Background: Several infectious lung diseases often develop in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially during immunosuppressive medication, including disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The present study aimed to determine the role of respiratory tract bacterial infection in RA activity. Methods: Blood and sputum samples were collected from 31 patients with RA and 12 healthy subjects as control. The bacterial isolates were isolated and identified in collected sputum by biochemical tests and Vitec 2 system. Results: In the present study, thirty-one patients with RA were compared with 12 healthy subjects. Eight patients with RA were not infected with pathogenic bacteria (RA-NIPB) (25.8%). Twenty-three RA patients wer

In this paper, the Reliability Analysis with utilizing a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) process was conducted on the equation of the collapse potential predicted by ANN to study its reliability when utilized in a situation of soil that has uncertainty in its properties. The prediction equation utilized in this study was developed previously by the authors. The probabilities of failure were then plotted against a range of uncertainties expressed in terms of coefficient of variation. As a result of reliability analysis, it was found that the collapse potential equation showed a high degree of reliability in case of uncertainty in gypseous sandy soil properties within the specified coefficient of variation (COV) for each property. When t

This paper introduces a novel non-classical probability distribution, termed the Logistic Map distribution, which is constructed by transforming a polynomial function derived from the second iteration of the logistic map. The logistic map a well-known discrete-time dynamical system has been extensively employed in diverse scientific domains, including population dynamics (to model bounded growth under environmental constraints), physics (to study nonlinear dynamics and deterministic chaos), and economics (to represent complex, nonlinear patterns in financial and economic time series). The proposed distribution is fully characterized by two parameters: a scale parameter and a shape parameter, with the constraint ensuring the non-negat

Titanium-dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles suspended in water, and ethanol based fluids have been prepared using one step method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–visible spectrophotometer. The TiO₂ nanoparticles were added to base fluids with different volume concentrations from 0.1% to1.5% by dispersing the synthesized nanoparticles in deionized water and ethanol solutions. The effective thermal conductivity, viscosity and pH of prepared nanofluids at different temperatures from 15 to 30 ^oC were carried out and investigated. It was observed that the thermal conductivity, pH, and viscosity of nanofluids increases with the increase in TiO₂ nanoparticle volume fraction

Thin films whose compositions can be expressed by (GeS₂)_100-xGa_x (x=0, 6,12,18) formula were obtained by thermal evaporation technique  of bulk material at a base pressure of ~10^-5 torr. Optical transmission spectra of the films were taken in the range of 300-1100 nm then the optical band gap, tail width of localized states,  refractive index, extinction coefficient were calculated. The optical constants were found to increase at low concentration of Ga (0 to12%) while they decreases with further addition of Ga. The optical band gap was found to change in opposite manner to that of optical constants. The variation in the optical parameters are explained in terms of average bond energy

The present work reports the performance of three types of polyethersulfone (PES) membrane in the removal of highly polluting and toxic lead Pb2+ and cadmium Cd2+ ions from a single salt. This study investigated the effect of operating variables, including pH, types of PES membrane, and feed concentration, on the separation process. The transport parameters and mass transfer coefficient (k) of the membranes were estimated using the combined film theory-solution-diffusion (CFSD), combined film theory-Spiegler-Kedem (CFSK), and combined film theory-finely-porous (CFFP) membrane transport models. Various parameters were used to estimate the enrichment factors, concentration polarization modulus, and Péclet number. The pH values signif

Al Huweizah Marsh is considered as the largest marsh at the southern part of Iraq. About one third of the marsh is located within the Iranian territory. Iran began to construct earth dikes along the Iraqi-Iranian international borders to separate the Iranian part of the marsh. The electrical conductivity, EC, value was adopted to be the indicator for the water salinity within the marsh. A steady two-dimensional water quality routing model was implemented by using the RMA2 and RMA4 softwares within the SMS computer package to estimate the distribution of the
EC values within the marsh seasonally during the wet, moderate and dry water years. The EC distribution Patterns were estimated considering the expected two cases of the marsh futu

To enhance the structural performance of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns, various strengthening techniques have been proposed, including the use of internal steel stiffeners, external wrapping with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets, and embedded steel elements. However, the behavior of concrete-filled stainless-steel tube (CFSST) columns remains insufficiently explored. This study numerically investigates the axial performance of square CFSST columns internally strengthened with embedded I-section steel profiles under biaxial eccentric loading. Finite element (FE) simulations were conducted using ABAQUS v. 6.2, and the developed models were validated against experimental results from the literature. A comprehen

A hierarchically porous structured zeolite composite was synthesized from NaX zeolite supported on carbonaceous porous material produced by thermal treatment for plum stones which is an agro-waste. This kind of inorganic-organic composite has an improved performance because bulky molecules can easily access the micropores due to the short diffusion path to the active sites which means a higher diffusion rate. The composite was prepared using a green synthesis method, including an eco-friendly polymer to attach NaX zeolite on the carbon surface by phase inversion. The synthesized composite was characterized using X-ray diffraction spectrometry, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy d