Background: Gallstone disease (GSD) is a significant global health burden with variable prevalence influenced by metabolic, genetic, and infectious factors. Increasing evidence suggests that Gram-positive bacteria, particularly Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus species, contribute to gallstone pathogenesis through enzymatic activity and biofilm formation. Objectives: To characterize Gram-positive bacteria within gallstones from Iraqi patients, evaluate their biofilm-forming capacity, and analyze the relationship between bacterial colonization, gallstone type, and cholesterol levels. Methods: A total of 100 gallstones were obtained from patients undergoing elective cholecystectomy between October 2024 and March 2025. Stones were

Traditional volumetric asphalt mix design methods do not directly evaluate cracking and rutting resistance, which may result in mixtures with inadequate field performance despite satisfying conventional volumetric requirements. Balanced Mix Design (BMD) has been introduced to address this limitation by incorporating performance testing. However, it remains unclear whether additive modification alone can recover mixtures that do not satisfy BMD criteria, or whether volumetric redesign (binder content optimization) is necessary. Therefore, this study investigated the effectiveness of additive modification before and after BMD redesign using IDEAL-CT and IDEAL-RT performance indices. Three additive systems were evaluated: SBS polymer,

In this study, 158 clinical samples were collected from hospitalized burn patients during the period from December 2012 to June 2013 in Karbala province\ Iraq. Bacterial isolates were identified using conventional biochemical tests and then identification was confirmed by using Vitek-2 compact system. Pseudomonas aeruginosa recovery was 60 isolates in this study. These isolates were analyzed for antibiotic susceptibility by the disk diffusion test (DDT) according to Kirby Bauer's method using seven clinically important antipseudomonal agents: carbapenems (Imipenem and Meropenem), pencillins (Piperacillin), cephalosporins (Ceftazidim), monobactam (Aztreonam), quinolones (Ciprofloxacin) and aminoglycosides (Gentamicin). The results of resista

Land use change, particularly the expansion of urban areas and associated human activities at the expense of natural and semi-natural areas, is a major ecological issue in urban areas around the world. Climate change being a very strong additional driver for changing the temperature and habitat in the cities. This also applies to Baghdad, Iraq, where urbanisation and climate change exerts a major pressure on the natural habitats of the city, and thus may affect the ability of city planners to adapt to future climate change scenarios. Here we present evidence of substantial growth in urban areas, increases in temperature, and degradation of natural vegetation within Baghdad city by using Remote Sensing techniques and an assessment for the

Collapsing building structures during recent earthquakes, especially in Northern and Eastern Kurdistan, including the 2003 earthquake in Cewlig; the 2011 earthquake in Van; and the 2017 earthquake near Halabja province, has raised several concerns about the safety of pre-seismic code buildings and emergency facilities in Erbil city. The seismic vulnerability assessment of the hospital buildings as emergency facilities is one of the necessities which have a critical role in the recovery period following earthquakes. This research aims to study in detail and to extend the present knowledge about the seismic vulnerability of the Rizgary public hospital building in Erbil city, which was constructed before releasing the seism

Abstract

The study aims to reveal the level of inclusion of citizenship values in the English language textbooks (We Can) series for elementary education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To achieve this objective, the "content analysis" methodology was used. A content analysis card was designed to include (6) main areas of citizenship values, it consisted of (28) sub-indicators of citizenship values that were supposed to be included in the English language textbook series (We Can) for elementary education. The study sample consisted of all the English language textbooks (We Can) series for elementary education, which consisted of (6) textbooks, two for each class. The results of the study indicated that there is a

Abstract

The current research aims to develop a guidance program suitable for high school students and apply it to them in order to ensure the reduction of addiction to the use of different means of communication. The researchers used the scale of addiction to the means of communication (SAS) to measure the level of addiction as well as to identify the impact of the proposed guidance program in reducing the degree of addiction to communication. It was applied to a sample of (20) female students divided equally into two groups: an experimental group of (10) female students and a control group of (10) female students from the secondary level in a school under the department of education in the education of the alma