespread in Iraq. Participants consistently reported a slowing of the passage of time for the day and the week during the pandemic in comparison to normal (i.e. before the pandemic). Participants also reported that it felt like longer than 11-months since the first lockdown began. The passage of time during the day and week were not predicted by any demographic, affective or task-load measures taken in the study. The perceived length of time since the first lockdown was however predicted by stress and change of life due to covid, with greater stress and greater change of life being associated with greater subjective lengthening of the pandemic. The findings indicate that whilst distortions to the passage of time during covid-19 appear to be a global phenomenon, the factors which predict temporal experience during the pandemic differ between countries and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most frequent causes of Nosocomial infections around the world. Aims: This study aimed to detect some diagnostic genes and some virulence factor genes for MRSA isolates. Method: During the period of from August to December 2019, 46 MRSA were isolated from different clinical samples such as Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs), Wounds infection's, Diabetics foot patients, Burn patients and Otitis media in Al-Hussain Teaching Hospital in Thi-qar province, Iraq. All MRSA isolates were subjected to conventional Polymerase Chain Reaction to detect 16SrRNA and mecA genes and some virulence factors genes hla and tst-1 genes. Six PCR product were selected and subjected to partial DNA sequencing for the 16SrRNA gene to follow up their possible relationship between them and what recorded globally in Genbank. Results: The results revealed that all isolates 46(100%) have 16SrRNA, mecA, and hla genes, While only 23 isolated (50%) have tst-1 gene. The six PCR product of 16SrRNA was registered in Genbank under official accession numbers of (MT605393.1, MT605385.1, MT605394.1, MT605386.1, MT605387.1, and MT605388.1). The phylogenetic tree that was constructed by MEGA10 software showed that there were different molecular relationships among the local Staph. aureus isolates with analogous ones around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panton and Valentine classified PVL as a synergy-menotropic poison virulence factor in 1932. The pvl is a synergy-homeotropic toxin that is made up of two distinct components that work together on the cellular membrane. The lukS-PV and lukF-PV mediated genes, which have been utilized in epidemiological research to diagnose and track the prevalence of PantonValentine, generate the toxin. Leukocytes are the main cellular targets of PVL. The PVL protein interacts with complement receptors on the membranous surfaces of these cells, causing the cells to deteriorate. The toxin stimulates neutrophils to produce proinflammatory cytokines and is a major pathogen of infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Staphylococcus aureus with methicillin resistant is an important pathogen associated with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).The (pvl) gene is considered a marker for MRSA that used widely as acquired in the population, it's responsible for deep dermal infections and soft tissue. The current research aimed to establish the panton-valentine leukocidin (pvl) frequency of gene between MRSA isolated from infected DFUs individuals in Al-Basrah governorate, south of Iraq. Methods: One hundred fifty swab sample from diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) patients who admitted to two local hospitals in Basrah governorate. The S. aureus isolates were identified by criteria of growth on both blood agar and mannitol salt agar, and then it tested for coagulase test. The isolates confirmed as S.aureus by using the vitek® 2 system for identifying the Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA had been confirmed by testing the isolates against oxacillin and cefoxitin disc. The 16S rRNA was used to confirm the identification of S.aureus isolates. the PCR was used to detect the production of pvl genes. Results: Out of 150 swab samples only 21 isolates which include 18(85.7%) isolates was identified as S. aureus, the other 3(14.3%) isolate was identified as Staphylococcus spp. The result of vitek® 2 showed all 18(100%)isolates were identified as S. aureus. On the other hand all (18) S. aureus isolates given the inhibitory resistant criteria for oxacillin disc 1μg and cefoxitin disc 30 μg, these isolates classified as MRSA. Furthermore, the result of amplifying 16S rRNA was given the positive result to identify S.aureus. MRSA was found in all isolates, the 18 (100 %) were pvl positive. Conclusion: The frequency of pvl gene found in all MRSA isolates in this study. It can be used as community acquired-MRSA marker. The PCR analysis effective in detecting pvl & mecA genes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to detect oprL and oprI genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa that isolated from Otitis media patients whom consulting the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Department in AL-Habboubi Teaching Hospital in Nassyriah City, Southern Iraq. During the period from August 2018 to January 2019 and drawing the comprehensive phylogenetic tree to know the evolutionary history of these genes. The molecular study, which used the Polymerase chain reaction technique revealed the existence of oprL and oprI genes in 58/65 (89.23%) and 61/65 isolates (93.85%), respectively. Five samples for every gene were sent to performing DNA sequencing. The DNA sequence analysis shown some variants distributed in several samples, this lead to occupied several positions on the comprehensive phylogenetic tree. The ten isolates of P. aeruginosa (assigned five isolates for every gene of oprL and oprI) which they granted the recording numbers in the NCBI databases (MN022280, MN022281, MN022282, MN022283, MN022284 for oprL gene and MN022290, MN022291, MN022292, MN022293, MN022294 for oprI gene).The phylogenetic tree was constructed by using the Clustal Omega tool and the Clustal output data were visualized by using Figtree tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest years indicated an upsurge in the urinary tract infections (UTIs) occurrence instigated by Staphylococcus aureus at the ward of urology. A total of 50 S. aureus isolate from UTI patients during the period from August to December 2018 at the AL-Hussein Teaching Hospital in Nassyriah City, Southern Iraq were assayed to find the presence of mec A & ica A genes by Polymerase Chain Reaction technique. Selection of six PCR products of mec A and ica A genes named primarily (No 1, No 2, and No 3 for each gene) was done and further exposed to the partial sequencing of DNA to aid the targeted genes for following up their probable relation amongst the global records of Genbank and local isolates. The phylogenetic tree that was created by MEGA 6.0 version software showed closed different molecular relationships among the local S. aureus isolates with similar ones around the world of mec A (No.1-No.3) which were closely related to NCBI-BLAST S. aureus strain MRSA 365325 (MH798858.1) at total genetic changes (0.0005-0.0025%). while, ica A gene in local S. aureus human urine isolate (No.1-No.3) showed close interrelation to the NCBIBLAST S. aureus strain Pn2301 (FJ004990.1) at the total genetic changes of about 0.2-1.0%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Univesity of Thi-Qar is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The latest years indicated an upsurge in the urinary tract infections (UTIs) occurrence instigated by Staphylococcus aureus at the ward of urology. A total of 50 S. aureus isolate from UTI patients during the period from August to December 2018 at the AL-Hussein Teaching Hospital in Nassyriah City, Southern Iraq were assayed to find the presence of mec A & ica A genes by Polymerase Chain Reaction technique. Selection of six PCR products of mec A and ica A genes named primarily (No1, No2, and No3 for each gene) was done and further exposed to the partial sequencing of DNA to aid the targeted genes for following up their probable relation amongst the global records of Genbank and local isolates. The phylogenetic tree that was created by MEGA 6.0 version software showed closed different molecular relationships among the local S. aureus isolates with similar ones around the world of mec A (No.1-No.3) which were closely related to NCBI-BLAST S. aureus strain MRSA 365325 (MH798858.1) at total genetic changes (0.0005-0.0025%). while, ica A gene in local S. aureus human urine isolate (No.1-No.3) showed close interrelation to the NCBIBLAST S. aureus strain Pn2301 (FJ004990.1) at the total genetic changes of about 0.2-1.0%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Basrah Researches (Sciences) is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Asthenozoospermia is the most common type of male infertility. Although, the mechanisms causing asthenozoospermia are complex, recent studies have indicated an importantrole of cation channel of sperm (CATSPER), gene down-regulation or gene abnormality in the etiology of asthenozoospermia in infertile patients. The present was aimed to assess gene expression and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (rs1893316) of CATSPER 1 gene in asthenozoospermic infertile Iraqi patients. Following semen analysis, 125 men with asthenozoospermia and 40 healthy fertile control were enrolled in the present study. The patients semen samples were collected from Infertility Laboratory of Biotechnology Research Center, Al- Nahrain University and Kamal Al-Samarie IVF Hospital through the period from November 2016 to December 2017. The determinations of the SNP (rs1893316) and gene expression of CATSPER were carried out by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) of semen samples. The results revealed that the difference in the mean of threshold cycle (DCt) of CATSPER mRNA shown a significant (P<0.05) increase in asthenozoospermic patients compared to healthy fertile men. In terms of a relative expression, the 2–DDCt means elicited two important findings, first, the gene expression of CATSPER was down-regulated in asthenozoospermic patients. Second, nosignificant (P>0.05) variation within the subgroups of patients distributed according to asthenozoospermic condition was found. While the lowest folding was observed in oligoasthenozoospermic group when compared to other groups of infertile patients. With respect to SNPs, allele and genotype frequencies of (rs1893316) shown a significant variations (p<0.05) between asthenozoospermic men and healthy fertile men. It is concluded that the current study observed a significant reduction in the level of CATSPER 1 gene expression in asthenozoospermic patients. Moreover, the SNP of this gene may affect on asthenozoospermic Iraqi men complaining from idiopathic infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Qadisiah Medical Journal is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a stem cell disorder, which progresses from a ‘benign’ chronic phase to a refractory acute leukemia. It is characterized by the presence of Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), in more than 90% of the cases. Objective: To analyze comparatively histological and cytological features of bone marrow in CML at diagnosis, and to confirm the validity of histologic classification from the clinical point of view. Methods: All cases were retrospectively collected from the Teaching Laboratories of the Medical City during the period of January 1985 and April 1994. Special attention was paid to histopathology of the bone marrow of diagnostic biopsies of 72 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) at the time of diagnosis prior to any therapy with particular reference to haemopoietic cellularity, megakaryocyte (MKCs) per unit area, reticulin fibrosis, blood vessels per unit area, osteoblast index, and trabecular bone width. Results: Based on the number and morphological characteristics of MKCs, cases were classified into 31 patients with common type-chronic myeloid leukemia (CT-CML), and 41 with increased megakaryocytes (MI-CML). Both groups showed relevant clinical, haematological and histologic differences between them. The MI-CML was characterized by mixed proliferation of neutrophile, eosinophile and basophile series besides the megakaryocytic component , while the CT-CML cases predominantly revealed neutrophilic proliferation. Conclusion: The MI-CML accumulated cases with unfavorable prognostic criteria such as older age, larger spleen, anemia, leucocytosis, thrombocytosis, higher percentage of normoblast, basophile and immature precursors (blast and promyelocyte). Among the quantitative parameters obtained from the bone marrow biopsies the quantitative fibrous tissue was significantly higher in MI-CML cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of COVID-19 infections among school students has become a significant and ongoing concern. This study aimed to assess the severity and types of COVID-19 cases and associated symptoms among school students in Iraq. A comprehensive study was conducted by the Public Health Directorate of AL-Muthanna Governorate from November 29, 2020, to February 12, 2021, utilizing RT-PCR-based COVID-19 surveys. The survey included 9,357 students (4,261 male and 5,096 female) and 83 schools. The retrospective analysis of the survey records indicated that male and female students had a mean age of 9.2±1.16 years with notably higher rates of asymptomatic infections than older students. Male students showed lower odds of asymptomatic infection but higher odds of symptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections compared to their female peers, particularly among elementary students. Fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell, shortness of breath, and muscle pain were significantly associated with COVID-19 infection. Sneezing was significantly associated with a lack of infection. Home nursing by parents and self-care practices have proven to be highly effective in controlling COVID-19 infection among children. These findings highlight the need for age- and gender-specific considerations in COVID-19 prevention and management strategies in schools., Competing Interests: The author declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Author(s).)

Purpose: Prostate cancer care in the Middle East is highly variable and access to specialist multidisciplinary management is limited. Academic tertiary referral centers offer cutting-edge diagnosis and treatment; however, in many parts of the region, patients are managed by non-specialists with limited resources. Due to many factors including lack of awareness and lack of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, a high percentage of men present with locally advanced and metastatic prostate cancer at diagnosis. The aim of these recommendations is to assist clinicians in managing patients with different levels of access to diagnostic and treatment modalities., Methods: The first Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) satellite meeting for the Middle East was held in Beirut, Lebanon, November 2017. During this meeting a consortium of urologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologist and imaging specialists practicing in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia voted on a selection of consensus questions. An additional workshop to formulate resource-stratified consensus recommendations was held in March 2019., Results: Variations in practice based on available resources have been proposed to form resource-stratified recommendations for imaging at diagnosis, initial management of localized prostate cancer requiring therapy, treatment of castration-sensitive/naïve advanced prostate cancer and treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer., Conclusion: This is the first regional consensus on prostate cancer management from the Middle East. The following recommendations will be useful to urologists and oncologists practicing in all areas with limited access to specialist multi-disciplinary teams, diagnostic modalities and treatment resources.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting the Iraqi population and the leading cause of cancer related mortality among Iraqi women. It has been well documented that prognosis of patients depends largely upon the hormone receptor contents and HER-2 over expression of their neoplasm. Recent studies suggest that Triple Positive (TP) tumors, bearing the three markers, tend to exhibit a relatively favorable clinical behavior in which overtreatment is not recommended., Aim: To document the different frequencies of ER/PR/HER2 breast cancer molecular subtypes focusing on the Triple Positive pattern; correlating those with the corresponding clinico-pathological characteristics among a sample of Iraqi patients diagnosed with the disease., Patients and Methods: This retrospective study involved 570 female patients diagnosed with breast cancer who visited the Main Referral Center for Early Detection of Breast Cancer and the National Cancer Research Center. The requested data was mainly extracted from an established information system database, developed by the principal author over a 4-years period from 2012 to 2016. The registered information comprised data related to clinical presentation, diagnostic and pathologic findings. ER, PR and HER2 status were analyzed immunohistochemically and the detected profiles were correlated with the corresponding clinico-pathological characteristics., Results: The rates of ER (+), PR (+) and HER-2 (+) tumors were 66.8%, 64% and 29.3% respectively. The tumor marker expression status was documented in eight subtypes; 83 cases (14.6%) of the examined breast carcinomas were categorized as ER+/PR+/HER2+ (Triple Positive/Luminal B), 89 cases (15.6%) were ER-/PR-/HER2- (Triple Negative), 241 (42.2%) were ER+/PR-/HER2- (Luminal A) while 67 (11.8%) showed ER-/PR-/HER2+ expression (HER-2 variant). No significant variations were noted when comparing age, menopausal status and tumor grade of Luminal B pattern to Luminal A and the rest of the studied subtypes. Although our data revealed a statistical difference with respect to the distribution of tumor types; where infiltrative ductal carcinoma constituted the major histology among patients with Triple Positive/Luminal B subtype (86.7% as compared to 67.6% in Luminal A), nevertheless, more than two third of those patients (67.4%) were diagnosed at earlier stages (I and II) compared to 55.2% of those in the remaining groups., Conclusions and Recommendations: Our findings support the hypothesis that the Triple Positive subtype might be driven primarily by the hormone receptor status. Further comprehensive surveys are recommended to focus on the intrinsic interactions and tumor cell heterogeneity of that pattern to avoid overtreatment and predict accurate response to therapy.

Epilepsy is a chronic illness that affects all ages and which has long-term complications, such as impairment of employability. We estimated the unemployment rate among 100 epileptic patients attending two public medical clinics in Tikrit. The overall rate of unemployment was 33%. The rate was significantly greater in those whose epilepsy was not controlled and those in whom the age at onset of epilepsy was younger.

Although a great deal of urology was written and practiced during the early Arabian era, most of it is still uncovered and not translated into the English language or translated by non-physicians. As Arab urologists, who have access to the original Arabic manuscripts, and as a token to our ancestors as well as to the modern urologist interested in Arab history we believe we should translate a part of this treasure.