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
Sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations were measured in aerosol samples collected for the period from April 2012 to February 2013 at thermal south power station of Baghdad. Fourty one aerosol sample were extracted with (1:1) dichloromethane and methanol using soxhlet for seventeen hour. The extraction solution was analyzed applying GC/MS. The PAH concentrations outside thermal south power station were higher than those inside it, and higher in summer season than in winter. Naphthalene, pyrene, Anthracene, Indeno [1, 2, 3-cd] pyrene and Phenanthrene were the most abundant PAHs detected in all points at the site sampling. The total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (TPAH) and total suspended particles (TSP) concentrat
... Show MoreThis study investigates the performance of granular dead anaerobic sludge (GDAS) bio-sorbent as permeable reactive barrier in removing phenol from a simulated contaminated shallow groundwater. Batch tests have been performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of the GDAS and sandy soil in phenol-containing aqueous solutions. The results of GDAS tests proved that the best values of operating parameters, which achieve the maximum removal efficiency of phenol (=85%), at equilibrium contact time (=3 hr), initial pH of the solution (=5), initial phenol concentration (=50 mg/l), GDAS dosage (=0.5 g/100 ml), and agitation speed (=250 rpm). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis proved that the carboxylic acid, aromatic, alk
... Show MoreThe research aims at determining the type of educational dimensions to be broadcasted in children's television programs, clarifying the technical forms used in children's TV programs, analyzing the educational dimensions provided by children's television programs, and studying the educational dimensions of children's television programs. The researcher used a sample of children's programs: all of us heroes, which is a daily program on the mbc3 channel as well as the program of Tel flowers on the Algerian channel. The researcher designed an analysis content form included categories of analysis. Spss program was used to process the collected data. The research reached several results; the concentration of educational dimensions in
... Show MoreAbstract. Al-Abbawy DAH, Al-Thahaibawi BMH, Al-Mayaly IKA, Younis KH. 2021. Assessment of some heavy metals in various aquatic plants of Al-Hawizeh Marsh, southern of Iraq. Biodiversitas 22: 338-345. In order to describe the degree of contamination of aquatic environments in Iraq, heavy metals analysis (Fe, Ni, Cr, Cd, Pb, and Zn) was conducted for six aquatic macrophytes from different locations of Al-Hawizeh Marsh in southern Iraq. The six species were Azolla filiculoides (floating plant), Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton pectinatus, Najas marina (submerged plants), Phragmites australis, and Typha domingensis (emergent plants). The results indicate that cadmium, chromium, and iron concentrations in aquatic plants were above the
... Show MoreCarbon dioxide geo-sequestration (CGS) into sediments in the form of (gas) hydrates is one proposed method for reducing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and, thus reducing global warming and climate change. However, there is a serious lack of understanding of how such CO2 hydrate forms and exists in sediments. We thus imaged CO2 hydrate distribution in sandstone, and investigated the hydrate morphology and cluster characteristics via x-ray micro-computed tomography in 3D in-situ. A substantial amount of gas hydrate (∼17% saturation) was observed, and the stochastically distributed hydrate clusters followed power-law relations with respect to their size distributions and surface area-volume relationships. The layer-
... Show MoreThis assay rapidly detects chlorpromazine hydrochloride using its ability to reduce gold ions to form nanoparticles. Its low cost, resilience to interferences and short analysis time could facilitate environmental monitoring and biomedical analysis.
The fresh water green alga Chlorella vulgaris was selected to study its ability to degrade one of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs)known is anthracene (ANT). ANT is widely used in artificial products such as wood preservatives; insecticides; dye and coating materials. This algae was cultivated in CH-10 medium under constant laboratory conditions and exposed to different concentrations (1, 3, and 5 mg/l) of anthracene for 3, 5, 7, 9 and 15 days, with the concentration of ANT measured by high performance liquid chromatographic analysis (HPLC). The results showed that C.vulgaris has high ability to reduce anthracene to 80% at 1mg/Lcon centration after 3 days and 100% after 5 days, while at 3 and 5 mg / L concent
... Show MoreOne of the most popular causes for implant infection is dental plaque bacteria. Previous studies have shown the bactericidal effect of CO2 laser irradiation on bacteria associated with soft tissue surrounding the implant materials. No published studies have examined the effect of irradiation by CO2 laser on Streptococcus oralis and Staphylococcus aureus.The aim of this study was to evaluate the bactericidal effect of CO2 laser on bacteria that are causing dental implant infections. This study was carried out on two isolates of bacterial species out of 25 samples, isolated from patients having soft tissue infections around the dental implant. These two pure isolates including Streptococcus oralis and Staphylococcus aureus were identified
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