The increase in the number of trucks and other heavy vehicles in Iraqi highways lead to cracking and deteriorations in the flexible highway. The use of polymermodified asphalt may solve this problem to match the required performance standards. This study investigates the effects of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) polymer on the performance behaviour of Iraqi bitumen binder. The characteristics of bitumen binder were analysed to observe the compatibility of bitumen with SBS polymer. The bitumen binder was mixed with three different contents of SBS (4%, 4.5%, and 5%) by weight of asphalt cement. Viscosity tests were conducted on the SBS polymer-modified asphalt at 135 oC and 165 oC in addition to conventional binder tests. The prepar

Seeds, beans, leaves, fruit peel and seeds of five plants (Ferula assa-foetida, Coffea robusta, Olea europaea, Punica granatum and Vitis vinifera, respectively) were extracted with four solvents (distilled water, 80% methanol, 80% acetone and a mixed solvent that included methanol, ethanol, acetone and n-butanol at proportions 7:1:1:1). Such manipulation yielded 20 extracts, which were phytochemically analyzed for total polyphenols (TP) and flavonoids (TF). The DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging activity (RSA) and DPP-4 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4) relative inhibition activity (RIA) were also assessed for each extract. The results revealed that mixed solvent extract of V.

Background: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) constitutes about 4% of salivary epithelial tumors and is the second common malignant epithelial salivary gland tumor involving both the major and minor salivary glands. Aims of the study is to evaluate immunohistochemical expression of Ki67 and p53 proteins in ACC. Materials and Methods: immunohistochemical analyses of fifteen cases of formalin – fixed paraffin – embedded tissues blocks of ACC of salivary glands using ki67 and p53 antibodies. Results: ki67 was expressed in 6 of 15 ACC (40%) while p53 aberration was demonstrated in 11 of tumor (73.3%). There was a statistically significant difference between the expression of ki67 and p53 proteins in ACC cases (p value = 0.041). Pearson’s cor

Introduction and Aim: Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) are the key regulators controlling the activity of Treg cells, which are crucial for maintaining immune tolerance and reducing autoimmune reactions. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential utility of elevated levels of FOXP3 and IL-10 gene expression as a diagnostic indicator in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).   Materials and Methods: The study used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to examine the expression levels of FOXP3 and IL-10 transcripts in whole blood samples from Iraqi patients with rheumatoid arthritis. A group of healthy control subjects were also included in the study.   Results: In blood samples taken fr

In this study, sulfur was removed from imitation oil using oxidative desulfurization process. Silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-11) was prepared using the hydrothermal method with a concentration of carbon nanotubes (CNT) of 0% and 7.5% at 190 °C crystallization temperature. The final molar composition of the as-prepared SAPO-11 was Al₂O₃: 0.93P²O⁵: 0.414SiO². 4% MO/SAPO-11 was prepared using impregnation methods. The produced SAPO-11 was described using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (N² adsorption–desorption isotherms). It was found that the addition of CNT increased the crystallinity of SAPO-11. The results showed that the surface area of SAPO-11 cont

The present study tackles the complex issue of the urgent need for Environmental Auditing (EA) in Iraq in the absence of laws that support environmental management and in the light of the high rates of cancerous diseases in Iraq, which coincided significantly with the increase in oil production, according to the numbers indicated in the Iraqi Ministry of Health. The study aimed to investigate the mediating role of Management Systems (MS) related to the role of EA supporting sustainability reports concerning the reduction of the negative effects of gas emissions from oil companies. We adopted the descriptive approach which relies on studying relationships through a questionnaire that was distributed to a group of workers at Doura Refinery in

With a descriptive and analytical approach, it discusses the concept of phenomenology as an approach to seeing the aesthetics of ugliness as one of the concepts associated with the aesthetic experience in contemporary art designs, as it is the result of communication between artistic production and the recipient, which leads to creating a state of aesthetic pleasure. A phenomenological method is used to uncover the aesthetics of ugly and to connect ugliness and beauty since ugliness in aesthetics incorporates beauty as a modern aesthetic vision from the phenomenological perspective. The study investigated aesthetics as a phenomenon of perception, sensory knowledge, and the aesthetic response to the production of designs in contemporary a