In earthquake engineering problems, uncertainty exists not only in the seismic excitations but also in the structure's parameters. This study investigates the influence of structural geometry, elastic modulus, mass density, and section dimension uncertainty on the stochastic earthquake response of a multi-story moment resisting frame subjected to random ground motion. The North-south component of the Ali Gharbi earthquake in 2012, Iraq, is selected as ground excitation. Using the power spectral density function (PSD), the two-dimensional finite element model of the moment resisting frame's base motion is modified to account for random ground motion. The probabilistic study of the moment resisting frame structure using stochastic fin

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) offers small loans with easy repayment system and till now these institutions have served millions of needy people around the globe. This study highlights the hurdles influence the smooth working and growth of Microfinance institution in Egypt. The structured interviews were conducted from the top and mid-level managers of MFI's. This study revealed that interest rate, political and economic conditions, corruption, customer outreach, competition and technology are the important elements for MFI's success. It is evident that lack of use of technology and less importance drawn on customer outreach programs are the main challenges of MFI's in Egypt. This study provides a roadmap for practitioners and strategic

Pre-breakdown phenomenon was investigated within the two, non-mixed dielectric liquids; transformation oil and cresol. Finite element technique was used to follow the initiation and growth of plasma channels (streamer discharge) within pin-plane configuration. That was done for different spacing between the pin-electrode and the liquid-liquid interface. Streamer growth model assumed that, the streamer initiation occurs at the region of the highest value of electric field. Our study shows that the streamer initiates at the tip of the pin and growths toward the other electrode. The study shows, too, that the streamer path controlled by the difference of permittivity of the two liquids and spacing distance of the liquid-liquid interface fro

An isolate of Leishmania major was grown on the semisolid medium and incubated at 26ºC. The isolate was irradiated by He: Ne laser (632.8 nm, 10 mW) at exposure times (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30) minutes in their respective order. The unirradiated groups represent control group. Growth rate and percentage of viability were examined during six days after irradiation. The change in these two parameters reflects the effect of irradiation on the parasite. The results refers that the general growth effected by irradiation in comparison with un irradiation group, The growth rate of parasite decrease with increasing the exposure time in comparison with control group. Parasite viability decrease with irradiation and the percentage of living cell dec

Abstract. Al-Abbawy DAH, Al-Thahaibawi BMH, Al-Mayaly IKA, Younis KH. 2021. Assessment of some heavy metals in various aquatic plants of Al-Hawizeh Marsh, southern of Iraq. Biodiversitas 22: 338-345. In order to describe the degree of contamination of aquatic environments in Iraq, heavy metals analysis (Fe, Ni, Cr, Cd, Pb, and Zn) was conducted for six aquatic macrophytes from different locations of Al-Hawizeh Marsh in southern Iraq. The six species were Azolla filiculoides (floating plant), Ceratophyllum demersum, Potamogeton pectinatus, Najas marina (submerged plants), Phragmites australis, and Typha domingensis (emergent plants). The results indicate that cadmium, chromium, and iron concentrations in aquatic plants were above the

Objectives: With the advent of ongoing novel modalities toward the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/NEU - positive malignancies, the serious side effects of chemoradiotherapy have been minimized. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the patterns of immunohistochemical expression of the promising therapeutic target (HER2/NEU) among Iraqi patients with medulloblastoma in an attempt to provide basic histological information’s that would help in future clinical researches.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 42 formalin - fixed paraffin - embedded tissue blocks represent cases of surgically removed medulloblastomas were retrieved from the archived materials in a specialized surgical ho

The purpose of this study was to measure serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP7), Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), Growth Hormone (GH), Interleukin 6 (IL-6) and insulin in acromegaly patients and healthy controls. The acromegaly group had 60 patients, while the population group had 30 people who had never had acromegaly before. The concentration of IGFBP7, IGF-1, GH, IL-6, and insulin were determined. The results of the present study indicate that IGFBP7 level in the acromegaly group was significantly lower (1.690.07 ng/mL vs. 2.740.12 ng/mL, respectively, p = 0.001). IGF-1, GH, IL-6, and insulin concentrations were also significantly higher in acromegaly patients. The diagnostic accuracy (2.194) was exce

Plasma electrolytic oxidation and dip chemical coating as fabrication techniques are performed in ambient temperature and pressure, giving a competitive-edge in the commercial applicability. Thus, we proposed new compositions of flower-like hybrid materials, MgO-TiO2-HQ(8-hydroxyquinoline), MgOTiO2-HQ-APY(2-aminopyridine) and MgO-TiO2-HQ-APH(2-aminophenol), as photocatalysis with high corrosion resistance via a combination of plasma electrolytic oxidation and dip chemical coating in which 8-HQ, 2-APY, and 2-APH were used as the organic components. TiO2-HQ-APY and MgO-TiO2-HQ-APH exhibited improved simultaneous electrochemical and photocatalytic performance on photodecomposition of methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution in the presence o