Land use change, particularly the expansion of urban areas and associated human activities at the expense of natural and semi-natural areas, is a major ecological issue in urban areas around the world. Climate change being a very strong additional driver for changing the temperature and habitat in the cities. This also applies to Baghdad, Iraq, where urbanisation and climate change exerts a major pressure on the natural habitats of the city, and thus may affect the ability of city planners to adapt to future climate change scenarios. Here we present evidence of substantial growth in urban areas, increases in temperature, and degradation of natural vegetation within Baghdad city by using Remote Sensing techniques and an assessment for the

In this study, stabilization of expansive soils using waste materials namely; Cement Kiln Dust (CKD), and waste plastic bottles (WPB) was experimentally investigated. Using CKD and WPB are exponentially increasing day by day, due to their capability to solve both environmental and geotechnical problems successfully. Expansive soils were collected from locations with a wide range of plasticity index (PI) (15 - 27) and liquid limit (LL) (35% - 64%). Stabilizer percentages were varied from 0% to 20%, and curing durations for CKD cases were 7 and 28 days. Results showed the best percentages of CKD and WPB are 12% of each one respectively. LL, plastic limit (PL), and swelling percent (SP) loss were observed, which are 46%, 55%, and 96% respec

Background: Rituximab is a chimeric IgG1 kappa immunoglobulin that has been genetically modified to incorporate human constant region sequences together with murine light- and heavy-chain variable region sequences. People use it to treat rheumatoid arthritis and certain malignancies. Objective: The study aimed to assess the potential association between the serum levels of Factor I, CD59, interleukins (IL)-6, and interferon-gamma (IFN)-γ and the response to Rituximab treatment in Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the rheumatology center at Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Ninety adult patients who have been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and are receiving  Rituximab intravenous i

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent ligand for AhR and a known carcinogen. While AhR activation by TCDD leads to significant immunosuppression, how this translates into carcinogenic signal is unclear. Recently, we demonstrated that activation of AhR by TCDD in naïve C57BL6 mice leads to massive induction of myeloid derived-suppressor cells (MDSCs). In the current study, we investigated the role of the gut microbiota in TCDD-mediated MDSC induction. TCDD caused significant alterations in the gut microbiome, such as increases in Prevotella and Lactobacillus, while decreasing Sutterella and Bacteroides. Fecal transplants from TCDD-treated

Objective: To determine the ability of uVDBP to discern SRNS from steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) in Iraqi children. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled children with SRNS (n=31) and SSNS (n=32) from the pediatric nephrology clinic of Babylon Hospital for Maternity and Pediatrics over three months. Patients' characteristics in terms of demographics, clinical data, and urinary investigations were collected. Quantitative analysis of uVDBP levels was undertaken via a commercially available ELISA kit. Results: The median uVDBP values were significantly higher (p-value<0.001) in the SRNS group (median=10.26, IQR=5.91 μg/mL) than in the SSNS group (median=0.953, IQR=4.12 μg/mL). A negative correlati

Gymnastics is one of the most interesting games in terms of organizing various world championships and tournaments. Their basic skills and their technical development, especially those with high difficulty levels that rely on basic and complex skills, are the basic skills of gymnastics are the main pillar to be developed and therefore high-difficulty skills will not depend on basic skills, which should reach the stage of the automatic mechanism. Retention) in order to move on to training and developing another skill for the difficulty of movements as well as the smooth flow of performance, ie the degrees of difficulty of each skill specific to your gym and The researcher used the experimental method and The research community determin

The high bounce activity according to the fosbery way is regarded as of the difficult sports concerning its way of training and perfection due to hard technique of its performance on one hand and because it depends on the player’s ability to overcome body weight resistance against the gravity. In addition to the strong ability to control the body posture when leaving the land and flying over the barrier. This activity needs to high plosion power at the moment of bouncing and this plosion depends on the period of bouncing, so the two researchers aimed to use a mechanical bouncing platform and an electronic one through several training by one foot and both feet in different directions and positions in order to reduce the time of bouncing an

This research includes the principles of the democracy، and to which extent it can contribute in establishing these principles. Democracy is not only to hold parliamentary or presidential elections but also the result of these elections wills it lead to the emergence of an integrated regime that can actually expresses the citizen's rights and to which extent those citizens can contribute in that regime and control it. Since 2005، when the first elections took place in Iraq after the US occupation of Iraq 2003، Iraqi people are looking to a rule that represented them and achieve their interests after getting rid of the totalitarian regimes and establishing an institutional regime that work by democratic means in order to achieve the so

This  research deals with the form of the physical identity which is concerned with the features and characteristics that distinguish the shape of the city from other existing cities and reveal its similarity with the self (itself) and objective difference with others.  Accordingly, these features must be sophisticated and variable resulting the shape of the city, while preserving the continuity of time, and eventually leads to the emergence of the whole shape. Physical identity is conceptually equivalent with the terms "personality" and "sense of place".  The research determined the criteria for evaluating the physical identity as follows: