This work describes an experimental setup to evaluate the photodynamictoxicity of 650 nm diode laser and 532 nm Frequency-doubled Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser on the growth of Candida albicans as well as the potential fungicidal effect when combining the laser irradiation with specific photosensitizers namely methylene blue, toluidine blue, acridine orange and safranin O. In this study the findings showed that the number of colony-forming units per millilitre (CFU/ml) of C. albicans decreased with increasing exposure time. In particular in the case of the frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser combined with safranin O, the best lethal effect occurred at 11 minutes exposure time with 2.26 J/cm² energy density (89.18% reduction) in comparison with the group treated with neither the laser nor with the photosensitizer. Irradiation with the frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser in the presence of acridine orange had less effect in reducing the number of CFU/ml for C. albicans. The highest reduction (85.88%) was achieved with 2.26 J/cm2 energy density at 9 min exposure time. On the other hand, the best performance in the case of diode laser was when combining with methylene blue at 28 minutes exposure and 0.58 w/cm2 power density (45.38%). In the case of diode laser with toluidine blue, the highest reduction of CFU/ml (67.93%) occurred at 35 min at the same power density
A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients. The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study. The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there were
... Show MoreThe temperature control process of electric heating furnace (EHF) systems is a quite difficult and changeable task owing to non-linearity, time delay, time-varying parameters, and the harsh environment of the furnace. In this paper, a robust temperature control scheme for an EHF system is developed using an adaptive active disturbance rejection control (AADRC) technique with a continuous sliding-mode based component. First, a comprehensive dynamic model is established by using convection laws, in which the EHF systems can be characterized as an uncertain second order system. Second, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO) is utilized to estimate the states of the EHF system and total disturbances, in which the observer gains are updated
... Show MoreThe aim of this work is to detect the best operating conditions that effect on the removal of Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ni2+ ions from aqueous solution using date pits in the batch adsorption experiments. The results have shown that the Al-zahdi Iraqi date pits demonstrated more efficient at certain values of operating conditions of adsorbent doses of 0.12 g/ml of aqueous solution, adsorption time 72 h, pH solution 5.5 ±0.2, shaking speed 300 rpm, and smallest adsorbent particle size needed for removal of metals. At the same time the particle size of date pits has a little effect on the adsorption at low initial concentration of heavy metals. The adsorption of metals increases with increas
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer. This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients. The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study. The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there were
... Show MoreBreast cancer is the most diagnosed form of malignant tumour in Iraqi women. Tamoxifen and trastuzumab are highly effective adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.
This study's objectives were to define the patient's belief in tamoxifen or trastuzumab when used as adjuvant therapy and to determine the variation in belief between the two medications in a sample of Iraqi breast cancer patients.
The cross-section survey was conducted using the BMQ-Specific questionnaire. Ninety-seven participants (sixty-seven tamoxifen, thirty trastuzumab) participated in this study.
The mean of specific-necessity scale for tamoxifen was (3.7) and for trastuzumab (4). The findings showed a high necessity for both medicines, and there wer
... Show MoreThe corrosion inhibition effect of a new furan derivative (furan-2-ylmethyl sulfanyl acetic acid furan-2-ylmethylenehydrazide) on mild steel in 1.0 M HCl was investigated using corrosion potential (ECORR) and potentiodynamic polarization. The obtained results indicated that the new furan derivative (furan-2-ylmethyl sulfanyl acetic acid furan-2-ylmethylenehydrazide) (FSFD) has a promising inhibitive effects on the corrosion of mild steel in 1.0 M HCl across all of the conditions examined. The density functional theory (DFT) study was performed on the new furan derivative (FSFD) at the B3LYP/6-311G (d, p) basis set level to explore the relation between their inhibition efficiency and molecular electro