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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
Mon Dec 25 2017
Journal Name
Biomedical And Pharmacology Journal
Effect of the Addition of Polyamide (Nylon 6) Micro-Particles on Some Mechanical Properties of RTV Maxillofacial Silicone Elastomer Before and After Artificial Aging
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Publication Date
Sun Dec 06 2009
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
Seasonal Changes of Nutrient Concentrations in Water of Some Locations in Southern Iraqi Marshes, After Restoration.
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After restoration of Iraqi marshes during 2003, three locations were chosen, one in each main marsh (Um Al-Naaj site in Al-Hwaizeh marsh; Al-Nagarah site in Al-Hammar marsh and Al-Baghdadia site in Al-Chebaysh marsh) to determine the concentrations of nutrients (Nitrate, Nitrite, Phosphate and Silicate) in water seasonally for the period winter, spring, summer, and autumn at 2007. Five water replicates were collected from each site, seasonally. In the Lab., the samples were analyzed by colorimetric methods; the results showed that Um-Al-Naaj site has the highest nutrients level, while Al-Nagarah site has the lowest level. The statistical program t-test was applied at the significant levels (P-value < 0.01) and (P-value < 0.05) to know

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Publication Date
Fri Feb 20 2026
Journal Name
Journal Of Baghdad College Of Dentistry
The Effects of Nano-Hydroxyapatite and Casein Phosphopeptide-Amorphous Calcium Phosphate in Preventing Loss of Minerals from Teeth after Exposure to an Acidic Beverage (An In vitro Study)
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Background: To evaluate the effect of antierosive agents (10% Nano-Hydroxyapatite (NHA), 10% Casein Phophopeptide-Amorphous Calcium Phosphate (CPP-ACP), and combination of 10% NHA and 10% CPP-ACP) on loss of minerals from enamel surface of permanent teeth treated with antierosive agents when exposed to an acidic beverage and investigate the morphological changes of treated enamel surface after demineralization with cola based beverage under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Materials and Methods: Sixty maxillary first premolars were randomly divided into four groups, 15 teeth for each group. Group I treated with 10% NHA, Group II treated with 10% CPP-ACP, Group III treated with 10% NHA and 10% CPP-ACP, and Group IV did not treat with any

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Publication Date
Fri Jan 01 2021
Journal Name
Materials Today: Proceedings
Evaluation of mechanical properties and cytotoxicity of maxillofacial silicone material after incorporation of zirconia nanopowder
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Resilient polymeric materials such as silicone elastomers are currently used for maxillofacial prostheses construction but the strength of these materials and their clinical performance need to be optimized with the addition of reinforcing fillers. This study investigates the effect of zirconia nanopowder addition on tear strength, tensile strength, elongation at break, Shore A hardness, surface roughness and cytotoxicity of VST-50 maxillofacial silicone. Silicone base was mixed with different amounts (1%, 2% and 3%) of zirconia nanopowder using a vacuum mixer. Silicone without filler was used as control for comparison. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy were utilized to assess the efficiency of high-shear vacuum mixin

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Publication Date
Thu Oct 01 2015
Journal Name
Journal Of Economics And Administrative Sciences
The impact of organizational learning in building intellectual capital in public organizations: comparative research between the universities of Baghdad and al-Mustansiriya
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   Organizational learning is one of the most important means of human resource development in organizations, but most of the organizations, especially public ones do not realize the importance of organizational learning enough, and estimated his role accurately in building intellectual capital, the resource competitive importantly for organizations of the third millennium and who suffers is other end of lack of understanding of its meaning and how to prove its presence and measured in public organizations, so there is the need for this research, which aims to investigate the effect of organizational learning its processes (knowledge acquisition, Information transfer, Interpreting the information, Organizational me

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Publication Date
Thu Feb 29 2024
Journal Name
Banks And Bank Systems
Fiscal and real repercussions of the Central Bank of Iraq’s real estate initiatives by using Multiple Correspondence Analysis
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The importance of the study stems from the fact that Iraq’s economy is facing a housing crisis, especially in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, great demographic pressure due to pronounced population growth over the past two decades. The Central Bank of Iraq undertakes several initiatives represented in granting real estate loans, mainly through the Real Estate Bank at very low interest, and in the last two years, the interest has become zero. The purpose of the study is to analyze the fiscal implications of the Iraqi central bank’s real estate initiatives, as well as its real impact on the spatial dimension of the Iraqi governorates through new housing in those governorates. Using data mainly from the Central Bank of Iraq’s bulleti

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Publication Date
Thu Jan 24 2019
Journal Name
Al-kindy College Medical Journal
Clinical and experimental Study to evaluate the effect of Biphasic calcium phosphate collagen composite (cpcc) on healing of bone defects after oral surgical procedures
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Background: A recent discoveries used for reconstruction in maxillofacial surgery is the composite bone graft materials. The availability of collagen I matrix make our choice to use this material in surgery .It is biomaterials that its structure could be modified by simple techniques. Studies to find a new materials use for bone reconstruction is to overcome the disadvantages of autogenous bone and the synthetic resorbable bone substitutes.

Objectives: This study was done to evaluate the effect of biphasic calcium phosphate collagen composite (ccpc) on healing of bone defects after oral surgical procedures.

Type of the study: A cross sectional study.

Method: It involved 60 patients, 35 male and 25 female, age (15-

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Publication Date
Wed Jan 15 2025
Journal Name
Human Antibodies
State of type 2 diabetic Iraqi patients after hospitalization for COVID-19
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Background

The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, triggered by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has affected over 100 million people and killed around 2 million individuals. One of the most common chronic illnesses in the world is diabetes, which greatly raises the risk of hospitalization and death for COVID-19 patients.

Objective

This study aims to analyze the novel coronavirus's general characteristics and shed light on COVID-19 and its management in diabetic individuals by measuring some metabolic and inflammatory factors in type 2 diabetic pa

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Publication Date
Sun Sep 15 2024
Journal Name
Journal Of Baghdad College Of Dentistry
Assessment of surface microhardness of enamel surface treated with Nano- HAP serum before and after bleaching
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Background: Although bleaching is typically considered a safe procedure, various investigations have found minor negative effects and changes in mineral composition. The aim was to Evaluate and compare the efficacy of using Nanohydroxyapatite serum on surface microhardness of enamel surface before and after bleaching with chemically cured Boost bleaching. Material and methods: ten sound human permanent upper and lower premolar teeth were used and their roots were removed 2 mm apically to the cementoenamel junction, the crowns were sectioned mesiodistally into two halves buccal and lingual/palatal, the buccal surface was further subdivided into two halves. The samples were embeded in an acrylic resin, resulting in 30 specimens divide

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Publication Date
Fri Feb 20 2026
Journal Name
Journal Of Baghdad College Of Dentistry
Evaluation of marginal gap at the composite/enamel interface in Class II composite resin restoration by SEM after thermal and mechanical load cycling (An in vitro comparative study)
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Background: This study compared in vitro the marginal adaptation of three different, low shrink, direct posterior composites Filtekâ„¢ P60 (packable composite), Filtekâ„¢ P90 (Silorane-based composite) and Sonic fillâ„¢ (nanohybrid composite) at three different composite/enamel interface regions (occlusal, proximal and gingival regions) of a standardized Class II MO cavity after thermal changes and mechanical load cycling by scanning electron microscopy. Materials and methods:Thirty six sound human maxillary first premolars of approximately comparable sizes were divided into three main groups of (12 teeth) in each according to the type of restorative material that was used: group (A) the teeth were restored with Filtekâ„¢ P6

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