The University of Kerbala (UoK) is a university located in the city of Kerbala, Iraq. The university was founded in 2002. The university has an impact role in the academic research. It is located in a very popular city, Kerbala..
Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a prevalent, severe diabetic consequence. Exploring relationship between biomarker levels and DPN may help improve understanding disease mechanisms and support future biomarker-oriented research. Meanwhile, fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) and heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) indicated nerve protection; whereas, semaphorin3A (Sema3A) and nerve filament light chain (NFL) indicated damage to a nerve. This study was designed to assess the association between biomarker levels and occurrence of DPN. Methods: A case-control study comprised 45 DPN patients diagnosed by nerve conduction studies (NCS), 48 diabetic without neuropathy (DWN) patients, and 45 healthy controls. The participants' ages ranged from 35 to 60 years. Serum FGF1, HSP27, Sema3A, and NFL concentrations were measured using sandwich and competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques. Results: DPN group showed elevation in HSP27 and Sema3A levels relative to DWN group (P = 0.016 and P = 0.027, respectively). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed the area under the curve (AUC) values between DPN and DWN groups, which were 0.469 for FGF1, 0.746 for HSP27, 0.783 for Sema3A, and 0.625 for NFL. Besides, the results indicate that there is an association between FGF1, Sem3A and neuropathy (beta = -0.010, P < 0.001 for FGF1; beta = 3.007, P <= 0.001 for Sema3A), and a significant elevation was found in age and duration of injury with disease (beta = 0.129, P < 0.001 for age; beta = 0.589, P < 0.001 for duration). Conclusion: The results indicate that HSP27 and Sema3A are linked to DPN and show a capacity to differentiate between DPN and DWN patients. A notable correlation is observed between age, duration, and disease progression. Further studies are needed.
Drying is a critical post-harvest operation essential for preserving agricultural product quality; however, conventional methods are highly energy-intensive. To address this, integrating renewable energy has become vital. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive systematic review of biomass–solar hybrid dryers from 2016 to 2026, evaluating their performance, modeling, design evolution, and sustainability. While several review articles exist, a specific research gap remains regarding the comprehensive synthesis of life cycle sustainability, techno-economic feasibility, and industrial scalability for biomass–solar hybrid configurations. This study bridges this gap by compiling and synthesizing data across five thematic areas: design and development, performance and efficiency analysis, modeling and simulation, quality assessment, and economic and sustainability impact. Important conclusions demonstrate that hybrid systems achieve significantly higher drying efficiency, reducing drying time by up to 70
Piano key weirs (PKWs) are an innovative type of labyrinth weir known for their non-linear design. Given their high flow discharge efficiency, studying local scour and developing mitigation strategies is crucial. This research investigates the use of tunnel structures in the outlet keys of type B rectangular PKWs to address this issue. The PKW used in the study has a height of 0.20 m and consists of three cycles (three outlet keys, two inlet keys, and two half-inlet keys). Tunnel structures with varying opening sizes were installed at each outlet key. The tunnel structure with the smallest opening effectively prevented mixing of the flow between the inlet and outlet keys. The tunnel structures help direct the flow and shift the maximum scour depth farther away from the weir toe, reducing the exit velocity of the flow from the outlet keys. By increasing the distance between the maximum scour depth and the weir toe, the risk of weir overturning can be significantly reduced. In tunnel structures with smaller openings, the maximum scour depth both decreases and moves further away from the weir toe. Furthermore, the maximum scour depth increases with smaller bed materials, higher flow rates, and smaller tailwater depths. The densimetric Froude numbers in this study ranged from 0.43 to 0.80. An equation was developed through dimensional analysis and demonstrated a high correlation with the experimental data.
Efficient thermal management in compact systems remains a critical challenge in process industries. This study investigates the hydrothermal performance of a shell-and-double-coil heat exchanger to enhance energy efficiency through a novel tri-factor approach. Unlike conventional efforts, this research simultaneously integrates double helical coil geometry, twisted tape inserts, and hybrid nanofluids to maximize secondary flow intensity and thermal transport. Numerical simulations were conducted to evaluate the synergy between these enhancement techniques across a Reynolds number range of 500 to 2000. Results indicate that incorporating twisted tapes significantly intensifies fluid mixing and disrupts the thermal boundary layer. Quantitatively, the configuration with internal twisted tapes achieved substantial thermal performance increments of 122% and 135% at Re = 500 compared to the plain coil. Furthermore, utilizing hybrid nanofluids yielded peak efficiency gains, with Water/SWCNT-MWCNT and Water/Al2O3-TiO2 providing enhancements of 130% and 116%, respectively. The study concludes that the combined centrifugal effect of the coil and the swirl flow from the inserts provides a superior heat transfer rate with a negligible pressure drop penalty. This work advances the literature by providing a robust framework for designing high-performance, compact heat exchangers using multi-layered enhancement strategies.
Generation IV nuclear reactor designs, like molten salt reactors (MSRs), provide passive safety and improved economics by dissolving fuel with liquid salt and moving it through the heat exchangers and core. Notwithstanding the technology's enormous potential, there is a dearth of comprehensive studies that use bibliometric and systematic review techniques to examine the development and patterns of the MSR technology. This paper adopts the bibliometric review approach using the VOSviewer and Bibliometrix package in R software to analyze the global research landscape of MSR technology between 2000 and 2024. The findings show that international collaboration is increasing in the field of advanced reactor designs and fuel cycle technologies, notably involving MSRs, thorium fuel cycles, and advanced simulation models. The research clusters indicate a multidisciplinary nature involving nuclear chemistry, reactor physics, materials science, and computational modelling. This notwithstanding, challenges such as salt purity, corrosion-resistant materials, and long-term safety are still barriers. Future research should therefore optimise fuel cycles and make advances in core designs for mini reactors while transmutating waste to reduce the radioactive inventory. Also, simulation tools should be developed further, especially in areas such as isotope transmutation and neutron transport, to increase the scalability, efficiency, and sustainability of MSR.
