Shallow foundations are usually used for structures with light to moderate loads where the soil underneath can carry them. In some cases, soil strength and/or other properties are not adequate and require improvement using one of the ground improvement techniques. Stone column is one of the common improvement techniques in which a column of stone is installed vertically in clayey soils. Stone columns are usually used to increase soil strength and to accelerate soil consolidation by acting as vertical drains. Many researches have been done to estimate the behavior of the improved soil. However, none of them considered the effect of stone column geometry on the behavior of the circular footing. In this research, finite ele

The molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) is a dermatotropic poxvirus. The causative agent of molluscum contagiosum (MC) is nonlethal, common and worldwide. Additionally, little inflammation is associated with MC papules. The present study aims to evaluate the immune status of MC patients by measuring the level of immunoglobulins IgG and IgM by using the radial immune diffusion assay (RIA) and the level of interleukin 18 receptor 1 (IL-18R1) by the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The study is conducted during November 2013 to April, 2014 in outpatient clinic of Baquba Teaching Hospital. There are 75 patients, diagnosed with clinical lesions of MCV on different areas of the body, whose age is ranged between 2-50 years including 40(53.

The polymeric hydrogels composed of poly vinyl alcohol (m.wt 72000) and glutaraldehyde(5%,8% and 10%) , have been thermally prepared for the purpose of studying their swelling and drug release behavior . The swelling ratio was measured for all the hydrogel samples at 37°C, in three different media pH (1.2, 4.7 and 6.8) as a function of time. The results show that the maximum swelling ratios were arranged as follows :pH =6.8 > pH =4.7 > pH =1.2 hydrogels cross linked PVA showed a typical pH responsive behavior such as high pH has maximum swelling while low pH shows minimum swelling.

Klebsiella pneumoniae has been found in the urinary tract of some bladder cancer patients. Bacterial presence within tumor tissue may affect the tumor-microenvironment and consequently influence cancer behavior, development, and treatment response. This study investigated mesenchymal and stemness transdifferentiation of bladder cancer cell line due to environmental stress of K. pneumoniae. Cultures of urothelial bladder cancer cell line (T24) were infected with K. pneumoniae with different multiplicity of infection (MOI) for two and four days. Transdifferentiation-associated features were morphologically assessed.

Moreover, transdifferentiation markers were estimated using Q-PCR and immunohistoc

   Infection with Trichomonas vaginalis and its relation to some diseases have lately had much attention.  The objective of this study was to assess the infection rate of T. vaginalis and its relation to pelvic inflammatory diseases, infertility, and vaginosis. The study also assessed some demographic, clinical, and immunological parameters in women infected with T. vaginalis. The study included 160 non-pregnant married women who attended some private clinics and public hospitals in Baghdad from October 2020 to February 2021. All participants had symptoms of vaginal discharge only or vaginal discharge with lower abdominal pain. The participants were divided into an infertility group (n = 61) and fertility group (n = 99). The participant

Several stress-strain models were used to predict the strengths of steel fiber reinforced concrete, which are distinctive of the material. However, insufficient research has been done on the influence of hybrid fiber combinations (comprising two or more distinct fibers) on the characteristics of concrete. For this reason, the researchers conducted an experimental program to determine the stress-strain relationship of 30 concrete samples reinforced with two distinct fibers (a hybrid of polyvinyl alcohol and steel fibers), with compressive strengths ranging from 40 to 120 MPa. A total of 80% of the experimental results were used to develop a new empirical stress-strain model, which was accomplished through the application of the parti

The interplay of predation, competition between species and harvesting is one of the most critical aspects of the environment. This paper involves exploring the dynamics of four species' interactions. The system includes two competitive prey and two predators; the first prey is preyed on by the first predator, with the former representing an additional food source for the latter. While the second prey is not exposed to predation but rather is exposed to the harvest. The existence of possible equilibria is found. Conditions of local and global stability for the equilibria are derived. To corroborate our findings, we constructed time series to illustrate the existence and the stability of equilibria numerically by varying the different values