Otitis media with effusion (OME) is a common disease especially among young children (before school age) and it is one of the common causes of acquired hearing loss in childhood. Pediatric patients with OME are usually undernourished. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the serum levels of trace elements (zinc, copper, magnesium, iron) have a role in the development of OME in children. This study carried out on 55 children and subdivided them into two groups. Group 1 (patient group) consist of 30 children suffering from OME and group 2 (control group) included 25 apparently healthy children. Serum levels of zinc, copper, magnesium and iron were measured for both groups. Comparison the results between the two groups showed t

Many researchers consider Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine mode as a promising alternative to combustion in Spark Ignition and Compression Ignition Engines. The HCCI engine runs on lean mixtures of fuel and air, and the combustion is produced from the fuel autoignition instead of ignited by a spark. This combustion mode was investigated in this paper. A variable compression ratio, spark ignition engine type TD110 was used in the experiments. The tested fuel was Iraqi conventional gasoline (ON=82).

The results showed that HCCI engine can run in very lean equivalence ratios. The brake specific fuel consumption was reduced about 28% compared with a spark ignition engine. The experimental tests showed that the em

The effect of ethanol and methanol solvent, and their mixture has been studied on the absorption and fluorescence spectra of laser dye Rhodamine B at concentration of (10-4) Molar at room temperature. The molar absorption coefficient has been determined for mixture which was (3.223) at wave number (18181.8 cm-1), Also the Quantum Efficiency of the two solvents (ethanol and methanol) and their mixture have been calculated ,which was for mixture spectrum (38.94%) and it was larger comparing with other and solvents. The characteristics of spectrum has been determined by calculating (??) of absorption spectrum for the solvents and its mixture at maximum wave number ( ) cm-1 depending on solvent polarity and the transitions between molecular ene

Abstract The present work aims to study the performance of reinforced compacted clay soil by sand columns stabilized with sodium silicate to obtain more solid columns than the surrounding soil. The experimental work was carried out by using a lab model to evaluate the performance of both the floating and end bearing sand columns. The results showed that the improvement ratio for the soil reinforced with sand columns stabilized with sodium silicate reached 390% for the type of floating columns and 438% for end bearing columns.

A field experiment was conducted during the autumn of 2021 at the Agricultural Research Department station / Abu Ghraib to evaluate the soil moisture, water potential distribution, and growth factors of maize crops under alternating and constant partial drip irrigation methods. In the experiment, two irrigation systems were used, surface drip irrigation (DI) and subsurface irrigation (SD); under each irrigation system, five irrigation methods were: conventional irrigation (CI), and 75 and 50% of the amount of water of CI of each of the alternating partial irrigation APRI75 and APRI50 and the constant partial irrigation FPRI75 and FPRI50 respectively. The results showed that the water depth for conventional irrigation (C1) was 658.3

Despite extensive investigations, an effective treatment for sepsis remains elusive and a better understanding of the inflammatory response to infection is required to identify potential new targets for therapy. In this study we have used RNAi technology to show, for the first time, that the inducible lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 (LPCAT2) plays a key role in macrophage inflammatory gene expression in response to stimulation with bacterial ligands. Using siRNA- or shRNA-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that, in contrast to the constitutive LPCAT1, LPCAT2 is required for macrophage cytokine gene expression and release in response to TLR4 and TLR2 ligand stimulation but not for TLR-independent stimuli. In addition, cells transfe

Ag₂O (Silver Oxide) is an important p-type (in chasm to most oxides which were n-type), with a high conductivity semiconductor. From the optical absorbance data, the energy gap value of the Ag₂O thin films was 1.93 eV, where this value substantially depends on the production method, vacuum evaporation of silver, and optical properties of Ag₂O thin films are also affected by the precipitation conditions. The n-type and p-type silicon substrates were used  with porous silicon wafers to precipitate  ±125 nm, as thick Ag₂O thin film by thermal evaporation techniques in vacuum and via rapid thermal oxidation of 400^oC and oxidation time 95 s, then characterized by measurement of

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a disease caused by Leishmania tropica parasite. Current treatments for this parasite are undesirable because of their toxicity, resistance, and high cost. Macrophages are key players against pathogens. Nitric oxide (NO), a molecule produce by immune cells, controls intracellular killing of pathogens during infection. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) demonstrated broad-spectrum activity against various types of infectious diseases. It has the ability to stimulate oxygen species production.  This study aims to analyze the macrophages activation through NO production and estimate the cytotoxicity based on the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release upon exposure to L. tropica and