One of the Iraqi geotechnical problems is the presence of gypseous soils covering about (27-36) percentage of Iraq soils containing gypsum between (10-70) ratios. The main reason for soil problematic is the gypsum dissolution when these soils are inundated. However, the soluble gypsum can be leached out of the soil particles, so these problems can be led to cracking, tilting, and collapsing the related soil structure and changing the soil properties. The aim of this work is to investigate the performance of under-reamed piles as a new, improved method to reduce the moisture sensitive and the primary triggering mechanism for the volume reduction of collapsible soil, which is considered as a non-elastic deformation; this was done by c

The process of risk assessment in the build-operate transfer (BOT) project is very important to identify and analyze the risks in order to make the appropriate decision to respond to them. In this paper, AHP Technique was used to make the appropriate decision regarding response to the most prominent risks that were generated in BOT projects, which includes a comparison between the criteria for each risk as well as the available alternatives and by mathematical methods using matrices to reach an appropriate decision to respond to each risk.Ten common risks in BOT contracts are adopted for analysis in this paper, which is grouped into six main risk headings.The procedures followed in this paper are the questionnaire method

In unpredicted industrial environment, being able to adapt quickly and effectively to the changing is key in gaining a competitive advantage in the global market. Agile manufacturing evolves new ways of running factories to react quickly and effectively to changing markets, driven by customized requirement. Agility in manufacturing can be successfully achieved via integration of information system, people, technologies, and business processes. This article presents the conceptual model of agility in three dimensions named: driving factor, enabling technologies and evaluation of agility in manufacturing system. The conceptual model was developed based on a review of the literature. Then, the paper demonstrates the agility

Drought is a natural phenomenon in many arid, semi-arid, or wet regions. This showed that no region worldwide is excluded from the occurrence of drought. Extreme droughts were caused by global weather warming and climate change. Therefore, it is essential to review the studies conducted on drought to use the recommendations made by the researchers on drought.  The drought was classified into meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and economic-social. In addition, researchers described the severity of the drought by using various indices which required different input data.  The indices used by various researchers were the Joint Deficit Index (JDI), Effective Drought Index (EDI), Streamflow Drought Index (SDI), Sta

Patients with renal failure in the final stages undergo the treatment by hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is used to reinstate the intracellular and extracellular fluid environment, by propagation of molecules in solution through a semipermeable membrane along an electrochemical concentration gradient. Blood catching in the dialysis machine and the recurrent phlebotomy may lead to losing about 1-3 g of iron per year. Prohepcidin hormone is an acute phase protein (type II) that plays a major role in the systemic iron irregularities as it is a mediator of anemia in inflammation and regulator of iron metabolism. This study aims to evaluate the effect of hemodialysis on iron hemostasis and its relationship with prohepcidin as an inflammatory mark

Background: The immune system of the oral cavity suffers alterations due to fixed orthodontic treatment which act as potent stimulus for oral secretory immunity. The aims of this study are to estimate the effect of fixed orthodontic appliance on the level of salivary sIgA at different time intervals, and to verify the gender difference. Materials and method: The patient's history, clinical examination, and fixed orthodontic appliances were placed for 30 Iraqi orthodontic adult patients had class II division 1 and/ or class I malocclusion (15 males and 15 females) aged 18-25 years old. The unstimulated whole saliva was collected from each sample immediately before wearing fixed appliance (control group T0 as base line), and after 2 weeks (T1

The Sequencing Batch Reactor system (SBR) is a major component of the municipal wastewater biological treatment system and water reclamation that provides high-quality water that could be reused in restricted plants that which require large quantities of water despite the lack of water. The research aims to investigate the performance of a pilot plant SBR unit under real operation conditions that was installed and operated in Al-Rustamiya Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), Baghdad, Iraq. Results showed that the BOD5/COD ratio of the raw wastewater was within the average value at 0.66 emphasizing the organic nature of the influent flow and hence the amenability to biological treatment. The results also ensured that the treatment pro

Objectives: Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized with bone mass loss and microstructure, resulting in fragility fractures. Continued secretion of Osteopontin (OPN), osteonectin (ON), osteocalcin (OCN), Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and Ca+2 lead to bone remodeling disorders, followed by bone loss and osteoporosis (OP). The current study aims to investigate the biochemical proteins OPN, OCN, and ON in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and determine whether we could use them as good indicators for OP diagnostics. Materials and Methods: Case- control study carried out between December 2022 and July 2023. OP disease was confirmed among 108 Iraqi postmenopausal women randomly selected from different Iraqi hospitals, B

Background: Oxidative stress is a deleterious process that can be an important mediator of damage to cell structures and consequently various disease states. Exposure to free radicals from a variety of sources has led organisms to produce a series of defense mechanisms. The antioxidant ceruloplasmin is a copper-containing ferroxidase that can oxidize ferrous iron (Fe2+) to its nontoxic ferric (Fe3+) form. Ferrous iron (Fe2+) is extremely damaging because of its ability to generate toxic free radicals. Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory oral mucosal disease of unknown etiology. Previous studies reported that reactive oxygen species may be involved in the pathogenesis of lichen planus. The aim of this study was to estimate the