Background: Chronic kidney disease is a condition that results from an indefinite change in the structure and function of the kidneys. A slow, steady progression characterizes it and is irreversible.  Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the findings of certain biochemical and hematological tests in samples from Iraqi CKD patients.  Methods: This study included 90 subjects, where 70 patients with chronic kidney disease and 20 healthy individuals. Blood samples were collected from the patients during their visits to Ghazi Al-Hariri Surgical Specialties' Hospital- Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. Age, sex and body mass index were assessed for each participant followed by renal function tests [serum blood urea, creatinine, uric acid a

A reversed-phase HPLC method with fluorescence detection for the determination of the aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in 42 animal feeds, comprising corn (16), soya bean meal (8), mixed meal (13), sunflower, wheat, canola, palm kernel, copra meals (1 each) was carried out. The samples were first extracted using acetonitrile:water (9:1), and was further cleaned-up using a multifunctional column. Optimum conditions for the extraction and chromatographic separation were investigated. By adopting an isocratic chromatographic system using a mobile phase comprising acetonitrile:methanol:water (8:27:65, v/v/v), the separation of the four aflatoxins was possible within 30 min. Recoveries for aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 were 98 ± 0.7%, 95 ± 1.0%, 94

In this research, the effect of reinforcing epoxy resin composites with a filler derived from chopped agriculture waste from oil palm (OP). Epoxy/OP composites were formed by dispersing (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt%) OP filler using a high-speed mechanical stirrer utilizing a hand lay-up method. The effect of adding zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, with an average size of 10-30 nm, with different wt% (1,2,3, and 5wt%) to the epoxy/oil palm composite,  on the behavior of an epoxy/oil palm composite was studied with different ratios (1,2,3, and 5wt%) and an average size of  10-30 nm.  Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry and mechanical properties (tensile, impact, hardness, and wear rate) were used to examine the composites. The FTIR

During the last few years, the greener additives prepared from bio-raw materials with low-cost and multifunctional applications have attracted considerable attention in the field of lubricant industry. In the present work, copolymers derived from sunflower and linseed oils with decyl methacrylate were synthesized by a thermal method using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as a radical initiator. Direct polymerization of fatty acid double bonds in the presence of a free radical initiator results in the development of environmentally friendly copolymeric additives (Co-1 and Co-2). Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) were used to characterize the resulting copolymers. Thermal decomposition of copolymers was de

Image classification is the process of finding common features in images from various classes and applying them to categorize and label them. The main problem of the image classification process is the abundance of images, the high complexity of the data, and the shortage of labeled data, presenting the key obstacles in image classification. The cornerstone of image classification is evaluating the convolutional features retrieved from deep learning models and training them with machine learning classifiers. This study proposes a new approach of “hybrid learning” by combining deep learning with machine learning for image classification based on convolutional feature extraction using the VGG-16 deep learning model and seven class

Background: Both bladder cancer and schistosomiasis are endemic in Egypt. The former has a unique epidemiological pattern, which has been linked to bladder infestation by Schistosoma. The last decades have witnessed a great reduction in the infection rate of schistosomiasis and a decline in the incidence and changes in the patterns of bladder cancer. Whether these changes are linked to each other or a co-incidence is a subject of investigations.

Method: Literature on epidemiological data of bladder cancer and Schistosoma in Egypt was searched for in Medline, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Furthermore, a hand search for literature and reports released by the Egyptian government and involved agencies was perfo

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory autoimmune disease of unidentified etiology, associated with articular, extra-articular and systemic manifestation that require long-standing treatment. Taking patient’s beliefs about the prescribed medication in consideration had been shown to be an essential factor that affects adherence of the patient in whom having positive beliefs is an essential for better adherence. The purpose of the current study was to measure beliefs about medicines among a sample of Iraqi patients with Rheumatoid arthritis and to determine possible association between this belief and some patient-certain factors. This study is a cross-sectional study carried out on 250 already diagnosed rheumatoid