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
Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) is capable of desalinating seawater, producing electrical power and treating wastewater. Previously, chemical cathodes were used, which were application restrictions due to operational expenses are quite high, low levels of long-term viability and high toxicity. A pure oxygen cathode was using, external resistance 50 and 150 k Ω were studied with two concentrations of NaCl in the desalination chamber 15-25 g/L which represents the concentration of brackish water and sea water. The highest energy productivity was obtained, which amounted to 44 and 46 mW/m3, and the maximum limit for desalination of saline water was (31% and 26%) for each of 25 g / L and 15 g / L, respectively, when using an ex
... Show MoreGas lift is one of the most important artificial lift methods for increasing oil production, as wells often require this method after the reservoir's energy has decreased. In this research, an optimal gas lift system is designed for five horizontal wells in the Ahdab oil field, which suffers from low production. At the same time, water cut in some of these wells reaches 66%, while the productivity index is low in others, which makes the challenges clear, and a deep analysis is needed to find an optimal system. The Pipesim program is used to design the optimal gas lift system, which contains features that facilitate the implementation of the appropriate design and provide the ability to analyze and determine the optimal design v
... Show MoreAn experimental and numerical study has been carried out to investigate the heat transfer by natural convection and radiation in a two dimensional annulus enclosure filled with porous media (glass beads) between two horizontal concentric cylinders. The outer cylinders are of (100, 82 and70mm) outside diameters and the inner cylinder of 27 mm outside diameter with (or without) annular fins attached to it. Under steady state condition; the inner cylinder surface is maintained at a high temperature by applying a uniform heat flux and the outer cylinder surface at a low temperature inside a freezer. The experiments were carried out for an annulus filled with
glass beads at a range of modified Rayleigh number (4.9 ≤ Ra≤ 69), radiation
Purpose: the purpose of study is estimate the Risk premium, Interest rate, Inflation and FDI in the through of Coronavirus in the MENA countries. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework included the study of the main variables, which are risk premium, interest rate, inflation, and foreign direct investment during the Corona virus pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Concentrating on “COVID-19”, as an effective factor on the Foreign direct investment (FDI), I employ data of “MENA (Middle East and Northern Africa)” countries from 2000 to 2021 to investigate the impact of COVID-19, financial and macroeconomic indicators on FDI relying on the analytic research approach of Static panel data regression, includ
... Show MoreTNF-α-induced osteoclastogenesis is central to post-menopausal and inflammatory bone loss, however, the effect of phytoestrogens on TNF-α-induced bone resorption has not been studied. The phytoestrogens genistein, daidzein, and coumestrol directly suppressed TNF-α-induced osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption. TRAP positive osteoclast formation and resorption area were significantly reduced by genistein (10(-7) M), daidzein (10(-5) M), and coumestrol (10(-7) M), which was prevented by the estrogen antagonist ICI 182,780. TRAP expression in mature TNF-α-induced osteoclasts was also significantly reduced by these phytoestrogen concentrations. In addition, in the presence of ICI 182,780 genistein and coumestrol (10(-5) -10(-6) M) augmente
... Show MoreBackground: The menopause is physiological changes in women that give rise to adaptive changes at both systemic and oral level. During menopause, ovarian function declines and the production of sex steroid hormones reduces significantly affecting the oral tissues and periodontal structures leading to chronic inflammation of the gingiva, increased risk of tooth loss. Aim of study: The present study was designed to estimate the oral hygiene status in relation to salivary estradiol level among pre and post-menopausal women. Materials and Methods: Ninety women aged 48-52 years old, the control group consisted of 45 pre-menopausal women and the study group consisted of 45 post-menopause were examined for gingival index, plaque index and calcu
... Show MoreThe solidification process in a multi-tube latent heat energy system is affected by the natural convection and the arrangement of heat exchanger tubes, which changes the buoyancy effect as well. In the current work, the effect of the arrangement of the tubes in a multi-tube heat exchanger was examined during the solidification process with the focus on the natural convection effects inside the phase change material (PCM). The behavior of the system was numerically analyzed using liquid fraction and energy released, as well as temperature, velocity and streamline profiles for different studied cases. The arrangement of the tubes, considering seven pipes in the symmetrical condition, are assumed at different positions in the system, i
... Show MoreBackground: Red clover oil (Trifolium pratense) has isoflavones bunches which have estrogen-like exercises and may establish an option in contrast to hormone substitution treatment. The present study investigated the impact of Red clover oil on bone healing in rats by histomorphometric study. Materials and Methods: Intra bony defect was performed in right femur of thirty six healthy male albino rats. Then these rats were randomly divided into three groups (12 rats each): one control and 2 experimental groups. For control, the bony defect was left for normal healing; for the experimental (S) group, the defect was treated with hemostatic absorbable gelatin sponge; and for experimental (RS) group, the bony defect was treated with 0.2 ml red
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most common cancer among women over the world. To reducing reoccurrence and mortality rates, adjuvant hormonal therapy (AHT) is used for a long period. The major barrier to the effectiveness of the treatment is adherence. Adherence to medicines among patients is challenging. Patient beliefs in medications can be positively or negatively correlated to adherence. Objectives: To investigate the extent of adherence and factors affecting adherence, as well as to investigate the association between beliefs and adherence in women with breast cancer taking AHT. Method: A cross-sectional study included 124 Iraqi women with breast cancer recruited from Middle Euphrates
... Show More: Cervical malignancy positioned as the fourth most prevalent disease among women around the world. HPVs especially HPV16 are the causative agent of cervical cancer, responsible of about 5% of all human cancers worldwide. Some researchers found that the fibronectin is repressed by the papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 E7 oncoprotein in both HPV-positive nontumorigenic and tumorigenic cell lines, while others found that the HPV oncoprotein increase the levels of fibronectin. The aim is to study the effect of HPV infection on Fibronectin expression and their correlation onthe development of Cervicalcancinoma. The current retrospective study enrolled paraffinized blocks of two groups. The research included 30 cervical carcinomatous tissues as well
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