The flexible joint robot (FJR) typically experiences parametric variations, nonlinearities, underactuation, noise propagation, and external disturbances which seriously degrade the FJR tracking. This article proposes an adaptive integral sliding mode controller (AISMC) based on a singular perturbation method and two state observers for the FJR to achieve high performance. First, the underactuated FJR is modeled into two simple second-order fast and slow subsystems by using Olfati transformation and singular perturbation method, which handles underactuation while reducing noise amplification. Then, the AISMC is proposed to effectively accomplish the desired tracking performance, in which the integral sliding surface is designed to reduce cha

The presence of different noise sources and continuous increase in crosstalk in the deep submicrometer technology raised concerns for on-chip communication reliability, leading to the incorporation of crosstalk avoidance techniques in error control coding schemes. This brief proposes joint crosstalk avoidance with adaptive error control scheme to reduce the power consumption by providing appropriate communication resiliency based on runtime noise level. By switching between shielding and duplication as the crosstalk avoidance technique and between hybrid automatic repeat request and forward error correction as the error control policies, three modes of error resiliencies are provided. The results show that, in reduced mode, the scheme achie

Background: Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has enormously affected various healthcare services including the one of community pharmacy. The ramifications of these effects on Iraqi community pharmacies and the measures they have taken to tackle the spread of COVID-19  is yet to be explored. In this cross sectional survey, infection control measures by community pharmacies in Sulaimani city/Iraq has been investigated.        

Methods: Community pharmacists were randomly allocated  to participate in a cross-sectional survey via visiting their pharmacies and filling up the questionnaire form.

Results and discussion:

Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are used as an efficient and effective method of exchanging patients’ health information with doctors and other key stakeholders in the health sector to obtain improved patient treatment decisions and diagnoses. As a result, questions regarding the security of sensitive user data are highlighted. To encourage people to move their sensitive health records to cloud networks, a secure authentication and access control mechanism that protects users’ data should be established. Furthermore, authentication and access control schemes are essential in the protection of health data, as numerous responsibilities exist to ensure security and privacy in a network. So, the main goal of our s

Burdock ( Arctium lappa), is among the most popular plants in traditional medicine and it is associated with several biological effects. Literature survey revealed the presence of phenylpropanoid compounds .The most widespread are hydroxycinnamic acids ( mainly caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid) and lignans (mainly arctiin and arctigenin). This work will confirm the presence of these compounds in Arctium lappa, cultivated in Iraq, in both root and leaf samples.  The dried plant samples were extracted by soxhlet with 80% methanol then separated the main constituents by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid  chromatography (HPLC). Identification of the isolated compounds wa

Several specimens of the avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta L. are found infected with
Himantocestus gigantivcus sp. nov. ( Cestoda , Diploposthidae) . This cestode is related to H.
blanksoni Ukoli 1965 but easily differentiated from it in having longer and wider strobila,
larger size of testes but lesser in number, cirrus situated in the middle of mature segment
histead of anterior third and slightly posterior to the middle in gravid segment instead of the
middle , ovary and vitelline gland are larger , and the uterus has more branches.

Experimental tests were carried to control lost circulation in the Khabaz oil field using different types of LCMs including Nano-materials. A closed-loop circulation system was built to simulate the process of lost circulation into formations. Two dolomite plugs were used from different depths of the formation of Azkand in Khabaz oil field. The experimentations were carried out to study the effect of different types of LCMs, cross-linked copolymer (FLOSORB CE 300 S), SiO₂ NP, and Fe₂O₃ NP, on mud volume losses as a function of time.

The rheological measurements of the nanoparticles-reference mud system showed that both of the SiO₂ NP and Fe₂O₃ NP w