Background: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are said to be inherited in a multifactorial fashion, i.e. genetic-environmental interaction. Maternal nutritional deficiencies had long been reported to cause NTDs, especially folate deficiency during early pregnancy. More attention had been paid to the exact mechanism by which this deficiency state causes these defects in the developing embryo. The most significant of all researches was that connecting reduced folate and increased homocysteine level in maternal serum on one hand and the risk of developing a NTD baby on the other hand. Objectives : to determine the significance of homocysteine level in Iraqi mothers who gave birth to babies with NTDs as compared to normal controls. Patients, Materials

to evaluate their suitability for industrial applications. Structural, mechanical, thermal, and surface analyses were performed to determine the influence of blend composition. The results showed that the 60/40 (HDPE/LDPE) blend exhibited superior mechanical performance, including tensile strength, impact resistance, and hardness, while the 80/20 blend demonstrated higher thermal stability and morphological uniformity. The results obtained demonstrate the potential for using HDPE/LDPE blends in many areas, including packaging, insulation, and engineering products that require a balance between durability and thermal stability. They also suggest their potential future application in agricultural irrigation pipes, which require highly reliabl

In this paper the effect of nonthermal atmospheric argon plasma on the optical properties of the cadmium oxide CdO thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis was studied. The prepared films were exposed to different time intervals (0, 5, 10, 15, 20) min. For every sample, the transmittance, Absorbance, absorption coefficient, energy gap, extinction coefficient and dielectric constant were studied. It is found that the transmittance and the energy gap increased with exposure time, and absorption. Absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, dielectric constant decreased with time of exposure to the argon plasma

In this study, the turbulent buoyancy driven fluid flow and heat transfer in a differentially heated rectangular enclosure filled with water is quantified numerically. The two dimensional governing differential equations are discretized using the finite volume method. SIMPLE algorithm is employed to obtain stabilized solution for high Rayleigh numbers by a computational code written in FORTRAN language. A parametric study is undertaken and the effect of Rayleigh numbers (1010 to 1014), the aspect ratio (30, 40 and 50), and the tilt angle (10o to 170o ) on fluid flow and heat transfer are investigated. The results of the adopted model in the present work is compared with previously published results and a qualitative agreement and a good

A large amount of thermal energy is generated from burning hazardous chemical wastes, and the temperature of the flue gases in hazardous waste incinerators reaches up to (1200 °C). The flue gases are cooled to (40°C) and are treated before emission. This thermal energy can be utilized to produce electrical power by designing a system suitable for dangerous flue gases in the future depending on the results of much research about using a proto-type small steam power plant that uses safe fuel to study and develop the electricity generation process with water tube boiler which is manufactured experimentally with theoretical development for some of its parts which are inefficient in experimental work. The studied system gen

This work deals with thermal cracking of three samples of extract lubricating oil produced as a by-product from furfural extraction process of lubricating oil base stock in AL-Dura refinery. The thermal cracking processes were carried out at a temperature range of 325-400 ºC and atmospheric pressure by batch laboratory reactor. The distillation of cracking liquid products was achieved by general ASTM distillation (ASTM D -86) for separation of gasoline fraction up to 220 ºC from light cycle oil fraction above 220 ºC. The comparison between the conversions at different operating conditions of thermal cracking processes indicates that a high conversion was obtained at 375°C, according to gasoline production. According to gasoline produ

In Iraq most of the small buildings deployed a conventional air conditioning technology which typically uses electrically driven compressor systems which exhibits several clear disadvantages such as high energy consumption, high electricity at peak loads. In this work a thermal performance of air conditioning system combined with a solar collector is investigated theoretically. The hybrid air conditioner consists of a semi hermetic compressor, water cooled shell and tube condenser, thermal expansion valve and coil with tank evaporator. The theoretical analysis included a simulation for the solar assisted air-conditioning system using EES software to analyze the effect of different parameters on the power consumption of c

Temperature inside the vehicle cabin is very important to provide comfortable conditions to the car passengers. Temperature inside the cabin will be increased, when the car is left or parked directly under the sunlight. Experimental studies were performed in Baghdad, Iraq (33.3 ^oN, 44.4 ^oE) to investigate the effects of solar radiation on car cabin components (dashboard, steering wheel, seat, and inside air). The test vehicle was oriented to face south to ensure maximum (thermal) sun load on the front windscreen. Six different parking conditions were investigated. A suggested car cover was examined experimentally. The measurements were recorded for clear sky summer days started at 8 A.M. till 5 P.M.

In this work , the effect of chlorinated rubber (additive I), zeolite 3A with chlorinated rubber (additive II), zeolite 4A with chlorinated rubber (additiveIII), and zeolite 5A with chlorinated rubber (additive IV), on flammability for epoxy resin studied, in the weight ratios of (2, 4, 7,10 & 12%) by preparing films of (130x130x3) mm in diameters, three standard test methods used to measure the flame retardation which are ; ASTM : D-2863 , ASTM : D-635 & ASTM : D-3014. Results obtained from these tests indicated that all of them are effective and the additive IV has the highest efficiency as a flame retardant.