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Numbness of the Mind Paradigm in Haruki Murakami’s After the Quake and Iraq’s After the Quake
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Haruki Murakami (1949-present) is a contemporary Japanese writer whose works have been translated into fifty languages and won him plenty of Japanese and international awards. His short stories are well constructed in a weird realistic manner and are mixed with elements of surrealism. His novels and short stories fall under the genre of magical realism. One of the major revolving themes that Murakami wrote about was the haunting feeling of emptiness and disconnectedness in a world which seems to care much for materialism and self-interests.

    The paper explores two of Murakami’s short stories in his book After the Quake (2000) and the relevance of their themes and characters to Iraq after the quake. Literally, Iraq may never have witnessed a real earthquake, but one can say its metaphorical meaning has a great implication upon the lives of its people. The reference to Iraq after the quake in this paper would focus on the aftermath of the 2003 War such as: the feeling of disconnection among people, disinclination in life, feelings of deprivation and depreciation, and the corruption of leaders and politicians. Likewise, though Murakami’s short stories chosen in this paper do not deal with the actual earthquake, its implications can be felt as we read the stories. His characters witness a sense of disconnectedness and the feeling of being unappreciated even when they do the hardest and most dangerous jobs.

    Two of Murakami’s short stories “UFO in Kushiro” and “Super Frog Saves Tokyo” are tackled to show the paradigm and comparison between the lives of these characters (that are actually a reflection of Japanese lives in mid 1990s) and the restricted depressing life of the Iraqis in the postwar era of the 2003 War. Both have experienced fragmentation, despair and lack of self-worth due to the reasons that are explained in this paper. The Iraqis however, may have experienced a deeper suffering where one can say they have reached a state of the numbness or enslavement of the mind and feelings. The paper also highlights that animosity should be dissipated from the hearts of people specifically in politicians and top leaders. Though it is a complicated world, man should conceive that the prosperity of mankind rests in his own hands. Cherishing the diversity of cultures and understanding each other’s moral principles are the means to diminish evil in order to reach the desired bliss.

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Publication Date
Sat Jun 01 2024
Journal Name
Case Studies In Chemical And Environmental Engineering
Optimization of photocatalytic process with SnO2 catalyst for COD reduction from petroleum refinery wastewater using a slurry bubble photoreactor
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Publication Date
Tue Nov 01 2022
Journal Name
Inorganic Chemistry Communications
Sustainable adsorptive removal of high concentration organic contaminants from water using biodegradable Gum-Acacia integrated magnetite nanoparticles hydrogel adsorbent
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Release of industrial effluents comprising dyes in water bodies is one of the foremost causes of water pollution. Therefore, the proper and proficient treatment of these dyes contaminated left-over material before their release is crucial. Herein, an eco-friendly biological macromolecule Gum-Acacia (GA) integrated Fe3O4 nanoparticles composite hydrogel was manufactured via co-precipitation technique for effective adsorption of Congo red (CR) dye existing in water bodies. The as-prepared magnetic GA/Fe3O4 composite hydrogel was characterized by FTIR, XRD, EDX, VSM, SEM, and BET techniques. These studies discovered the fruitful fabrication of biodegradable magnetic GA/Fe3O4 composite hydrogel possessing porous structure with large surface are

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Publication Date
Wed Jul 14 2021
Journal Name
The Open Civil Engineering Journal
Producing Sustainable Concrete using Nano Recycled Glass
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Background:

Many tools and techniques have been recently adopted to develop construction materials that are less harmful and friendlier to the environment. New products can be achieved through the recycling of waste material. Thus, this study aims to use recycled glass bottles as sustainable materials.

Objective:

Our challenge is to use nano glass powder by the addition or replacement of the weight of the cement for producing concrete with enhanced strength.

Methods:

A nano recycled glass p

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Publication Date
Sun Jun 07 2015
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
Direct method for Solving Nonlinear Variational Problems by Using Hermite Wavelets
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In this work, we first construct Hermite wavelets on the interval [0,1) with it’s product, Operational matrix of integration 2^k M×2^k M is derived, and used it for solving nonlinear Variational problems with reduced it to a system of algebric equations and aid of direct method. Finally, some examples are given to illustrate the efficiency and performance of presented method.

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Publication Date
Fri May 01 2020
Journal Name
Journal Of Electrical And Electronics Engineering
HF Wave Propagation Prediction Based On Passive Oblique Ionosonde
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High frequency (HF) communications have an important role in long distances wireless communications. This frequency band is more important than VHF and UHF, as HF frequencies can cut longer distance with a single hopping. It has a low operation cost because it offers over-the-horizon communications without repeaters, therefore it can be used as a backup for satellite communications in emergency conditions. One of the main problems in HF communications is the prediction of the propagation direction and the frequency of optimum transmission (FOT) that must be used at a certain time. This paper introduces a new technique based on Oblique Ionosonde Station (OIS) to overcome this problem with a low cost and an easier way. This technique uses the

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Publication Date
Thu Nov 02 2023
Journal Name
Journal Of Engineering
Optimum Reinforcement Depth Ratio for Sandy Soil Enhancement to Support Ring Footing Subjected to a Combination of Inclined-Eccentric Load
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This work investigates the impacts of eccentric-inclined load on ring footing performance resting on treated and untreated weak sandy soil, and due to the reduction in the footing carrying capacity due to the combinations of eccentrically-inclined load, the geogrid was used as reinforcement material. Ring radius ratio and reinforcement depth ratio parameters were investigated. Test outcomes showed that the carrying capacity of the footing decreases with the increment in the eccentric-inclined load and footing radius ratio. Furthermore, footing tilt and horizontal displacement increase with increasing the eccentricity and inclination angle, respectively. At the same time, the increment in the horizontal displacement due t

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Publication Date
Mon Aug 28 2023
Journal Name
Journal Of Planner And Development
Estimation of urban land price within holly cities by using integrated GIS-regression models: case study Al-Kufa city- Iraq
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        Urban land price is the primary indicator of land development in urban areas. Land prices in holly cities have rapidly increased due to tourism and religious activities. Public agencies are usually facing challenges in managing land prices in religious areas. Therefore, they require developed models or tools to understand land prices within religious cities. Predicting land prices can efficiently retain future management and develop urban lands within religious cities. This study proposed a new methodology to predict urban land prices within holy cities. The methodology is based on two models, Linear Regression (LR) and Support Vector Regression (SVR), and nine variables (land price, land area,

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Publication Date
Sun Sep 04 2016
Journal Name
Baghdad Science Journal
Degradation of Brilliant Green by Using a bentonite Clay- Based Fe Nano Composite Film as a Heterogeneous Photo- Fenton Catalyst.
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This paper aims to study the chemical degradation of Brilliant Green in water via photo-Fenton (H2O2/Fe2+/UV) and Fenton (H2O2/Fe2+) reaction. Fe- B nano particles are applied as incrustation in the inner wall surface of reactor. The data form X- Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis that Fe- B nanocomposite catalyst consist mainly of SiO2 (quartz) and Fe2O3 (hematite) crystallites. B.G dye degradation is estimated to discover the catalytic action of Fe- B synthesized surface in the presence of UVC light and hydrogen peroxide. B.G dye solution with 10 ppm primary concentration is reduced by 99.9% under the later parameter 2ml H2O2, pH= 7, temperature =25°C within 10 min. It is clear that pH of the solution affects the photo- catalytic degradation

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Publication Date
Fri May 19 2017
Journal Name
International Journal Of Environment, Agriculture And Biotechnology 2 (4 …‏
Effect of Knives Type on Some Operational Characteristics fora Locally Assembly Motorized Vibration Cutter Used for Date Palm Fronds Pruning‏
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Publication Date
Wed Dec 13 2017
Journal Name
Al-khwarizmi Engineering Journal
Using Activated Carbon developed from Iraqi Date Palm Seeds as Permeable Reactive Barrier for Remediation of Groundwater Contaminated with Copper
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The possibility of using activated carbon developed from date palm seeds wastes as a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) to remove copper from polluted shallow groundwater was investigated. The activated carbon has been developed from date palm seeds by dehydrating methods using concentrated sulfuric acid. Batch tests were performed to characterize the equilibrium sorption properties of new activated carbon in copper-containing aqueous solutions, while the sandy soil (aquifer) was assumed to be inert. Under the studied conditions, the Langmuir isotherm model gives a better fit for the sorption data of copper by activated carbon than other models. At a pilot scale, One-dimensional column experiments were performed, and an integrated model ba

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