The aim of this paper is to design artificial neural network as an alternative accurate tool to estimate concentration of Cadmium in contaminated soils for any depth and time. First, fifty soil samples were harvested from a phytoremediated contaminated site located in Qanat Aljaeesh in Baghdad city in Iraq. Second, a series of measurements were performed on the soil samples. The inputs are the soil depth, the time, and the soil parameters but the output is the concentration of Cu in the soil for depth x and time t. Third, design an ANN and its performance was evaluated using a test data set and then applied to estimate the concentration of Cadmium. The performance of the ANN technique was compared with the traditional laboratory inspecting

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been defined as a clinical syndrome that is characterized by abnormal carbohydrate metabolism. The chronic hyperglycemia of diabetes is associated with long term damage, dysfunction, and failure of different organs, especially the liver .This study was conducted to assess the effect obesity and insulin resistance on liver enzymes in diabetic Iraqi patients.A comparative study of (90) Iraqi adults divided to three subgroup(30) obese ,(30) nonobese diabetic patients and(30)person had used as control. The analysis included Liver enzyme ALP,ALT,AST,GGT ,Fasting Plasma Glucose (FBG) , Lipid Profile , Hemoglobin A1C , insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA IR) were measured. Subjects

This study aims to use claystone beds exposed in the Injana Formation (Late Miocene) at Karbala-Najaf plateau, middle of Iraq for the manufacturing of perforated and ordinary bricks. The claystone samples were assessed as an alternative material of the recent sediments, which are preferred to remain as agricultural land. The claystones are sandy mud composing of 29.1 - 39.1% clay, 37.2 - 54.8% silt and 14.1-26.8% sand. They consist of kaolinite, illite, chlorite, palygorskite, and montmorillonite with a lot of quartz, calcite, dolomite, gypsum and feldspar. Claystone samples were characterized by linear shrinkage 0.01 - 0.1%, volume shrinkage 0.1 - 0.9%, bulk density 1.2 - 2.11gm/cm3 (1.68 g / cm3 average), and the efflorescence is

Hydrocarbon production might cause changes in dynamic reservoir properties. Thus the consideration of the mechanical stability of a formation under different conditions of drilling or production is a very important issue, and basic mechanical properties of the formation should be determined. There is considerable evidence, gathered from laboratory measurements in the field of Rock Mechanics, showing a good correlation between intrinsic rock strength and the dynamic elastic constant determined from sonic-velocity and density measurements. The values of the mechanical properties determined from log data, such as the dynamic elastic constants derived from the measurement of the elastic wave velocities in the material, should be more accurate t

Background: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory condition worldwide, with an average prevalence ranging from 2% to 3%. However, the incidence of psoriasis varies among different ethnic groups and regions. Elevated leptin levels have been associated with increased cellular proliferation, including T-cells. Additionally, high leptin levels may stimulate the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines such as ILـ6 and TNFـα. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of Apremilast on Leptin in obese psoriatic patients. Subjects and Methods: Thirty patients with psoriasis were included in This prospective cohort study to measure the levels of serum Leptin by using the ELISA technique, before and after receiving Apremilast. Result: The present work

This study is to evaluate plasma levels of several cytokines in preeclamptic pregnancies compared to those of healthy pregnancies. Ninety pregnant women with preeclampsia (37 mild & 53 severe) and thirty healthy pregnant women were enrolled in the study. Blood samples were taken and plasma levels of IL-8, IL-10, and IFN-? were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Preeclamptic women and their severe cases but not mild cases had significantly (P<0.05) increased levels of plasma IL-8, and IFN-? as compared with healthy pregnancies. By contrast, plasma levels of IL-10 was significantly (P<0.05) increased in healthy pregnant women as compared to all groups of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is associated with an imbalance betwe

This work aimed to produce PVA and PVA/Ag nanofibers ultra-high sensitivity photodetector by electrospinning. The electrospinning process was used to successfully prepare PVA nanofibers and a PVA-Ag nanofiber composite. FE-SEM, XRD, UV, I-V characterizations are used to study the morphological, structural, optical, and electrical properties of the material. In contrast, the PVA-Ag nanofiber composite film displayed a cubic structure with favored orientation (200) that indicated the presence of Ag NPs in the PVA-Ag nanofibers film. While the optical energy gap for PVA was 3.96 eV, it was only 2.14 eV for PVA-Ag nanofibers composite film, making this composite sensitive to visible light, particularly green light at 550 nm with a 65% photosens