Drought is a complex phenomenon that has severe impacts on the environment. Vegetation and its conditions are very sensitive to drought effects. This study aimed to monitor and assess the drought severity and its relationships to some ecological variables in ten districts of Erbil Governorate (Kurdistan Region), Iraq, throughout 20 years (1998-2017). The results revealed that droughts frequently hit Erbil throughout the study period. The Landsat time-series- based on Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) significantly correlated with precipitation, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), and latitude. Extreme VCI-based drought area percentages were recorded in 1999, 2000, 2008, and 2011 by 43.4%, 67.9%, 43.3%, and 40.0%, respe

This research delves into the realm of asphalt technology, exploring the potential of nano-additives to enhance traditional asphalt binder properties. Focusing on Nano-Titanium Dioxide (NT), Nano-Aluminum Oxide (NA), and Nano-Silica Oxide (NS), this study investigates the effects of incorporating these nanomaterials at varying dosages, ranging from 0% to 8%, on the asphalt binder’s performance. This study employs a series of experimental tests, including consistency, storage stability, rotational viscosity, mass loss due to aging, and rheological properties, to assess the impact of nano-additives on asphalt binder characteristics. The findings indicate a substantial improvement in the consistency of the asphalt binder with the add

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a pathogen of the Enterobacteriaceae family that causes healthcare-associated infections and has recently emerged as one of the most antibiotic-resistant organisms responsible for outbreaks in both community and healthcare settings. The aim of this study is to determine the resistance pattern of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from selected tertiary hospitals in Osun state, Nigeria. A total of 62 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were obtained from 1056 samples of urine, wound swab, ear swab, eye swab and other collection sites that were routinely submitted to the diagnostic laboratories of the selected tertiary
hospitals. Susceptibility to twelve (12) antibiotics (Oxoid) was det

The current study was conducted on 504(Ros-308) broiler chicks reared in Animal farms belong to College of Agriculture, University of Baghdad during the period 28/9/2017- 9/11/2018 to determine the effect of ginseng additive on the performance of chicks. Results of study showed a significant effect (p≤0.05) of exposure period an Red blood cells, 3.56×106ml3 of blood was in bird, which exposure to 2hr at heat shock. In 42 day at age 106 ×38 ml3 of blood can noticed in the blood at birds, which exposure to 2hr in 21-42 days at 3 days of age. No significant effect at ginseng on blood cells. The results showed a significant effect (p≤0.05) of interaction on red blood cells at 21 and 42 days of age and the average cells between these ages

Background: Opportunistic viral infections make an important threat to renal transplantation recipients (RTRs), and with the use of more intense newly-developed immunosuppressive drugs; the risk of renal allograft loss due to reactivation of these viruses has increased considerably. At the top priority of these viruses lie BK polyomavirus (BKV) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV). Reactivation of these viruses in these chronically immunosuppressed RTRs can lead to renal impairment and subsequently allograft loss, unless early detected and properly treated. Objectives: The study aimed to detect and quantify plasma viral load of BKV and CMV in RTRs using quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR), in order to study the prevalence of these two viruses i

Wellbore instability is one of the major issues observed throughout the drilling operation. Various wellbore instability issues may occur during drilling operations, including tight holes, borehole collapse, stuck pipe, and shale caving. Rock failure criteria are important in geomechanical analysis since they predict shear and tensile failures. A suitable failure criterion must match the rock failure, which a caliper log can detect to estimate the optimal mud weight. Lack of data makes certain wells' caliper logs unavailable. This makes it difficult to validate the performance of each failure criterion. This paper proposes an approach for predicting the breakout zones in the Nasiriyah oil field using an artificial neural network. It

   One of the most common forms of diabetes is Type-2 that occurs due to the failure of cells in recognizing and responding to insulin if not accurately treated. The aim of this work is to evaluate the relations of thyroid hormones, vitamins, and lipid peroxidation with the glycemic index in patients experiencing Type-2 diabetes. Some tests of biochemical parameters and vitamins were conducted on 35 patients experiencing Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and 35 healthy subjects. The results indicated the increase in the levels of MDA (3.86 ± 0.97 µmol/L), HbA1c (8.27 ± 1.66 %), FBS (198.34 ± 32.41 mg/dl) and TSH (5.67 ±0.34 mIU/L) in the blood of diabetic subjects in comparison to the controls at a P value lower than 0.05. These incr

Ten soil samples were collected from Ishaqi project  area, Salah Al-Dean Governorate, and analysed for chemical elements (Fe2O3, Al2O3, CaO, K2O Na2O, Co, Zn, Cu, and Pb) to detect the pollution in the study soil using the indices of geo-accumulation (I-geo), contamination factor (CF), and pollution load index (PLI), The results of I-geo indicate that the soil of Ishaqi project area is unpolluted with Pb,  Co and slightly polluted with Zn and Cu.  The results of CF for Zn, Cu, and  Co showed class 2 of moderate contamination and class 1 of low contamination in some samples while those for Pb demonstrated class 1 –of  low contamination. The Pollution Load Index (PLI) values for Co, Zn, Cu, and Pb showed cla

Background: It's believed that HBD-3 is involved in the tissue remodeling process of articular cartilage. Also, HBD-3 has anti-inflammatory properties. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assay human beta-defensine-3 (HBD-3) in serum from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and investigate its correlation with proinflammatory cytokines. Methods: In this case-control study, fifty-eight RA patients were aged 20–65 years, and 29 age-matched healthy subjects (HS) had no inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The disease activity score-28 joint erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) was used to measure RA activity. CRP, ACPA, HBD-3, TNF-α, and IL-1β were assessed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique (ELISA). Res

Purpose: This study's objective is to assess this relationship in the context of the banking industry in Iraq. The human resources management practices (HRMPs) Theoretical framework: in this study included recruiting and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation and reward to testing relationship HRMPs. Design/methodology/approach: in this study; We analysed by used a quantitative approach, and 246 employees were selected as a sample and given a questionnaire. The SPSS software was used to examine the data that were obtained from the questionnaire. Findings: The study's findings revealed a variety of hypotheses and conclusions, including the following: comp