A survey of blood parasites among members of two species of Iraqi babblers Timaliidae,
Turodoides caudatus salvadori (de Fillipi, 1865) and Turdoides alterostris (Hartert, 1909)
was carried out in the middle and south of Iraq. Two species of haematozoa were recovered,
Haemoproteus turdoidus sp. nov. and Plasmodium relictum Grassi &Felleti. The description
of the new taxon is provided and discussed with pertinent literature.
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) represent one of the key technologies in internet of things (IoTs) networks. Since WSNs have finite energy sources, there is ongoing research work to develop new strategies for minimizing power consumption or enhancing traditional techniques. In this paper, a novel Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) algorithm is proposed for mobile wireless sensor networks (MWSNs) for energy saving. Performance evaluation of the clustering process with the GMM algorithm shows a remarkable energy saving in the network of up to 92%. In addition, a comparison with another clustering strategy that uses the K-means algorithm has been made, and the developed method has outperformed K-means with superior performance, saving ener
... Show MoreIn this study, the flexural performance of a new composite beam–slab system filled with concrete material was investigated, where this system was mainly prepared from lightweight cold-formed steel sections of a beam and a deck slab for carrying heavy floor loads as another concept of a conventional composite system with a lower cost impact. For this purpose, seven samples of a profile steel sheet–dry board deck slab (PSSDB/PDS) carried by a steel cold-formed C-purlins beam (CB) were prepared and named “composite CBPDS specimen”, which were tested under a static bending load. Specifically, the effects of the profile steel sheet (PSS) direction (parallel or perpendicular to the span of the specimen) using different C-purlins c
... Show MoreIn subterranean coal seam gas (CSG) reservoirs, massive amounts of small-sized coal fines are released during the production and development stages, especially during hydraulic fracturing stimulation. These coal fines inevitably cause mechanical pump failure and permeability damage due to aggregation and subsequent pore-throat blockage. This aggregation behavior is thus of key importance in CSG production and needs to be minimized. Consequently, such coal fines dispersions need to be stabilized, which can be achieved by the formulation of improved fracturing fluids. Here, we thus systematically investigated the effectiveness of two additives (ethanol, 0.5 wt % and SDBS, 0.001 and 0.01 wt %) on dispersion stability for a wide range of condit
... Show MoreCopper (1) oxide nanoparticles together with matrix polymers of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and polyaniline (PANI) composite films were synthesized, as these materials are of importance in optoelectronic applications. Nanoparticles of Cu2O were produced by chemical precipitation. Polymerization of aniline was carried out through polymerization in an acidic medium. Structural, thermal, and optical properties of PVA+PANI/Cu2O nanocomposite were inspected by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis spectroscopy). X-ray diffraction peaks at 29.53°, 36.34°, and 42.22° indicated the
... Show MoreIn situ gel can be defined as a polymer solution administered as a liquid and when exposed to some physiologic condition such as thepH, ionic, temperature modulation or solvent and UV induced gelation undergo to phase transition to a semisolid gel. Ketotifenfumarate belongs to the histamine H1 receptor antagonists, and Ketotifen fumarate is used in the treatment of allergic conditions likeconjunctivitis and rhinitis. This work aims to study the natural polymer effects (xanthan gum,gellan gum) on the properties of pH-trigger in situ ocular gel, then compared the drug-releasing rate of optimized formula with the market ketotifen eye drop. Eightformulations (F1-F8) were prepared using different concentrations of xanthan gum, gellan gum with ca
... Show MoreVarious assays are used to determine the toxic effects of drugs at cellular levels in vitro. One of these methods is the dye exclusion assay, which measures membrane integrity in the presence of Trypan blue. Trypan blue the dye which was used in this study to investigate cytotoxic effect of a new Cis –dichloroplatinum (II) complex [(Qu)2PtCl2] on the viability of polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs). Three concentrations of platinum complex were prepared (70, 35and 17.5 µg/ ml) and the results revealed that the percentage of cell viability decreased as the platinum complex concentration increased in comparison with control.
... Show MoreMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuro-inflammatory disorder in which the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is proposed to have a pathogenic role. Therefore, a case-control study was performed (93 patients with relapsing-remitting MS and 113 healthy controls (HC) to analyze the prevalence and viral load of EBV infection using real time-polymerase chain reaction. Prevalence of EBV infection was lower in patients compared to HC but the difference was not significant (12.9 vs. 21.2%; probability [p] = 0.187). EBV-positive MS cases were more common in females than in males (83.3 vs. 16.7%), while an opposite distribution was observed in HC (37.5 vs. 62.5%), and the difference was significant (p = 0.041). Blood group O frequency was higher in EBV-p
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