In Australia, most of the existing buildings were designed before the release of the Australian standard for earthquake actions in 2007. Therefore, many existing buildings in Australia lack adequate seismic design, and their seismic performance must be assessed. The recent earthquake that struck Mansfield, Victoria near Melbourne elevated the need to produce fragility curves for existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Australia. Fragility curves are frequently utilized to assess buildings’ seismic performance and it is defined as the demand probability surpassing capacity at a given intensity level. Numerous factors can influence the results of the fragility assessment of RC buildings. Among the most important factors that can affe

Leishmania species are the causative agent of a tropical disease known as leishmaniasis. Previous studies on the old world species Leishmania major, showed that the amastigotes form which resides inside the macrophage of the vertebrate host, utilize host’s sphingolipids for survival and proliferation. In this study, gene expression of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) subunit two (MmLCB2) of the mouse macrophage cell line (RAW264.7), which is the first enzyme in the de novo sphingolipid biosynthesis, was detected in both infected and non-infected macrophages. This was detected under condition where available sphingolipid was reduced, with the new world species Leishmania mexicana. Results of qPCR analysis showed that there was no differen

Recently, Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) was considered as one of the autoimmune diseases that the genetic and environmental factors contributed in the disease etiological profile. According to the environmental factors, infectious agents have been concluded to have a role in the etiology and pathogenesis of SLE. Chlamydia pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae are among these infectious agents that have been suggested to be involved in the etiology of SLE. Accordingly, the current study was designed to assess the anti-C. pneumoniae and anti-M. pneumoniae IgG antibody status by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the sera of 64 Iraqi SLE females' patients and 32 Iraqi healthy females as controls. The patients' group were distribu

Pot experiment was carried out at the College of Agriculture – Baghdad University during autumn season, 2007. Thirteen treatments were formulated to evaluate the effectiveness of four applications of Phosphorus (0, 60, 60×2 and 120 Kg P. h-1) and three applications of Zinc (0, 25×2 mg Zn. L-1 and 50 mg Zn. Kg soil-1) along with inoculating seeds of bean with strains mixture 889 and 1865 and non-inoculated treatment, on nodulation, yield and protein content in seeds (N%). The results showed that inoculated plants exceeded on non-inoculated one in all the studied characteristics. While, P and Zn, applications at the rate of 60×2 kg/ha and 25×2 mg/L respectively, significantly, increased, nodulation, yield, protein content in se

BACKGROUND: Tribulus terrestris has been commonly used in folk medicine to energize, vitalize and improve sexual function and physical performance in men and laboratory rats. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of Tribulus terrestris on the number of Leydig cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tribulus terrestris was given to mature male rats as an oral single herbal suspension in a dose of 2.0mg /1000gbody weight for 14 days to stimulate spermatogenesis. Formalin fixed paraffinembedded tissue sections were performed for histological, immunohistochemical and morphometrical studies. RESULTS: Histological study revealed wider seminiferous tubules and increased spermatocytes population with an increased sperm density inside the lumen of the tubul

Background: Age determination of skeletal remains is apart of many medico-legal as well as anthropological examination. Many anatomical structures have been studied, but the teeth and their measurements seem to be the most reliable method since teeth represent the most durable and resilient part of the skeleton. This study was undertaken for estimating the chronological age among Iraqi adult subjects based on various morphological variables of canine teeth using digital panoramic radiograph. Material and methods: The sample in the current study consisted of 240 Iraqi patients attending to the dental radiological clinic at College of dentistry/ Babylon University taking panoramic radiographs for different diagnostic purposes, the study samp

Background. Neutrophils play an important role in maintaining periodontal status in conditions of healthy homeostasis. They achieve their surveillance function by continuously migrating to the gingival sulcus and eradicating periodontal pathogens. In addition, neutrophils are considered an integral element in the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. Among several neutrophil subsets, low‐density neutrophils (LDN) have recently received attention and are linked with cancer, immunological, inflammatory, and infectious diseases. However, the presence, phenotypes, and potential role of LDN in the pathogenesis of periodontitis have not yet been investigated. Objectives. To investiga

Experimental model was done for pile model of L / D = 25 installed into a laminar shear box contains different saturation soil densities (loose and dense sand) to evaluate the variation of pore water pressure before and after apply seismic loading. Two pore water pressure transducers placed at position near the middle and bottom of pile model to evaluate the pore water pressure during pullout tests. Seismic loading applied by uniaxial shaking table device, while the pullout tests were conducted through pullout device. The results of changing pore water pressure showed that the variation of pore water pressure near the bottom of pile is more than variation near the middle of pile in all tests. The variation of pore water

Background: Pleural effusion is a common clinical
problem.
Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the
diagnostic utility of Carcino embryonic antigen
(CEA), CA 15- 3, and alpha-feto protein ( AFP ) as
a tumor markers in serum and pleural effusion and
evaluate the value of combining them as a diagnostic
tools that are complementary to cytology in the
diagnosis of malignancies .
Methods: Forty patients (18 malignant and 22 benign
pleural effusion) were included in this study .The
serum and effusion levels of CEA, CA 15 – 3 and
AFP were measured using immunoradiometric assay
Results: from the 40 effusions studied 26 were
exudates and 14 were transudates. The level of
pleural effusions