Earth dams in regions with moderate to high seismic activity are crucial for protecting downstream communities. Iraq and its neighboring areas have seen recurrent seismic activity, notably the 2017 Halabja Earthquake, which potentially compromised the integrity of the existing earth dam. The Darbandikhan Dam, affected by an earthquake, has inadequacies in its crest and downstream slope, presenting a greater danger of significant earthquake-induced damage compared to cyclic shocks.  Consequently, evaluating the dam's safety is essential for safeguarding downstream residents and identifying optimal ways to avert slope stability failure amid recurrent seismic activity. Iraq's seismicity map is being updated to reflect earthquake magni

Polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) is a heterogeneous disorder of uncertain etiology , it is the most common endocrinopathy in women and most common cause of anovulatery infertility ,characterized by chronic anovulation and hyperandrogenemia .The present study was designed to investigate the effect of silymarin which is known to have antioxidant and insulin sensitivity effects on the  levels of glucose, insulin ,testosterone ,leutinizing hormone(LH) and progesterone .Ovulation rate and Homeostasis Model Assessment of insulin Resistance (HOMA) ratio were determined .A 3-months of treatment were conducted in 60 PCOS patients in three well-matched groups .The first one (n=20),received silymarin(750mg/day)  .The second group received

In this study water quality index (WQI) was calculated to classify the flowing water in the Tigris River in Baghdad city. GIS was used to develop colored water quality maps indicating the classification of the river for drinking water purposes. Water quality parameters including: Turbidity, pH, Alkalinity, Total hardness, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Chloride, Sulfate, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, Orthophosphate and Total dissolved solids were used for WQI determination. These parameters were recorded at the intakes of the WTPs in Baghdad for the period 2004 to 2011. The results from the annual average WQI analysis classified the Tigris River very poor to polluted at the north of Baghdad (Alkarkh WTP) while it was very poor to very polluted in t

Improving students’ use of argumentation is front and center in the increasing emphasis on scientific practice in K-12 Science and STEM programs. We explore the construct validity of scenario-based assessments of claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) and the structure of the CER construct with respect to a learning progression framework. We also seek to understand how middle school students progress. Establishing the purpose of an argument is a competency that a majority of middle school students meet, whereas quantitative reasoning is the most difficult, and the Rasch model indicates that the competencies form a unidimensional hierarchy of skills. We also find no evidence of differential item functioning between different scenarios, suggesting

Anomaly detection is still a difficult task. To address this problem, we propose to strengthen DBSCAN algorithm for the data by converting all data to the graph concept frame (CFG). As is well known that the work DBSCAN method used to compile the data set belong to the same species in a while it will be considered in the external behavior of the cluster as a noise or anomalies. It can detect anomalies by DBSCAN algorithm can detect abnormal points that are far from certain set threshold (extremism). However, the abnormalities are not those cases, abnormal and unusual or far from a specific group, There is a type of data that is do not happen repeatedly, but are considered abnormal for the group of known. The analysis showed DBSCAN using the

The main challenge is to protect the environment from future deterioration due to pollution and the lack of natural resources. Therefore, one of the most important things to pay attention to and get rid of its negative impact is solid waste. Solid waste is a double-edged sword according to the way it is dealt with, as neglecting it causes a serious environmental risk from water, air and soil pollution, while dealing with it in the right way makes it an important resource in preserving the environment. Accordingly, the proper management of solid waste and its reuse or recycling is the most important factor. Therefore, attention has been drawn to the use of solid waste in different ways, and the most common way is to use it as an alternative

The current study aims at using non-hatchable artemia eggs of local origin and making use of these eggs by decapsulating and presenting them as food for the larvae of the Cyprinus carpio as a source of animal protein with high nutritional value instead of throwing them away. The results showed that the second parameter (A2) was highly significant at the level (P≤0.05) in the growth rates of the larvae that were fed on decapsulated artemia eggs alone, and it was better than the two control parameters (A1), in which the larvae were fed with feed designated for Cyprinus carpio fish. It also outperformed the third parameter (A3), in which the feed was mixed with artemia eggs with 50% decapsulation, which also outperformed the control paramete

Urinary stones are one of the most common painful disorders of the urinary system. Four new technologies have transformed the treatment of urinary stones: Electrohydraulic lithotripsy, ultrasonic lithotripsy, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, and laser lithotripsy.The purpose of this study is to determine whether pulsed holmium laser energy is an effective method for fragmenting urinary tract stones in vitro, and to determine whether stone composition affects the efficacy of holmium laser lithotripsy. Human urinary stones of known composition with different sizes, shapes and colors were used for this study. The weight and the size of each stone were measured. The surgical laser system which used in our study is Ho:YAG laser(2100nm)