Criticism is inherently impolite and a face-threatening act generally leading to conflicts among interlocutors. It is equally challenging for both native and non-native speakers, and needs pre-planning before performing it. The current research examines the production of non-institutional criticism by Iraqi EFL university learners and American native speakers. More specifically, it explores to what extent Iraqi EFL learners and American native speakers vary in (i) performing criticism, (ii) mitigating criticism, and (iii) their pragmatic choices according to the contextual variables of power and distance. To collect data, a discourse-completion task was used to elicit written data from 20 Iraqi EFL learners and 20 American native speaker

The increasing complexity of how humans interact with and process information has demonstrated significant advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP), transitioning from task-specific architectures to generalized frameworks applicable across multiple tasks. Despite their success, challenges persist in specialized domains such as translation, where instruction tuning may prioritize fluency over accuracy. Against this backdrop, the present study conducts a comparative evaluation of ChatGPT-Plus and DeepSeek (R1) on a high-fidelity bilingual retrieval-and-translation task. A single standardize prompt directs each model to access the Arabic-language news section of the College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, retrieve the three most r

The present study aims to estimating the prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disorders in Iraqi infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Eighty-five Iraqi women, with age range (19-45) years, were divided into three groups; first group included 33 women with PCOS; second group included 30 women without PCOS; while third group included 22 fertile women as controls. The clinical data [age, body mass index (BMI), and menstrual status] have been recorded. Blood samples were collected to determine the levels of reproductive hormones [estradiol (E2), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)]; and thyroid hormones [triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxin (T4)]. Also, autoimmune thyroid antibodies assessment h

Transient mixed convection heat transfer in a confined porous medium heated at periodic sinusoidal heat flux is investigated numerically in the present paper. The Poisson-type pressure equation, resulted from the substituting of the momentum Darcy equation in the continuity equation, was discretized by using finite volume technique. The energy equation was solved by a fully implicit control volume-based finite difference formulation for the diffusion terms with the use of the quadratic upstream interpolation for convective kinetics scheme to discretize the convective terms and the temperature values at the control volume faces. The numerical study covers a range of the hydrostatic  pressure sinusoidal  amplitude  range and

Mental disorders (MDs) are a common problem in Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs). Many people with serious MDs are challenged by symptoms and disabilities that result from the disease and by stereotypes and prejudice due to misconceptions about mental illness. This study aims at evaluating the knowledge, and attitude toward mental health concepts and services and causes of the reluctance to seek those services among people attending PHCCs. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The random sampling technique was used to include (10) of Directorates of Health (DoHs) coverage north, middle, and south of Iraq. The study was executed in (50) selected PHCs, (5) PHCCs in each DoH involved randomly selected (30) people attending th

Background: In healthcare settings, specialists from different fields may follow the most well-known, reliable, and easy-to-understand medical guidelines. This study aimed to determine Iraqi physicians' adherence to treatment guidelines, to specify which treatment guidelines are utilized for each disease and identify their barriers to follow the guidelines.

Methods: This was qualitative study including face-to-face and virtual semi-structured interviews with specialist physicians from different disciplines. The interviews were conducted between December 2021 and May 2022 in Kirkuk province, Iraq. The qualitative data generated through i