The construction sector consumes large amounts of energy during the lifetime of a building. This consumption starts with manufacturing and transferring building materials to the sites and demolishing this building after a long time of occupying it. The topic of energy conservation and finding the solution inside the building spaces become an important and urgent necessity. It is known that the roof is exposed to a high amount of thermal loads compared to other elements in a building envelope, so this needs some solutions and treatments to control the flow of the heat through them. These solutions and treatments may be achieved by using nanomaterials. Recently, nanomaterials have high properties, so that this made them good elements to the strategy of energy conservation in the architectural field. Accordingly, the research problem lay in "the lack of studies that deal with strategies to use nanomaterials in the roof of the building (especially the administrative building) in order to achieve energy conservation within its spaces". Then the research aims to: "Determine the efficient of nanomaterials in the roof to improving the thermal performance and achieving energy conservation in the indoor environment of the buildings in Iraq". This research's theoretical aspect has focused on using nanomaterial and their applications in roof systems. While in the experimental aspect, an administrative application to test a mass of identical administrates building in the design. In this research, simulation of the standard roof with nanomaterial, cool roof, and standard roof systems has been done using the Ecotect program. The results obtained in this research showed that the nanomaterial affected the thermal performance and achieved the indoor environment's quality by reducing to energy-consuming in the administrative building in the hot-dry climate of Iraq.
<p>In combinatorial testing development, the fabrication of covering arrays is the key challenge by the multiple aspects that influence it. A wide range of combinatorial problems can be solved using metaheuristic and greedy techniques. Combining the greedy technique utilizing a metaheuristic search technique like hill climbing (HC), can produce feasible results for combinatorial tests. Methods based on metaheuristics are used to deal with tuples that may be left after redundancy using greedy strategies; then the result utilization is assured to be near-optimal using a metaheuristic algorithm. As a result, the use of both greedy and HC algorithms in a single test generation system is a good candidate if constructed correctly. T
... Show MoreAbstract: The aim of the present work is to measure radon concentration in wood. Solid state nuclear track detectors of type CR – 39 was used as measurement device. Eight different samples of imported and local wood were collected from markets. Samples were grinded, dried in order to measure radon concentrations in it. Cylindrical diffusion tube was used as detection technique. Results show that the higher concentration was in Iraqi sample 1 which recorded (14.02 ± 0.9) Bq / m3, while the less was in Emirates Sample which recorded (5.35 ± 1.2) Bq / m3. From the present work, all wood samples were with lowest concentrations of radon gas than other building materials.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were
... Show MoreBackground Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disorder with rising prevalence. Early detection of structural damage is difficult. Consequently, there is a pressing demand for reliable biomarkers that enable an earlier diagnosis of osteoarthritis. The aim is to investigate the level of serum fibulin-3 in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis and its correlation with disease severity. Subjects and methods A case–control study was conducted at the Baqubah Teaching Hospital from November 2023 to January 2024. One hundred twenty persons participated in this study (eighty females with the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis in its early and late stages, and forty age-matched, apparently healthy control. Serum fibulin-3, ESR, CRP, and cal
... Show MoreAbstract
The current research aims to identify mental health and its role in promoting self-confidence and positive behavior of female university students. The researcher adopted the descriptive analytical approach in this research. The researcher depended on the availability of sources and references, literature, and previous field studies to analyze and study all aspects related to mental health and its role in promoting self-confidence and positive behavior of university students and then expand its importance and identify the areas of mental health, self-confidence, positive behavior, and university. The second chapter included the concept of mental health, the importance of the study, the most important factors of health and psyc
Abstract Background: Augmentation cystoplasty is one of the surgical procedure for treatment of spastic neurogenic bladder that has a significant improvement in the cystometric parameters. Aim of study: The aim of this study is to describe cystometric findings pre and post augmentation cystoplasty in patients with spastic neurogenic bladder. Patients and methods: A prospective study including patients aged 6-18years with neurogenic bladder operated on for augmentation cystoplasty surgery with ilium segments due to a neurogenic bladder from the years 2020–2024. A urodynamic study was conducted before and 3 months after the surgical procedure. Non-probabilistic sample of consecutive cases. Descriptive statistics were presented using fre
... Show MoreBackground: The overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics cause antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The antibiotic stewardship program (ASP) plays a crucial role in improving prescribing antibiotics. Although the Iraqi Ministry of Health has issued ASP legislation, its full implementation in clinical practice remains incomplete. Objectives: To explore physicians' perspectives regarding the current and potential implementation of ASP in Al-Nasiriya hospitals. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in Al-Nasiriyah public hospitals from December 17, 2023, to January 21, 2024, using face-to-face interviews. Physicians who prescribe antibiotics, work in Al-Nasiriyah public hospitals, and consent to participate in the study were recru
... Show MoreSoils encounter cyclic loading conditions in situ, for example during the earthquakes and in the construction sequences of pavements. Investigations on the local scale displacements of the soil grain and their failure patterns under the cyclic loading conditions are relatively scarce in the literature. In this study, the local displacement fields of a dense sand layer interacting with a rigid footing under the plane-strain condition are examined using both experiments and simulations. Three commonly used types of cyclic loading conditions were applied on the footing. Digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) is used to measure the local scale displacement fields in the soil, and to understand the ev