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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
Sun Dec 01 2019
Journal Name
Al-khwarizmi Engineering Journal
Effect of Laser Shock Peening on the Fatigue Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Composite Materials
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In this study, Laser Shock Peening (LSP) effect on the polymeric composite materials has been investigated experimentally. Polymeric composite materials are widely used because they are easy to fabricate and have many attractive features. Unsaturated polyester resin as a matrix was selected and Aluminum powder with micro particles as a reinforcement material was used with different volume fraction (2.5%, 5% and 7.5%). Hand lay-up process was used for preparation the composites. Fatigue test with constant amplitude with stress ratio (R =-1) was carried out before and after LSP process with two levels of energy (1Joule and 2Joule). The result showed an increase in the endurance strength of 25.448% at 7.5% volume fraction when peened is 1J

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Publication Date
Wed May 10 2017
Journal Name
Ibn Al-haitham Journal For Pure And Applied Sciences
Gross and Histological Structure of the Caudal Fin of Adult Mosquitofish , Gambusia Affinis , (Baird & Girard)
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The  present  study  showed  that  the  caudal  fin  of  adult mosquitofish  (Gambusia  affinis)  is  homocercal  and  rounded . It  consists  of  22-24 fin rays (Lepidotrichia) . Each fin ray  consists  of  many  segments . Some of these rays are short and  unbranched  whereas  others long and branched dichotomously. Pigment cells are shown to be dispersed on the fin and they are condensened at the edges of the fin rays and at the regions of their dichotomy .        Histologically the transverse section of the fin is surrounded by a fin membrane (composed of epidermis and dermis)

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Publication Date
Sun Jan 05 2014
Journal Name
Paripex - Indian Journal Of Research
Effect of heat treatment on the structural and optical properties of CuIn1-xGaxSe thin films
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The structural, optical properties of cupper indium gallium selenite (CuIn1-xGaxSe) have been studied. CuIn1-xGaxSe thin films for x=0.6 have been prepared by thermal evaporation technique, of 2000±20 nm thickness, with rate of deposition 2±0.1 nm/sec, on glass substrate at room temperature. Heat treatment has been carried out in the range (373-773) K for 1 hour. It demonstrated from the XRD method that all the as-deposited and annealed films have polycrystalline structure of multiphase. The optical measurement of the CIGS thin films conformed that they have, direct allowed energy gap equal to 1.7 eV. The values of some important optical parameters of the studied films such as (absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coeffici

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Publication Date
Thu Apr 27 2017
Journal Name
Ibn Al-haitham Journal For Pure And Applied Sciences
Modeling of The Effect of Grain Size and La2O3 Doping on Sintering α – Cristobilite
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   In this research the effect of grain size and effect of La2O3 doping on densification  rate for the  initial and intermediate  stages of sintering were studied .The experimental results for α – cristobilite powder are modeled using ( L2-Regression ) technique in studying  the effect of grain size and La2O3 doping using  three particles size (6.12, 8.92, 13.6 ) µm, with undoped  initial powder and with La2O3 doping . The mathematical simulation showes that the densification rates increase as the initial particles sizes decrease and vice versa. This shows that the densification depends directly on the initial compact density which reflects the contacts area between the particles . How

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Publication Date
Wed Jan 01 2020
Journal Name
Journal Of Biotechnology Research Center
Molecular screening of the entA gene of Enterococcus faecium isolated from Food and clinical sources
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Background: The microbial production of substances that have the potency to suppress the growth of other microorganisms is probably one of the prevalent defense strategy developed in nature, microorganisms produce a variable bunch of microbial defense systems, which include antibiotics, metabolic by-products, lytic agents, bacteriocins and others. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to isolate and identify Enterococcus faecium isolates then detecting its ability of carrying the gene responsible for enterocin production in this species. Materials and methods: Out of 50 samples from different sources (food and clinical sources) were collected for the Enterococcus faecium isolation, and the isolated bacteria Enterococ

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Publication Date
Fri Apr 12 2019
Journal Name
Journal Of Economics And Administrative Sciences
Split and Merge Regions of Satellite Images using the Non-Hierarchical Algorithm of Cluster Analysis
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يعد التقطيع الصوري من الاهداف الرئيسة والضرورية في المعالجات الصورية للصور الرقمية، فهو يسعى الى تجزئة الصور المدروسة الى مناطق متعددة اكثر نفعاً تلخص فيها المناطق ذات الافادة لصور الاقمار الصناعية، وهي صور متعددة الاطياف ومجهزة من الاقمار الصناعية باستخدام مبدأ الاستشعار عن بعد والذي اصبح من المفاهيم المهمة التي تُعتمد تطبيقاته في اغلب ضروريات الحياة اليومية، وخاصة بعد التطورات المتسارعة التي شهد

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Publication Date
Fri Dec 30 2022
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Chemical And Petroleum Engineering
Enhance the Properties of Lignosulfonate Mud by Adding Nanoparticles of Aluminum Oxide and Iron Oxide
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Oil well drilling fluid rheology, lubricity, swelling, and fluid loss control are all critical factors to take into account before beginning the hole's construction. Drilling fluids can be made smoother, more cost-effective, and more efficient by investigating and evaluating the effects of various nanoparticles including aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) on their performance. A drilling fluid's performance can be assessed by comparing its baseline characteristics to those of nanoparticle (NPs) enhanced fluids. It was found that the drilling mud contained NPs in concentrations of 0,0.25, 0. 5, 0.75 and 1 g. According to the results, when drilling fluid was used without NPs, the coeff

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Publication Date
Sat Mar 18 2017
Journal Name
Ibn Al-haitham Journal For Pure And Applied Sciences
Studying the Effect of Annealing Temperature on Structural and Optical Properties of ZnSe Thin Films
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 The effect of thermal annealing on some structural and optical  properties of ZnSe thin films was studied which prepared by thermal evaporation method with (550±20) nm thickness and annealing at (373,473)K for (2h), By using X-ray diffraction technique structural properties studied and showed that the films are crystalline nature and have ( cubic structure ) .From the observed results after heating treatment, We found that the annealing to perform decreases in grain size and increases in dislocation and observed the optical properties increase in absorption and decrease in transmission. From absorption spectra optical energy gap calculated about (2.66,2.68)eV which decreases value after heating treatment

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Publication Date
Thu Mar 01 2012
Journal Name
International Journal For Sciences And Technology
The influence of patient’s age and severity of Pulmonary tuberculosis on serum interlukin-6 levels
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Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a proinflammatory cytokine implicated in the immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis (TB). TB is recognized worldwide as an important public health issue. To study the relationship between the age of patients with pulmonary TB and serum IL-6 levels, from the other hand, the severity of this disease with IL-6 levels. This study included 30 patients (16 female and 14 male) with pulmonary TB and 10 healthy persons (5 female and 5 male) as control group for comparison. An ELISA assay was used to quantify IL-6 in the sera. The results showed a significant increase of IL-6 levels with increase of age of patients, in (23-38) year old patients the IL-6 levels (median= 17.9 pg/ml, range 12.3-29.1), while in (50-70) year old patien

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Publication Date
Tue Mar 28 2017
Journal Name
Iraqi Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences ( P-issn 1683 - 3597 E-issn 2521 - 3512)
Effect of Additives on the Solubility and Dissolution of Piroxicam From Prepared Hard Gelatin Capsule
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Piroxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used in the treatment of musculo-skeletal and joint disorders. The problem with this drug is its poor solubility in water and hence poor bioavailability after oral administration. In order to improve its solubility and dissolution behavior, hydrophilic additives such as starch, lactose, superdisintegrants including crospovidone (C.P), cross carmellose sodium (CCS), and sodium starch glycolate (SSG) were physically dry mixed with the drug by simple trituration. The improvement in the solubility in 0.1 N HCl was obtained as the amount of starch or lactose increased in the physical mixture, while for superdisintegrants, they further improve the solubility when they are present in s

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