Vol. 33 No. 2 (2024)
Articles
Abstract: The aim of this study was to study the effects of tepy2 diabetes (T2DM) and treatment cortisone on the foot bones. A total of 123 Iraqi men and women participated in the study (18 males and 105 females), with type 2 diabetes receiving cortisone therapy. Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) was used to evaluate osteoporosis, speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and calcaneus bone quality index (BQI). A dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to determine abdominal fat percentage. The results indicate that the correlation between T-score and heel bone mineral density (BMD) for cortisone, as well as Z-score and heel BMD, is a linear relationship that has statistical significance P-value<0.0001. When we examine the relationship between calcaneal BUA and T-score we found that it is exponational with a P-value<0.0001. The correlation between calcaneal SOS and BMI is not statistically significant (P-value=0.9). Osteopenia and osteoporosis appear at the age of 43-82 years, for T2DM patients receiving cortisone therapy so was a T-score (-2.0 to -3.1). It was found that the BQI is less for patients with T2DM (62.4, 58.2), for both genders. The body mass index was (BMI) for patients with T2DM (21, 45), whereas the abdominal fat % for patients with T2DM is high for males and females (32.7, 36.4). One of the risk factors for cortisone is high blood sugar, so we noticed an increasing number of T2DM patients receiving cortisone therapy (58).
Abstract: In this study, hydrogels of polyacrylic acid (PAA) were synthesised using free radical polymerization of acrylic acid. This process was carried out in an aqueous medium in the existence of ammonium persulfate (APS) acting as an initiator, and N, N'- methylene bisacrylamide (MBA), which is used as a crosslinker. There were four different acrylic acid hydrogel formulations made, and each had a different crosslinker concentration that varied from 0.5 to 2.0 mol% MBA. The next step includes the co-precipitation of PAA7 with iron oxide magnetite nanoparticles (PAA7/Fe3O4) for recover the hydrogel from batch mode using a magnetic field once Ultracidin pesticide has been absorbed from aqueous solutions. The adsorbent was characterized by FTIR, VSM, and XRD. The Ultracidin adsorption from an aqueous solution was studied by varying a number of parameters, including pH, contact time, temperature, adsorbent dose, and adsorbate concentration. Best adsorption efficiency was obtained at a temperature of 25°C, 60 minutes of contact time at pH 3, with 50 mg L-1, of initial pesticide concentration, and 4 g L-1 adsorbent dose. Several models were used to examine the adsorption kinetics of pesticide onto the adsorbent (PAA7/Fe3O4 NPs). The best effect showed that the pseudo second order model correlates with the experimental data. To determine the ideal adsorption capacity of the adsorbent, Langmuir, Freundlich, and Tempkin adsorption isotherms were utilized. Langmuir- model demonstrated a fitter than other models. The outcomes show that Ultracidin can be successfully removed from polluted water using (PAA7/Fe3O4 NPs) composite.
Abstract: Help desks play a crucial function in the information technology department by acting as the main point of solution to customers’ issues. The speed and efficiency of agent-centric help desks are diminished by the inability of a help desk agents to share their knowledge when they leave and the inability of agents applying past cases to solve present problem. In this study, a knowledge-based expert system for campus helpdesk request processing was presented. The presented system consists of a fusion of expert system and fuzzy inference system for campus helpdesk request processing. The fuzzy inference system is responsible for the rules while the expert system provided the interface for the user interactions. The presented system takes input queries from students through the interface of the expert system. The input queries are converted into fuzzy variables and the inference engine is then used to compare the fuzzy variables with the fuzzy rules in the knowledge base of the expert system. The database base of the expert system contains the solutions to past queries while the rule base is made up of the set of IF-THEN rules depicting the domain expert knowledge. The expert system will fire the rules that matches the input queries and deliver the answers to the queries through the expert system output interface. The evaluation results of the presented system when compared with previous research showed a better accuracy of 95.36767% in terms of its efficiency in providing solutions to requests relating to complaints from campus students.
Abstract: In this paper, thin films of Copper Oxide (CuO) were deposited on glass substrates using the chemical spray pyrolysis method at different temperatures (300, 350 and 400)°C under a pressure of 2 bar. The deposition involved spraying the chemical solution at a rate of 10 sprays, periodic time 10s. The chemical spray pyrolysis system was assembled, prepared, and configured to produce the materials in the form of thin films for this study. The optical properties of these films were investigated by measuring the absorbance and reflectance spectra for wavelengths ranging from )190-1100( nm using a UV-VIS Double Beam Spectrometer. The results indicated that the absorbance varied with wavelength, exhibiting an inverse behavior to transmittance. It started with the highest value at a wavelength of 328 nm, and the absorption spectrum exhibited a systematic decay with increasing wavelength until reaching the lowest value at 910 nm. It was observed that the absorbance spectrum remained constant within the range of 910 to 700 nm. The highest absorbance value was recorded at a temperature of 300°C, while the lowest was at 400°C. This trend was also observed in the optical reflectance. The forbidden energy gap for allowed direct transitions was calculated, and the results showed values ranging from (2.68 to 2.59) eV, decreasing with increasing temperatures. Some optical constants of the prepared films were also calculated, indicating a decrease in the absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, and refractive index with increasing temperatures on the glass substrates used for deposition.
Abstract: Accurate rainfall information is crucial for various applications, including river flow estimation, water resource management, and flood warning system development. Traditional rain gauge networks, however, suffer from limited spatial coverage, leading to incomplete and biased data for large areas. This study proposes a novel approach for surface rainfall estimation using weather radar data and a MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP) Regressor machine learning model. Grid search was employed to explore model performance across different windowing configurations: no windowing, n-1 windowing, and n-2 windowing. The results demonstrate that n-1 windowing outperforms other configurations, achieving an average RMSE of 0.987, MAE of 0.263, and R-squared of 0.242 across five locations. This suggests that n-1 windowing effectively captures the temporal dynamics of rainfall patterns while improving the model's sensitivity to regularization. However, a tendency for underestimating high-intensity rainfall events remains. This research highlights the effectiveness of n-1 windowing with MLP Regressors for enhanced surface rainfall estimation using weather radar data. Further investigation is needed to address the underestimation bias, particularly for high rainfall events.
Abstract: The present research aimed to study the effects of lower plant residues of (Cladophora glomerata, Chara sp., and Ceratophyllum demersum) with three treatments of 0.5, 1%, and 1.5% as an allelopathic agent on the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) germination, growth properties, chlorophyll content, and relative growth rate (RGR). Statistically, a completely randomized design (CRD) was used with four replications, and Duncan’s test was applied to compare means. Results showed that using Chara sp. at a dose of 1.5% significantly (P≤0.05) increased shoot weight, number of spikes, and the total weight of seed, while spike length significantly increased at a 1% dose. Cladophora sp. at 1.5% dose significantly(P≤0.05) increased plant length, shoot weight, spike length, number of spikes, and the total weight of seed compared to the control plant. However, the flag leaf length was increased significantly (P≤0.05) at 1% treatment. Ceratophyllum demersum at 1% and 1.5 % doses (P≤0.05) causes increases in the total chlorophyll content, and chlorophyll a. The highest inhibition percentage was observed at a 1% dosage of Cladophora glomerata residues.
Abstract: In this study, nano-scale activated carbon (NSAC) was synthesized using Morus Nigra (Mulberry) Stem as the precursor material. The carbonization process involved the utilization of KOH, followed by treatment with sodium hydroxide (NSAC-NaOH) to enhance micro-porosity, resulting in higher micro-porous activated carbon. A comprehensive characterization of the material was conducted using various analytical techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Demonstrated the presence of nano-scale particle size and exceptional porosity. Furthermore, the physical properties of the activated carbon were evaluated, encompassing parameters such as density, humidity, ash content, iodine number, methylene blue pH, and point of zero charge (pHPZC). Adsorption experiments were performed under optimized conditions, with a concentration of Eriochrome Black T (EBT) dye at (100 mg/L), and an adsorbent dose of (0.4g/L , initial concentration(60-110 mg/L), highlighting acidic solutions with a pH of (3.0) as exhibiting superior dye removal capacity, but considering economic factors, the natural pH (5.2) level was determined to be optimal for subsequent experiments, facilitating interaction with EBT dye molecules via electrostatic attraction. Thermodynamic analysis of the adsorption process, conducted within a temperature range of (25–65 ºC), indicated an endothermic nature (+∆Ho), signifying physical adsorption (∆Ho < 40 kJ/mol). The negative free energy (-∆Go) suggested the spontaneity of the process, while the positive entropy value (+∆So) indicated disorder. Additionally, the Langmuir isotherm model was found to appropriately describe the adsorption behavior of the EBT dye.
Abstract: This study was conducted in the warehouse of the Department of Biology / College of Education for Pure Sciences for the 2023-2024 season to study the effect of adding levels of hydrogel (0, 2, 4) gm/kg of soil and residues of the vegetative part of soybeans at levels (0, 4, 8) gm/kg soil in the mineral content of yellow corn plants soaked with concentrations of (0,100, 200 ppm) of ascorbic acid. The results were analyzed using a completely randomized design and a factorial experiment with three replications. The results confirmed the existence of a discrepancy in the effect of soybean residues on mineral elements, as they ranged between inhibition and stimulation, as the residues had a stimulating effect on the calcium and nitrogen elements, While its effect was inhibitory to the element sodium and magnesium, and the addition of hydrogel showed a stimulating effect in all the nutritional elements mentioned above. On the other hand, there was a significant superiority in the content of the elements with an increase in the concentration of ascorbic acid compared to the control treatment without addition. The interactions showed a stimulating effect, especially the interaction of hydrogel levels with ascorbic acid concentrations in the studied characteristics
Abstract: The Fundamental Plane relates the effective radius and surface brightness of an early-type galaxy to its velocity dispersion. It is important in understanding galaxy formation and evolution processes. The present work aims to investigate this relation as well as Faber-Jackson and Kormendy relations for both elliptical and lenticular galaxies separately in order to compare them. For this purpose, we take a sample of 140 early-type galaxies (70 elliptical galaxies and 70 lenticular ones), extracted from the extensive catalogue of early-type galaxies, and investigate them by using data analysis and visualization software. This work confirms that elliptical and lenticular galaxies are located almost in the same fundamental plane, with an rms scatter of 0.140 for ellipticals and 0.172 for lenticulars. Yet, elliptical galaxies show a tighter relationship than lenticular galaxies. This implies that elliptical galaxies obey the Fundamental Plane relation better than lenticular galaxies. Also, the two morphological types of galaxies obey Faber-Jackson relation, with an rms scatter of 0.101 for ellipticals and 0.873 for lenticulars. They, also, obey Kormendy relation, with an rms scatter of 0.600 for elliptical and 0.685 for lenticulars. These results indicate that the two relations are, also, more obvious in the case of elliptical galaxies.
Abstract: The majority of people who are travelling like to stay in hotels, or rent rooms which are considered dangerous sites for patients and vectors, and environments suitable for outbreaks and disease spreading. Bacterial contamination in hotels is a crucial concern for guests as it can cause serious infections. This study aimed to evaluate the contamination of some local hotel bedsheets with bacteria. For this, forty samples were collected (pillow covers, sheets, blankets, and mattresses) from different hotels during the summer holidays of July- August 2023. Several bacterial diagnosis tests were carried out to identify these bacterial species. Then, an antibacterial sensitivity test for ten different antibiotics and the bacteria that exhibited the highest antibiotic resistance were selected to test their sensitivity to natural plant extract and industrial disinfectant. Results showed that the highest level of bacterial contamination was registered in pillows and sheets (22.33x103cfu/g) and (21.33x103cfu/g) respectively. Also, ten bacterial species were isolated from all bedsheet types and most of them were normal flora. Moreover, Gram-positive bacteria were the most prevalent species. The antibiotic sensitivity tests showed that Micrococcus sp. was the most sensitive bacteria to antibiotics at 50%, while Bacillus cereus was more resistant to antibiotics at 80%. Also, as a result of the sensitivity of bacteria to disinfectant, crude lemon was recorded as the perfect natural disinfectant for Staphylococcus sp. whereas, a liquid industrial disinfectant (LID) was most effective against Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus and Klebsiella sp. Therefore, it is preferable to use LID and lemon as a disinfectant and sterilizer when washing fabrics.
Abstract: Conjugate gradient algorithms come in a wide range of flavors. The conjugate gradient technique primarily concentrates on the spectral parameter. It follows the standard method proposed by Hastens and Stiefel, In this study, we have devised an innovative approach to spectral conjugate gradient methods we get a new direction conjugate gradient method to solve unconstrained optimization problems, which is based on non-linear function using an inexact line searching introduced a novel direction. In specific scenarios, this groundbreaking direction not only guarantees global convergence but also ensures a downward trajectory. Our numerical experiments unequivocally demonstrate that when compared to traditional CG techniques, depending on the number of functions (NOF), the number of iterations (NOI), and time (CPU), and evaluated using the Dolan-More performance profile, our novel method consistently exhibits superior performance across a diverse set of unconstrained function minimization test. and the convergence condition under some Hypotheses by using a strong -Wolfe line search.
Abstract: The work presents a reflection on the importance of the existence of a massive photon. The discussion takes place based on the development of Maxwell's electrodynamics, introducing the massive term for the photon through Proca's electrodynamics. The presentation was based on theoretical development with the exposure of derivations by the divergent and rotational electromagnetic field, imposing the subsidiary condition with the terms of vector potentials. The work was intended to be simple, not going into details regarding applications and even Lagrangian terms, gauge transformations, and conservation of energy and momentum. The objective of this work is to discuss the possibility of the massive photon, through the derivation terms using divergent and rotational electromagnetic fields by extending the Proca model, presenting the dispersion relationship and consolidating with the Compton length and relating it to Planck's constant to understand the additional massive parameter of the theory. We made a comparison of some researchers in relation to experimental data, where they used an upper limit for the photon mass. We consolidate with a reflection on the study of the massive photon and its effects.