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In this work, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were created utilizing a plasma jet method and 0.5 gm/mol of gold salts (4H2O•HAuCl4) with varied flow diameters (0.6 mm, 0.8 mm, 1 mm, and 1.2 mm). The gas flow changes according to the system diameter (2,2.4,3.4, and 3.6 L/min, respectively). X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet, visible spectra, and FESEM were each used to investigate the nanoparticles. The XRD pattern revealed that the film's extreme peaks reflect crystallinity, with an average crystallite size of (18–26) nm and a face-centered cubic structure. The surface plasmon resonance for colloidal AuNPs produced in the UV was at 536–540 nm.A field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) was used to look at the morphology of the Au NPs. The round particles ranged in size from (38-65) nm. The findings of this work provide encouraging evidence for the straightforward and inexpensive production of nanomaterials with various dimensions.

Diarrheal diseases can lead to infections and cause morbidity and mortality in children. Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) is an etiological agent, which is considered the major causative agent of diarrhea in children in some developing countries. The aims of this work were to estimate Escherichia coli (E. coli) causing diarrhea in children less than 5 years old, and to detect some biofilm virulence factors and the effect of some antibiotics. For the methodology, a total of 112 specimens were collected from children from two health centers, Al-Zahraa Teaching Hospital and Public Health Laboratory (located in Al-Kut city/ and the Wasit province in Iraq). All specimens were grown on simple and rich media. A total of 43 (38.4%) E. coli isolates were identified using different traditional methods, such as biochemical tests and 16S rRNA sequencing. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was used to detect some virulence factor genes that play an important role in the pathogenesis of diarrheic E. coli e.g., 16S rRNA, bfpA, and eaeA. In this study, several antibiotics were used to estimate the sensitivity and resistivity of E. coli isolates. A total of 43 isolates were fully identified as E. coli. These samples were used to detect the virulence factor genes, and 31 (72.1%) and 29 (29.4%) isolates carried bfpA and eaeA, respectively. The preponderance of E. coli isolates were completely resistant to penicillin 43 (100%). Additionally, 33 (76.7%) and 27 (62.8%) isolates were resistant to cephalothin and amoxycillin-clavulanic acid, respectively. Furthermore, the isolates of E. coli isolates showed different levels of sensitivity to antibiotics, including polymyxin B 40 (93%), norfloxacin 38 (88.4%), gentamycin 26 (60.4%), and meropenem 22 (51.2%). In conclusion, diarrheagenic E. coli isolates were the prevalent among diarrheic children. Most isolates showed varying results for the presence of virulence factors. In addition, all isolates were resistant to penicillin and sensitive to polymyxin B.

This study investigates the feasibility of installing a waste heat recovery system (WHR) in a cement factory in Iraq using the organic thermal Rankine cycle (ORC). Heat losses in the cement industries represent high energy consumption percentages of the total energy inputs. The production of clinker is a sub-process in the cement manufacturing plant and consumes three quarters of the total energy used as heat from combustion. The main sources of waste heat in the cement plant are identified, from these sources of waste heat from the kiln surface to the air, hot air coming out of the clinker cooler, and preheating exhaust gases. It is possible to obtain the total waste heat from these sources in the range of 35-40% of the total heat input. This waste heat energy can be exploited by installing a waste heat recovery system in these plants to generate electricity. It is possible to generate electrical energy by 5.9 MW. When using an organic system to recycle hot gases in plants whose daily production is up to 6000 tons, the installation of such a system could lead to saving 82.5 tons of fuel oil consumption per day, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 99.12 tons per day.

In this paper, bifacial PV module was characterized to investigate the optimum height and tilt angle of bifacial solar cells in Baghdad location. The module elevation is a key factor in bifacial PVs because of the effect of self-shading on the amount of diffuse and albedo that can hit the rear side of the panel. This elevation is a function of latitude, daylight time, and season, which is never been determined before in Baghdad location up to our knowledge. Various heights above the ground were used (100, 120, 140, and 160cm), and for each height several tilt angles were taken (0°, 12°, 30°, 49°, and 70°). Data were collected in several days of November, 2020. PV parameters were characterized at each condition. Rated power of the panel showed an increase when elevation increases from 100cm to 120cm then tends to level off at 140cm and 160cm heights. This result suggests that the optimal elevation of a bifacial PV panel in Baghdad city location is 120cm. The results also showed that 49° gives the best photovoltaic performance. This can be elucidated by the seasonal effect. Since the measurements were done in winter, the optimal tilt angle should be 49° according to Baghdad latitude.

Background: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is an inflammatory biomarker and a component of complete blood count that gains increased attention. Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a unique pregnancy syndrome for which inflammation was proposed for pathogenesis. Objectives: We aimed to examine RDW’s role in PE and explore confounders that limit its implication in practice. Materials and methods: A case-control study recruited 120 participants matched in body mass index (BMI) and gestational age into 3 subgroups; late-onset severe PE cases (30/120), late-onset non-severe PE cases (30/120), and healthy controls (60/120). Participants’ demographics (age, BMI, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, and DBP), hematological and biochemical parameters were evaluated. Results: RDW was significantly higher in PE cases (P-value < 0.01 ); In addition, RDW was positively correlated to SBP, DBP, and protein urea, r =0.5, r = 0.46, and r = 0.47 ; P-value < 0.0001, respectively. Liver enzymes, hemoglobin, and white blood cell count were all significantly linked to RDW (r = 0.27, P-value = 0.015), (r = 0.32, P-value = 0.005), (r = -0.27, P-value = 0.02) and (r = 0.39; P-value = 0.0004) respectively. Applying ROC Curve analysis showed that RDW cut-off value of > 14.4% discriminated PE cases from healthy controls (P-value < 0.001). At a cut-off value > 15.6% RDW distinguished severe from non-severe PE cases (P-value < 0.001). Conclusion: RDW was significantly correlated to PE predictors and severity markers independent of gestational age and BMI. The ROC curve showed that RDW distinguished PE from healthy controls in addition to non-severe from severe PE cases with high sensitivity and specificity. Being an inexpensive, reliable test with good predictive and prognostic value warrants further studies for RDW’s role in PE screening and follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An individual solar collector and two partly freight cylinders filled with molten salts embedded storage tank were connected to each other and forced circulated water by electric pump to improve the thermal performance of residential solar hot water tank. Multi flow rates of 25, 50 and 70 l/h. used to achieve an appropriate flow rate of circulating water. The calcium nitrate tetra hydrate Ca(NO3)2-4H2O and magnesium nitrate hex hydrate Mg(NO3)2-6H2O were mixed to form cheap binary molten salts base on different weight ratios. These molten salts combined could be used as both sensible heat materials and latent heat storage materials, besides they can directly use as heat transfer fluid due to freezing temperature. Six samples of different mixing ratio of molten salts had tested to assess the thermal analysis of each sample. The result indicated that the mixture 60%Ca(NO3)2+40%Mg(NO3)2 had the best performance for thermal storage tank with melting point of 38°C and the thermal value is 8.7 mW, and thermal stability of molten salts were noticed by DSC 60 SHIMADZSU devise.

This study aims to identify maternal death cases caused by Coronavirus infection 2019 pneumonia, including disease progression, fetal consequences, and the fatality cause. Patients and methodology: A retrospective case collection of Iraqi pregnant women in their second and third trimesters diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and died due to it. The four cases were all of a young age, had a brief complaint period, and had no comorbidities. Fever, dyspnea, and fatigue were the most common symptoms. Hypoxia was present in all cases and was the cause of mortality in three cases, with thromboembolism being a potential cause in the fourth. Prelabour membrane breakup, fetal growth restriction, and fetal death are all examples of adverse fetal effects. Conclusion: COVID-19 pneumonia induces substantial fetal and maternal mortality rates through pregnancy, which should be considered when treating these cases.

This work discusses the synthesis of (Cu-Se) core-shell nanoparticles using a plasma jet, using aqueous solutions of copper and selenium salts as a precursor. The structural properties of the resultant (Cu-Se) core-shell nanostructures were examined using UV, XRD, and SEM. The diameter of the granules with a concentration of 3:7 is 17 nm. Thus, utilising the designated diameter. Next, a comparison was made between the MDA cell line—which had been treated to Cu-Se NPs as an anti-cancer (breast cancer) agent—and the normal cell line REF. For every set, the following parameter was evaluated: (i) the proportion of breast cancer cells whose proliferation was inhibited after exposure for (24, 48) hours; (ii) the cytotoxicity of normal cells after (24, 48) hours. We diluted the nanomaterial five times and found that the cytotoxicity in normal cells does not exceed 22%, indicating that its effect is not detrimental to normal cells. Meanwhile, the nanomaterial’s effects were observed on cancer cells after 24 hours, at roughly 63%, and after 48 hours, at roughly 93%, and the census was carried out with these cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows how zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) affect the blood component of adult male rats utilising a safe, simple and inexpensive plasma jet production approach for varying exposure periods. The ZnO NPs were described as follows: the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern showed that in the UV-visible spectrum of the peak region at 291 nm to 302 nm, the strong intensity peaks indicated the crystalline nature of the ZnO NPs. A field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to look at the morphology of the ZnO NPs. The diameters of the spherical particles ranged from 30 nm to 96 nm. Two sets of ZnO NP dosages are used to investigate the impact of ZnO NPs on component blood. White blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), haemoglobin (HB) and platelets (Plt) components in the blood increase when ZnO NPs dosages rise. The cytotoxicity of the rat embryonic fibroblast (REF) normal cell line is calculated concurrently and the highest cytotoxicity equals 9% at 100% ZnO NPs concentration. These results suggest that a variety of blood component-affecting disorders may be treated using the ZnO NPs receptor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-temperature anomalies of dielectric permittivity of S n 2 P 2 S 6 crystals were investigated. It is shown that these phenomena have a relaxation character and the observed anomalies could be related to the small hole polarons dynamics with donor-acceptor compensation processes in lattice with tin and sulfur vacancies. To confirm it, we measured the dielectric properties of tin-enriched and sulfur-enriched crystals. It is shown that deviation from stoichiometry leads to a significant change in the low-temperature anomalies of dielectric losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]