Iraqi Journal of Science

The present study was designed to investigate the effects of VêO® premium and vitamin C (Vit. C) supplementation on lipid profile before and during pregnancy in local Iraqi ewes during heat stress. The study was conducted in a private field in Fallujah city, west Iraq, during the period from 6/8/2019 to 8/2/2020. Twenty local Iraqi ewes were divided randomly into four equal groups (5 for each group). The first group (T1) was given VêO® premium (4 g/ ewe/ day), the second group (T2) was given VêO® premium (2 g/ ewe/ day), and the third group (T3) was given Vit. C (40 mg/ ewe/ day), and the fourth group (T4) was left without treatment, as a control group. After 14 days of treatment, vaginal sponges were inserted for 14 days and, after their withdrawal, the rams were introduced for 6 days. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein into vacutainer tubes (10 ml) at 4 periods (periods 1 and 2 before pregnancy; periods 3 and 4 during pregnancy). Lipid profile parameters were also estimated, which includes cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), and malondialdehyde (MDA). There were no significant difference in the serum levels of cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL, and LDL among the various treatments before and during pregnancy. The level of VLDL was significantly higher in T2 group as compared to the other treatments (P≤0.05) at the fourth periods. There was a significant difference in the level of MDA (P≤0.05) in treatment T3 in the first period compared with the treatments T1, T2, and T4, whereas treatment T4 showed significantly higher level (P≤0.05) in the second, third, and fourth periods as compared to treatments T1, T2, and T3.
In conclusion, different effects of VêO® premium and Vitamin C supplementation were noticed on the lipid profile before and during pregnancy in local Iraqi ewes during heat stress.

The present study aimed to the isolation and identification of Penicillium chrysogenum from subclinical bovine mastitis as well as the evaluation of their potential to produce the main virulence factors by assessing proteinase production, urease production, growth rate at 3 C, and hemolytic activity on Blood agar. One hundred milk samples were assembled from the White Gold village and surrounded outlying farms of Abu-Ghraib, Baghdad province, during the period from November 2018 to March 2019. Each milk sample was tested for California Mastitis (CMT). The results indicated that 85% of the samples gave positive (+ve) results for CMT. Sixty six mycotic isolates were detected, including 31 isolates of Penicillium spp. (46.9%) and 23 isolates of P. chrysogenum (34.8%). All of P. chrysogenum isolates were identified by culturing on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar and Czapek Doxes Agar at 25 ºC for 5-7 days. P. chrysogenum was diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of fungal ribosomal DNA (rDNA). The results of genetic identities showed that this fungus had 94% matching with the reference strain. Also, this study indicated that P. chrysogenum
has several virulence factors with the ability of this fungus to degrade both proteins (albumin and casein), hydrolyse urea, and grow ate C, but not to confer hemolytic activity on Blood Agar.

This research was conducted to measure the levels of asbestos fibers in the air of some dense sites of Baghdad city, which were monitored in autumn 2019. Samples collection was conducted via directing air flow to a mixed cellulose ester membrane filter mounted on an open‑faced filter holder using sniffer with a low flow sampling pump. Air samples were collected from four studied areas selected in some high traffic areas of Baghdad city, two of them were located in Karkh (Al-Bayaa and Al-Shurta tunnel) and two in Rusafa (Al-Jadriya and Al-Meshin complex), then analyzed to determine concentrations of asbestos. Measuring of levels of asbestos fibers on the filters was carried out via using scanning electron microscope SEM together with an energy dispersive X‑ray system (EDS). The results showed that the lowest level was recorded in Al-Jadriya intersection (0.0352 fiber/ml), while the maximum concentration was in Al-Bayaa (0.156 f/ml). Asbestos average concentration in the ambient air of the four studied areas was 0.0718 f/ml, which exceeded the standards of world health organization (WHO) for air which is equal to 0.0022 f/ml. This may be due to the presence of crowded traffic and the occurrence of industries near the city. Therefore, plans such as management of traffic, changing locations of industrial sites, and products substitution can be effective in minimizing the concentrations of airborne fibers .

In order to screen antifungal activity of lactobacilli that produce bacteriocin against the yeast Candida, ninety-two food and clinical samples were collected. Also, several commercial brands of Lactobacillus probiotics and ready-made isolates of Lactobacillus were used. The isolated lactobacilli were subjected to microscopic, macroscopic, and biochemical tests. Moreover, molecular identification was performed for the best producer isolate. For Candida spp. isolation, seventy- two samples were collected from different clinical sources; in addition, nine of ready-made isolates were also used. All the isolated Candida spp. were subjected to microscopic and macroscopic examinations which were confirmed by VITEK® 2 YST card automated system. Detection of bacteriocin production from Lactobacillus was investigated by primary and secondary screening techniques and the results showed that the agar wells diffusion method was the best. The most efficient isolate to produce bacteriocin was L. plantarum WZD3, in which antifungal activity of bacteriocin was at the level of 80 and 40 AU/ml against the most sensitive Candida isolates; C. albicans CA and C. albicans CB, respectively. After partial purification of bacteriocin by n-butanol extraction method, bacteriocin activity was increased to 320 AU/ml against both yeast isolates. In conclusion, L. plantarum WZD3 or its bacteriocin could be a good candidate as antifungal agent to treat Candida infections and more studies are required to evaluate its acivity against other types of medical fungi.

This study aimed to determine the effects of alcoholic and aqueous extracts of caper (Capparis Spinosa) and acetic acid on serum lipid profile and proteins levels in mice. Sixty adult mice with an average weight of 24±4 g grams were divided into four groups (15 mice for each). The first group (G1) was administrated daily with an oral dose of caper alcoholic extract (200 mg/kg) for 28 days. The second group (G2) was administrated daily with an oral dose of caper aqueous extract (200 mg/kg) for 28 days. The third group (G3) was administrated with a daily dose of 10 % acetic acid (2 ml/kg) for 28 days. The fourth Group (G4) was administrated daily with distilled water for 28 days, as a control group. The levels of lipid profile parameters, blood urea, total protein, albumin, and globulin were determined. The results showed a significant reduction (P≤0.05) in cholesterol and triglyceride levels in mice that were treated with alcohol or aqueous extracts of caper compared with acetic acid-treated and control groups. On the other hands, the results showed a significant reduction (P≤0.05) of blood urea levels in mice that were treated with alcohol or aqueous extracts of caper compared with acetic acid-treated and control groups. While the results recorded non-significant differences in the levels of total protein, albumin, and globulin in the serum of mice of different treatment groups. From the results, it can be concluded that caper has protective effects via acting to improve the lipid profile and urea level in the blood of mice.

Epilepsy is a central nervous system disease which is characterized by a recurrent seizure that distinguishes it from other similar diseases. Epilepsy may occur due to defects in genes that encode some receptors in the brain. For this reason, this study aimed to understand the association between Synapsin-2 (SYN2) gene and susceptibility to epilepsy. Blood samples were collected from 40 volunteers, including 30 patients suffering epilepsy with an age range of 26-49 years old and 10 healthy individuals with an age range of 25-53 years old. The study sample involved 16 males and 14 females with epilepsy along with 6 males and 4 females healthy subjects. DNA was isolated from the volunteers for PCR-RFLP assay. Genotyping of rs3773364 A>G SYN2 was conducted and the results refer to a highly significant difference in the distribution of AG genotype (P=0.0001), while there is no significant difference in the distribution of AA and GG genotypes, with p values of 0.1702 and 1.00, respectively. The results also showed that gender did not significantly affect the results when comparing patients with the control (p=0.0934). Our findings indicates that SYN2 rs3773364 A>G confers risk to epilepsy and may be implicated in epileptogenesis.

Chromium oxide (Cr2O3) doped ZnO nanoparticles were prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique at different concentration ratios (0, 3, 5, 7 and 9 wt %) of ZnO on glass substrate. The effects of ZnO dopant on the average crystallite size of the synthesized nanoparticles was examined By X-ray diffraction. The morphological features were detected using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The optical band gap value was observed to range between 2.78 to 2.50 eV by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, with longer wavelength shifted in comparison with that of the bulk Cr2O3 (~3eV). Gas sensitivity, response, and recovery times of the sensor in the presence of NH3 gas were studied and discussed. In the present work, we found that the sensitivity was increased upon increasing the concentration ratio from 3 to 5%wt of ZnO, whereas it was decreased again over that value. Also, we found that the sensitivity was increased when increasing operating temperature, while the response time was decreased. The optimum concentrations ratio for NH3 gas sensitivity at 5%wt ZnO revealed sensitivity of 66.67% and response time of 14s at operating temperature of 300oC and 700mJ PLD energy.

This study was achieved to satisfy two goals, the first of which is to treat an environmental problem represented by the disposal of date seeds, and the second is the use of these wastes to improve some mechanical and thermal properties of poly methyl methacrylate PMMA through strengthening different proportions of the powder of date seeds.
Particles of date seeds were used as a natural strengthening material for PMMA polymer, by mixing the matrix material (resin) with the hardener while still stirring continuously for a period of 10 min. After that, the samples of the reinforced material were prepared by adding the powder of date seeds, which is the reinforcing substance, with different percentages of weight fraction (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5 wt. %) and a grain size of <75 μm, while continuing to stir (10 min) for a second time. The composite samples were prepared by the Hand-Lay-up method and cut according to the standard ASTM. Thermal conductivity and some mechanical properties, such as impact strength, tensile strength, compressive strength, flexural strength, and hardness, were studied. An improvement was found in all properties at the reinforcement rate of 1-2 wt. %.

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) formed by one-step laser ablation in deionized water were carefully studied. Scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and UV–V spectroscopy were used to obtain morphological, chemical, and optical properties of CNPs. SEM outcomes established that the synthesized nanoparticles are semi-spherical with a wide particle size distribution. Raman investigation showed two typical and expected peaks ~ (1300 - 2700) cm−1, which are confirming to transverse and longitudinal modes of the carbon structure. The absorption spectra proved that the intensity of spectra increases as particle size and concentration increase.

An NH3 gas sensor was prepared from nanocomposite films of indium oxide-copper oxide mixtures with ratios of 0 , 10 , and 20 Vol % of copper oxide. The films were deposited on a glass substrate using chemical spray pyrolysis method (CSP) at 400oC. The structural properties were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy ( AFM). The structural results showed that the prepared thin films are polycrystalline, with nano grain size. By mixing copper oxide with indium oxide, the grain size of the prepared thin films was decreased and the surface roughness was increased. The UV-Visible spectrometer analysis showed that the prepared thin films have high transmittance. This transmittance was decreased by mixing copper oxide with indium oxide. The direct optical energy gap ranged 3.5 - 3 eV, which was decreased with increasing copper oxide concentration. The sensitivity of the prepared gas sensor was measured towards NH3 gas at a concentration of 71ppm with operating temperatures of 100, 150, 200, 250 and 30) oC, according to the change of sensor resistance. This sensitivity of the mixture oxides showed a value of about nine times greater than that of individual indium oxide thin films. The results of the optimum gas sensor properties demonstrated a sensitivity value of 75.06%, response time of 10s, and recovery time of 11 s, at a mixing ratio of 20% of copper oxide and an operating temperature of 200oC

In this paper, two different chaotic dynamic systems are coupled using a semiconductor laser to produce a new chaotic system. These two chaotic systems are Rossler and Chua systems. X-dynamic of Rossler system was coupled optically using optical fiber as a carrier of signal with x, y, and z-dynamics of Chua system. The results were analyzed and the behavior of Chua system was found to be changing in time series which, in turn, changed the attractor. The Chua attractor was converted from double scroll to single scroll. The results obtained from connecting two different systems in chaotic behavior showed a remarkable increase in the bandwidth of Chua system. This increase in bandwidth opens up a wide field for many applications, the most important of which is in the field of secure communications.

The North Central Coast of Vietnam has a wide distribution of loose sand which is often exposed on the surface. The thickness changes from a few meters to over ten meters. This sand with the loose state can be sensitive to the dynamic loads, such as earthquakes, traffic load, or machine foundations. It can be liquefied under these loadings, which might destroy the ground and buildings. The Standard Penetration Test (SPT) is widely used in engineering practice and its values can be useful for the assessment of soil liquefaction potential. Thus, this article presents some ground profiles in some sites in the North Central Coast of Vietnam and determines the liquefaction potential of sand based on SPT and using three parameters, including the Factor of Safety against Liquefaction (FSLIQ), Liquefaction Potential Index (LPI), and Liquefaction Severity Number (LSN). The research results show that the FSLIQ, LPI, and LSN values depend on the depth of sand samples and the SPT values. In this study, the sand distributed from 2.0 to 18.0m with (N1)60cs value of less than 20 has high liquefaction potential with FSLIQ<1, LPI is often higher than 0.73, and LSN is often higher than 10. The results also show that many soil profiles have high liquefaction potential. These results should be considered for construction activities in this area.

Electrical resistivity methods are one of the powerful methods for the detection and evaluation of shallower geophysical properties. This method was carried out at Hit area, western Iraq, in two stages; the first stage involved the use of 1Dimensional Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique in three stations using Schlumberger array with maximum current electrodes of 50m. The second stage included the employment of two dimension (2D) resistivity imaging technique using dipole-dipole array with a-spacing of 4m and n-factor of 6 in two stations. The 1D survey showed good results in delineating contaminated and clear zones that have high resistivity contrast. Near the main contaminated spring, the 2D resistivity imaging technique was applied in four sections length (100 m) using a dipole-dipole array position coincided with the three points VES. We compared the results of the interpretation of imaging the techniques 2D and VES. We found that the 2D imaging resistivity technique was better than VES survey in determining the distribution of pollution under the surface in the area surveyed. It was also found that the polluted water is located about 5 m below the surface. The largest amount of leakage was found towards the northeast and coincided with the direction of the groundwater movement. Spring water has leaked from outside the region through the Kubaisah area. Most of this water is contained in quaternary deposits and karst gypsum fractures.

This research is an attempt to solve the ambiguity associated with the stratigraphic setting of the main reservoir (late Cretaceous) of Mishrif Formation in Dujaila oil field. This was achieved by studying a 3D seismic reflection post-stack data for an area of 602.62 Km2 in Maysan Governorate, southeast of Iraq. Seismic analysis of the true amplitude reflections, time maps, and 3D depositional models showed a sufficient seismic evidence that the Mishrif Formation produces oil from a stratigraphic trap of isolated reef carbonate buildups that were grown on the shelf edge of the carbonate platform, located in the area around the productive well Dujaila-1. The low-frequency attribute illustrated that it is restricted in the area around the productive well Dujaila-1, which confirmed the existence of reef porous carbonate buildups and hydrocarbon accumulation in this region. The pay zone of the reef mound trap extends for about 7 km from the well Dujaila-1 toward the southwest side and 4 km toward the well Dujaila-2, without reaching it, which is explaining why it was dry. Therefore, this area to the south of the productive well Dujaila-1 represents a good area for low-risk drilling. Consequently, the hydrocarbon system observed in the Dujaila oil field provides a new opportunity to explore and produce oil in Mishrif Formation in other areas on the flank of the productive structures and in flat areas situated on the belt of the carbonate platform edge.

The aim of this paper is to determine the capability of the ultrasonic technique to predicate and evaluate some elastic and geotechnical properties within sand stone layers. For this purpose, 15 rock samples were collected from Tanjero Formation that is exposed in Dokan area, northeastern Iraq. Elastic wave velocities (Vp and Vs) and density (P) values for rock samples were determined by applying laboratory testing. From Vp, Vs, and density values, the porosity, elastic modulus, and some geotechnical parameters were calculated. The relationship between P wave velocity and elastic properties of samples was derived. Empirical equations were obtained by applying the regression analyses between Vp and the measured elastic properties. Good correlations were found, which may supply a good estimation of elastic properties from velocity information related to the geological setting of the area. This work confirmed the capability of the ultrasonic technique for predicating the elastic properties of rocks.

The results of the present study show that the highest elevation point is (912) meters (a.s.l.) inside Wadi Al-Khur basin while the lowest elevation point is (6) meters (a.s.l.) inside Wadi Abu-Talha basin. The biggest catchment area is represented by Wadi Al-Khur (48840 km²) whereas the smallest catchment area is Wadi Taqtaq (1748 km²). The stream direction of all streams trends from South-West towards North-East. The soil available water capacity (AWC) (Moisture Deficit) in the studied area was15 mm. The average annual rainfall was133.11 mm, the average annual temperature was 25.65 Co, the total depth amount of E Apanwas 3691.85 mm/year, the relative humidity was 40 %, the average annual sunshine is 7.9 hrs., and the average annual wind speed is 2.7 m/s. The water surplus of the total studied area 46800 km) was about 488.592 m³⁄year, while the runoff amount was about 442.190 m³ ⁄year.

The present study aims to convert obsidian rocks into spongy gravel for the use in the production of lightweight and heat insulating concrete. The rocks were burned at 960C to achieve maximum swelling of the samples, then broken into gravel and sand sizes. For comparison purposes, two other types of aggregates were used, namely pumice and basalt. The main physical tests, such as specific gravity, bulk density, porosity, and water absorption were performed. For testing the resistance of samples to alkalinity, KOH and Na OH solutions were used. The results showed that the obsidian sample gave the best specifications, where its specific gravity was 0.33, while the values were 1.1 for pumice and 2.7 for basalt, with the same results being applied to the other physical tests. After forming the concrete cubes of the three types of aggregates with three mixing proportions (1, 1.5, and 3 of cement, sand, gravel, respectively), the most important physical, mechanical, and chemical tests were performed along with their specific ages. The results were distinct, specifically the specific gravity values of the aggregate concrete samples A and B (1.3 and 1.5, respectively, as compared to the basalt sample, which recorded a value of 2.5. As for the thermal conductivity, a distinct value was recorded for the obsidian sample (0.16 W/m.k) as compared to the pumice and basalt samples (2.1 and 1.32 W/m.k, respectively). Perhaps the reason behind this variation is the pores type of the aggregate produced for the obsidian sample, which were of the closed system. This prevents the seeping of water and cement materials into the body of gravel, keeping it at light weight and providing it with high thermal insulation. As for the alkalinity test, there was no evidence of a reaction with the alkali cement in the obsidian and pumice samples, except for a slight reaction that appeared in the basalt sample.

Background: The present study was conducted to highlight the importance of environmental pollution and its negative impacts on aquatic, plants and animals lives, especially in industrial areas.
Objective: This research involved studying the hydrogeochemistry of the groundwater and assessing its quality for irrigation and domestic purposes using quality parameters. In this study, 33 groundwater samples were collected from wells during May 2013 and were analyzed for major ions and TDS.
Results: The hydrogeochemical facies of groundwater were identified using the Gibbs model and Chloro – alkaline indices. The results of the Gibbs graph suggest that groundwater chemistry is controlled by evaporation factors. It was found that the values of chloro – alkaline indices were positive, indicating ionic exchange between Na+ in groundwater with Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the aquifer material.
Conclusion: The current study of corrosivity ratio showed that groundwater wells are unsuitable for domestic uses.

In this article, our goal is mixing ARMA models with EGARCH models and composing a mixed model ARMA(R,M)-EGARCH(Q,P) with two steps. The first step includes modeling the data series by using EGARCH model alone, interspersed with steps of detecting the heteroscedasticity effect, estimating the model's parameters, and testing the adequacy of the model. Also, we predict the conditional variance and verify its convergence to the unconditional variance value. The second step includes mixing ARMA with EGARCH and using the mixed (composite) model in the modeling of time series data, predicting future values, and then assessing the prediction ability of the proposed model by using the prediction error criterion.

The linear non-polynomial spline is used here to solve the fractional partial differential equation (FPDE). The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense. The tensor products are given for extending the one-dimensional linear non-polynomial spline
to a two-dimensional spline
to solve the heat equation. In this paper, the convergence theorem of the method used to the exact solution is proved and the numerical examples show the validity of the method. All computations are implemented by Mathcad15.

We define a new concept, called " generalized right -derivation", in near-ring and obtain new essential results in this field. Moreover we improve this paper with examples that show that the assumptions used are necessary.

We applied the direct product concept on the notation of intuitionistic fuzzy semi d-ideals of d-algebra with the investigation of some theorems. Also, we studied the notation of direct product of intuitionistic fuzzy topological d-algebra, with the notation of relatively intuitionistic continuous mapping, on the direct product of intuitionistic fuzzy topological d-algebra.

In this paper, we prove that; Let M be a 2-torsion free semiprime which satisfies the condition for all and α, β . Consider that as an additive mapping such that holds for all and α , then T is a left and right centralizer.

Let be an associative ring with identity and let be a unitary left -module. Let be a non-zero submodule of .We say that is a semi- - hollow module if for every submodule of such that is a semi- - small submodule ( ). In addition, we say that is a semi- - lifting module if for every submodule of , there exists a direct summand of and such that
The main purpose of this work was to develop the properties of these classes of module.

In this paper, chaotic and periodic dynamics in a hybrid food chain system with Holling type IV and Lotka-Volterra responses are discussed. The system is observed to be dissipative. The global stability of the equilibrium points is analyzed using Routh-Hurwitz criterion and Lyapunov direct method. Chaos phenomena is characterized by attractors and bifurcation diagram. The effect of the controlling parameter of the model is investigated theoretically and numerically.

In our normal life, we sometimes need a process of replacing something with another to get out of the stereotype. From this point of view, Mahmood’s attempted in the year 2020 to replace the content in the first main e-abacus diagram. He found the general rule for finding the value of the new partition after the replacement from the original partition. Here we raise the question: Can we find the appropriate mechanisms for the remainder of the main e-abacus diagram?

In this present paper, we obtain some differential subordination and superordination results, by using generalized operators for certain subclass of analytic functions in the open unit disk. Also, we derive some sandwich results.

Our goal in the present paper is to introduce a new type of fuzzy inner product space. After that, to illustrate this notion, some examples are introduced. Then we prove that that every fuzzy inner product space is a fuzzy normed space. We also prove that the cross product of two fuzzy inner spaces is again a fuzzy inner product space. Next, we prove that the fuzzy inner product is a non decreasing function. Finally, if U is a fuzzy complete fuzzy inner product space and D is a fuzzy closed subspace of U, then we prove that U can be written as a direct sum of D and the fuzzy orthogonal complement of D.

In this research, the Boiti–Leon–Pempinelli (BLP) system was used to understand the physical meaning of exact and solitary traveling wave solutions. To establish modern exact results, considered. In addition, the results obtained were compared with those obtained by using other existing methods, such as the standard hyperbolic tanh function method, and the stability analysis for the results was discussed.

Fruits sorting, recognizing, and classifying are essential post-harvest operations, as they contribute to the quality of food industry, thereby increasing the exported quantity of food. Today, an automated system for fruit classification and recognition is very important, especially when exporting to markets where quality of fruit must be high. In this study, the advantages and disadvantages of the various shape-based feature extraction algorithms and technologies that are used in sorting, classifying, and grading of fruits, as well as fruits quality estimation, are discussed in order to provide a good understanding of the use of shape-based feature extraction techniques.

The conventional procedures of clustering algorithms are incapable of overcoming the difficulty of managing and analyzing the rapid growth of generated data from different sources. Using the concept of parallel clustering is one of the robust solutions to this problem. Apache Hadoop architecture is one of the assortment ecosystems that provide the capability to store and process the data in a distributed and parallel fashion. In this paper, a parallel model is designed to process the k-means clustering algorithm in the Apache Hadoop ecosystem by connecting three nodes, one is for server (name) nodes and the other two are for clients (data) nodes. The aim is to speed up the time of managing the massive scale of healthcare insurance dataset with the size of 11 GB and also using machine learning algorithms, which are provided by the Mahout Framework. The experimental results depict that the proposed model can efficiently process large datasets. The parallel k-means algorithm outperforms the sequential k-means algorithm based on the execution time of the algorithm, where the required time to execute a data size of 11 GB is around 1.847 hours using the parallel k-means algorithm, while it equals 68.567 hours using the sequential k-means algorithm. As a result, we deduce that when the nodes number in the parallel system increases, the computation time of the proposed algorithm decreases.

In this paper, time spent and the repetition of using the Social Network Sites (SNS) in Android applications are investigated. In this approach, we seek to raise the awareness and limit, but not eliminate the repeated uses of SNS, by introducing AndroidTrack. This AndroidTrack is an android application that was designed to monitor and apply valid experimental studies in order to improve the impacts of social media on Iraqi users. Data generated from the app were aggregated and updated periodically at Google Firebase Real-time Database. The statistical factor analysis (FA) was presented as a result of the user’s interactions.

In this paper, the botnet detection problem is defined as a feature selection problem and the genetic algorithm (GA) is used to search for the best significant combination of features from the entire search space of set of features. Furthermore, the Decision Tree (DT) classifier is used as an objective function to direct the ability of the proposed GA to locate the combination of features that can correctly classify the activities into normal traffics and botnet attacks. Two datasets namely the UNSW-NB15 and the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity Intrusion Detection System 2017 (CICIDS2017), are used as evaluation datasets. The results reveal that the proposed DT-aware GA can effectively find the relevant features from the whole features set. Thus, it obtains efficient botnet detection results in terms of F-score, precision, detection rate, and number of relevant features, when compared with DT alone.

Numerical simulations were carried out to evaluate the effects of different aberrations modes on the performance of optical system, when observing and imaging the solar surface. Karhunen-Loeve aberrations modes were simulated as a wave front error in the aperture function of the optical system. To identify and apply the appropriate rectification that removes or reduces various types of aberration, their attribute must be firstly determined and quantitatively described. Wave aberration function is well suitable for this purpose because it fully characterizes the progressive effect of the optical system on the wave front passing through the aperture. The Karhunen-Loeve polynomials for circular aperture were used to describe wave front deviations and to predict the initial state of adaptive optics corrections. The results showed that increasing the aberration modes causes an increase in the blurring of the observed image. Also, we conclude that the optical phase error is increased significantly when aperture’s radii are increased.

The inefficient use of spectrum is the key subject to overcome the upcoming spectrum crunch issue. This paper presents a study of performance of cooperative cognitive network via hard combining of decision fusion schemes. Simulation results presented different cooperative hard decision fusion schemes for cognitive network. The hard-decision fusion schemes provided different discriminations for detection levels. They also produced small values of Miss-Detection Probability at different values of Probability of False Alarm and adaptive threshold levels. The sensing performance was investigated under the influence of channel condition for proper operating conditions. An increase in the detection performance was achieved for cognitive users (secondary users) of the authorized unused dynamic spectrum holes (primary users) while operating in a very low signal-to-noise ratio with the proper condition of minimum total error rate.