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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
Wed Jun 01 2016
Journal Name
Translation & Linguistics
The Concept of Death in Don DeLillo's White Noise مفهوم الموت في رواية دون دليللو الضوضاء البيضاء
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Death is undoubtedly the theme of Don DeLillo’s White Noise. Murray Siskind, a College-on-the-Hill professor who is obsessed with the exploration and reinterpretation of American popular culture, talks about the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and the German mentor of Jack Gladney has been using the Egyptian Book of the Dead, translated into German. The core episode of the story is the Airborne Toxic Event, the associate of Heinrich (Jack’s teenage son), Orestes Mercator, dreams of becoming one of the great figures in the Guinness Book by challenging and confronting death by enclosing himself in a glass pen jam-packed with poisonous snakes, and Heinrich challenges an imprisoned mass murderer in a chess game. The scholarly expertise of Jack c

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Publication Date
Mon May 18 2026
Journal Name
Journal Of Baghdad College Of Dentistry
Efficacy of arthrocentesis with injection of hyaluronic acid in the treatment of internal derangement of temporomandibular joint
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Background: Temporomandibular joint disorders refer to a group of heterogeneous pain and dysfunction conditions involving the masticatory system, reducing life quality of the sufferers. Arthrocentesis is simple and less invasive surgical procedure for the treatment of internal derangement than arthroscopy and better than other conservative procedures such as drugs, occlusal appliances and physiotherapy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of arthrocentesis with injection of hyaluronic acid in the treatment of internal derangement of temporomandibular joint for the restoration of its function, reducing pain and preventing further deterioration of the temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Materials and methods: This study was perfo

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Publication Date
Wed Jun 24 2020
Journal Name
Bulletin Of The Iraq Natural History Museum (p-issn: 1017-8678 , E-issn: 2311-9799)
A STUDY OF PHYSICAL AND ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HEAVY METAL ACCUMULATION OF JUNCUS RIGIDUS DESFONTAINES, 1798 (FAMILY, JUNCACEAE) IN BASRAH PROVINCE, SOUTHEREN OF IRAQ
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This study was carried out to determine the heavy metal accumulation of Juncus rigidus Desfontaines, 1798 from three different regions of the Basrah Province in Southern of Iraq. Specifically, the concentrations of lead, nickel, and cadmium were determined in the roots, culms and leaves of the plant. The results indicated that the highest accumulation of the heavy metal was recorded in lead (Pb) 12.50± 3.58 mg kg-1and then in nickel (< 0.30). The lowest value was recorded for cadmium (< 0.05). As well, lead concentrations in J. rigidus varied in different locations and parts of the plant from undetectable in control to 12.66, 19.33, and 9.80 mg kg-1 in leaves, culm, and roots respective

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Publication Date
Sun Jun 30 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of The College Of Education For Women
Qualities of Life Partner from the Perspective of a Sample of University Students
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The study aims at identifying the morphological and psycho-socio-economic qualities wished to be in a life partner among a sample of Palestinian youth. The total sample was (231) and consisted of  (83) male and (148) female students. Each student presented a detailed report on the qualities he/she wished to be in life partner. The study used the descriptive approach and content analysis method. The validity and stability of the analysis were calculated. The results showed eight qualities in both groups: physical, psychological, emotional, social, intellectual, familial, economic and academic. Female students were found to have more variations than male students in terms of the qualities preferable in the life partner. Male students

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Publication Date
Fri Mar 01 2019
Journal Name
Al-khwarizmi Engineering Journal
Effect of Flaring Angle of Transition Structure On the Scouring of outlet structure
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The transition structure is considered as the most important hydraulic structure controlling the w/s transtion, morever it decrease the scouring of outlet structure.

seven experiment samples for transition structure was used in this research at different angles ( 10° - 90° ).

       It was shown that froud number has a clear effect on the depth of the scouring, morever the high discharge rates cause an increase of the ratio between the length of the scour and its depth.

       In order to select the best flaring angle it was shown that the angle of 40° has the most discharge rate, least structure length and least angle scour depth, with the firmly of t

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Publication Date
Thu Mar 15 2018
Journal Name
Journal Of Baghdad College Of Dentistry
The Study of Oral Findings, Oxidative Stress and Antioxidant Vitamin E in Serum and Saliva of Crohn's Patients on Azathioprine Monotherapy and those on Combination of Anti-TNF-α Plus Azathioprine
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Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is an immunological disorder associated with chronic inflammatory process of several unspecific regions of gastrointestinal tract but frequently detected in the terminal Ilium and proximal colon or both. This disease frequently presented with various oral manifestations as a consequence of inflammatory process of the disease, nutritional deficiency or medications side effects. Several therapeutic approaches have been developed for CD management that are targeting the inflammatory process and directed at controlling the host immune response. Immunosuppressants such as Azathioprine and anti-TNF α agents as well as the combination of them have been widely used as an effective therapeutic modality with a bett

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Publication Date
Sat Dec 03 2016
Journal Name
Journal Of Genetic And Environmental Resources Conservation
Examination the efficiency of NDVI index by comparing with STVI-4 index to recognize the vegetation cover
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Publication Date
Wed Jun 30 2004
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Chemical And Petroleum Engineering
Studying the Factors Effects on the Flowability of ZnO-CuO/γAl2O3 Catalyst Through Hopper Before Tableting Process
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Publication Date
Sat Jan 01 2022
Journal Name
Aip Conference Proceedings
Sensitize the electrical properties of partial substitution on mercury-base superconductor manufactured by the solid reaction method
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Publication Date
Sun Mar 04 2018
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
Using Texture Analysis Image Processing Technique to Study the Effect of Microwave Plasma on the Living Tissue
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The present study is a hybrid method of studying the effect of plasma on the living tissue by using the image processing technique. This research explains the effect of microwave plasma on the DNA cell using the comet score application, texture analysis image processing and the effect of microwave plasma on the liver using texture analysis image processing. The study was applied on the mice cells. The exposure to the plasma is done by dividing the mice for four groups, each group includes four mice (control group, 20, 50, 90 second exposure to microwave plasma). The exposure to microwave plasma was done with voltage 175v and gas flow on 2 with room temperature; the statistical features are obtained from the comet score images and the textur

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