In this paper, a miniaturized 2 × 2 electro-optic plasmonic Mach– Zehnder switch (MZS) based on metal–polymer–silicon hybrid waveguide is presented. Adiabatic tapers are designed to couple the light between the plasmonic phase shifter, implemented in each of the MZS arms, and the 3-dB input/output directional couplers. For 6 µm-long hybrid plasmonic waveguide supported by JRD1 polymer (r33= 390 pm/V), a π-phase shift voltage of 2 V is obtained. The switch is designed for 1550 nm operation wavelength using COMSOL software and characterizes by 2.3 dB insertion loss, 9.9 fJ/bit power consumption, and 640 GHz operation bandwidth

Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) enterococci have become a major problem in recent times and have been reported increasingly around the world. Lytic phages infect bacteria leading to rapid host death with limited risk of phage transduction, underlining the increasing interest in potential phage therapy in the future. Objective (s): The aim of this study is to use phage therapy as alternative approach for treatment of Enterococcus faecalis infections that recorded as MDR in Iraq to tackle this problem. Materials and Methods: Thirty E. faecalis isolates were collected from patients with different infectious diseases such as urinary tract infection (UTI), diabetic foot, septicemia, and wound infections. The isolation of specific l

In the geotechnical and terramechanical engineering applications, precise understandings are yet to be established on the off-road structures interacting with complex soil profiles. Several theoretical and experimental approaches have been used to measure the ultimate bearing capacity of the layered soil, but with a significant level of differences depending on the failure mechanisms assumed. Furthermore, local displacement fields in layered soils are not yet studied well. Here, the bearing capacity of a dense sand layer overlying loose sand beneath a rigid beam is studied under the plain-strain condition. The study employs using digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) and finite element method (FEM) simulations. In the FEM, an experiment

Several adipokines are produced and secreted from adipose tissue, such as retinol binding protein-4, which triggers metabolic syndromes and insulin resistance. Retinol binding protein-4 transfers vitamin A or retinol in the blood. Higher levels of retinol binding protein-4 are interrelated with progress of metabolic disease, comprising obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The present study investigates the role of retinol-binding protein-4 levels in type 2 diabetic Iraqi patients with metabolic syndrome. Sixty type 2 diabetic patients aged 40–53 years were examined. Of these 30 patients has metabolic syndrome and 30 without metabolic syndrome. The patients sampled were from the National Diabetes Center/ Mustansiriyah

Background: Anaemia is a major public health concern and is one of the most prevalent health issue in women within reproductive age group.

Objective: to assess maternal knowledge related to anaemia during pregnancy.

Type of the study: A cross –sectional study.

Method: The study including 200 mothers who attended selected primary health care centres, Baghdad during November and December 2015, they completed a previously prepared questionnaire coveringsocio-demographic characteristics and knowledge regarding anaemia in 4 main domains. The responses were analysed by using frequency, percentage and percent score for each statement a

A single specimen of the African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, was recorded for the first time in Baghdad, Iraq. The specimen was caught during a fish survey to document some local species in northern Baghdad (Al-Rusafa) on March 21, 2023. The total length of the specimen was 43 cm, and its weight was 590 grams. Some biometric measurements of the specimen were studied and found to be consistent with the general characteristics of the African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822). It is possible that the fish entered Iraqi inland waters, specifically from the Euphrates River via Syria or from the Tigris River via Turkey.

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) is the most commonplace remedy for kidney stone. Shock waves from outside the body frame are centered at a kidney stone inflicting the stone to fragment. The success of the (ESWL) treatment is based on some variables such as age, sex, stone quantity stone period and so on. Thus, the prediction the success of remedy by this method is so important for professionals to make a decision to continue using (ESWL) or tousing another remedy technique. In this study, a prediction system for (ESWL) treatment by used three techniques of mixing classifiers, which is Product Rule (PR), Neural Network (NN) and the proposed classifier called Nested Combined Classi

A procedure, depending on the derivatization and determination of aniline was depicted andvalidated in this study. 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) was used as the derivatizing agent for thedetermination of aniline. An optimization study was performed for the derivatization reaction, i.e.,the diazonium coupling reaction, the optimum parameters were as follows: 22 mM of hydrochloricacid, 54mM of sodium hydroxide, and 1.8mM of sodium nitrate. The optimization study of themethod of cloud point extraction (CPE) revealed that the extraction solvent was 0.5 ml of Triton X-100, the optimum temperature was 90 °C, and the incubation time was 25 min. The linearity,correlation coefficients, molar absorptivities, and limits of detection were improved using t

The study aimed to establish the association of miR-153-3p expression with treatment response to IM in CML patients. Sixty CML patients were included and divided into two groups consistent with their response to treatment whether sensitive or resistant to IM. Ten healthy normal participants were enrolled as control group. RNA was extracted from serum to work out miR-153-3p expression utilizing real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The primers were supplied by Macrogen Inc. Twenty seven patients were sensitive to imatinib and 33 were resistant to imatinib. The ratio of male to female was 1.14:1. The bulk (58%) of patients were within the age range of 41-60 years. Weight and gender did not significantly diffe