The efforts embedded in this paper have been devoted to designing, preparing, and testing warm mix asphalt (WMA) mixtures and comparing their behavior against traditional hot mix asphalt mixtures. For WMA preparation, the Sasobit wax additive has been added to a 40/50 asphalt binder with a concentration of 3%. An experimental evaluation has been performed by conducting the Marshall together with volumetric properties, indirect tensile strength, and wheel tracking tests to acquire the tensile strength ratio (TSR), retained stability index (RSI), and rut depth. It was found that the gained benefit of reduction in mixing and compaction temperatures was reversely associated with a noticeable decline in Marshall properties and moisture s

In this work, the effects of solvent properties on the characteristics of absorption and fluorescence for two laser dyes was studied. Dyes used in this work include Coumarin 5400 and DCM, while the solvents include ethanol, methanol, acetone, propanol and chloroform. Coumarin 5400 dye shows sharp fluorescence peaks in the green band of visible region while the DCM dye shows relatively wide band within 590-630 nm. Therefore, the selection of any dye for random gain medium applications should be performed after determining the most appropriate solvent as the optimum fluorescence characteristics are obtained.

         Aceclofenac (AC) is an orally active phenyl acetic acid derivative, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug with exceptional anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties. It has low aqueous solubility, leading to slow dissolution, low permeability and inadequate bioavailability. The aim of the current study was to prepare and characterize AC-NS-based gel to enhance the dissolution rate and then percutaneous permeability. NS.s were prepared using solvent/antisovent precipitation method at different drug to polymer ratios (1:1, 1:2, and 1:3) using different polymers such as poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP-K25), hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC-E5) and poloxamer® (388) as stabilizer

Heavy metal (HM) pollution has long been a significant source of environmental deterioration and a problem for the safety of food. Iraqis prefer rice over any other food, and since heavy metals have a direct impact on health, their traces in rice have drawn particular attention. Before cooking rice, it is usual in Iraq to wash and soak it. Some 55 varieties of imported and local rice were sampled from Erbil city markets in 2022 with the aim of determining the concentration of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb before and after soaking. Standard procedure of acid digestions was applied on the raw and soaked samples. The solutions were analyzed using ICPE-9820 Shimadzu. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb (in mg/kg) in the rice samples bef

The aim of this study was ‎the‎ discrimination of Salmonella‎‎ isolated from chicken and their feed ‎and drinking water for the epidemiological control of salmonellosis. Totally, 289 samples, ‎including 217 chicken cloaca swabs, 46 water, and 26 feed samples were collected from five ‎different farms in Karbala governorate, Iraq. Conventional bacteriology tests, API 20E, Vitek 2, ‎and serology were used for bacterial identification. Random amplified polymorphic ‎DNA (RAPD)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to analyze the genetic relationships ‎among Salmonella‎‎ isolates. The isolation rate of Salmonella‎‎ spp. was 21.1% (61/289). While the ‎water samples constituted the highest rate (30.4%), a rate of

A study of the effects of the discharge (sputtering) currents (60-75 mA) and the thickness of copper target (0.037, 0.055 and 0.085 mm) on the prepared samples was performed. These samples were deposited with pure copper on a glass substrate using dc magnetron sputtering with a magnetic flux density of 150 gauss at the center. The effects of these two parameters were studied on the height, diameter, and size of the deposition copper grains as well as the roughness of surface samples using atomic force microscopy (AFM).The results of this study showed that it is possible to control the specifications of copper grains by changing the discharge currents and the thickness of the target material. The increase in discharge curre

           The plants of genus Heliotropium L. (Boraginaceae) are well-known for containing the toxic metabolites called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in addition to the other secondary metabolites. Its spread in the Mediterranean area northwards to central and southern Europe, Asia, South Russia, Caucasia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and over lower Iraq, Western desert. The present study includes the preparation of various extracts from aerial parts of the Iraqi plant. Fractionation, screening the active constituent, and identification by chromatographic techniques were carried out.Heliotropium  europaeum

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