In this article, the casting method was used to prepare poly(methyl methacrylate)/hydroxyapatite (PMMA/HA) nanocomposite films incorporated with different contents (0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt%) of graphene nanoplatelets (Gnp). The chemical properties and surface morphology of the PMMA/HA blend and PMMA/HA/Gnp nanocomposite were characterized using FTIR, and SEM analysis. Besides, the thermal conductivity, dielectric and electrical properties at (1–107 Hz) of the PMMA/HA blend and PMMA/HA/Gnp composites were investigated. The structural analysis showed that the synthesized composites had a low agglomerated state, with multiple wrinkles of graphene flakes in the PMMA/HA blend. The thermal conductivity was improved by more than 35-fold its value for
... Show MoreNH3 gas sensor was fabricated based on deposited of Functionalized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs-OH) suspension on filter paper substrates using suspension filtration method. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the MWCNTs film were characterized by XRD, AFM and FTIR techniques. XRD measurement confirmed that the structure of MWCNTs is not affected by the preparation method. The AFM images reflected highly ordered network in the form of a mat. The functional groups and types of bonding have appeared in the FTIR spectra. The fingerprint (C-C stretch) of MWCNTs appears in 1365 cm-1, and the backbone of CNTs observed at 1645 cm-1. A homemade sensi
... Show MoreIn this work, the relationship between the ionospheric parameters (Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF), Lowest Usable Frequency (LUF) and Optimum working Frequency (OWF)) has been studied for the ionosphere layer over the Iraqi zone. The capital Baghdad (44.42oE, 33.32oN) has been selected to represent the transmitter station and many other cities that spread over Iraqi region have represented as receiver stations. The REC533 communication model considered as one of the modern radio broadcasting version of ITU has been used to calculate the LUF parameter, while the MUF and OWF ionospheric parameters have been generated using ASAPS international communication model which represents one of the most advanced and
... Show MoreProteus mirabilis is considered as a third common cause of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, with urease production, the potency of catheter blockage due to the formation of biofilm formation is significantly enhanced. Biofilms are major virulence factors expressed by pathogenic bacteria to resist antibiotics; in this concern the need for providing new alternatives for antibiotics is getting urgent need, This study aimed to explore whether green synthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) can function as an anti-biofilm agent produced by P.mirabilis. Bacterial cells were capable of catalyzing the biosynthesis process by producing reductive enzymes. The nanoparticles were synthesized from cell free
... Show MoreStable isotope composition of δ2H and δ18O was investigated in the water resources of the Shwan sub-Basin northeast of Iraq. The study objects conceived the possible factors that affect the stable isotopes’ composition in precipitation additionally to achieve information concerning recharge processes and estimate the groundwater recharge sources. In this study, four precipitation samples were collected at the study area for the 2020–2021 hydrological year. Thirty-two groundwater samples and one surface water sample from Lesser Zab River (LZR) were collected during the same period for two sampling seasons. The results of observed meteorological data show a very small amount of pr
The study of the distribution of major oxides and heavy metals in some plants collecting and analyzing eighteen plant samples of vegetables including carrot, onion, eggplant, cucumber, and okra obtained from Abu Ghraib land located about 20 km west of Baghdad, Iraq. Eighteen plant samples of vegetables,.Heavy metals can have a severe impact if released into the environment, even in trace quantities. These can enter the food chain from aquatic and agricultural ecosystems and indirectly threaten human health.. Trace elements and oxides of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Th, U, V, and Zn were measured in plant samples using an X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (XRF). TEs analyses of vegetables were performed in the Iraqi German Lab
... Show MoreThe measurements and tests of the samples conducted in the laboratories of the College of Agriculture included isolating bio-fertilizers and testing the efficiency of isolates that fix atmospheric nitrogen and solubilize phosphorous compounds. Bacteria were isolated and identified from the rhizosphere soils of different plants collected from various agricultural areas. A total of 74 bacterial isolates were obtained based on the phenotypic characteristics of the developing colonies, as well as biochemical and microscopic traits. The results of isolation and identification showed that among the 74 bacterial isolates, there were 15 isolates of A. chroococcum, 13 of Az. lipoferum, 13 of B. megaterium, 10 of P. putida, 10 of Actinomycetes, and n
... Show MoreFacial emotion recognition finds many real applications in the daily life like human robot interaction, eLearning, healthcare, customer services etc. The task of facial emotion recognition is not easy due to the difficulty in determining the effective feature set that can recognize the emotion conveyed within the facial expression accurately. Graph mining techniques are exploited in this paper to solve facial emotion recognition problem. After determining positions of facial landmarks in face region, twelve different graphs are constructed using four facial components to serve as a source for sub-graphs mining stage using gSpan algorithm. In each group, the discriminative set of sub-graphs are selected and fed to Deep Belief Network (DBN) f
... Show MoreCollagen triple helix repeat containing-1 (CTHRC1) is an essential marker for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), but its relationship with pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and inflammatory markers has been scantily covered in extant literature. To evaluate the level of CTHRC1 protein in the sera of 100 RA patients and 25 control and compare levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 10 (IL-10), RA disease activity (DAS28), and inflammatory factors. Higher significant serum levels of CTHRC1 (29.367 ng/ml), TNF-α (63.488 pg/ml), and IL-10 (67.1 pg/ml) were found in patient sera as compared to that in control sera (CTHRC1 = 15.732 ng/ml, TNF-α = 33.788 pg/ml, and IL-10 = 25.122 pg/ml). There was no significant correlati
... Show MoreAge, hypertension, and diabetes can cause significant alterations in arterial structure and function, including changes in lumen diameter (LD), intimal-medial thickness (IMT), flow velocities, and arterial compliance. These are also considered risk markers of atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular disease. A difference between right and left carotid artery blood flow and IMT has been reported by some researchers, and a difference in the incidence of nonlacunar stroke has been reported between the right and left brain hemispheres. The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences between the right and left common carotid arteries and internal carotid arteries in patient
The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of space weather on the troposphere, where our climate exists. This work is useful to give us an idea of the interaction between solar activity and some meteorological parameters. The sunspot number (SSN) data were extracted from the World Data Center for the production, preservation, and dissemination of the international sunspot number (SILSO), top net solar radiation (TSR) and temperature 2 meters from the ERA5 model of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) from the Climate Data Store with 0.25 grid Resolution, providing a rich source of climate data for researchers. This study was conducted from 2008 to 2021 (solar cycle 24 and the beginning of 25) over Iraq loca
... Show MoreThe interplay of predation, competition between species and harvesting is one of the most critical aspects of the environment. This paper involves exploring the dynamics of four species' interactions. The system includes two competitive prey and two predators; the first prey is preyed on by the first predator, with the former representing an additional food source for the latter. While the second prey is not exposed to predation but rather is exposed to the harvest. The existence of possible equilibria is found. Conditions of local and global stability for the equilibria are derived. To corroborate our findings, we constructed time series to illustrate the existence and the stability of equilibria numerically by varying the different values
... Show MoreThe impact of exposure to different sizes of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM7, and PM10) was evaluated in Babylon concrete plant workers who had been exposed to concrete dust for at least 10 years. The effects of these particles on the hematological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, and antioxidant enzymes (catalase and glutathione peroxidase ) were examined. The results exhibited that the levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were higher than the acceptable limits approved by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The blood parameters, namely white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets counts, demonstrated non-significant differences between workers exposed to the PM as compared to the control gro
... Show MoreGas sensors are essential for detecting noxious gases that have a detrimental effect on people's health and welfare. Carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are the fundamental component of gas detectors. CQDs and graphene (Gr) were prepared using the electrochemical method. The gas sensitivity of these materials was evaluated at different temperatures (150, 200, 250 °C) to assess their effectiveness. Subsequently, experiments were conducted at different temperatures to ascertain that the combination of CQDs and Gr, with various percentages of Gr and CQDs, exhibited superior gas sensitization properties compared to CQDs alone. This was evaluated based on criteria such as sensitivity, recovery time, and reaction time. Interestingly, the combination was
... Show MoreThirty-two soil samples were collected from the study area in October 2020 for geochemical and pollutants investigation of Shwan Sub-basin soil. All soil samples were analysed for different geochemical analyses. The analysis results revealed that the pH values in soil samples ranged from 7.12 to 7.56 with a mean of 7.327. According to the pH values detected in the soil samples, the soil is classified as neutral soil. The electrical conductivity ranged from 0.92 mmhos/cm to 7.8 mmhos/cm with a mean of 1.53 mmhos/cm. Thus, according to the detected electrical conductivity values, the soil was classified as non-saline to slightly saline. The organic matter ranged from 1.14% to 1.45% with a mean value of 1.326 %, while total organic
... Show MoreThe urbanization and climate change phenomena are global problems whose negative effects have been exacerbated in cities, and they are a reason for the formation of global warming and urban heat islands. The research came to shed light on the urban expansion of Baghdad for four decades which extended between (1981-2021) using the ArcMap Gis10.7 technique, then evaluating the impact of this expansion on the city’s climate. The climate data were taken from Baghdad station by remote sensing technique for the same period. To clarify and analyse the relationship between the expansion and climatic data, Microsoft Excel was used. The results indicated a strong relationship between them, as urbanization rates increased, especially during the f
... Show MoreThe study focused on explaining urban expansion and sustainable development of urban land and explaining the role of population expansion in Al Hillah city, Al Hillah city in the center of Babylion Governorate located. The study relied on analyzing the population data of the city of Al Hillah for a period of time (22 years) for the period (2000-2022). This data was analyzed and its role in planning and designing residential areas and neighborhoods in the Al Hillah city was analyzed based on the standards of urban planning and sustainable growth of cities. Landsat 5TM was used in the investigation, Landsat 8OLI satellite data to retrieve the NDVI, NDBI, and NDWI. The findings showed th
Surface wettability plays a significant role in determining the function of the wound dressing. They should have hydrophobic surfaces for the adsorption of bacteria and a hydrophilic surface necessary to improve cell attachment for most anchorage-dependent cell types. Furthermore, the Hydrophobicity / Hydrophilicity of the surface can be used to direct cellular processes such as cell initial correlation, adhesion, and migration during wound healing, as a result such surface can change its surface wettability which increases the dressing's usefulness.
In this research, nanomembres were prepared from polycaprolactone and chitosan solution (with different amounts of CS (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4) % (w/w)) by the electrospinning m
... Show MoreIn this work, the annual behavior and cross-correlation between three different solar-ionospheric indices were evaluated: Smoothed Sunspot Number (SSN), Ionospheric T-Index (T-index), and Solar Flux (F10.7 cm) index during solar cycles 23 and 24. The annual behavior for the three tested indices of the maximum and minimum years of the two solar cycles was studied. The correlative conducts between the studied indices were evaluated for the studied periods (1996-2008) and (2008-2019) of the 23rd and 24th solar cycles. The annual correlation between the studied indices was represented by the linear regression equation. The suggested mutual correlation equation gave a good agreement with the observed annual average values of the test
... Show MoreThis study investigates in vitro biofilm production. Presence of ica A and D genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was evaluated for biofilm production by the microtiter plate method. Between December 2020 and October 2021, out of 215 clinical specimens were collected from patients with pulmonary fibrosis, pneumonia, bacteremia, chronic burns, deep wounds, urinary tract infection and catheterized patients. Out of which 45 MRSA isolates were identified by the susceptibility test utilizing cefoxitin and the occurrence of mecA gene for resistance for this antibiotic verified by polymerase chain reaction technique. A sensitivity test was conducted for five other antibiotics
... Show MoreIn this study, Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the causative agent of furunculosis in 64 (27.5%) out of 233 Iraqi patients presented with furunculosis. 16SrRNA gene was located in all isolates. Nevertheless, mecA and lukS-lukF genes were located in 60% and 4% of S. aureus isolates, respectively. Interestingly, the lukS-lukF carrying S. aureus isolates were mecA positive as well.
Soil that has been contaminated by heavy metals is a serious environmental problem. A different approach for forecasting a variety of soil physical parameters is reflected spectroscopy is a low-cost, quick, and repeatable analytical method. The objectives of this paper are to predict heavy metal (Ti, Cr, Sr, Fe, Zn, Cu and Pb) soil contamination in central and southern Iraq using spectroscopy data. An XRF was used to quantify the levels of heavy metals in a total of 53 soil samples from Baghdad and ThiQar, and a spectrogram was used to examine how well spectral data might predict the presence of heavy metals metals. The partial least squares regression PLSR models performed well in pr
Understanding the compatibility between spider silk and conducting materials is essential to advance the use of spider silk in electronic applications. Spider silk is tough, but becomes soft when exposed to water. Here we report a strong affinity of amine-functionalised multi-walled carbon nanotubes for spider silk, with coating assisted by a water and mechanical shear method. The nanotubes adhere uniformly and bond to the silk fibre surface to produce tough, custom-shaped, flexible and electrically conducting fibres after drying and contraction. The conductivity of coated silk fibres is reversibly sensitive to strain and humidity, leading to proof-of-concept sensor and actuator demonstrations.
Tench is a cyprinid fish that has undergone human-induced translocations. The natural populations of the species are on the decline due to habitat loss and spawning grounds degradation. The genetic diversity of seven natural populations was investigated to establish the genetic knowledge base for successful conservation efforts and for selective breeding. Twelve microsatellite markers, the sequencing of a 615 bp section of mtDNA (Cytb) and PCR-RFLP analysis of two nuclear markers (Act) and (RpS7) were used to analyze the genetic variation and structure among 175 individuals. All microsatellite loci were found to have moderate levels of polymorphism. The pairwise Fst values between population pairings were moderate; the populations w
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