A comparative study was carried out on ecological and genetical adaptation of three Iraqi
freshwater snails, Physa acuta, Melanopsis buccinoidea and Melanoides tuberculata, in
respect to acute toxicity of heavy metals (Zn, Cd and Hg). Longevity are used as poisoning
tolerance criterion. LT 50 and LT 100 were determined for the studied snails at (0.5, 1, 5, and
10 ppm), for the three metals. Results indicated that Physa acuta had a higher tolerance than
Melanopsis buccinoidea and Melanoides tuberculata, which was the lower one. Previous
exposure to heavy metals in the original habitat was affecting on experimental tolerance and
no relationships of physical and chemical factors (total hardness, temperature, D. O. and

Amino acids were analyzed in stomach regions of males & females of Felis catus (Domestic Cat) & Sciurus carolinesis (Eastern Gray Squirrel ), where it was stated that there are (18) amino acids as following : Aspartic acid (Asp), Glutamic acid (Gla), Serine (Ser), Arginine (Arg), Aspargine ( Asn), Cysteine (Cys), Alanine (Ala), Proline (Pro), Glyscine (Gly), Threonine (Thr), Tyrosine (Tyr), Valine (Val), Methionine (Met), Histidine ( His), Isoleucine (ile), Leucine (leu), Phenylalanine (Phe ) and Lysine (lys). Results have shown there are significant differences in concentration of amino acids between different region of stomach between males & females of Felis catus in part and between males & females of Sciurus carolinesis (Eastern Gray S

A novel series of liquid crystalline compounds containing 2,4-thiazolidinedione units with varying terminal alkyl chain lengths was successfully synthesized and characterized. The chemical structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, and mass spectrometry. The mesomorphic behavior was investigated using polarized optical microscopy (POM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Compounds [V]₄, [V]₅, and [V]₆ exhibited enantiotropic nematic phases, while compound [V]₈ displayed a smectic A (SmA) phase. No liquid crystalline behavior was observed for compound [V]₃. The liquid crystalline properties were found to depend on the terminal-to-lateral chain length ratio, molecular geometry, and the nature

A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel‐concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high‐strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (i) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (ii) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (iii) steel beams can b

Background: Postoperative morbidity after extraction of the impacted mandibular third molar (IMTM) is inevitable. One of the most common postoperative complication is alveolar osteitis (AO) which is a painful non healed socket. Many researches were attempted to prevent the occurrence of AO by introducing and applying a new materials inside the extraction socket. Platelet rich fibrin (PRF) is a biological complex fibrin matrix where autologous platelets and leucocytes are present, used to enhance tissue healing process and reduce the early adverse effects of the inflammation. Aims: To evaluate the effect of PRF on the incidence of AO. Also to assess PRF effect on pain, swelling, and trismus following the surgical removal of IMTM and compa

ABSTRACT Background: Improving the properties of heat- cured and self-cured acrylic resin have been studied by many researchers. However, little studies concerned with visible light cured resin (VLCR) improved through addition of nanofiller are available. The purpose of this study was to evaluate some properties of (VLCR) after addition of SiO2 nanofiller. Materials and Methods: SiO2 nanofiller were added to (VLCR) tray material after being dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent. According to the pilot study 2% SiO2 nanofiller addition exhibited better properties than the other percentages (1%, 3%). The main study conducted involved (100) specimens divided into 5 groups according to the test included. (20) Specimens were selecte

    This article reports the first record of Aenasius arizonensis (Girault, 1915) (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae) parasitizing the recently introduced species of cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsly (Hemiptera, Psedococcidae) infesting Lantana camara L. (Verbeneceae) as well as other ornamental plants in Baghdad province, Iraq.  A short morphological description is also presented.

Background Immunological gene and serum level for interleukin- 9 rs 17317275 have been established to have linked to predisposition systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its severity. SLE is a severe, systemic autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibody generation, complement activation, and immune complex deposition. In the pathophysiology of SLE, cytokines have a pleiotropic function. Recently, IL-9 was discovered to mediate strong anti-inflammatory effects in numerous cells or experimental autoimmune models. Objective This study aimed to determine the role of age, IL-9 serum level and genetic polymorphism, C-reactive protein (CRP), Anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) and Anti- double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) to recognize SLE pathogenesis.

Increasing demands on producing environmentally friendly products are becoming a driving force for designing highly active catalysts. Thus, surfaces that efficiently catalyse the nitrogen reduction reactions are greatly sought in moderating air-pollutant emissions. This contribution aims to computationally investigate the hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) networks of pyridine over the γ-Mo₂N(111) surface using a density functional theory (DFT) approach. Various adsorption configurations have been considered for the molecularly adsorbed pyridine. Findings indicate that pyridine can be adsorbed via side-on and end-on modes in six geometries in which one adsorption site is revealed to have the lowest adsorption energy (

In this paper, several combination algorithms between Partial Update LMS (PU LMS) methods and previously proposed algorithm (New Variable Length LMS (NVLLMS)) have been developed. Then, the new sets of proposed algorithms were applied to an Acoustic Echo Cancellation system (AEC) in order to decrease the filter coefficients, decrease the convergence time, and enhance its performance in terms of Mean Square Error (MSE) and Echo Return Loss Enhancement (ERLE). These proposed algorithms will use the Echo Return Loss Enhancement (ERLE) to control the operation of filter's coefficient length variation. In addition, the time-varying step size is used.The total number of coefficients required was reduced by about 18% , 10% , 6%