Metal contents in vegetables are interesting because of issues related to food safety and potential health risks. The availability of these metals in the human body may perform many biochemical functions and some of them linked with various diseases at high levels. The current study aimed to evaluate the concentration of various metals in common local consumed vegetables using ICP-MS. The concentrations of metals in vegetables of tarragon, Bay laurel, dill, Syrian mesquite, vine leaves, thymes, arugula, basil, common purslane and parsley of this study were found to be in the range of, 76-778 for Al, 10-333 for B, 4-119 for Ba, 2812-24645 for Ca, 0.1-0.32 for Co, 201-464 for Fe, 3661-46400 for K, 0.31–1.53 for Li, 860-14330 for Mg, 16.20-71.5 for Mn, 612-4725 for Na and 15.8-46 µg g-1 for Zn. The results revealed that the concentration of Al, B except in Syrian mesquite, Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg and Mn in all analysed vegetables is higher than the recommended value, Li is well-within the safe limit, and Co, Na except in dill, arugula and common purslane, Zn are lower than the recommended intake of these elements. From health point of view, the HQ values for Al, Fe (for all vegetables) and Ba (in dill, vine leaves, thymes, arugula, basil, common purslane and parsley) were higher than one, indicating potential non-cancer health risk due to exposure to these metals. Furthermore, the HI value for all vegetables was higher than one, indicating potential non-cancer health risk due to long-term exposure to these metals.
The aim of this research is to assess the validity of Detailed Micro-Modeling (DMM) as a numerical model for masonry analysis. To achieve this aim, a set of load-displacement curves obtained based on both numerical simulation and experimental results of clay masonry prisms loaded by a vertical load. The finite element method was implemented in DMM for analysis of the experimental clay masonry prism. The finite element software ABAQUS with implicit solver was used to model and analyze the clay masonry prism subjected to a vertical load. The load-displacement relationship of numerical model was found in good agreement with those drawn from experimental results. Evidence shows that load-displacement curvefound from the finite element m
... Show More<p>Analyzing X-rays and computed tomography-scan (CT scan) images using a convolutional neural network (CNN) method is a very interesting subject, especially after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this paper, a study is made on 423 patients’ CT scan images from Al-Kadhimiya (Madenat Al Emammain Al Kadhmain) hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, to diagnose if they have COVID or not using CNN. The total data being tested has 15000 CT-scan images chosen in a specific way to give a correct diagnosis. The activation function used in this research is the wavelet function, which differs from CNN activation functions. The convolutional wavelet neural network (CWNN) model proposed in this paper is compared with regular convol
... Show MoreFinite Element Approach is employed in this research work to solve the governing differential equations related to seepage via its foundation's dam structure. The primary focus for this reason is the discretization of domain into finite elements through the placement of imaginary nodal points and the discretization of governing equations into an equation system; An equation for each nodal point or part, and unknown variables are solved. The SEEP / W software (program) is a sub-program of the Geo-Studio software, which is used by porous soil media to compensate for the problems of seepage. To achieve the research goals, a study was carried out on Hemrin dam, which located in the Diyala River 100 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Thus, o
... Show MoreAdsorption techniques are widely used to remove organics pollutants from waste water particularly, when using low cost adsorbent available in Iraq. Al-Khriet powder which was found in legs of Typha Domingensis is used as bio sorbent for removing phenolic compounds from aqueous solution. The influence of adsorbent dosage and contact time on removal percentage and adsorb ate amount of phenol and 4- nitro phenol onto Al-Khriet were studied. The highest adsorption capacity was for 4-nitrophenol 91.5% than for phenol 82% with 50 mg/L concentration, 0.5 gm. dosage of adsorbent and pH 6 under a batch condition. The experimental data were tested using different isotherm models. The results show that Freundlich model resulted in the best fit also
... Show MoreThe hydroconversion of Iraqi light straight run naphtha was studied on zeolite catalyst. 0.3wt.%Pt/HMOR catalyst was prepared locally and used in the present work. The hydroconversion performed on a continuous fixed-bed laboratory reaction unit. Experiments were performed in the temperature range of 200 to 350°C, pressure range of 3 to 15 bars, LHSV range of 0.5-2.5h-1, and the hydrogen to naphtha ratio of 300.
The results show that the hydroconversion of Iraqi light straight naphtha increases with increase in reaction temperature and decreases with increase in LHSV.
High octane number isomers were formed at low temperature of 240°C. The selectivity of hydroisomerization improved by increasing reaction pressu
... Show MoreObjectives The strategies of tissue-engineering led to the development of living cell-based therapies to repair lost or damaged tissues, including periodontal ligament and to construct biohybrid implant. This work aimed to isolate human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) and implant them on fabricated polycaprolactone (PCL) for the regeneration of natural periodontal ligament (PDL) tissues. Methods hPDLSCs were harvested from extracted human premolars, cultured, and expanded to obtain PDL cells. A PDL-specific marker (periostin) was detected using an immunofluorescent assay. Electrospinning was applied to fabricate PCL at three concentrations (13%, 16%, and 20% weight/volume) in two forms, which were examined through field emission
... Show MoreThis paper describes a research effort that aims of developing solar models for housing suitable for the Arabian region since the Arabian Peninsula is excelled with very high levels of solar radiation.
The current paper is focused on achieving energy efficiency through utilizing solar energy and conserving energy. This task can be accomplished by implementation the major elements related to energy efficiency in housing design , such as embark on an optimum photovoltaic system orientation to maximize seize solar energy and produce solar electricity. All the precautions were taken to minimizing the consumption of solar energy for providing the suitable air-condition to the inhibitor of the solar house in addition to use of energy effici