Previous studies in Euro-American countries have shown that patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection have increased levels of neuropsychiatric symptoms. While chronic hepatitis C virus infection has been reported in Arab countries such as Iraq, there is little studies about the neuropsychological burden associated with chronic hepatitis C among patients in the Arab region. The aim of the current study was to measure the prevalence and level of severity of depression, anxiety and stress among a sample of chronic hepatitis C patients in AL-Najaf province /Iraq. The current study was cross-sectional study carried out on (110) already diagnosed chronic viral hepatitis C patients who attended the Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Cultivation of the green seaweed Enteromorpha compressa was performed under natural laboratory spring environmental conditions of temperature, light intensity and photoperiod to study the salinity tolerance of this intertidal green macroalga. Cultivation was carried out under artificial seawater (ASW) of different concentrations (18, 35, 53 and 106 g/l sea salt) compared to the control using natural seawater (NSW). Growth rate and pigment content of the cultivated alga were recorded at regular intervals during the experimental duration. Antioxidant activity of the crude ethanolic extract and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and acetone) was performed against DPPH radical scavenging assay and compared to

AbstractThe objective of the present study was measured of several oxidative stresses and liver function parameters in workers occupationally exposed to cement dust in Kufa Cement Factory, in order to test the hypothesis that cement dust exposure may perturb these parameters. Assessment of oxidative stress and liver function parameters were performed in 63 workers occupationally, in different departments of Kufa Cement Factory, exposed to cement dust (range of the exposure time was 5-38 years) and 36 matched unexposed controls. The study results illustrated an increasing in the oxidative stress parameters, moreover; liver function parameters showed abnormal results in the exposed workers compared to the unexposed. An increase in theses para

Several stress-strain models were used to predict the strengths of steel fiber reinforced concrete, which are distinctive of the material. However, insufficient research has been done on the influence of hybrid fiber combinations (comprising two or more distinct fibers) on the characteristics of concrete. For this reason, the researchers conducted an experimental program to determine the stress-strain relationship of 30 concrete samples reinforced with two distinct fibers (a hybrid of polyvinyl alcohol and steel fibers), with compressive strengths ranging from 40 to 120 MPa. A total of 80% of the experimental results were used to develop a new empirical stress-strain model, which was accomplished through the application of the parti

The current study performs an explicit nonlinear finite element simulation to predict temperature distribution and consequent stresses during the friction stir welding (FSW) of AA 7075-T651 alloy. The ABAQUS® finite element software was used to model and analyze the process steps that involve plunging, dwelling, and traverse stages. Techniques such as Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation, adaptive meshing, and computational feature of mass scaling were utilized to simulate sequence events during the friction stir welding process. The contact between the welding tool and workpiece was modelled through applying Coulomb’s friction model with a nonlinear friction coefficient value. Also, the model considered the effect of nonlin

Micro metal forming has an application potential in different industrial fields. Flexible tool-assisted sheet metal forming at micro scale is among the forming techniques that have increasingly attracted wide attention of researchers. This forming process is a suitable technique for producing micro components because of its inexpensive process, high quality products and relatively high production rate. This study presents a novel micro deep drawing technique through using floating ring as an assistant die with flexible pad as a main die. The floating ring designed with specified geometry is located between the process workpiece and the rubber pad. The function of the floating ring in this work is to produce SS304 micro cups with profile

In the theoretical part, removal of direct yellow 8 (DY8) from water solution was accomplished using Bentonite Clay as an adsorbent. Under batch adsorption, the adsorption was observed as a function of contact time, adsorbent dosage, pH, and temperature. The equilibrium data were fitted with the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models, and the linear regression coefficient R2 was used to determine the best fitting isotherm model. thermodynamic parameters of the ongoing adsorption mechanism, such as Gibb's free energy, enthalpy, and entropy, have also been measured. The batch method was also used for the kinetic calculations, and the day's adsorption assumes first-order rate kinetics. The kinetic studies also show that the intrapar