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Numbness of the Mind Paradigm in Haruki Murakami’s After the Quake and Iraq’s After the Quake
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Haruki Murakami (1949-present) is a contemporary Japanese writer whose works have been translated into fifty languages and won him plenty of Japanese and international awards. His short stories are well constructed in a weird realistic manner and are mixed with elements of surrealism. His novels and short stories fall under the genre of magical realism. One of the major revolving themes that Murakami wrote about was the haunting feeling of emptiness and disconnectedness in a world which seems to care much for materialism and self-interests.

    The paper explores two of Murakami’s short stories in his book After the Quake (2000) and the relevance of their themes and characters to Iraq after the quake. Literally, Iraq may never have witnessed a real earthquake, but one can say its metaphorical meaning has a great implication upon the lives of its people. The reference to Iraq after the quake in this paper would focus on the aftermath of the 2003 War such as: the feeling of disconnection among people, disinclination in life, feelings of deprivation and depreciation, and the corruption of leaders and politicians. Likewise, though Murakami’s short stories chosen in this paper do not deal with the actual earthquake, its implications can be felt as we read the stories. His characters witness a sense of disconnectedness and the feeling of being unappreciated even when they do the hardest and most dangerous jobs.

    Two of Murakami’s short stories “UFO in Kushiro” and “Super Frog Saves Tokyo” are tackled to show the paradigm and comparison between the lives of these characters (that are actually a reflection of Japanese lives in mid 1990s) and the restricted depressing life of the Iraqis in the postwar era of the 2003 War. Both have experienced fragmentation, despair and lack of self-worth due to the reasons that are explained in this paper. The Iraqis however, may have experienced a deeper suffering where one can say they have reached a state of the numbness or enslavement of the mind and feelings. The paper also highlights that animosity should be dissipated from the hearts of people specifically in politicians and top leaders. Though it is a complicated world, man should conceive that the prosperity of mankind rests in his own hands. Cherishing the diversity of cultures and understanding each other’s moral principles are the means to diminish evil in order to reach the desired bliss.

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Publication Date
Sat Aug 25 2012
Journal Name
Journal Of American Science
The effect of utilization of parsley (Petroselinum crispum) in local Iraqi geese diets on blood biochemistry
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This experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding diets containing different levels of parsley on the blood biochemical characteristics of local Iraqi geese. A total of twenty-four local geese, one year old, were used in this experiment during the period from the beginning of October to the end of December. The birds were allocated for Four treatment groups consisted of six geese each. Treatment groups were as follows: Control diet (T1) (free from parsley), T2: Control diet + 80 g / d parsley, T3: Control diet + 160 g / d parsley; T4: Control diet + 240 g / d parsley. At the end of experiment, blood samples were obtained from all geese by venipuncture from brachial vein and blood plasma samples were prepared. Blood biochemical tr

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Publication Date
Mon Aug 01 2022
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
The Potential Role of Soil Bacteria as an Indicator of Heavy Metal Pollution in Southern, Iraq
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       The present study was performed to spotlight the potential role of soil bacteria in the Al-Rumaila oil field as a bioindicator of heavy metals pollution. For this purpose, nine soil samples were collected from different sites, with 20cm depth, to assess the pollution status depending on the total and available concentrations of heavy metals.  The result indicates pollution of the studied soils with the following metals: Cd, Cu, Fe, Zn, and Pb. The mean of total concentration for all studied metals was higher than the allowed maximum limit based on the international limit:(3.394, 3.994, 39.993, 8844.979,150.372, and 103.347 µg/g), respectively. While measuring the total Metal concentration is important in determining the de

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Publication Date
Sun Mar 18 2018
Journal Name
Mustansiria Dental Journal
The Effect of Pepsi Cola Beverage on Surface Roughness of Two Composite Resins (In Vitro study)
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An acidic environment causes surface changes of resin composites. Filler particlesize and filler distribution also have a direct effect on these surface changes. This invitro study evaluated the influence of Pepsi Cola drink on the surface roughness ofComposan LCM and Composan Ceram over time. Sixteen disc shaped specimens(10mm diameter, 2mm thickness) of each resin composite were fabricated, therebyforming two groups (n= 8). Surface roughness (Ra) was analyzed after 24 hrs beforeexposure to beverage. The specimens were submitted to a five minutes immersion inPepsi Cola three times daily interrupted by immersion in deionized distilled water (37C˚). Surface roughness measurements were done at 10, 30, and 60 days intervals. Datawere

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Publication Date
Thu Mar 30 2017
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences ( P-issn 1683 - 3597 E-issn 2521 - 3512)
Hepatoprotective Effect of the Aqueous Extract of Camellia sinensis Against Methotrexate-induced Liver Damage in Rats
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Methotrexate (MTX) is a folate antagonist widely used in the treatment of neoplastic diseases; its biotransformation in the liver produced active metabolites that promote hepatotoxicity. The present study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of aqueous extract of Camellia sinensis (Green tea) against MTX-induced liver damage in rats. A model of liver injury in rats was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 20mg/kg MTX as a single dose followed by saline and 1.25% and 2.5% aqueous extract of green tea (GTE) were orally administered 7 days prior and 5 days after MTX-intoxication as a sole source of drinking water. After killing the animals, blood samples were obtained for evaluation of serum levels of alanine and

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Publication Date
Sat Dec 02 2023
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Numerical Simulation of Pile Group Response in Slope Layered Soil under the Effect of Seismic Loading
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This work investigates the effect of earthquakes on the stability of a collective pile subjected to seismic loads in the soil layer. Plaxis 3D 2020 finite element software modeled pile behavior in dry soils with sloping layers. The results showed a remarkable fluctuation between the earthquakes, where the three earthquakes (Halabja, El Centro, and Kobe) and the acceleration peak in the Kobe earthquake had a time of about 11 seconds. Different settlement results were shown, as different values were recorded for the three types of earthquakes. Settlement ratios were increased by increasing the seismic intensity; hence the maximum settlement was observed with the model under the effect of the Kobe earthquake (0.58 g), where

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Publication Date
Sun Jan 01 2023
Journal Name
Journal Of Oral Medicine And Oral Surgery
Reliability of two difficulty indexes in predicting the surgical extraction difficulty of impacted mandibular third molars
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Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the reliability and the agreement of the Pederson and Pernambuco difficulty indexes in predicting the surgical extraction difficulty of the impacted mandibular third molars. Materials and methods: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted on 83 patients who had undergone surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar. The difficulty of extraction was determined preoperatively according to the total scores obtained from the Pederson and Pernambuco difficulty indexes, the operative difficulty was determined by the surgical technique and the duration of extraction. The accuracy of prediction of the surgical difficulty and

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Publication Date
Fri Jun 17 2022
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences ( P-issn 1683 - 3597 E-issn 2521 - 3512)
Evaluation the Effectiveness of Phenolic Compound of Salvia Frigida on Induced Atopic Dermatitis in Experimental Mice
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Abstract

To evaluate the effectiveness of Phenolic Compound of Salvia Frigida on induced atopic dermatitis (AD) of mice. Forty mice were included in the study, divided in to four groups (10 mice/group): apparently healthy, induced AD without treatment, induced AD treated with tacrolimus 0.1% ointment, and induced AD treated with Phenolic Compound of Salvia Frigida cream 5%. Examination of histopathology was done and skin homogenates levels also measured. Levels of WBC, Eosinophil, skin tissue homogenate of IL-13 and IL-4, serum IgE, and histopathological scores were significantly increased among induced non treated AD group in comparison with control group. Comparisons of non-treated induced AD

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Publication Date
Sun Mar 01 2009
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE EFFECT OFNIGELLA SATIVA SEEDS ON THE MAMMARY GLAND OF MATURE MALE NORWAY RAT
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Nigella sativa seeds (NSS) are reputed traditionally and scientifically as a potent agent that promote milk secretion (galactagogue), but their mechanism of action is studied trivially. One suggestion was that these seeds are bio-transformed to sex hormones within the ovaries. Therefore, this investigation was designated to throw light on the action of these seeds in the absence of ovaries i.e. in male rats. Thirty Norway male albino rats were used in this investigation. They were divided into experimental (n=20,fed NSS 2g/ Kg body weight /day for 14 days) and control (n=10, fed placebo for 14 days). After sacrifice mammary gland and blood samples were obtained. Experimental rats revealed a significant increase (p (0.01>in

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Publication Date
Thu Feb 01 2018
Journal Name
Journal Of Economics And Administrative Sciences
The technique of converting multi-choice mathematical programming into linear mathematical programming to find the optimal solution
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The study deals with the issue of multi-choice linear mathematical programming. The right side of the constraints will be multi-choice. However, the issue of multi-purpose mathematical programming can not be solved directly through linear or nonlinear techniques. The idea is to transform this matter into a normal linear problem and solve it In this research, a simple technique is introduced that enables us to deal with this issue as regular linear programming. The idea is to introduce a number of binary variables And its use to create a linear combination gives one parameter was used multiple. As well as the options of linear programming model to maximize profits to the General Company for Plastic Industries product irrigation sy

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Publication Date
Wed Feb 20 2019
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Physics
The measurements of neutron Fermi Age for selected Nuclear Reactor shielding materials using the Indium foil technique
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The Neutron Fermi Age, t, and the neutron slowing down density,   q (r, t) , have been measured for some materials such as Graphite and Iron by using gamma spectrometry system UCS-30 with NaI (Tl) detector. This technique was applied for Graphite and Iron materials by using Indium foils covered by Cadmium and the measurements done at the Indium resonance of 1.46 eV. These materials are exposed to a plane 241Am/Be neutron source with recent activity 38 mCi. The measurements of the Fermi Age were found to be t = 297 ± 21 cm2 for Graphite, t = 400 ± 28 cm2 for Iron. Neutron slowing down density was also calculated depending on the recent experimental t value and distance.

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