John Updike’s use of setting in his fiction has elicited different and even conflicting reactions from critics, varying from symbolic interpretations of setting to a sense of confusion at his use of time and place in his stories.  The present study is an attempt at examining John Updike’s treatment of binary settings in Pigeon Feathers and Other Stories (1962) to reveal theme, characters’ motives and conflicts.  Analyzing Updike’s stories from a structuralist’s perspective reveals his employment of two different places and times in the individual stories as a means of reflecting the psychological state of the characters, as in “The Persistence of Desire”, or expressing conflicting views on social and political is

A true random TTL pulse generator was implemented and investigated for quantum key distribution systems. The random TTL signals are generated by low cost components available in the local markets. The TTL signals are obtained by using true random binary sequences based on registering photon arrival time difference registered in coincidence windows between two single – photon detectors. The true random TTL pulse generator performance was tested by using time to digital converters which gives accurate readings for photon arrival time. The proposed true random pulse TTL generator can be used in any quantum -key distribution system for random operation of the transmitters for these systems

In this research study the effect of irradiation by (CW) CO2 laser on some optical properties of (Cds) doping by Ni thin films of (1)µm thickness has been prepared by heat evaporation method. (X-Ray) diffraction technique showed the prepared films before and after irradiation are ploy crystalline hexagonal structure, optical properties were include recording of absorbance spectra for prepared films in the range of (400-1000) nm wave lengths, the absorption coefficient and the energy gap were calculated before and after irradiation, finally the irradiation affected (CdS) thin films by changing its color from the Transparent yellow to dark rough yellow and decrease the value absorption coefficient also increase the value of energy gap.

This paper proposed a new  method to study functional non-parametric regression data analysis with conditional expectation in the case that the covariates  are functional and the Principal Component Analysis was utilized to de-correlate the multivariate response variables. It  utilized the formula of the Nadaraya Watson estimator (K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN)) for prediction with different types of the semi-metrics, (which are based on Second Derivative and Functional Principal Component Analysis (FPCA))  for measureing the closeness between curves.  Root Mean Square Errors is used for the  implementation of this model which is then compared to the independent response method. R program is used for analysing data. Then, when  the cov

Biosorption of lead, chromium, and cadmium ions from aqueous solution by dead anaerobic biomass (DAB) was studied in single, binary, and ternary systems with initial concentration of 50 mg/l. The metal-DAB affinity was the same for all systems. The main biosorption mechanisms were complexation and physical adsorption of metallic cations onto natural active functional groups on the cell wall matrix of the DAB. It was found that biosorption of the metallic cations onto DAB cell wall component was a surface process. The main functional groups involved in the metallic cation biosorption were apparently carboxyl, amino, hydroxyle, sulfhydryl, and sulfonate. These groups were part of the DAB cell wall structural polymers. Hydroxyle groups (–O

The virulent genes are the key players in the ability of the bacterium to cause disease. The products of such genes that facilitate the successful colonization and survival of the bacterium in or cause damage to the host are pathogenicity determinants. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of virulence factors (esp, agg, gelE, CylA) in E. faecalis isolated from diverse human clinical collected in Iraqi patient , as well as to assess their ability to form biofilm and to determine their haemolytic and gelatinase activities. Thirty-two isolates of bacteria Enterococcus faecalis were obtained, including 15 isolates (46.87%) of the urine, 6 isolates (18.75%) for each of the stool and uterine secretions, and 5 isolates (15.62%) of the wo

Background: Vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency is common in different age groups in both genders especially among pregnant women and neonates where it is associated with several adverse outcomes including preeclampsia and preterm delivery.   Objectives: To assess the extent of vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency among mothers and their neonates and some factors related to it and identify some adverse outcomes of the deficiency/ insufficiency on neonates (preterm birth and low birth weight). Subject and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 88 Iraqi pregnant women and neonates admitted to “Al-Elwiya teaching hospital for maternity” in Baghdad- Al-Rusafah from 1st of June 2019 to 31st of August 2019. Dat

Background: Vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency is common in different age groups in both genders especially among pregnant women and neonates where it is associated with several adverse outcomes including preeclampsia and preterm delivery.  

Objectives: To assess the extent of vitamin D deficiency/ insufficiency among mothers and their neonates and some factors related to it and identify some adverse outcomes of the deficiency/ insufficiency on neonates (preterm birth and low birth weight).

Subject and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 88 Iraqi pregnant women and neonates admitted to “Al-Elwiya teaching hospital for maternity” in Baghdad- Al

In their cross-sectional study, Al-Rubaye et al studied the extent of vitamin D (VD) deficiency/ insufficiency, factors affecting its degree, and the adverse outcomes of the altered VD status among a group of mothers and their neonates from Baghdad, Iraq. They found that 96.6% of the mothers had VD deficiency/ insufficiency compared to 86.4% in their neonates. Maternal VD levels and neonatal weights were significantly correlated with neonatal VD levels. We believe that the study results need to be revised. This is based  two points listed in this letter to editor