Low grade crude palm oil (LGCPO) presents as an attractive option as feedstock for biodiesel production due to its low cost and non-competition with food resources. Typically, LGCPO contains high contents of free fatty acids (FFA), rendering it impossible in direct trans-esterification processes due to the saponification reaction. Esterification is the typical pre-treatment process to reduce the FFA content and to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The pre-treatment of LGCPO using two different acid catalysts, such as titanium oxysulphate sulphuric acid complex hydrate (TiOSH) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid dihydrate (5-SOCAH) was investigated for the first time in this study. The optimum conditions for the homogenous catalyst (5-SOCAH) wer

Background: Sinusitis is an inflammatory condition that affects the mucous membrane lining the airways. Chronic rhinosinusitis and acute rhinosinusitis are the two types. Rhinosinusitis is characterized by facial pain, congestion, and headache. Due to the widespread prevalence of sinusitis, there must be an evaluation of the case because the diagnoses are more serious in the advanced stages of the disease and impact the outcome of care. Objectives: The objective of this study was to conduct a literature evaluation of chronic and acute rhinosinusitis, risk factors, symptoms and signs of sinusitis, diagnostic, sinusitis treatment, and antibiotic treatment, as well as new databases. Conclusion:

DC planar sputtering system is characterized by varying discharge potential of (250-2000 volt) and Argon gas pressures of (3.5×10-2 – 1.5) mbar. The breakdown voltage for silver electrode was studied with a uniform electric field at different discharge distances, as well as plasma parameters. The breakdown voltage is a product of the Argon gas pressure inside the chamber and gab distance between the electrodes, represent as Paschen curve. The Current-voltage characteristics curves indicate that the electrical discharge plasma is working in the abnormal glow region. Plasma parameters were found from the current-voltage characteristics of a single probe positioned at the inter-cathode space. Typical values of the electron temperature an

    COVID-19 is an infectious pandemic disease which is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Up to date, scientists are trying to identify a new specific antiviral drug to overcome this disease. Different methods are under study and evaluation in the entire world to control the virus, including blood plasma, blood purification, and antimicrobial and antiviral agents; however, there are no approved drugs yet. This review is focused on the conducted clinical trials worldwide, including the Iraq- Kurdistan region, China, USA, and Europe, to fi

In addition to the primary treatment, biological treatment is used to reduce inorganic and organic components in the wastewater. The separation of biomass from treated wastewater is usually important to meet the effluent disposal requirements, so the MBBR system has been one of the most important modern technologies that use plastic tankers to transport biomass with wastewater, which works in pure biofilm, at low concentrations of suspended solids. However, biological treatment has been developed using the active sludge mixing process with MBBR. Turbo4bio was established as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for wastewater treatment plants in the early 1990s and ran on minimal sludge, and is easy to maintain. This

Verrucae vulgares are commonly encountered. The present work is designed in an attempt to build a systematic procedure for treating warts by carbon dioxide laser regarding dose parameters, application parameters and laser safety.
Patients and Methods: The study done in the department of dermatology in Al-Najaf Teaching Hospital in Najaf, Iraq. Forty-two patients completed the study and follow up period for 3 months. Recalcitrant and extensive warts were selected to enter the study. Carbon dioxide laser in a continuous mode, in non-contact application, with 1 mm spot size was used. The patients were divided into two groups. The first group of patients consisted of 60 lesions divided to 6 equal groups, in whom we use different outputs a

Target tracking is a significant application of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in which deployment of self-organizing and energy efficient algorithms is required. The tracking accuracy increases as more sensor nodes are activated around the target but more energy is consumed. Thus, in this study, we focus on limiting the number of sensors by forming an ad-hoc network that operates autonomously. This will reduce the energy consumption and prolong the sensor network lifetime. In this paper, we propose a fully distributed algorithm, an Endocrine inspired Sensor Activation Mechanism for multi target-tracking (ESAM) which reflecting the properties of real life sensor activation system based on the information circulating principle in the endocr