Physical Behavior of a.PP/LDPE Blends under Different Conditions

يهدف البحث الى تصنيع خليط بوليميري من البولي بروبلين العشوائي مضافا اليه البولي اثيلين الواطئ الكثافه لغرض تصنيع منتج اقتصادي وكذلك تحسين الخواص الميكانيكيه عند درجه بثق (180 o C) الخواص الميكانيكيه.  (الكثافه، مقاومه الشد، الاستطاله عند الكسر، مقاومه الصدمه، مقاومه الانحناء، ومعامل المرونه   تم تحضير اربعه نماذج من خلائط بوليميريه من (البولي بروبلين: بولي اثيلين واطئ الكثافه) بنسب وزنيه (10/90, 20:80, 30:70, &50:50) بدرجه بثق (180 o C).   حيث تم ملاحظه ان السلوك الميكانيكي للخليط يعتمد على مكوناته وكذلك درجه البثق. اثبتت النتائج ان مقاومة الصدمه ومعامل الانحناء تزداد بزيادة النسبه الوزنيه للبولي اثيلين الواطئ الكثافه واعلى قيمه كانت عند نسبه وزنيه (50:50). بينما اعلى قيمه لمعامل المرونه  كانت عند النسبه (30:70) كما اثبتت النتائج ان درجه البثق تؤثر كثيرا في السلوك الميكانيكي للخليط حيث تعمل على تحويل السلوك من المطاطي الى السلوك الهش الجاسئ مما يؤثر على نتائج الخواص الميكانيكيه بشكل كبير.كما اثبتت نتائج التحليل الحراري بجهاز المسعر الحراري التفاضلي زياده درجات التبلور للخليط بزياده نسبه البولي اثيلين الواطئ الكثافه كما تشير الى زياده درجه حراره التفكك الحراري للخليط مما يزيد من المقاومه الحراريه الخليط .اما نتائج الانسياب الحراري فقد اثبتت نقصان معامل الانسياب للنموذج بزياده محتوى البولي اثيلين % 30الى %50The aim of this work was to make LDPE /a.PP blends for  economically attractive by (10/90, 20:80, 30:70, &50:50 w/w) ratios via injection molding carried out under 180 o C injection temperatures and to evaluate their mechanical properties including :( Density, Tensile Strength, Elongate to Break, Impact  Strength, Bending Modulus,&  Young's  Modulus . we notice that the blend behavior dependent on its composition, and injection temperature . Results show there are an increasing of impact strength and bending modulus with increasing of (LDPE) contain and the highest value of these properties were at (50:50) weight ratio, while it has the highest Young's modulus at (30:70) wt%. 180 o C as injection temperature leads to translate the mechanical behavior from ductile to stiff behavior. DSC curves show that the blends is immiscibility , also thermal degradation was decreased with increasing of LDPE to (50%).Also the Melt flow index decreased from (5.04)-(4.01) (g/10 min) with increasing of LDPE from (30%) to (50%)

Reconciliation or Alienation: The Representation of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in the Jordanian Print Media: Al-Ghad Newspaper as a Case Study

The influx of Syrian refugees to Jordan is considered one of the most serious social events that the country has witnessed in decades. The unprecedented flow of refugees that received extensive coverage by the Jordanian print media played an instrumental role in shaping the representation of both the event and the actors involved in the crisis. This paper departs from the premise that news reports are “elements of social events” and as such employ language to change, maintain or inculcate the knowledge, beliefs and social relations shared by members of a society. To this end, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is adopted to investigate how Al-Ghad Newspaper uses language to represent and frame the Syrian refugee crisis and the Syrian refugees and considers whether this portrayal has contributed to the reconciliation or alienation of the Syrian refugees in the Jordanian society

Studying the Effect of Kaolin Nano Particles on the Hydrophobicity ‎Behavior of Polystyrene Nanofibers Prepared by Electrospinning ‎Technique

يهدف هذا البحث الى  دراسة تاثير دقائق الكاؤولين النانوية على نسيج من الألياف النانوية المصنوع من ألياف البوليسترين النانوية. تم استخدام طريقة الغزل الكهربائي لإنشاء الالياف النانوية  المسلحة بدقائق الكاؤولين . خضعت جسيمات الكاؤولين المستخدمة في هذه الدراسة لاختبار الأشعة السينية ، وكانت النتيجة مطابقة للاختبار النموذجي . أظهرت نتائج AFM أن الكاؤولين النانوي تتمتع بنعومة عالية عالية (1.5 نانومتر) ، ومساحة سطح جيدة ، وعامل تحمل عالي (6) ، بالإضافة إلى خصائص أخرى مرغوبة. تم استخدام جزيئات الكاؤولين النانوية بنسب مختلفة لمعرفة تأثير الكاؤولين على السلوك الكاره للماء لألياف البوليسترين النانوية. أظهرت النتائج أن الألياف النانوية المنتجة يمكن أن تمتلك خاصية التنظيف الذاتي لأنها كارهة للماء (لا تستطيع امتصاص الماء) ولها زاوية تلامس تبلغ 87 درجة ، والتي زادت بعد إضافة جسيمات الكاولين النانوية (139 درجة). تمت دراسة تأثير معاملات المحلول ، مثل تركيز المحلول ، واللزوجة  على أقطار الألياف الناتجة في هذه الدراسة. تم تحديد التركيز النموذجي لمحلول البولي ستايرين وكان 0.12 g/ml باستقرار المعلمات الأخرى، حيث كانت الالياف الناتجة باقطار ملائمة بحدود 100 نانومتر وخالية من الفقاعات  ، تم فحص تأثير زيادة تركيز دقائق الكاؤولين على اقطار الالياف النانوية الناتجة . اثبتت النتائج ان قطر الالياف النانوية يزداد عند زيادة تركيز دقائق الكاؤولين النانوية حيث تزداد لزوجة المحاليل بزيادة تركيز دقائق الكاؤولين النانوية مع ثبوت باقي العوامل ، وأظهرت النتائج أنه عند زيادة تركيز جزيئات الكاؤولين النانوية تزداد زاوية الترطيب حتى تصل إلى 139 درجة. This project promotes the creation of a nanofiber fabric made of polystyrene nanofibers reinforced with locally produced kaolin nanoparticles. An electrospinning procedure was used to create the overlapping fibers. The kaolin particles employed in this study underwent an X-ray test, and the outcome matched that of the typical test. The AFM results demonstrated that the nano-kaolin has a high fineness (1.5 nanometers), good surface area, and a high tolerance factor 6, in addition to other desirable properties. Kaolin nanoparticles in various ratios were utilized to evaluate the effect of kaolin on the hydrophobic behavior of polystyrene nanofibers. The results showed that the produced nanofibers could self-clean since they were hydrophobic (could not absorb water) and had a contact angle of 87 degrees, which increased after adding kaolin nanoparticles (139 o) . This study also looked into how solution characteristics like solution concentration and viscosity affected the diameters of the resulting fibers. The impact of nano Kaolin concentrations on the diameters of the resulting fibers was examined for the ideal concentration (0.12 g/ml), which was achieved because free-bead nanofibers were produced. This concentration was previously determined with the stability of the other parameters. The findings demonstrated that as kaolin nanoparticle concentration rises, so do nanofiber diameters because rising solution viscosities increase the number of nanofibers reinforced with kaolin nanoparticles. Additionally, wetting angle rises until it reaches 139 degrees.                   &nbsp

Sio2/ Polyamide Nanocomposite Textile for Super Hydrophobic Coating By Electrospinning Technique

Sio2/polyamide nano composites textile coating for hydrophobic surface by electros pinning technique was prepared. Celluloseball sample with prepared textile were coated by electros pinning system. Contact angle between water and samples    (glass, glass + PA(coating )  & glass + PA+Sio2 coating)  surfaces were calculated. The fall time through water of cellulose ball (coating & non-coating) were calculated. Results show the contact angle between the non-coating surface sample and water droplet smaller than coating surface. This contact angle increase from (26o) of glass surface to (126.6o) of (glass+PACoating), also it increase to (128o) with adding silica nano particles to (PA coating) As well as , the fall time of coating ball with (PA) nano fibers is  (6 sec) and it smaller than non-coating ball fall time (10 sec), also silica nano particles adding leads to decrease the fall time of ball to (5 sec). &nbsp

Assessment of Readiness of Newly Graduated Health Professionals to Communicate with Patients in Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Communication Skills (CS) are essential to health workforce to conduct effective professional-patient interaction. In Iraq, majority of newly graduated health professionals are engaged in provision of direct health services. However, undergraduate curricula preparing these professionals include no distinct component to train them on CS. This study aims at assessing the status of CS among Health Professions Education (HPE) graduates of University of Duhok (UoD) and estimating the perception of their patients toward those skills. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014. Data on communication skills was obtained, from samples of different health professionals which included: medical doctors (junior residents, nurses, dentists and pharmacists) who recently graduated from different colleges at the UoD. Also, data from was obtained, their patients, to assess their satisfaction of the professionals’ CS. For assessing core CS, a specially designed checklist was adopted from Calgary-Cambridge Guide. Also, senior clinicians were asked on CS performed by their junior residents. Results show that 88% of the senior academic staff regarded CS as “highly essential” and 66% of them were not satisfied with interns’ conduct and suggested that CS should clearly be included in the medical curricula. The basic CS were perceived by patients as either not practiced or wrongly practiced. Patients were unsatisfied with the CS of their attending HPs during observed consultation sessions. The study shows obvious lack of CS among HPE graduates of UoD with patients’ dissatisfaction of their CSs. It seems legitimate to propose that relevant training elements to be designed and incorporated within training modules are needed to realize as a core element of the curriculum of all HPE colleges at the UoD. Keywords: Communication, skills, perception, graduates, Kurdistan-Iraq. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/73-02 Publication date: April 30th 202

Respiration, heartbeat, and conscious tactile perception

Previous studies have shown that timing of sensory stimulation during the cardiac cycle interacts with perception. Given the natural coupling of respiration and cardiac activity, we investigated here their joint effects on tactile perception. Forty-one healthy female and male human participants reported conscious perception of finger near-threshold electrical pulses (33% null trials) and decision confidence while electrocardiography, respiratory activity, and finger photoplethysmography were recorded. Participants adapted their respiratory cycle to expected stimulus onsets to preferentially occur during late inspiration / early expiration. This closely matched heart rate variation (sinus arrhythmia) across the respiratory cycle such that most frequent stimulation onsets occurred during the period of highest heart rate probably indicating highest alertness and cortical excitability. Tactile detection rate was highest during the first quadrant after expiration onset. Inter-individually, stronger respiratory phase-locking to the task was associated with higher detection rates. Regarding the cardiac cycle, we confirmed previous findings that tactile detection rate was higher during diastole than systole and newly specified its minimum at 250 - 300 ms after the R-peak corresponding to the pulse wave arrival in the finger. Expectation of stimulation induced a transient heart deceleration which was more pronounced for unconfident decision ratings. Inter-individually, stronger post-stimulus modulations of heart rate were linked to higher detection rates. In summary, we demonstrate how tuning to the respiratory cycle and integration of respiratory-cardiac signals are used to optimize performance of a tactile detection task

Respiration, heartbeat, and conscious tactile perception

Previous studies have shown that timing of sensory stimulation during the cardiac cycle interacts with perception. Given the natural coupling of respiration and cardiac activity, we investigated here their joint effects on tactile perception. Forty-one healthy female and male human participants reported conscious perception of finger near-threshold electrical pulses (33% null trials) and decision confidence while electrocardiography, respiratory activity, and finger photoplethysmography were recorded. Participants adapted their respiratory cycle to expected stimulus onsets to preferentially occur during late inspiration / early expiration. This closely matched heart rate variation (sinus arrhythmia) across the respiratory cycle such that most frequent stimulation onsets occurred during the period of highest heart rate probably indicating highest alertness and cortical excitability. Tactile detection rate was highest during the first quadrant after expiration onset. Inter-individually, stronger respiratory phase-locking to the task was associated with higher detection rates. Regarding the cardiac cycle, we confirmed previous findings that tactile detection rate was higher during diastole than systole and newly specified its minimum at 250 - 300 ms after the R-peak corresponding to the pulse wave arrival in the finger. Expectation of stimulation induced a transient heart deceleration which was more pronounced for unconfident decision ratings. Inter-individually, stronger post-stimulus modulations of heart rate were linked to higher detection rates. In summary, we demonstrate how tuning to the respiratory cycle and integration of respiratory-cardiac signals are used to optimize performance of a tactile detection task

Implementation of a Research Plan Management System for Research Center of TIU University

Mobile apps are always evolving to make our lives simpler. This research study focuses on developing a cross-platform mobile application for TIU’s research center’s Research Plan Management System (RPMS). TIU currently does not have a mobile application that allows academics to submit their annual research plans and proposals online rather than filling out paper or electronic forms. This study was done at TIU’s research center for an experimental object, and it used Flutter as a development platform, Firebase as a backend database, and Dart as a programming language to create a mobile app that serves as a research management system for the institution. It enables related departments to track the research publication process until it reaches the final stage, and staff may electronically submit their research plans and acquire the appropriate permissions, as well as allowing the Research Center and departments to view real staff progress. According to our study survey, more than 70% of TIU staff believe that using a mobile application to submit and follow-up with the research plan is better than the traditional paper-based system

Serum C - Reactive Protein Level in Diabetic Foot Patients and Their Relation with Bacterial Isolates

Background: Foot infections are one of the major complications of diabetes mellitus and a significant risk factor for lower extremity amputation. C-reactive protein is an acute-phase reactant, rises dramatically in response to infection.   Aim: To determine the microbial isolates of patients with diabetic foot infections and their relation with C-reactive protein level in their sera. Materials and Methods: A prospective study of 90 patients with diabetic foot infections admitted to different public and private hospitals in Erbil city center-Iraq between June 2011 and May 2012 was undertaken. Bacteriological specimens were obtained and processed using standard procedure. The patients serum had been tested for C-reactive protein by high sensitive Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: A total of 130 pathogens were isolated from 90 diabetic foot patients 46 (51%) of the patients had polymicrobial infection, 37 (41%) had single organism and 7 (8%) had no growth. Gram positive (G+ve) bacteria 60(53%) were more commonly isolated than Gram negative (G-ve) bacteria 53(47%). Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were the most frequently among G+ve and G-ve isolates respectively. No significant difference was found between mean serum levels of C-reactive protein in patients infected with G+ve bacteria versus G-ve bacteria, although their concentration was more in the later. However, highly significant differences (P<0.01) were observed between both G+ve and G-ve bacteria versus no bacterial isolate in patients. Conclusion: C-reactive protein serum level was higher in patient with diabetic foot infected by G-ve bacteria, although G+ve bacteria represented a major bacterial isolates.