The aim of the research is to demonstrate the concept, characteristics, efficiency and adequacy of infrastructure in Khor Al-Zubair, as it represents an important benchmark for judging the development of the city. The researchers thus aim to measure the efficiency, adequacy and personal impression of each service in Khor Al-Zubair city and its residential neighborhoods. To meet this objective, the researchers used the descriptive and analytical approach that involves randomly distributing a questionnaire with specific questions to the neighbors of the city. The study has reached a set of results and recommendations that contribute to addressing the problems to the sector of infrastructure services in the city, such as: the per capita sha

Free radicals are reactive compounds, their excessive production is considered to be an important cause of oxidative damage in biomolecules causing degenerative diseases. Polyphenols are one of the most important groups of secondary metabolites of plants, which have an antioxidant activity depending on their properties as hydrogen donors. Echinops polyceras Boiss. (Asteraceae) is one of Echinops genus species that spread in Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. Phytochemicals found in this species leaves have been extracted with gradient polarity solvents, and primary screening of the secondary metabolites was established. The phenolic compounds and flavonoids contents were determined. The free radicals scavenging activity was evaluated for all

The aim: Infection with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) caused by blood transfusion is a big problem throughout the world. The aim of study is to determine the faster and more accurate methods for detection of hepatitis B infections by serological screening and PCR- amplification. Materials and methods: A total of 140528 donors were tested for HBsAg and total anti-HBc from January to October 2021 in Iraq’s National Blood Transfusion Center; however, only 100 samples with HBsAg (-) and anti-HBc (+) were collected and tested for HBV DNA using quantitative real-time PCR. Results: From 2015 to 2021, the percentage of HBsAg positive donors was 0.33 percent in 2015, 0.32 percent in 2016, 0.30 percent in 2017, 0.28 percent in 2018, 0.23 pe

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome is among the leading causes of fertility-related problems and menstrual irregularities in women of reproductive age. The granulosa cells of the developing pre-antral and antral follicles produce inhibin B, which triggers chemical responses in the ovaries. Inhibin B is most often observed in the follicular phase when levels peak early and then decline over time Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the role of serum inhibin B and the Luteinizing Hormone / Follicle Stimulating Hormone ratio in differentiation between the different phenotypes of polycystic ovary syndrome as well as to define the predominant PCOS phenotype.  Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted in the

This study aimed to determine the effect of green bismuth oxide (BiO) NPs against multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) from wound infections. Among 450 wound samples collected from patients admitted to the hospital, 200 P. aeruginosa isolates were identified. MDR strains of P. aeruginosa were detected by disc diffusion method. BiO NPs were synthesized using wild Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) strain and infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The antibacterial effect of the NPs compared to antibiotics against MDR strains was evaluated using a standard disk diffusion method. BiO NPs were synthesized at 0.005 M concentration of solution. According to the SEM im

Analyzing plantar pressure trajectories is crucial for assessing foot behavior in dynamic gait stability. We propose the identification of foot symmetry and the detection of deformities by analyzing the trajectories of the center of pressure (CoP) and peak pressure (PP). First, using a foot pressure mapping system, plantar pressure data are acquired during a normal gait cycle. After the data have been acquired, post processing extracts both the CoP and PP trajectories over the spatiotemporal domain of foot motion for each foot independently. For this purpose, we used the optical flow technique which accurately estimates the direction of foot motion. The extracted trajectories of each foot are then segmented into, the medial and lateral regi

Cover crops (CC) improve soil quality, including soil microbial enzymatic activities and soil chemical parameters. Scientific studies conducted in research centers have shown positive effects of CC on soil enzymatic activities; however, studies conducted in farmer fields are lacking in the literature. The objective of this study was to quantify CC effects on soil microbial enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, and dehydrogenase) under a corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation. The study was conducted in 2016 and 2018 in Chariton County, Missouri, where CC were first established in 2012. All tested soil enzyme levels were significantly different between 2016 and 2018