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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
Tue Mar 01 2016
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
The Catalytic Activity of Modified Zeolite Lanthanum on the Catalytic Cracking of Al-Duara Atmospheric Distillation Residue.
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Atmospheric residue fluid catalytic cracking was selected as a probe reaction to test the catalytic performance of modified NaY zeolites and prepared NaY zeolites. Modified NaY zeolites have been synthesized by simple ion exchange methods. Three samples of modified zeolite Y have been obtained by replacing the sodium ions in the original sample with lanthanum and the weight percent added are 0.28, 0.53, and 1.02 respectively. The effects of addition of lanthanum to zeolite Y in different weight percent on the cracking catalysts were investigated using an experimental laboratory plant scale of fluidized bed reactor.

The experiments have been performed with weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) range of 6 to 24 h

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Publication Date
Fri Feb 20 2026
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Science
Elastic Electron Scattering Form Factors and Charge Densities for Some Nuclei in 2s-1d Shell Using the Effect of Occupation Numbers
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Elastic electron scattering form factors, charge density distributions and charge,neutron and matter root mean square (rms) radii for P24PMg, P28PSi and P32PS nuclei arestudied using the effect of occupation numbers. Single-particle radial wave functionsof harmonic-oscillators (HO) potential are used. In general, the results of elasticcharge form factors showed good agreement with experimental data. The occupationnumbers are taken to reproduce the quantities mentioned above. The inclusion ofoccupation numbers enhances the form factors to become closer to the data. For thecalculated charge density distributions, the results show good agreement withexperimental data except the fail to produce the hump in the central region for P28PSinucleus.

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Publication Date
Tue Aug 02 2022
Journal Name
Ijhs
The association between polymorphism of TCF7L2 gene rs12255372 G/T and type 2 diabetes mellitus in Iraqi women suffering from menopause
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Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) became the most prevalent health problem. Almost half of the world's people are ignorant that have diabetes. Menopause occurs as an important alteration in women through which take place the change in sex hormones, distribution in fat،s body, and metabolism, altogether which participate in the metabolism disease such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. Several studies have appeared the association between the TCF7L2 gene and different diseases like type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study aimed to detect the relation of the genetic variation polymorphism for the TCF7L2 gene (rs12255372 G/T) in Iraqi women menopausal with T2DM. The outcomes indicated the increased levels of biochemical characteristics including H

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Publication Date
Thu Nov 08 2018
Journal Name
Chemistry – A European Journal
Magnetic Shielding, Aromaticity, Antiaromaticity and Bonding in the Low‐Lying Electronic States of S <sub>2</sub> N <sub>2</sub>
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Aromaticity, antiaromaticity and chemical bonding in the ground (S0), first singlet excited (S1) and lowest triplet (T1) electronic states of disulfur dinitride, S2N2, were investigated by analysing the isotropic magnetic shielding, σiso(r), in the space surrounding the molecule for each electronic state. The σiso(r) values were calculated by state-optimized CASSCF/cc-pVTZ wave functions with 22 electrons in 16 orbitals constructed from gauge-including atomic orbitals (GIAOs). The S1 and T1 electronic states were confirmed as 11Au and 13B3u, respectively, through linear response CC3/aug-cc-pVTZ calculations of the vertical excitation energies for eight singlet (S1–S8) and eight triplet (T1–T8) electronic states. The aromaticities of S

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Publication Date
Thu Jun 15 2023
Journal Name
Journal Of Baghdad College Of Dentistry
The effects of maternal environmental tobacco smoke exposure on periodontal health and mother-infant bonding in relation to salivary cotinine level
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Background: Environmental tobacco smoking is produced by active smokers burning the tip of a cigarette and breathed by nonsmokers and measured by cotinine level. It has the potential to raise the risk of periodontal disease. One of the most frequent chronic diseases in adults is periodontal disease. The lower maternal-fetal attachment has been found to predict smoking status in previous studies, but no research has examined whether maternal-fetal attachment predicts environmental tobacco smoking. This study assessed the effects of maternal environmental tobacco smoke exposure on periodontal health and mother-infant bonding concerning salivary cotinine levels. Materials and methods: This is a comparative cross-sectional study comparing en

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Publication Date
Thu Aug 01 2024
Journal Name
Fuel
Experimental influence assessments of water drive and gas breakthrough through the CO2-assisted gravity drainage process in reservoirs with strong aquifers
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Mature oil reservoirs surrounded with strong edge and bottom water drive aquifers experience pressure depletion and water coning/cresting. This laboratory research investigated the effects of bottom water drive and gas breakthrough on immiscible CO2-Assisted Gravity Drainage (CO2-AGD), focusing on substantial bottom water drive. The CO2-AGD method vertically separates the injected CO2 to formulate a gas cap and Oil. Visual experimental evaluation of CO2-AGD process performance was performed using a Hele-Shaw model. Water-wet sand was used for the experiments. The gas used for injection was pure CO2, and the “oleic” phase was n-decane with a negative spreading coefficient. The aqueous phase was deionized water. To evaluate the feasibilit

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Publication Date
Sun Mar 07 2010
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
Simultaneous influences of hematocrit in the erythrocyte medium on erythrocyte aggregation and sedimentation: a kinetic study by a laser scattering technique
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The erythrocyte aggregation is an important physiological phenomenon in the circulation of blood. It is a basic characteristic of normal blood that plays a major role in the cardiovascular system, especially in the microcirculation. This study explained the kinetics of single cells rouleaux formation one- dimensional aggregate and three- dimensional aggregate, during simultaneous, and the effect of hematocrit on the process of aggregation and sedimentation. The present study was done on forty one healthy subjects. Laser light is passed through a well mixed sample of blood and the forward scattered light intensities recorded continuously. The samples were prepared with different hematocrit, (10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%). Increasing

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Publication Date
Thu Apr 08 2021
Journal Name
International Journal Of Dental Hygiene
Oral health awareness, attitude towards dental treatment, fear of infection and economic impact during COVID‐19 pandemic in the Middle East
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Abstract<sec><title>Objectives

To assess the impact of COVID‐19 on oral hygiene (OH) awareness, attitude towards dental treatment, fear of infection and economic impact in the Middle East.

Methods

This survey was performed by online distribution of questionnaires in three countries in the Middle East (Jordan, Iraq and Egypt). The questionnaire consisted of five sections: the first section was aimed at collecting demographic data and the rest sections used to assess OH awareness, attitude towards dental treatment, degree of fear and economic impact of COVID‐19. The answers were either multiple choice, closed‐end (Yes or N

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Publication Date
Sun Nov 01 2015
Journal Name
Karbala International Journal Of Modern Science
Batch and flow injection spectrophotometric methods for the determination of barbituric acid in aqueous samples via oxidative coupling with 4-aminoantipyrine
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A batch and flow injection (FI) spectrophotometric methods are described for the determination of barbituric acid in aqueous and urine samples. The method is based on the oxidative coupling reaction of barbituric acid with 4-aminoantipyrine and potassium iodate to form purple water soluble stable product at λ 510 nm. Good linearity for both methods was obtained ranging from 2 to 60 μg mL−1, 5–100 μg mL−1 for batch and FI techniques, respectively. The limit of detection (signal/noise = 3) of 0.45 μg mL−1 for batch method and 0.48 μg mL−1 for FI analysis was obtained. The proposed methods were applied successfully for the determination of barbituric acid in tap water, river water, and urine samples with good recoveries of 99.92

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Publication Date
Sun Sep 28 2025
Journal Name
Journal Of Physical Education
Analysis of Training Load During the Special Preparation and Competition Periods Using Physiological Indicators in U19 Football Players via Smart Bracelet
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The importance of the study lies in highlighting the role of smartwatches as a modern tool for analyzing training load based on functional indicators, such as heart rate and calorie consumption. This allows coaches to monitor individual players’ responses during different training periods, helping to improve physical performance efficiency and reduce the risk of overload-induced fatigue. The study aimed to analyze calorie consumption at different heart rate levels between the special preparation and competition periods for youth football players, with the goal of determining the effect of physiological adaptation on energy efficiency. To achieve this objective, the researcher adopted the descriptive method due to its suitability f

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