The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a simple high sensitivity vapor sensor for propanol ((CH3)2CHOH). A free space gap was employed in two arms of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to serve as the sensing mechanism by adding propanol volume (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1) ml and to set the phase reference with a physical spacing of (0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2) mm. The propagation constant of transmitted light in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer’s gap changes due to the small variation in the refractive index inside sensing arm that will further shift the optical phase of the signal. Experimental results indicated that the highest sensitivity of propanol was about 0.0275 nm/ml in different liquid volume while highest phase shift was 0.182×103 i

This study aims to use claystone beds exposed in the Injana Formation (Late Miocene) at Karbala-Najaf plateau, middle of Iraq for the manufacturing of perforated and ordinary bricks. The claystone samples were assessed as an alternative material of the recent sediments, which are preferred to remain as agricultural land. The claystones are sandy mud composing of 29.1 - 39.1% clay, 37.2 - 54.8% silt and 14.1-26.8% sand. They consist of kaolinite, illite, chlorite, palygorskite, and montmorillonite with a lot of quartz, calcite, dolomite, gypsum and feldspar. Claystone samples were characterized by linear shrinkage 0.01 - 0.1%, volume shrinkage 0.1 - 0.9%, bulk density 1.2 - 2.11gm/cm3 (1.68 g / cm3 average), and the efflorescence is

Flexible pavements are considered an essential element of transportation infrastructure. So, evaluations of flexible pavement performance are necessary for the proper management of transportation infrastructure. Pavement condition index (PCI) and international roughness index (IRI) are common indices applied to evaluate pavement surface conditions. However, the pavement condition surveys to calculate PCI are costly and time-consuming as compared to IRI. This article focuses on developing regression models that predict PCI from IRI. Eighty-three flexible pavement sections, with section length equal to 250 m, were selected in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq, to develop PCI-IRI relationships. In terms of the quantity and severity of eac

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women world. Multiple Cytokines appear to have a dominant role in human breast cancer formation. Estimation of the in situ expression of  IL-6 and IL-1β in breast cancer patients. A sixty patients with breast cancer BC were divided into two clinical subgroups, (30) with malignant breast cancer MBC and (30) with benign breast tumor as a control group according to histological examination. In situ hybridization technique used for detection of IL-6 and IL-1β mRNA sequence in two groups.  The results showed that percentages of mRNA expression of IL-6 and IL-1β were in (≥ 11-50%) for malignant breast cancer. This research also investigated that (73.3%) of beni

Background: Adenosine mediates homodynamic
changes and resulted in the production of acute renal
failure (ARF) in female Albino-Wister rats, therefore,
adenosine level increases highly in ARF.
Objective: This experiment was designed to
investigate the effect of the adenosine antagonist
aminophylline and the adenosine agonist indomethacin on glycerol-induced ARF.
Method: Glycerol induced ARF was produced by a
single dose (10ml/kg, 50%v/v with distilled water i.m)
in rats, which were restricted to drinking water.
Aminophylline was used in our study in a dose of
25mg/kg, i.p) while the dose of indomethacin was
10mg/kg, i.p), assessment of renal function was done
by measuring blood urea
nitrogen (BUN

The aim of this paper is to design artificial neural network as an alternative accurate tool to estimate concentration of Cadmium in contaminated soils for any depth and time. First, fifty soil samples were harvested from a phytoremediated contaminated site located in Qanat Aljaeesh in Baghdad city in Iraq. Second, a series of measurements were performed on the soil samples. The inputs are the soil depth, the time, and the soil parameters but the output is the concentration of Cu in the soil for depth x and time t. Third, design an ANN and its performance was evaluated using a test data set and then applied to estimate the concentration of Cadmium. The performance of the ANN technique was compared with the traditional laboratory inspecting

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