The photodynamic inactivation against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using two different lasers, 532 nm diode pumped solid state laser (DPSS) in combination with safranin O and 650 nm diode laser in combination with methylene blue was investigated in the present work. A hundred swab samples were collected from patients with burn and wound infections admitted to two hospitals in Baghdad (Specialized Burns Hospital in Medical City and Al Imamein Al Jwadein Medical City Hospital) from December 2015 to February 2016 Antimicrobial susceptibility was performed by using Kirby- Bauer method. The irradiation experiments included four groups; a control group, a photosensitizer only group, a laser irradiation only group and a laser irr

Abstract: Microfluidic devices present unique advantages for the development of efficient drug assay and screening. The microfluidic platforms might offer a more rapid and cost-effective alternative. Fluids are confined in devices that have a significant dimension on the micrometer scale. Due to this extreme confinement, the volumes used for drug assays are tiny (milliliters to femtoliters).

 In this research, a microfluidic chip consists of micro-channels carved on substrate materials built by using Acrylic (Polymethyl Methacrylate, PMMA) chip was designed using a Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) laser machine. The CO2 parameters have influence on the width, depth, roughness of the chip. In order to have regular

In this study, iron was coupled with copper to form a bimetallic compound through a biosynthetic method, which was then used as a catalyst in the Fenton-like processes for removing direct Blue 15 dye (DB15) from aqueous solution. Characterization techniques were applied on the resultant nanoparticles such as SEM, BET, EDAX, FT-IR, XRD, and zeta potential. Specifically, the rounded and shaped as spherical nanoparticles were found for green synthesized iron/copper nanoparticles (G-Fe/Cu NPs) with the size ranging from 32-59 nm, and the surface area was 4.452 m2/g. The effect of different experimental factors was studied in both batch and continuous experiments. These factors were H2O2 concentration, G-Fe/CuNPs amount, pH, initial DB15

A tunable band pass filter based on fiber Bragg grating sensor using an in-fiber Mach-Zender interferometer with dual micro-cavities is presented. The micro-cavity was formed by splicing together a conventional single-mode fiber and a solid core photonic crystal fiber (SCPCF) with simple arc discharge technique. Different parameters such as arc power, length of the SCPCF and the overlap gap between samples were considered to control the fabrication process. The ellipsoidal air-cavity between the two fibers forms Fabry-Perot cavity. The diffraction loss was very low due to short cavity length. Ellipsoidal shape micro-cavities were experimentally achieved parallel to the propagation axis having dimensions of (24.92 – 62.32) μm of width

This study aims to show, the strength of steel beam-concrete slab system without using shear connectors (known as a non-composite action), where the effect of the friction force between the concrete slab and the steel beam has been investigated, by using finite element simulation.

The proposed finite element model has been verified based on comparison with an experimental work. Then, the model was adopted to study the system strength with a different steel beam and concrete slab profile. ABAQUS has been adopted in the preparation of all numerical models for this study.

After validation of the numerical models, a parametric study was conducted, with linear and non-linear Regression analysis. An equation re

In this research, the influence of the orientation and distance factors on the lowest usable frequency (LUF) parameter has been studied theoretically. The calculations of the (LUF) parameter have been made using the (VOACAP) international communication model for the connection links between the capital Baghdad and many other locations that distributed on different distances and directions over the Middle East region. The results shown in this study indicate there is a slight affection of the link direction (orientation) on the LUF parameter, while the influence of the distance factor is more significant on the values of the LUF parameter. The day/night effect appears for the long distance HF links (i.e. more than a 500 Km)

Prediction of the formation of pore and fracture pressure before constructing a drilling wells program are a crucial since it helps to prevent several drilling operations issues including lost circulation, kick, pipe sticking, blowout, and other issues. IP (Interactive Petrophysics) software is used to calculate and measure pore and fracture pressure. Eaton method, Matthews and Kelly, Modified Eaton, and Barker and Wood equations are used to calculate fracture pressure, whereas only Eaton method is used to measure pore pressure. These approaches are based on log data obtained from six wells, three from the north dome; BUCN-52, BUCN-51, BUCN-43 and the other from the south dome; BUCS-49, BUCS-48, BUCS-47. Along with the overburden pr

The ability of the human brain to communicate with its environment has become a reality through the use of a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)-based mechanism. Electroencephalography (EEG) has gained popularity as a non-invasive way of brain connection. Traditionally, the devices were used in clinical settings to detect various brain diseases. However, as technology advances, companies such as Emotiv and NeuroSky are developing low-cost, easily portable EEG-based consumer-grade devices that can be used in various application domains such as gaming, education. This article discusses the parts in which the EEG has been applied and how it has proven beneficial for those with severe motor disorders, rehabilitation, and as a form of communi

In the presence of deep submicron noise, providing reliable and energy‐efficient network on‐chip operation is becoming a challenging objective. In this study, the authors propose a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)‐based coding scheme that simultaneously reduces the crosstalk induced bus delay and provides multi‐bit error protection while achieving high‐energy savings. This is achieved by calculating two‐dimensional parities and duplicating all the bits, which provide single error correction and six errors detection. The error correction reduces the performance degradation caused by retransmissions, which when combined with voltage swing reduction, due to its high error detection, high‐energy savings are achieved. The res