In this study, the genus Xylocopa Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) was revised. There were 4 species registered in our investigations: X. hottentotta Smith, 1854; X. olivieri Lepeletier, 1841; X. pubescens Spinola, 1838 and X. valga Gerstäcker, 1872, the first species was described as being found for the first time for the insect fauna of Iraq, which were obtained from Solanum melogena L. flowers. Key to the species was constructed and supported by figures of the main diagnostic characters and some morphological features, illustrated and compared with other species, which are recorded in the current survey.

Background: Diabetes mellitus type 2 has been known for many years as the most common endocrine metabolic disorder that affect the oral cavity and cause many oral diseases including candidiasis. In this study, the incidence of Candida spp. in the saliva of controlled and uncontrolled diabetic patients were determined and compared with non diabetic group. Material and method: The sample consists of 200 subjects: 100 diabetic patients [57 (28.5%) uncontrolled diabetes, 43 (21.5%) controlled diabetes] and 100 (50%) non diabetic groups. Saliva samples was obtained from the subjects and cultured on selective media using appropriate microbiological method to observe the presence of Candida spp. Results: The results revealed a significant associat

A novel design and implementation of a cognitive methodology for the on-line auto-tuning robust PID controller in a real heating system is presented in this paper. The aim of the proposed work is to construct a cognitive control methodology that gives optimal control signal to the heating system, which achieve the following objectives: fast and precise search efficiency in finding the on- line optimal PID controller parameters in order to find the optimal output temperature response for the heating system. The cognitive methodology (CM) consists of three engines: breeding engine based Routh-Hurwitz criterion stability, search engine based particle
swarm optimization (PSO) and aggregation knowledge engine based cultural algorithm (CA)

Background: Assessment of function of the right side of the heart in cases of left ventricular dysfunction has been widely studied but the sensitive and specific echocardiographic parameter to be tested is still a matter of controversy. Right ventricular function is related to left ventricular function by ventricular independence so function of both should be assessed carefully. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of left ventricular systolic dysfunction on right ventricular systolic and diastolic functions and pulmonary pressure using conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography. Patients and Methods: Sixty patients (39 males and 21 females) with heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Foundations supporting reciprocating engines, radar towers, turbines, large electric motors, and generators, etc. are subject to vibrations caused by unbalanced machine forces as well as the static weight of the machine. If these vibrations are excessive, they may damage the machine or cause it not to function properly. In the case of block foundation, if changes in size and mass of the foundation do not lead to a satisfactory design, a pile foundation may be used. In this study, the dynamic response of piles and pile Groups in dry sand is investigated experimentally. The analysis involves the displacement response under harmonic excitation. In addition, a numerical modeling by using finite element method with a three-dimensional formula