A lack of adequate building maintenance is a significant obstacle faced by governmental hospitals. This paper evaluates factors that negatively impact building-maintenance practices in Iraq. A literature review was conducted to identify factors affecting maintenance. A list of 42 factors affecting hospital-buildings was collected from previous studies and tested using a structured questionnaire distributed to hospital-maintenance experts. During the data analysis, 76 valid questionnaires were used. Based on the respondents’ ratings, the relative-importance index (RII) was used to determine the level of importance of each factor. From the results, it was concluded that twelve factors affect maintenance practices in hospital buildings: faulty design (0.889), lack of funding (0.874), inadequate training (0.871), misuse of building facilities (0.866), construction errors (0.863), lack of work experience (0.858), building age (0.826), individual modifications carried out by the hospital staff (0.826), shortage of maintenance staff (0.824), administrative corruption (0.821), selection of unqualified maintenance contractors (0.816) and unavailability of skilled appointed maintenance personnel (0.808). Understanding these factors’ effects is essential for maintenance-department managers to develop strategies for maintaining hospital buildings in Iraq by controlling them, as well as identifying problems and finding appropriate solutions to avoid them. KEYWORDS: Governmental hospitals, Maintenance, Iraq, Building maintenance, Maintenance practices, Factors affecting maintenance
We have studied the effect of applying an external magnetic field on the characteristics of iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in dimethylformamide (DMF). The NPs synthesized with and without applying of magnetic field were characterized by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV–Vis absorption, scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). SEM results confirmed that the particle size was decreased after applying magnetic field.
To enhance the structural performance of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns, various strengthening techniques have been proposed, including the use of internal steel stiffeners, external wrapping with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets, and embedded steel elements. However, the behavior of concrete-filled stainless-steel tube (CFSST) columns remains insufficiently explored. This study numerically investigates the axial performance of square CFSST columns internally strengthened with embedded I-section steel profiles under biaxial eccentric loading. Finite element (FE) simulations were conducted using ABAQUS v. 6.2, and the developed models were validated against experimental results from the literature. A comprehen
... Show MoreGingivitis, the initial stage of periodontal disease, is characterised by inflammation driven by dental biofilm and associated with oxidative stress. Matcha tea, a powdered green tea rich in antioxidants, has shown potential health benefits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Matcha tea consumption on clinical periodontal parameters and salivary antioxidant levels in patients with gingivitis.
A randomised controlled clinical trial was conducted with 41 participants diagnosed with gingivitis.
Background: Behçet’s disease (BD) is a disorder of systemic inflammatory condition. Its important features are represented by recurrent oral, genital ulcerations and eye lesions. Aims. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate and compare cytological changes using morphometric analysis of the exfoliated buccal mucosal cells in Behçet’s disease patients and healthy controls, and to evaluate the clinical characteristics of Behçet’s disease. Methods. Twenty five Behçet’s disease patients have been compared to 25 healthy volunteers as a control group. Papanicolaou stain was used for staining the smears taken from buccal epithelial cells to be analyzed cytomorphometrically. The image analysis sof
... Show MoreThyroid hormones (TH) regulate the metabolic processes required for normal development and growth; also, to organizemetabolism in adults, any defect in thyroid function leads to abnormality in thyroid hormones level. The current study hasbeen designed to find the relationship between retinol-binding protein-4 and progranulin in the serum of Iraqi women withhypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, also, to study whether these patients are exposed to a risk of developing diabetes mellitus,and PGRN may be a biomarker in detection early stage of diabetes mellitus.Materials and Methods: in this study, serum samples were obtained from 50 Iraqis women patients, [25 patients withhypothyroidism (G2) and 25 patients with hyperthyroidism (G3)] in addition
... Show MoreAn efficient networks’ energy consumption and Quality of Services (QoS) are considered the most important issues, to evaluate the route quality of the designed routing protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). This study is presented an evaluation performance technique to evaluate two routing protocols: Secure for Mobile Sink Node location using Dynamic Routing Protocol (SMSNDRP) and routing protocol that used K-means algorithm to form Data Gathered Path (KM-DGP), on small and large network with Group of Mobile Sinks (GMSs). The propose technique is based on QoS and sensor nodes’ energy consumption parameters to assess route quality and networks’ energy usage. The evaluation technique is conducted on two routing protocols i
... Show MoreAlot of medical and industrial applications used the metal nanoparticles (NPs) with increase interest to be used as cancer therapy. The current work aimed to prepare AuNPs and AgNPs through the use of plasma jet and test their antitumor mechanism of apoptosis induction. The results indicating the face-centered cubic structures and crystalline nature of AuNPs and AgNPs. Also, the image of FESEM showed that the well dispersions regarding AuNPs and AgNPs, while the NP’s spherical shape with the particle size distributions which are considered to be close that estimated from the XRD. cytotoxicity have been assessed against the Normal embryonic cell line REF and the digestive system (HC , SK-GT-4) cell lines under a variety of the seri
... Show MoreStylistics is the analysis of the language of literary texts integrated within various approaches to create a framework of different devices that describe and distinct a particular work. Therefore, feminist stylistics relied on theories of feminist criticism tries to present a counter- image of a woman both in language use and society, to draw attention , raise awareness and change ways that gender represents. Feminist stylistic analysis is related not only to describe sexism in a text, but also to analyze the way that point of view, agency, metaphor, and transitivity choices are unanticipatedly and carefully connected to issues of gender(Mills,1995:1) &nb
... Show More