Mass spectrometry enhanced by nanotechnology can achieve previously unattainable sensitivity for characterizing urinary pathogen-derived peptides. We utilized mass spectrometry enhanced by affinity hydrogel particles (analytical sensitivity = 2.5 pg/mL) to study tick pathogen-specific proteins shed in the urine of patients with (1) erythema migrans rash and acute symptoms, (2) post treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), and (3) clinical suspicion of tick-borne illnesses (TBI). Targeted pathogens were Borrelia, Babesia, Anaplasma, Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Bartonella, Francisella, Powassan virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, and Colorado tick fever virus. Specificity was defined by 100% amino acid sequence identity with tick-borne pathogen proteins, evolutionary taxonomic verification for related pathogens, and no identity with human or other organisms. Using a cut off of two pathogen peptides, 9/10 acute Lyme Borreliosis patients resulted positive, while we identified zero false positive in 250 controls. Two or more pathogen peptides were identified in 40% of samples from PTLDS and TBI patients (categories 2 and 3 above, n = 59/148). Collectively, 279 distinct unique tick-borne pathogen derived peptides were identified. The number of pathogen specific peptides was directly correlated with presence or absence of symptoms reported by patients (ordinal regression pseudo-R2 = 0.392, p = 0.010). Enhanced mass spectrometry is a new tool for studying tick-borne pathogen infections.

The present study was designed to species typing of parasite Entamoeba spp from goats by using PCR technique and phylogenetic tree analysis. The PCR technique was conducted for using specific primers were designed for 18S rRNA gene of Entamoeba spp. In this study, the sequence alignment analysis and phylogenetic tree analysis of Unweighted Pair Group method with Arithmetic were performed by using phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analysis (MEGA 6.0 edition computer software) that analysis of 590bp for ribosomal 18S rRNA gene. Our isolates submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI-GenBank) for getting accession number and then we were gotten (10) accession number for goat isolates. Entamoeba spp were detected in (10/50) (20%) of feces samples that collected from goat by PCR. Results of the phylogenetic tree analysis show that most isolates of Entamoeba spp. were closed related to NCBI-Blast Entamoeba bovis 18S ribosomal RNA gene (FN666250.1) with (80%) as an accession number (MF568371, MF568372, MF568373, MF568374, MF568375, MF568377, MF568378 and MF568380), whereas other NCBI-Blast Entamoeba spp. has been shown more related to Entamoeba histolytica isolate 18S ribosomal RNA gene (GQ423749.1) with (20%) as (MF568376 and MF568379). This study is first recording used of molecular phylogeny to Entamoeba spp. in goat at the first time in Iraq.

Fruit and vegetable post-harvest infections are mainly caused by mycotoxin producing fungi. Post-harvest diseases are causing food losses that lead to global economical problems. In this study, fresh samples of fruits and vegetables were collected from the local market for shelf-life evaluation and identification of spoiling fungal types. Extracts of three locally available Prosopis species leaves were evaluated for their antifungal activity against the sporulation of the isolated fungi.Scanning electron microscopy was also used to evaluate spores and mycelium degenerative changes upon exposure to the leaves extracts. Out of the 156 samples tested, 88.5% showed fungal growth during the 17 days of the experiment. A total of 143 fungi were isolated and were subjected to microscopic identification. The fungal type that was most encountered was Aspergillus (30.1%). The fungal spoilage rate was significantly affected by the type of fresh produce (p ≤ 0.05), while collecting market and country of origin of the samples did not show a significant effect (p ≥ 0.05). Around 69.5% of the evaluated samples had a moderate to short shelf-life. Ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the leaves of Prosopis juliflora, Prosopis cineraria and Prosopis farcta showed strong effectiveness against fungal sporulation when percent of germinated spores was calculated with alteration in spores and mycelium shapes under SEM. The most effective extract was the ethanolic leaves extract of P. juliflora. The three evaluated Prosopis spp. extracts showed variation in their effectiveness. A future combination of the most effective crude extracts could be used as a natural bio-controller to replace commonly used chemical anti-fungal agents.

Background Megaloblastic anemia (MA) occurs due to ineffective erythropoiesis, which results from impaired DNA synthesis in the hematopoietic precursors and intramedullary hemolysis. MA’s most common cause is nutritional deficiencies of either cobalamin (vitamin B12) or folate (vitamin B6). This study aims to determine the association between MA caused by vitamin B12 deficiency and psychosis among psychotic male patients in Mental Health Hospital at Taif, Saudi Arabia. Methods Fifty psychotic male patients, aged 48.58±1.72, were recruited from the Mental Health Hospital at Taif, Saudi Arabia, in addition to 54 sex-matched healthy controls. The following tests were run: complete blood count (CBC), liver function tests (LFT), serum levels of vitamin B12, folate, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Results The CBC showed that RBCs count, haemoglobin, haematocrit, platelets count, mean platelets volume (MPV), and absolute lymphocyte count were significantly lower in psychotic patients versus healthy controls (P=0.007, P=0.002, P=0.001, P=0.004, P=0.0001, and P=0.005, respectively). In contrast, the eosinophil absolute count and basophil percentage were significantly higher in psychotic patients versus controls (P=0.009, P=0.0001, respectively). Vitamin B12 levels were insignificantly decreased in psychotic patients versus healthy group. There were significant negative correlations between serum levels of VitB12 and negative symptoms (r=−0.381, P=0.006) and hallucination (r=−0.297, P=0.036). Conclusion These findings indicate no link between MA induced by VitB12 insufficiency and psychosis among psychotic patients. However, low serum VitB12 can predict the severity of some psychosis signs, including hallucinations and negative symptoms. Therefore, monitoring VitB12 levels and its supplementation in psychotic patients is recommended to improve their symptoms.

Tick skin invasion is one of the important ectoparasitic infestations occurred worldwide and in Iraq, which is correlated with tick-borne diseases such as theileriosis, babesiosis, and anaplasmosis; however, more recently, in Iraq, an identified number of cases belonged to Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) were caused and transmitted via ticks that infested ruminants in Al-Diwaniyah Province. According to this importance, the present characterizing study was launched to identify the current circulating ticks in this province. Inspection of 196 bovine animals (males and females distributed over different regions and seasons)for the presence of ticks; 54 animals were found to have such parasitic infestation. From those infested animals, 108 adult ticks were collected. Ticks were exposed to a series of morphological identification in the