Microplastics (MPs), including polymers such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS), are widespread environmental contaminants detected in air, water, soil, and food. These particles originate from the breakdown of larger plastics and from direct industrial and consumer sources, including packaging, textiles, and personal care products. MPs enter the human body primarily through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact, with food, water, and air serving as major exposure pathways. Once internalized, MPs have been found in various human tissues and biological fluids, indicating their capacity for bioaccumulation. Toxicological studies in experimental models and occupational settings link MP exposure to oxidative stress, inflammation, cellular dysfunction, and potential organ toxicity, including effects on the gastrointestinal, respiratory, immune, reproductive, and nervous systems. PVC microplastics, in particular, are associated with liver toxicity and increased cancer risk in occupationally exposed populations. MPs can also act as vectors for environmental pollutants and plastic-associated chemicals, further amplifying health risks. This review summarizes the classification, major sources, exposure routes, and toxicological activity of MPs. A comprehensive understanding of MP properties is essential for developing effective strategies to mitigate their persistent harmful effects on public health and the environment. Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.
This study is designed to highlight some of the physiological disorders taken place in the renal function, immunological response as well as the ability of the redox system represented by total antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde levels to combat the toxic exposure of mercuric chloride (HgCl2) with or without collaboration of resveratrol (RES) supplement. Forty-five adult Sprague Dawley, 8-10 weeks old female rats weighing 170-220 g were randomly grouped as following; control group (C) kept without any medication. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) used as vehicle to prepare RES treatment was given to D-group. RES administered to R-group. Challenge group of rats (HD) was administered HgCl2. The last group of rats (HR) was given HgCl2 with RES i
... Show MoreDust storms are typical in arid and semi-arid regions such as the Middle East; the frequency and severity of dust storms have grown dramatically in Iraq in recent years. This paper identifies the dust storm sources in Iraq using remotely sensed data from Meteosat-spinning enhanced visible and infrared imager (SEVIRI) bands. Extracted combined satellite images and simulated frontal dust storm trajectories, using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, are used to identify the most influential sources in the Middle East and Iraq. Out of 132 dust storms in Iraq during 2020–2023, the most frequent occurred in the spring and summer. A dust source frequency percentage map (DSFPM) is generated using ArcGIS so
... Show MoreThis study addressed the work stress sources and level of the communicator in public relations in governmental institutions in the United Arab Emirates. The importance of this study is the lack of studies on work stress of the communicator in public relations. The study aimed to investigate the work stress source Physical, individual, groups, organizational and Professional source which effect on the performance of communicator in public relations. The researcher used the descriptive approach and questionnaire as an essential tool for collecting information. Some of the important results of the study are The communicator in public relations facing stress in work by 42% which affect on his performance by average level. The organizational
... Show MoreThirteen isolates were collected from various clinical sources during the periodfrom 22/10/2017 to 22/12/2017. All the isolates were diagnosed based on the microscopic and biochemical propertiesby Vitek-2 Compact system. All isolates formed biofilm 100%, with 30% of isolatesbiofilm produced strongly and 70% on medium. The results of the present study have shown the presence of Curli fimbriae genes in E. cloacae bacteria from cases of urinary tract infections, infected patient with blood bacteremia and inflammation of wounds. Curli fimbriae is considered to be an important factor in the virulence of E.cloacae bacteria, which plays an important role in adhering and combining cells on solid surfaces to form the biofilmand helps in the adhesion
... Show MoreThis study focusses on the effect of using ICA transform on the classification accuracy of satellite images using the maximum likelihood classifier. The study area represents an agricultural area north of the capital Baghdad - Iraq, as it was captured by the Landsat 8 satellite on 12 January 2021, where the bands of the OLI sensor were used. A field visit was made to a variety of classes that represent the landcover of the study area and the geographical location of these classes was recorded. Gaussian, Kurtosis, and LogCosh kernels were used to perform the ICA transform of the OLI Landsat 8 image. Different training sets were made for each of the ICA and Landsat 8 images separately that used in the classification phase, and used to calcula
... Show MoreOlfactory impairment and abnormal frontal EEG oscillations are recognized as early markers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using a publicly available olfactory EEG dataset of 35 subjects spanning normal cognition, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and AD, each with MMSE scores and demographics, stimulus-locked epochs from four electrodes (Fp1, Fz, Cz, Pz) were processed with wavelet-based time–frequency analysis. Band-limited power ratios (delta, theta, alpha, beta) were computed as log-transformed post-odor/baseline values and aggregated to subject-level features. Statistical analyses revealed graded attenuation of odor-evoked frontal (Fp1) band-power ratios across groups, with significant differences in several band–od
... Show MoreIn general, the importance of cluster analysis is that one can evaluate elements by clustering multiple homogeneous data; the main objective of this analysis is to collect the elements of a single, homogeneous group into different divisions, depending on many variables. This method of analysis is used to reduce data, generate hypotheses and test them, as well as predict and match models. The research aims to evaluate the fuzzy cluster analysis, which is a special case of cluster analysis, as well as to compare the two methods—classical and fuzzy cluster analysis. The research topic has been allocated to the government and private hospitals. The sampling for this research was comprised of 288 patients being treated in 10 hospitals. As t
... Show MoreThe field of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is the process of converting an image of text into a machine-readable text format. The classification of Arabic manuscripts in general is part of this field. In recent years, the processing of Arabian image databases by deep learning architectures has experienced a remarkable development. However, this remains insufficient to satisfy the enormous wealth of Arabic manuscripts. In this research, a deep learning architecture is used to address the issue of classifying Arabic letters written by hand. The method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) architecture as a self-extractor and classifier. Considering the nature of the dataset images (binary images), the contours of the alphabet
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