In Australia, most of the existing buildings were designed before the release of the Australian standard for earthquake actions in 2007. Therefore, many existing buildings in Australia lack adequate seismic design, and their seismic performance must be assessed. The recent earthquake that struck Mansfield, Victoria near Melbourne elevated the need to produce fragility curves for existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Australia. Fragility curves are frequently utilized to assess buildings’ seismic performance and it is defined as the demand probability surpassing capacity at a given intensity level. Numerous factors can influence the results of the fragility assessment of RC buildings. Among the most important factors that can affe

Background: The gene responsible for encoding the protein of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) has been found to be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in different ethnic populations. But the association of +49A/G CTLA-4 polymorphism with susceptibility of RA among Iraqi Arab populations has not yet been determined. Methods: One hundred and seventy-eight patients were examined, 67 of them were males (mean age 54.71 ± 10.4 years), while 167 were examined for the control group, of whom 64 were males and the rest were females. CTLA-4 DNA genotyping was carried on to determine the +49 A/G (rs231775) polymorphism using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Enzyme-linked immuno

Surrealism is a twentieth-century literary and artistic movement oriented toward the liberation of the mind. Surrealism is a reaction to the philosophy of rationalism which was believed to be the cause of the disaster of World War I. It emphasizes the expression of the imagination as revealed in dreams and presented without conscious control, the unexpected juxtapositions of objects, the withdrawal of the self, and the exploitation of chance effects.
Surrealism began in Paris in the early 1920s, as Europe emerged from the devastation of World War I. A group of writers, artists, and filmmakers, led by the poet André Breton, adopted the word surréaliste (meaning, roughly, "super-real") as a label for their artistic activities. Influen

Background: While warfarin and direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are used to manage thromboembolic events, they possess several features that impact adherence. Objective: To assess medication adherence and self-efficacy in patients receiving warfarin or DOAC treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed at Ibn Al-Bitar Hospital in Baghdad from December 2022 to May 2023 on patients receiving either warfarin or DOACs. The Arabic version of the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS) questionnaire and the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease 6-Item Scale (SES6C) questionnaire were used to assess adherence and self-efficacy. Results: 181 patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 56.9% received warfarin an

     The outbreak of a current public health coronavirus 2019 disease is a causative agent of a serious acute respiratory syndrome and even death. COVID-19 has exposed to multi-suggested pharmaceutical agents to control this global disease. Baricitinib, a well-known antirheumatic agent, was one of them. This article reviews the likely pros and cons of baricitinib in attenuation of COVID-19 based on the mechanism of drug action as well as its pharmacokinetics. The inhibitory effect of baricitinib on receptor mediated endocytosis promoter, AKK1, and on JAK-STAT signaling pathway is benefacial in inhibition of both viral assembling and inflammation. Also, its pharmacokinetic has encouraged the physicians toward the drug

The evaluation of residual stresses (RS) induced by the friction stir welding (FSW) process is crucial in anticipating the performance of the welded structure. The existence of such residual stresses within a friction stir welded structure may lead to excessive distortion and weakness to afford the applied external loads. To assess quantitatively the effect of these residual stresses generated by FSW process, the current paper implements a Coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) finite element simulation to analyze both thermal and subsequent resulted remaining stress environments in dissimilar friction stir welding of AA6061-T6 and AA2024-T3 alloys. The thermal analysis step was conducted first and followed by a mechanical analysis step in whi

Receipt date:2/17/2021 acceptance date:3/16/2021 Publishing date:12/31/2021

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Objective: This paper investigates the contradictions in the decision-making process of the United States, which historically proven to be successful policies in the short term, but in the long term proven to be wanting and failure. Methodology: The paper uses descriptive, historical, comparative method. A