Background: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived mitral annular displacement (MAD) utilizes the speckle tracking technique to measure strain vectors, which provides accurate estimates of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).Objectives: To validate the accuracy of mitral annular displacement (MAD), assessed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE), as a surrogate for determination of left ventricular systolic function in comparison to 2-Dimensions Simpson method in patients with different heart diseases.Methods : This cross-sectional study included patients who referred to outpatient department of Ibn Albitar Center for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad, Iraq, between October 2012 and April 2013. STE continuously tracked annular

The melting duration in the photovoltaic/phase-change material (PV/PCM) system is a crucial parameter for thermal energy management such that its improvement can realize better energy management in respect to thermal storage capabilities, thermal conditions, and the lifespan of PV modules. An innovative and efficient technique for improving the melting duration is the inclusion of an exterior metal foam layer in the PV/PCM system. For detailed investigations of utilizing different metal foam configurations in terms of their convective heat transfer coefficients, the present paper proposes a newly developed mathematical model for the PV/PCM–metal foam assembly that can readily be implemented with a wide range of operating condition

Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) is a tool that improves real-time patient health observation in hospitals, asylums, especially at home. WBAN has grown popularity in recent years due to its critical role and vast range of medical applications. Due to the sensitive nature of the patient information being transmitted through the WBAN network, security is of paramount importance. To guarantee the safe movement of data between sensor nodes and various WBAN networks, a high level of security is required in a WBAN network. This research introduces a novel technique named Integrated Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm with Artificial Neural Network (IGO-ANN) for distinguishing between trusted nodes in WBAN networks by means of a classifica

The aim of this study was extraction of jojoba oil using different solvents. A mixture of waterhexane and water-ethanol are used as solvents to extract jojoba oil in a batch extraction process and compared with a pure solvent extraction process. The effects of particle size of crushed seeds, solvent-to-water ratio and time on jojoba oil extraction were investigated. The best recovery of oil was obtained at the boiling temperature of the solvent and four hour of extraction time. When seed particle size was 0.45 mm and a pure ethanol was used (45% yield of oil extraction), whereas, it was 40% yield of oil at 25% water-hexane mixture. It was revealed that the water-ethanol and water-hexane mixtures have an effect on the oil extraction yield. T

Prostheses are used as an alternative to organs lost from the body. Flex-Foot Cheetah is considered one of the lower limb prostheses used in high-intensity activities such as running. This research focused on testing two samples of Flex-Foot Cheetah manufactured of two various materials (carbon, glass) with polyester and compare between them to find the foot with the best performance in running on the level of professional athlete. In the numerical analysis, the maximum principal stress, maximum principal elastic strain, strain energy; finally, the blade total deformation were calculated for both feet. In experimental work, the load-deflection test was done for foot to calculate the bending the results were very close to

Heat transfer process and fluid flow in a solar chimney used for natural ventilation are investigated numerically in the present work. Solar chimney was tested by selecting different positions of absorber namely: at the back side, front side, and at the middle of the air gap. CFD analysis based on finite volume method is used to predict the thermal performance, and air flow in two dimensional solar chimney under unsteady state condition, to identify the effect of different parameters such as solar radiation. Results show that a solar chimney with absorber at the middle of the air gap gives better ventilation performance. A comparison between the numerical and previous experimental results shows fair agreement.

Heat transfer process and fluid flow in a solar chimney used for natural ventilation are investigated numerically in the present work. Solar chimney was tested by selecting different positions of absorber namely: at the back side, front side, and at the middle of the air gap. CFD analysis based on finite volume method is used to predict the thermal performance, and air flow in two dimensional solar chimney under unsteady state condition, to identify the effect of different parameters such as solar radiation. Results show that a solar chimney with absorber at the middle of the air gap gives better ventilation performance. A comparison between the numerical and previous experimental results shows fair agreement.

Some parameters for advancement of Leishmania tropica infection were examined in three groups of golden hamsters, Group (1) inoculated with autoclaved killed Leishmania tropica , Group (2) inoculated with BCG vaccine alone while Group (3) Inoculated with mixed vaccine (autoclaved killed Leishmania with BCG). The follow up of experimentally infected animals with virulent isolation of Leishmania tropica was done for 90 days, the animals inoculated with mixed vaccine (autoclaved killed Leishmania with BCG) showed the minimum average in each of foot pad thickness (2.3 ± 0.05) mm after (60) days of infection, spleen enlargement (1.13±0.38) after (45) days of infection, spleen length (23.9±0.08) mm after (30) days of infection, liver weight(3.

The objective of this work is to study the influence of end milling cutting process parameters, tool material and geometry on multi-response outputs for 4032 Al-alloy. This can be done by proposing an approach that combines Taguchi method with grey relational analysis. Three cutting parameters have been selected (spindle speed, feed rate and cut depth) with three levels for each parameter. Three tools with different materials and geometry have been also used to design the experimental tests and runs based on matrix L9. The end milling process with several output characteristics is solved using a grey relational analysis. The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the major influencing parameters on multi-objective response w