The presented research investigated the pollen morphology of endemic Iraqi Hypericum species. The study revealed phenotypic features of pollen grains in the polar and equatorial views and their quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The results showed that the pollen grains of the genus Hypericum were radially symmetrical and isopolar, and their apertures were simple and tricolporate, except the species H. davisii, distinguished as tetracolprate. Dividing the studied species based on pollen grain sizes comprised two groups. Small pollen grains with an average length of the equatorial view ranged between 10–16 μm in H. lysimachioides and H. vermiculare. Medium-sized pollen grains with an average extent between 17–26 μm e

Flexible joint robot (FJR) manipulators can offer many attractive features over rigid manipulators, including light weight, safe operation, and high power efficiency. However, the tracking control of the FJR is challenging due to its inherent problems, such as underactuation, coupling, nonlinearities, uncertainties, and unknown external disturbances. In this article, a terminal sliding mode control (TSMC) is proposed for the FJR system to guarantee the finite-time convergence of the systems output, and to achieve the total robustness against the lumped disturbance and estimation error. By using two coordinate transformations, the FJR dynamics is turned into a canonical form. A cascaded finite-time sliding mode observer (CFTSMO) is construct

Hypertrophic scars are fibroproliferative illnesses caused by improper wound healing, during that, excessive inflammation, angiogenesis, and differentiated human dermal fibroblast (HDF ) function contribute to scarring, whereas hyperpigmentation negatively affects scar quality. Over 100 million patients heal with a scar every year. To investigate the role of the beta 2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR); Ritodrine, in wound scarring, the ability of beta 2 adrenergic receptor agonist (β2ARag) to alter HDF differentiation and function, wound inflammation, angiogenesis, and wound scarring was explored in HDFs, zebrafish, chick chorioallantoic membrane assay (CAM), and a porcine skin wound model, respectively. A study identify a β2AR-mediated m

Levan is an exopolysaccharide produced by various microorganisms and has a variety of applications. In this research, the aim was to demonstrate the biological activity of levan which produced from B. phenoliresistens KX139300. These were done via study the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antileishmanial activities in vitro. The antioxidant levan was shown 80.9% activity at 1250 µg/mL concentration. The efficient anti-inflammatory activity of 88% protein inhibition was noticed with levan concentration at 35 µg/mL. The cytotoxic activity of levan at 2500 µg/mL concentration showed a maximum cytotoxic effect on L20B cell line and promastigotes of Leishmani tropica. Levan has dose-dependent anticancer and antileishman

This research utilized natural asphalt (NA) deposits from sulfur springs in western Iraq. Laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of an asphalt mixture incorporating NA and verify its suitability for local pavement applications. To achieve this, a combination of two types of NA, namely soft SNA and hard HNA, was blended to create a binder known as Type HSNA. The resulting HSNA exhibited a penetration grade that adhered to Iraqi specifications. Various percentages of NA (20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%) were added to petroleum asphalt. The findings revealed enhanced physical properties of HSNA, which also satisfied the requirements outlined in the Iraqi specifications for asphalt cement.

Consequently, HS

In this study, the modified Rayleigh-Ritz method and Fourier series are used to determine the thermal buckling behavior of laminated composite thin plates with a general elastic boundary condition applied to in-plane uniform temperature distribution depending upon classical laminated plate theory(CLPT). A generalized procedure solution is developed for the Rayleigh-Ritz method combined with the synthetic spring technique. The transverse displacement of the orthotropic rectangular plates is not a different term as a new shape expansion of trigonometric series. In this solution approach, the plate transverse deflection and rotation due to bending are developed into principle Fourier series with a sufficient smoothness auxi

This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on seven one-way, reinforced concrete (RC) slabs with a new technique of slab weight reduction using polystyrene-embedded arched blocks (PEABs). All slabs had the same dimensions, steel reinforcement, and concrete compressive strength. One of these slabs was a solid slab, which was taken as a control slab, while the other six slabs were cast with PEABs. The main variables were the ratio of the length of the PEABs to the length of the slab (lp/L) and the ratio of the height of the PEABs to the total slab depth (hP/H). The minimum decrease in the ultimate load capacity was about 6% with a minimum reduction in the slab weight of 15%. In contrast, the maximum decrease in the

                The characteristics of sulfur nanoparticles were studied by using atomic force microscope (AFM) analysis. The atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements showed that the average size of sulfur nanoparticles synthesized using thiosulfate sodium solution through the extract of cucurbita pepo extra was 93.62 nm. Protecting galvanized steel from corrosion in salt media was achieved by using sulfur nanoparticles in different temperatures. The obtained data of thermodynamic in the presence of sulfur nanoparticles referred to high value as compares to counterpart in the absence of sulfur nanoparticles, the high inhibition efficiency (%IE) and corrosion resistance were at high temperature, the corrosion rate or weig