This research aims to improve the radiation shielding properties of polymer-based materials by mixing PVC with locally available building materials. Specifically, two key parameters of fast neutron attenuation (removal cross-section and half-value layer) were studied for composite materials comprising PVC reinforced with common building materials (cement, sand, gypsum and marble) in different proportions (10%, 30% and 50% by weight). To assess their effectiveness as protection against fast neutrons, the macroscopic neutron cross-section was calculated for each composite. Results show that neutron cross-section values are significantly affected by the reinforcement ratios, and that the composite material PVC + 50% gypsum is an effective shield against fast neutrons.
Background: The main objective was to compare the outcome of single layer interrupted extra-mucosal sutures with that of double layer suturing in the closure of colostomies.
Subjects and Methods: Sixty-seven patients with closure colostomy were assigned in a prospective randomized fashion into either single layer extra-mucosal anastomosis (Group A) or double layer anastomosis (Group B). Primary outcome measures included mean time taken for anastomosis, immediate postoperative complications, and mean duration of hospital stay. Secondary outcome measures assessed the postoperative return of bowel function, and the overall mean cost. Chi-square test and student t-test did the statistical analysis..
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... Show MoreGenome sequencing has significantly improved the understanding of HIV and AIDS through accurate data on viral transmission, evolution and anti-therapeutic processes. Deep learning algorithms, like the Fined-Tuned Gradient Descent Fused Multi-Kernal Convolutional Neural Network (FGD-MCNN), can predict strain behaviour and evaluate complex patterns. Using genotypic-phenotypic data obtained from the Stanford University HIV Drug Resistance Database, the FGD-MCNN created three files covering various antiretroviral medications for HIV predictions and drug resistance. These files include PIs, NRTIs and NNRTIs. FGD-MCNNs classify genetic sequences as vulnerable or resistant to antiretroviral drugs by analyzing chromosomal information and id
... Show MoreWireless sensor applications are susceptible to energy constraints. Most of the energy is consumed in communication between wireless nodes. Clustering and data aggregation are the two widely used strategies for reducing energy usage and increasing the lifetime of wireless sensor networks. In target tracking applications, large amount of redundant data is produced regularly. Hence, deployment of effective data aggregation schemes is vital to eliminate data redundancy. This work aims to conduct a comparative study of various research approaches that employ clustering techniques for efficiently aggregating data in target tracking applications as selection of an appropriate clustering algorithm may reflect positive results in the data aggregati
... Show MoreHeavy oil is classified as unconventional oil resource because of its difficulty to recover in its natural state, difficulties in transport and difficulties in marketing it. Upgrading solution to the heavy oil has positive impact technically and economically specially when it will be a competitive with conventional oils from the marketing prospective. Developing Qaiyarah heavy oil field was neglected in the last five decades, the main reason was due to the low quality of the crude oil resulted in the high viscosity and density of the crude oil in the field which was and still a major challenge putting them on the major stream line of production in Iraq. The low quality of the crude properties led to lower oil prices in the global markets
... Show MoreIn this work, a fiber-optic biomedical sensor was manufactured to detect hemoglobin percentages in the blood. SPR-based coreless optical fibers were developed and implemented using single and multiple optical fibers. It was also used to calculate refractive indices and concentrations of hemoglobin in blood samples. An optical fiber, with a thickness of 40 nanometers, was deposited on gold metal for the sensing area to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. The optical fiber used in this work has a diameter of 125μm, no core, and is made up of a pure silica glass rod and an acrylate coating. The length of the fiber was 4cm removed buffer and the splicing process was done. It is found in practice that when the sensitive refractive i
... Show MoreImage segmentation using bi-level thresholds works well for straightforward scenarios; however, dealing with complex images that contain multiple objects or colors presents considerable computational difficulties. Multi-level thresholding is crucial for these situations, but it also introduces a challenging optimization problem. This paper presents an improved Reptile Search Algorithm (RSA) that includes a Gbest operator to enhance its performance. The proposed method determines optimal threshold values for both grayscale and color images, utilizing entropy-based objective functions derived from the Otsu and Kapur techniques. Experiments were carried out on 16 benchmark images, which inclu