A mounted specimen of a mustelid animal deposited in the Kurdistan Museum of Natural History, Salahaddin University, Erbil proved to be Mustela erminea (Linnaeus, 1758) and represents a new record for the mammalian fauna of Iraq. Its measurements and some biological noted are provided. Also, two passerine birds; the Red-headed bunting, Emberiza bruniceps Brandt, 1841(Family, Emberizidae) and the Variable wheatear, Oenanthe picata (Blyth, 1847) (Family, Muscicapidae) were recorded for the first time in Iraq. Furthermore, the tree frog Hyla savignyi Audouin, 1829 was found in two locations north east of Iraq with spotted dorsum and having interesting behavior in having the capabil

Localization is an essential demand in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). It relies on several types of measurements. This paper focuses on positioning in 3-D space using time-of-arrival- (TOA-) based distance measurements between the target node and a number of anchor nodes. Central localization is assumed and either RF, acoustic or UWB signals are used for distance measurements. This problem is treated by using iterative gradient descent (GD), and an iterative GD-based algorithm for localization of moving sensors in a WSN has been proposed. To localize a node in 3-D space, at least four anchors are needed. In this work, however, five anchors are used to get better accuracy. In GD localization of a moving sensor, the algo

The art of preventing the detection of hidden information messages is the way that steganography work. Several algorithms have been proposed for steganographic techniques. A major portion of these algorithms is specified for image steganography because the image has a high level of redundancy. This paper proposed an image steganography technique using a dynamic threshold produced by the discrete cosine coefficient. After dividing the green and blue channel of the cover image into 1*3-pixel blocks, check if any bits of green channel block less or equal to threshold then start to store the secret bits in blue channel block, and to increase the security not all bits in the chosen block used to store the secret bits. Firstly, store in the cente

Pattern matching algorithms are usually used as detecting process in intrusion detection system. The efficiency of these algorithms is affected by the performance of the intrusion detection system which reflects the requirement of a new investigation in this field. Four matching algorithms and a combined of two algorithms, for intrusion detection system based on new DNA encoding, are applied for evaluation of their achievements. These algorithms are Brute-force algorithm, Boyer-Moore algorithm, Horspool algorithm, Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithm, and the combined of Boyer-Moore algorithm and Knuth–Morris– Pratt algorithm. The performance of the proposed approach is calculated based on the executed time, where these algorithms are applied o

Bac kground:: Septal deviation is one of the commonest anatomical deformities of the nasal skeleton, this deviation is usually accompanied by compensatory hypertrophy of the inferior turbinate on the concave side that will accentuate the severity of nasal obstruction.
Objectives: To evaluate the effect of septoplasty on the size of the inferior turbinate in patients with nasal septum deviation.
Methods: This is a prospective study of 25 patients attending the otolaryngological department at Al-Jirahat teaching hospital from September 2011 to November 2013, complaining mainly of nasal obstruction. Otolaryngological examination had shown nasal septum deviation. The cross sectional areas of inferior turbinates were measured with compu

        End Stage Renal Disease is a well-known global public health problem. Maintenance hemodialysis is considered a life-saving treatment for patients with such disease. This treatment method that requires patients to be adherent to hemodialysis attendance, dietary and fluid recommendations as well as adherence to prescribed medications to ensure success. The aim of the current study was to assess adherence, perception, and counseling among hemodialysis patients to different modalities of treatment (fluid restriction, dietary recommendations, medications, and hemodialysis schedules). A cross-sectional study carried out on hemodialysis patients who attended to the dialysis centers at al- Karama teachi

Piled raft is commonly used as foundation for high rise buildings. The design concept of piled raft foundation is to minimize the number of piles, and to utilize the entire bearing capacity. High axial stresses are therefore, concentrated at the region of connection between the piles and raft. Recently, an alternative technique is proposed to disconnect the piles from the raft in a so called unconnected piled raft (UCPR) foundation, in which a compacted soil layer (cushion) beneath the raft, is usually introduced.  The piles of the new system are considered as reinforcement members for the subsoil rather than as structural members. In the current study, the behavior of unconnected piled rafts systems has been studie

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an information network that connects gadgets and sensors to allow new autonomous tasks. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) refers to the integration of IoT with industrial applications. Some vital infrastructures, such as water delivery networks, use IIoT. The scattered topology of IIoT and resource limits of edge computing provide new difficulties to traditional data storage, transport, and security protection with the rapid expansion of the IIoT. In this paper, a recovery mechanism to recover the edge network failure is proposed by considering repair cost and computational demands. The NP-hard problem was divided into interdependent major and minor problems that could be solved in polynomial t

Abstract: Under high-excitation irradiance conditions to induce fluorescence, the dependence of photobleaching of Coumarin 307 (C307) and acriflavine (ACF) laser dyes in liquid and solid phases have been studied. A cw LD laser source of 1 mW and 407 nm wavelength was used as an exciting source. For one hour exposure time, it was found that the solid dye samples suffer photobleaching more than the liquid dye samples. This is because in liquid solutions the dye molecules can circulate during the irradiation, while the photobleaching is a serious problem when the dye is incorporated into solid matrix and cannot circulate.