Water pollution as a result of contamination with dye-contaminating effluents is a severe issue for water reservoirs, which instigated the study of biodegradation of Reactive Red 195 and Reactive Blue dyes by E. coli and Bacillus sp. The effects of occupation time, solution pH, initial dyes concentrations, biomass loading, and temperature were investigated via batch-system experiments by using the Design of Experiment (DOE) for 2 levels and 5 factors response surface methodology (RSM). The operational conditions used for these factors were optimized using quadratic techniques by reducing the number of experiments. The results revealed that the two types of bacteria had a powerful effect on biodegradable dyes. The regression analysis reveale
... Show MoreThe earth-air heat exchanger (EHX) has a promising potential to passively save the energy consumption of traditional air conditioning systems while maintaining a high degree of indoor comfort. The use of EHX systems for air conditioning in commercial and industrial settings offers several environmental benefits and is capable of operating in both standalone and hybrid modes. This study tests the performance and effectiveness of an EHX design in a sandy soil area in Baghdad, Iraq. The area has a climate of the subtropical semi-humid type. Ambient air temperatures and soil temperatures were recorded throughout the months of 2021. During the months of January and June, the temperatures of the inlet and outflow air at varying air veloci
... Show MoreCatalytic reduction is considered an effective approach for the reduction of toxic organic pollutants from the environment, but finding an active catalyst is still a big challenge. Herein, Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst was synthesized through polyol reduction method and applied for catalytic reduction (conversion) of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). The Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst displayed an outstanding reduction activity with 99% conversion of 4-NP in 5 min with a 0.61 min−1 reaction rate (k). A number of structural characterization techniques were executed to investigate the influence of Ag on CeO2 and its effect on the catalytic conversion of 4-NP. The outstanding catalytic performances of the Ag-CeO2 catalyst can be assigne
... Show MoreIn Iraq, because of the dramatic turnovers facing the country for three decades, pharmacists continue to experience significant professional challenges in both the public and private sectors. The present study aimed to explore the professional challenges and obstacles facing Iraqi pharmacists working in public hospitals. This qualitative study included face-to-face semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions with hospital pharmacists. The participants were selected purposefully (with ≥ 3 years of experience) to work at governmental hospitals in Karbala province between December 2022 and April 2023. The audio-recording interviews were scripted. Thematic analyses were used to generate themes and subthemes from the interview
... Show MoreOral fast dissolving films (OFDFs) are the most innovative oral solid pharmaceutical dosage form, especially for elderly and pediatric patients who may have dysphagia. Bilastine (BLA), is a second – generation antihistamine used to manage allergy symptoms; it is very slightly soluble in water. The main objective of this research was to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of BLA by complexation technique. Ternary complex of BLA: methyl β- cyclodextrin (M-β-CD): soluplus® 5% w/w was prepared via solvent evaporation technique as a trial to enhance its solubility to be prepared as OFDF by incorporated into aqueous polymeric solution. Seven formulas of OFDFs were prepared using the solvent casting method using
... Show More—Fundus images play an essential role in ophthalmic diagnostics for the detection of many eye illnesses. The experiment begins with a thorough image preprocessing. technique, which includes clipping the circular borders, scaling the image, enhancing the contrast, removing noise, and augmenting the data. The new combined block applies to extracting distinctive deep feature representations, which help to detect the first shape of the edges of each lesion. It is namely the Attention Block and the Conv-Deconv UNET model. The attention block is subsequently implemented in order to augment the robustness and quality of feature depictions derived from a pair of DR images. The Dual Attention Block for the backbone, which is supplement
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