Cytokines are signaling molecules between inflammatory cells that play a significant role in the pathogenesis of a disease. Among these cytokines are interleukins (ILs) 17A and 33, and accordingly, the current case-control study sought to investigate the role of each of the two cytokines in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Sixty-eight relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) Iraqi patients and twenty healthy individuals (control group) were enrolled. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits were used to determine serum levels of IL-17A and IL-33. Results revealed that IL-17A and IL-33 levels were significantly higher in MS patients than in controls (14.1 ± 4.5 vs. 7.5 ± 3.8 pg/mL; p < 0.001 and 65.3 ± 16

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the most common process for dealing with primary and secondary wastewater sludge. In the present work, four pre-treatment methods (ultrasonic, chemical, thermal, and thermo-chemical) are investigated in Al-Rustumya Wastewater Treatment plant in order to find their effect on biogas production and volatile solid removal efficiency during anaerobic digestion.
Two frequencies of ultrasonic wave were used 30 KHz and 50 KHz during the pre-treatment. Sodium hydroxide was added in different amounts to give three pH values of 9, 10 and 11 in chemical pre-treating processes. The sludge was heated at 60oC and 80oC through thermal pre-treatment experiment. Also, the sludge was treated thermo-chemically at 80 oC and pH

This work was carried to study the capability of activated alumina from bauxite compared with activated carbon adsorption capability to reduce the color content from Al-Hilla Textile Company wastewater. Six dyes were studied from two types(reactive and dispersed) namely (blue, red, yellow) from wastewater and aqueous solutions.
Forty eight experiments were carried out to study the effect of various initial conditions (bed height, flow rate, initial concentration, pH value, temperature, and competitive adsorption) on adsorption process.
The results showed that the adsorption process using activated carbon insured a good degree of color reduction reaching (99.7%) and was better than activated bauxite which reached (95%).

In this paper, the effects of subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) on crop coefficient (k_c) and crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) of eggplant were investigated in sandy loam soil. For this purpose, two treatments plot (with SWRT and without using SWRT) were adopted during 93 days of cultivation. The study was conducted in open field within Al-Fahamah Township, Baghdad, Iraq during summer growing season 2017. The accumulated ET_c of eggplant was 403.3 and 515.2 mm for SWRT treatment and control plot, respectively by reduction percentage 21.7 %. The average values of ET_c during the growing season were 4.3 and 5.5 mm/day, respectively. The crop coefficients value during the gro

In the present study a new synthesis method has been introduced for the decoration of platinum(Pt) on the functionalized graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) and also highlighted the preparation method of nanofluids. GNP–Pt uniform nanocomposite was produced from a simple chemical reaction procedure, which included acid treatment for functionalization of GNP. The surface characterization was performed by various techniques such as XRD, FESEMand TEM. The effective thermal conductivity, density, viscosity, specific heat capacity and stability of functionalized GNP–Pt water based nanofluids were investigated in different instruments. The GNP–Pt hybrid nanofluids were prepared by dispersing the nanocomposite in base fluid without adding any surfac

This study was conducted to explore the effects of using ionized water on the productive and physiological performance of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica). Our study was conducted at a private farm from 20th April, 2016 to 13th July, 2016 (84 d). One hundred 42-day-old Japanese quail chicks were used, divided randomly into 5 groups with 4 replicates. Treatments consisted in a control group (T1 - normal water:), alkaline (T2 - pH 8 and T3 - pH 9), and acidic water (T4 - pH 6 and T5 - pH 5). All birds were fed a balanced diet of energy and protein. The egg production ratio, egg weight, cumulative number of eggs, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, productivity per hen per week, and effects on plasma lipids, uric acid, glucose, calcium, and ph

        This paper concerns with openness concept in contemporary learning environment, which ranges from physical characters to its relation with learning efficiency and its output. Previous literatures differ to clear the effect of openness on the engagement between learner within themselves, and with this kind of spaces. Engagement means: active participation, the ability of making dialogue, self-reflection and the ability to explore and communicate with them and
within learning space. Research roblem was: The lack of knowledge about the effect of Openness on learner engagement with learning spaces. The two concepts were applied on three types of learning spaces in the Department of the Architectu