Background: Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a common musculoskeletal disorder that frequently causes low back pain (LBP). In addition to the discomfort of lower back pain, it can accompany pain in one or both legs. The lumbar spine and sacrum, consisting of five vertebrae and one bone, determine the spine's balance. Microelements are essential in bone metabolism and are associated with the prevention of osteoporosis and the alleviation of musculoskeletal pain. Objectives: To examine the correlation between lumbar spinal surgery and the concentrations of microelements, namely zinc and copper. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from October 2023 to January 2024. The study included 120 participants ranging in age from 18 to 70 years. Sixty participants underwent lumbar spine surgery and were diagnosed using X-rays or MRI scans. The other 60 were healthy controls. The zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) levels in the blood were determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The body mass index (BMI) was determined using the formula: BMIg/m2 = weight/height2. Results: The patients had a lower mean zinc level (57.3 ± 14.56 Mmol/L) and a higher mean copper level (106.6 ± 39.41 Mmol/L) in comparison to healthy controls (96.4 ± 17.38 Mmol/L) and (61.0 ± 9.53 Mmol/L), respectively There was a weak relationship and a significant correlation between copper and zinc (r = -0.2). A very strong relationship and a significant correlation between copper and Cu / Zn ratio (r = 0.85) while zinc had a significant very strong correlation relationship with Cu / Zn ratio (r = -0.7) in patients. Conclusion: The present study underscores the noteworthy association between microelements (Cu, Zn) and degenerative lumbar discs, underscoring the significance of pre-operative evaluation in achieving the best possible surgical results. The study has demonstrated the utility of measuring serum zinc level and copper level, especially their link with lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) markers of patients undergoing lumbar spinal surgery.
Eco-friendly concrete is produced using the waste of many industries. It reduces the fears concerning energy utilization, raw materials, and mass-produced cost of common concrete. Several stress-strain models documented in the literature can be utilized to estimate the ultimate strength of concrete components reinforced with fibers. Unfortunately, there is a lack of data on how non-metallic fibers, such as polypropylene (PP), affect the properties of concrete, especially eco-friendly concrete. This study presents a novel approach to modeling the stress-strain behavior of eco-friendly polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete (PFRC) using meta-heuristic particle swarm optimization (PSO) employing 26 PFRC various mixtures. The cement was partia
... Show MoreThe increasing drinking water demand in many countries leads to an increase in the use of desalination plants, which are considered a great solution for water treatment processes. Reverse osmosis (RO) and electro-dialysis (ED) systems are the most popular membrane processes used to desalinate water at high salinity. Both systems work by separating the ionic contaminates and disposing of them as a brine solution, but ED uses electrical current as a driving force while RO uses osmotic pressure. A direct comparison of reverse osmosis and electro-dialysis systems is needed to highlight process development similarities and variances. This work aims to provide an overview of previous studies on reverse osmosis and electro-dial
... Show MoreHard-grade asphalt binders, such as AC 20–30, offer excellent resistance to permanent deformation but are inherently brittle, making them highly susceptible to fatigue and low-temperature cracking. While polymer modification addresses these issues, virgin polymers remain expensive. Despite the growing interest in recycled plastics, the rheological impact of complex waste streams, specifically polyvinyl chloride (PVC) derived from flex banners containing plasticizers, on excessively stiff binders within the complete Superpave Performance Grading (PG) framework remains critically underexplored. This study introduces a novel valorization approach by utilizing solvent-extracted flex banner waste (WPVC) as a dual-action modifier. It leverages
... Show MoreThe Sadi reservoir is one of the largest and most important unconventional tight oil reservoirs in southern Iraq. However, it suffers from low production rates, necessitating many development strategies that require a correct and reliable characterization of reservoir fluid properties. Whilst these properties are originally obtained from laboratory experiments, measurement errors often occur despite rigorous workflows, which negatively affect the calculation of reservoir fluid properties. This study utilizes the fluid thermodynamics characterization program (PVTp) to generate a reliable model for determining the oil properties of Sadi reservoir. A methodology was developed to simulate fluid thermodynamic tests, including Differ
... Show MoreOne of the most significant challenges of medical care is the infection of postoperative wounds, and conventional visual examination often fails to detect it early. This research proposes the design of an innovative, passive wireless telemetry system for non-intrusive monitoring of the wound-healing process. The system integrates a biocompatible resonance circuit (LC) with a high-sensitivity piezoresistive sensor based on MXene (Ti3C2Tx). It operates within the standard industrial and medical (ISM) band at 13.56 MHz.The detection mechanism in the system is based on the principle of "impedance modulation" (Impedance Modulation), which arises from changes in the sensor's resistance under physiological tissue pressure. The system was
... Show MoreThe accurate determination of nuclear radius is fundamental to understanding nuclear structure and interactions. The present study conducts a comprehensive theoretical analysis of nuclear radius measurements using various nuclear structure models, including the empirical mass-number scaling model, the Hartree-Fock approach, and the relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory. These models are systematically compared against experimental nuclear radii to evaluate their predictive accuracy and assess their strengths and limitations. The study also incorporates an uncertainty analysis to quantify the reliability of theoretical predictions, employing Monte Carlo simulations and Bayesian inference techniques to refine estimations. The results r
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Typological analysis about the negation marker in different languages is one of the fields of research that has attracted much attention. In Persian language, this constituent has been analysed from different aspects. This study aimed to analyse different aspects of negation marker in the adjectives, the noun phrases and the verb phrases based on typological analysis. Many studies have been revealed that the negation in adjectives has shown lexically and morphologically. In the noun phrases, /hich/ has used as a negative marker necessarily marking the verb phrase as negative too. In the verb phrases, negation occurs morphologically by the addition of the prefix /n
... Show MoreWater pollution is widely regarded as one of the most pressing global challenges, exacerbated by human progress in industrial, agricultural, and technological sectors. Wastewater often contains non-biodegradable heavy metals that accumulate in living organisms. This accumulation poses significant risks to both environmental ecosystems and human health. The structures and surface morphology were characterized by FTIR, UV-vis measurements, XRD, SEM, and AFM. TiO2 nanoparticles could remove heavy metal ions (Pb2+, Cd2+, and Cr3+) from two samples (laboratory samples and real samples from Babylon battery factory in Al-Waziriya, Baghdad/Iraq) and measured by AAS. The results indicated that the removal percentages of heavy metal ions by T
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