The increase in the number of trucks and other heavy vehicles in Iraqi highways lead to cracking and deteriorations in the flexible highway. The use of polymermodified asphalt may solve this problem to match the required performance standards. This study investigates the effects of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) polymer on the performance behaviour of Iraqi bitumen binder. The characteristics of bitumen binder were analysed to observe the compatibility of bitumen with SBS polymer. The bitumen binder was mixed with three different contents of SBS (4%, 4.5%, and 5%) by weight of asphalt cement. Viscosity tests were conducted on the SBS polymer-modified asphalt at 135 oC and 165 oC in addition to conventional binder tests. The prepar

Despite the significant increase in women in academic medicine over the last 50 years, women are still under-represented in leadership positions in academia. However, there is a lack of data on the diversity of editorial boards in Middle Eastern medical journals. So, we aim to portray the diversity of editorial boards of Iraqi medical journals by conducting a cross-sectional analysis of the editorial boards’ members of all Iraqi medical journals. Gender, affiliation and specialty were extracted from the journals’ websites and/or from the professional profiles of the editorial board members. Twenty-five journals and 446 editorial board members were analysed. More than half of editorial board members specialized in basic scienc

Utilizing phase change materials in thermal energy storage systems is commonly considered as an alternative solution for the effective use of energy. This study presents numerical simulations of the charging process for a multitube latent heat thermal energy storage system. A thermal energy storage model, consisting of five tubes of heat transfer fluids, was investigated using Rubitherm phase change material (RT35) as the. The locations of the tubes were optimized by applying the Taguchi method. The thermal behavior of the unit was evaluated by considering the liquid fraction graphs, streamlines, and isotherm contours. The numerical model was first verified compared with existed experimental data from the literature. The outcomes re

Generally, direct measurement of soil compression index (Cc) is expensive and time-consuming. To save time and effort, indirect methods to obtain Cc may be an inexpensive option. Usually, the indirect methods are based on a correlation between some easier measuring descriptive variables such as liquid limit, soil density, and natural water content. This study used the ANFIS and regression methods to obtain Cc indirectly. To achieve the aim of this investigation, 177 undisturbed samples were collected from the cohesive soil in Sulaymaniyah Governorate in Iraq. Results of this study indicated that ANFIS models over-performed the Regression method in estimating Cc with R² of 0.66 and 0.48 for both ANFIS and Regre

This paper analyzes a piled-raft foundation on non-homogeneous soils with variable layer depth percentages. The present work aims to perform a three-dimensional finite element analysis of a piled-raft foundation subjected to vertical load using the PLAXIS 3D software. Parametric analysis was carried out to determine the effect of soil type and initial layer thickness. The parametric study showed that increasing the relative density from 30 % to 80 % of the upper sand layer and the thickness of the first layer has led to an increase in the ultimate load and a decrease in the settlement of piled raft foundations for the cases of sand over weak soil.  In clay over weak soil, the ultimate load of the piled raft foundation w

Biomedical alloy 316L stainless steel enhancing to replace biological tissue or to help stabilize a biological structure, such as bone tissue, enhancing were coated with deposition a thin layer of silver nanoparticles as anti-bacterial materials by using DC- magnetron sputtering device. The morphology surface of The growth nanostructure under the influence of different working pressure were studied by atomic force microscope. The average grain size decrease but roughness of the silver thin layer was increased with‖ ―increasing the working pressure. The thickness of silver thin layer was increased from 107 nm at 0.08 mbar to 126 nm at 1.1 mbar. Antimicrobial activity of silver thin layers at different working pressure were studied. Th

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by the new respiratory virus SARS-CoV2. It has a tropism in the lung tissues where excess target receptors exist. Periostin plays a role in subepithelial fibrosis associated with bronchial asthma. Since the Coronavirus's target is the human respiratory system, Periostin has been recently described as a valuable new biomarker in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease in patients with COVID-19 lung involvement. Objectives: To assess the level of Periostin in the serum of COVID-19 patients and to correlate its role in disease severity and prognosis. Subjects and Methods: Periostin serum levels were measured for 63 patients attending three main COVID

The infection with H. Pylori stimulates a signaling cascade that causes the generation of Cytokines and provokes Oxidative stress that is involved in the chronic inflammatory response leads to Gastric cancers. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produce 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), the persistent oxidative DNA damage product. The study objective was to assess if there was a link between inflammatory cytokine levels and the presence of Oxidative DNA damage in Gastric tumor patients. In addition, evaluation of the diagnostic and prognostic value of Oxidative DNA damage and inflammatory cytokine biomarkers for Stomach cancers is being conducted. The study was accomplished on medically diagnosed Stomach cancer patients before any form of trea

The rapid increase in the number of older people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other forms of dementia represents one of the major challenges to the health and social care systems. Early detection of AD makes it possible for patients to access appropriate services and to benefit from new treatments and therapies, as and when they become available. The onset of AD starts many years before the clinical symptoms become clear. A biomarker that can measure the brain changes in this period would be useful for early diagnosis of AD. Potentially, the electroencephalogram (EEG) can play a valuable role in early detection of AD. Damage in the brain due to AD leads to changes in the information processing activity of the brain and the EEG which ca