Several toxigenic cyanobacteria produce the cyanotoxin (microcystin). Being a health and environmental hazard, screening of water sources for the presence of microcystin is increasingly becoming a recommended environmental procedure in many countries of the world. This study was conducted to assess the ability of freshwater cyanobacterial species Westiellopsis prolifica to produce microcystins in Iraqi freshwaters via using molecular and immunological tools. The toxigenicity of W. prolifica was compared via laboratory experiments with other dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria isolated from the Tigris River: Microcystis aeruginosa, Chroococcus turigidus, Nostoc carneum, and Lyngbya sp. signifi

The aim of the research is to investigate the effect of cold plasma on the bacteria grown on texture of sesame paste in its normal particle and nano particle size. Starting by using the image segmentation process depending on the threshold method, it is used to get rid of the reflection of the glass slides on which the sesame samples are placed.  The classification process implemented to separate the sesame paste texture from normal and abnormal texture. The abnormal texture appears when the bacteria has been grown on the sesame paste after being left for two days in the air, unsupervised k-mean classification process used to classify the infected region, the normal region and the treated region. The bacteria treated with cold plasma, t

Periodontitis is a dysbiosis-driven inflammatory disease in which a pathogenic subgingival biofilm disrupts the host–microbe equilibrium and promotes progressive loss of tooth-supporting tissues. While periodontal destruction has traditionally been explained mainly through the host immune response, increasing experimental and clinical evidence suggests that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like changes in the gingival epithelium may contribute to barrier failure and tissue remodeling during disease progression. EMT is characterized by reduced epithelial adhesion and polarity, alongside a shift toward a mesenchymal-like phenotype with enhanced motility and impaired epithelial barrier function. This narrative review focuses

In this study, the flexural performance of a new composite beam–slab system filled with concrete material was investigated, where this system was mainly prepared from lightweight cold-formed steel sections of a beam and a deck slab for carrying heavy floor loads as another concept of a conventional composite system with a lower cost impact. For this purpose, seven samples of a profile steel sheet–dry board deck slab (PSSDB/PDS) carried by a steel cold-formed C-purlins beam (CB) were prepared and named “composite CBPDS specimen”, which were tested under a static bending load. Specifically, the effects of the profile steel sheet (PSS) direction (parallel or perpendicular to the span of the specimen) using different C-purlins c

Concrete columns with hollow-core sections find widespread application owing to their excellent structural efficiency and efficient material utilization. However, corrosion poses a challenge in concrete buildings with steel reinforcement. This paper explores the possibility of using glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as a non-corrosive and economically viable substitute for steel reinforcement in short square hollow concrete columns. Twelve hollow short columns were meticulously prepared in the laboratory experiments and subjected to pure axial compressive loads until failure. All columns featured a hollow square section with exterior dimensions of (180 × 180) mm and 900 mm height. The columns were categorized into

Some genetic factors are not only involved in some autoimmune diseases but also interfere with their treatment, Such as Crohn's disease (CD), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and psoriasis (PS). Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) is a most important pro-inflammatory cytokine, which has been recognized as a main factor that participates in the pathogenesis and development of autoimmune disorders. Therefore, TNF could be a prospective target for treating these disorders, and many anti-TNF were developed to treat these disorders. Although the high efficacy of many anti-TNF biologic medications, the Patients' clinical responses to the autoimmune treatment showed significant heterogeneity. Two types of TNF receptor (TNFR); 1 an

In this work, a vertical pulsating heat pipe heat exchanger (PHPHE)  was designed for waste heat recovery, exchanging thermal energy between two air streams in a counterflow configuration. The heat exchanger consists of six rows, each row consists of one pulsating heat pipe (PHP), and each PHP has six turns. The working fluid used in the heat pipe was acetone with fill ratios of 50%, 60%, and 70%. The effect of evaporator inlet temperature at 40, 45, and 50°C and air velocity at 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9 m/s on the pulsating heat pipes consisting of three sections- evaporator, condenser, and adiabatic, whose dimensions were 25 x 25 x 10 cm, was studied. At the same time, the condenser temperature was maintained at 26°C. The system’s th

As a result of rapid industrialization and population development, toxic chemicals have been introduced into water systems in recent decades. Because of its excellent efficiency and simple design, the three-dimensional (3D) electro-Fenton method has been used for the treatment of wastewater. The goal of the current study is to explore the efficiency of phenol removal by the 3D electro-Fenton process, which is one of the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). In the present work, the effect of the addition of granular activated carbon (GAC) particles to the electro-Fenton system as the third electrode would be investigated in the presence of graphite as the anode and nickel foam as the cathode, which is the source of electro-generated hydrogen

Background: Due to the variations in tooth anatomy and size among different populations, this study aimed to compare the mesiodistal width of primary second molars in Iraqi children with the mesiodistal width of stainless-steel crowns from different companies. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 220 intact maxillary and mandibular primary second molars selected from boys and girls’ Iraqi children aged 8-9 years collected from different primary schools in Baghdad city. The mesiodistal dimensions of the selected teeth and the available maxillary and mandibular stainless-steel crowns from three different companies were measured by using a 3-D scanner, and then the whole measurements were calculated usin