The clayey soils have the capability to swell and shrink with the variation in moisture content. Soil stabilization is a well-known technique, which is implemented to improve the geotechnical properties of soils. The massive quantities of waste materials are resulting from modern industry methods create disposal hazards in addition to environmental problems. The steel industry has a waste that can be used with low strength and weak engineering properties soils. This study is carried out to evaluate the effect of steel slag (SS) as a by-product of the geotechnical properties of clayey soil. A series of laboratory tests were conducted on natural and stabilized soils. SS was added by 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, and 20% to the soil. The conducted tests are consistency limits, specific gravity, hydrometer analysis, modified Proctor compaction, swelling pressure, swelling percent, unconfined compressive strength, and California Bearing Ratio (Soaked CBR). The results showed that the values of liquid limit, plasticity index, optimum moisture content, swelling pressure, and swelling percent were decreased when stabilized the soil. However, the values of maximum dry density, unconfined compressive strength, and California bearing ratio were increased with the addition of steel slag with various percentages to the clayey soil samples. The steel slag was found to be successfully improving the geotechnical properties of clayey soils.
Escherichia coli has been recognized worldwide as the most common causative agent for severe infections of the urinary tract. Colibactin is a genotoxin produced through a gene cluster called polyketide synthase (pks) island by members of Enterobacteriaceae. Limited information is available about the frequency of colibactin in E. coli isolates in Iraq. Hence, this study aimed to examine the frequency of some colibactin genes (CIbA and CIbQ) in clinical isolates of E. coli obtained from urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Iraq. Between October 2023 and January 2024, 120 urine samples were collected from females diagnosed with UTIs in Iraqi hospitals. 70 E. coli isolates were isolated after identification by biochemical methods and confirmed by
... Show MoreA total of 72 specimens of the wild jungle cat Felis chaus furax De Winton, 1898 were
examined for the purpose of this study. The results show that 55.6% of the sample harbored
either single or mixed infections with ecto- and/ or endoparasites. The mode of infection
shows that only four specimens( 5.6% of the total sample) acquire single infections, the
double infections comprise 15.3%, the triple infections comprised 33.3%, while the
quadruplicate infections comprised 1.4%.
The systematic list of the parasites included six ectoparasites: Ctenocephalides felis (insect),
Sarcoptes scabiei (mite), Haemaphysalis adleri, Rhipicephalus leporis, Rhipicephalus
turanicus and Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum (ticks) and seven
This comprehensive review examines the efficacy and safety of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors in treating various autoimmune diseases, and focuses on their application in Iraqi patients. Elevated TNF-α levels are linked to autoimmune disorders, leading to the development of anti-TNF-α therapies such as infliximab, etanercept, adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, and golimumab, which have gained FDA approval for conditions like psoriasis, in¬flammatory bowel disease, ankylosing spondylitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. While these therapies demonstrate sig¬nificant therapeutic benefits, including improved quality of life and disease management, they also carry risks, such as increased susceptibility to infections and pote
... Show MoreObjective: Comprehending microbial diversity and antibiotic resistance patterns is essential for efficient treatment protocols. This study sought to determine the incidence of bacterial and fungal pathogens responsible for burn and wound infections and their antibiotic susceptibility profiles. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 140 patients with burn or wound infections. Sterile swabs and pus aspiration were employed to collect samples, which were subsequently processed using standard microbiological procedures. Antibiotic resistance was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method, following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS version 25.0, and the Chi-
... Show MoreAbstract Daily dressing changes cause distress and pain for victims of burn injuries. The study aimed to determine the effect of music in reducing the pain and anxiety of thermally burned children during routine dressing changes. This quantitative study employed a randomized controlled trial design. The participants comprised 80 children at the Specialized Burns Hospital, in Baghdad, Iraq who were divided into two groups. The intervention group were exposed to three generic musical pieces (children’s music, nature sounds, and classical music) for 10-15 minutes. The researchers used the Objective Pain Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and physiological parameters to measure the children’s responses immediately before the dressing cha
... Show MoreBackground: Coping skills play a vital role in managing the physical and psychological effects of breast cancer (BC). Despite improvements in early detection and treatment, Breast cancer survivors continue to face long-term challenges after diagnosis. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the coping skills employed by breast cancer women in Iraq and to identify the sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological factors associated with these coping skills. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 244 breast cancer women in The Medical City Teaching Oncology Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, from August 2023 to October 2023, coping skills and psychological factors were assessed using the BRIEF COPE-28, and Hospital Anxiety Depression scale
... Show MoreIn aired and semiarid areas like Iraq, saline soil may be considered one of the major concerns. In addition to environmental effects, they may produce significant geotechnical hazards that could interrupt the structure stability depending on the salt type and its concentration. So, it is crucial to identify the degree of the soil salinity with a proper tool for getting a qualified assessment and consequently offering a suitable treatment. In this paper, the electrical resistivity technique has been employed to detect the degree of soil salinity by considering a new electronic system. The system used a single-phase Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC) inverter accompanied by a transformer. Natural soils became artificially saline
... Show MoreA new design of manifold flow injection (FI) coupling with a merging zone technique was studied for sulfamethoxazole determination spectrophotometrically. The semiautomated FI method has many advantages such as being fast, simple, highly accurate, economical with high throughput . The suggested method based on the production of the orange- colored compound of SMZ with (NQS)1,2-Naphthoquinone-4-Sulphonic acid Sodium salt in alkaline media NaOH at λmax 496nm.The linearity range of sulfamethoxazole was 3-100 μg. mL-1, with (LOD) was 0.593 μg. mL-1 and the RSD% is about 1.25 and the recovery is 100.73%. All various physical and chemical parameters that have an effect on the stability and development of
... Show MoreThis study presents a rapid, sensitive, and straightforward approach to measure chlorpheniramine maleate (CPM) by using turbidity CFIA. The method involves CPM reacting with sodium nitroprusside (Nitropress) to produce a pale white precipitate. The NAG-SSP-5S1D analyzer was used to measure turbidity at 0°–180° angle to detect the attenuation of incident light as a result of collision on the surfaces of the precipitate particles. The linear range of CPM measurements was between 0.008 and 11 m.mol/L, with correlation coefficient of 0.9983 and R2% = 99.65. The limit of detection was determined to be 0.0328 µg/sample from the lowest concentration in the calibration curve, and the repeatability of the method (RSD%) was less than 0.4% (n = 6
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