Koya University

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a new coronavirus infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus as a pandemic, making it the 11th pandemic of the 20th and 21st centuries. This study investigated the clinical and laboratory results (D-dimer, conventional coagulation, and HbA1c biomarker concentrations) of 150 patients (75 male and 75 female) with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia and 50 controls (25 male and 25 female). For disease diagnosis, all COVID-19 patients were given a Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay (RT-PCR). The findings revealed that D-dimer and HbA1c levels in COVID-19 patients were significantly higher (P 0.001) at the time of admission; In COVID-19 patients, there was also a strong correlation between D-dimer levels and HbA1c levels (P 0.001). In conclusion, COVID-19 patients are more likely to have a poor prognosis if their D-dimer and HbA1c levels remain uncontrolled over a lengthy period. To lower the likelihood of a bad prognosis in COVID-19, patients with higher levels of D-dimer and HbA1c should be continuously monitored.

A continue wave of high-speed vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for 980 nm short-reach communication is presented. The design of such devices is based on five strained InGaAs/GaAsP quantum wells QWs that enclosed between 20.5-periods p-doped top and 37-periods n-doped bottom epitaxially grown AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors. VCSEL with current flow apertures of different area is fabricated and characterized at a range oxide aperture diameters ∅ ~ 6 to 19 μm. These devices essentially used for improving the output optical power and exhibiting high modulation bandwidth at room temperature (RT). Experimental results of output light–current–voltage at threshold currents as low as 0.45 mA, together with the threshold current, current density, maximum power and maximum wall blug efficiency as a function of oxide aperture diameter at various temperature, are achieved. Optical spectra and small-signal analysis are performed for different bias currents (I) and oxide aperture diameters (∅) in a wide range of temperatures. A small-signal modulation bandwidth (f-3dB) around 24 GHz is reached with ∅ ~ 6 μm when I ~ 5.5 mA at RT of T ~ 25 °C.

Genocide attempts are among the most severe traumatic events that are transmitted across generations. However, it may also prove the strength and survivability as well as the vulnerability of the targeted group. Anfal and chemical attacks on Halabja on Iraqi Kurds that targeted their annihilation had a devastating impact. Many survivors and their generations are still dealing with their effects on psychological disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. To address the psychological effects of these tragic events on survivors and their generations and propose the actions to be taken, this article explores the psychological trauma and problems caused by attempted genocide and chemical attacks in the case of Anfal campaign. These effects require more research to fully understand the long-term effects of these tragedies, as well as support and provision of comprehensive psychological and mental health interventions to their survivors and generations.

As one of the important components of internet of things (IOT) systems, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags need to be improved in terms of power consumption, size reduction and coding capacity. In conventional methods, designers focus on optimizing resonators, but by focusing on the use of phase coding, a new method can be presented that results in a tag with smaller dimensions and more coding capacity. Hybrid encoding for RFID is based on the phase coding by changing the position of the resonator in the chipless RFID tag. In this paper a C-shaped resonator is proposed to design a chipless tag on the Rogers RT/duroid 5880 laminates. This method proposes different phase values in the resonance frequency as separate codes. The difference between the phases (Φ) of the scattering parameters S11 and S22 is measured to show the effect of position varying of the proposed C-shaped resonator. With the three different values of Φ at the resonance frequency, the proposed RFID tag creates codes 0, 1 and 2, in comparison with the conventional structures that create codes 0 and 1 only, based on the presence or absence of a transition zero at the resonance frequency. The proposed structure was designed, fabricated and measured and measurement results validate this method. Accordingly, an RFID tag with five C-shaped resonators is proposed, where the simulation results of its 3 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">5</sup> =243 different states are presented in this paper.

In this work, a microstrip diplexer with 0.004 λg2 (10.1 × 23 mm) overall size is designed, analyzed and fabricated. The proposed diplexer has the smallest size compared to the previously reported microstrip diplexers. The proposed diplexer has a simple and novel structure, wide flat channels and very low \(\left| {S_{11} } \right|_{dB}\). An innovative microstrip structure based on thin coupled lines is used to design of the proposed diplexer. Since in a simple structure the possibility of manufacturing errors reduces, having a simple structure is one of its advantages. Another advantage of this diplexer is two low \(\left| {S_{11} } \right|_{dB}\) of 0.17 and 0.14 dB at the lower and upper channels. The operational frequencies of our diplexer are tuned to work at 0.9 GHz and 1.8 GHz for GSM application. It has the privileges of very compact size, simple structure, small \(\left| {S_{11} } \right|_{dB}\), two wide fractional bandwidths (FBWs) of 21 and 24.3% and acceptable \(\left| {S_{11} } \right|_{dB}\) and isolation. Due to its two wide FBWs, the presented diplexer is suitable for broadband communication systems. We have fabricated and measured the introduced diplexer to verify the design methodology and simulation results. The obtained results of the diplexer measurement confirm the simulation.

Objective. Nowadays, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common chronic endocrine disorder, affecting an estimated 5–10% of adults worldwide and this disease rapidly increases in the Kurdistan region population. This research aims to identify DNA methylation change in the CPAN10 gene as a predictive biomarker in T2DM and the association between DNA methylation status with lipid profile and kidney function test. Methods. The participants (113) were divided into three groups: diabetes group (47), prediabetes group (36), and control group (30). The study was carried out on patients who visited the private clinical sectors between August and December 2021 in the Koya city Kurdistan region of Iraq. To determine DNA methylation status, methylation-specific PCR (MPS) with paired primer for each methylated and unmethylated region was used. The Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman’s correlation were performed for statistical analysis of data and a value of p<0.05 was considered significant. Results. The obtained results show that DNA hypermethylation was recorded in the promoter region in the samples of the diabetes and prediabetes groups compared to the healthy group (control). Various factors also affected the level of DNA methylation, such as HbA1c in prediabetes group and body mass index in the control group. Conclusion. These results indicate that DNA methylation changes in the CAPN10 gene promoter region may be used as a potential predictive biomarker to diagnose T2DM; however, this study requires further data to support this evidence.

The global peril of air quality deterioration imperils the well-being of all living beings. Erbil, like many other regions, has suffered severe environmental degradation due to urban expansion, vehicular escalation, industrialisation, and substandard fuel usage. This research employs Google Earth Engine, GIS, and Remote Sensing to scrutinise alterations in pollutants (NO2, SO2, CH4, CO, O3, UV) spanning 2018 to 2022. It also incorporates PM2.5 data from Ankawa station (Jan 14, 2023 - May 4, 2023) and land use data (2005-2022) from Modis and Sentinel 2 satellites. The findings reveal a substantial increase in the levels of various pollutants during the specified period. However, in June 2020, most of these levels experienced a decrease due to the coronavirus quarantine measures. For instance, the concentration of NO2 decreased from 0.000256 mol/m2 in 2018 to 0.000166 mol/m2 in 2020. Conversely, by June 2022, the levels had significantly risen to 0.000277 mol/m2. Moreover, among the 107 days record, PM2.5 concentrations reached unhealthy levels on 44 days, while only five exhibited healthy PM2.5 levels. Furthermore, regions at lower sea levels, like Erbil and Khabat, exhibit the highest concentrations of these gases. In contrast, areas at higher sea levels, such as Mergasur and Choman, demonstrate these pollutants’ lowest levels.

Refractive index (RI) can be used to identify a particular substance and determine its purity and concentration. The RI of glucose solution with various concentrations can be determined using a distributed Bragg reflective (DBR) device containing a nanocavity. The optical property of the reflection spectrum produced by DBR is sensitive to the variation of the refractive index. In this study, a DBR with a cavity width of 220 nm, located in the middle of the device, is designed and used to sense the variation in the refractive index of glucose at different concentrations. The proposed design showed a sharp dip pattern within the reflection spectrum. The wavelength of the absorption peak was found to be sensitive to trivial variations in the refractive index of glucose solution. Results showed that the variation in the refractive index of glucose within the order of Δn = 0.02 has led to a noticeable shift in the absorption spectrum by Δλ = 2.6 nm. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the proposed device was found to be 130 nm/RIU which is considered high compared with those reported in the literature. Hence, the proposed structure can be a promising optical device for chemical ultrasensing applications.

Unlabelled: The SARS-CoV-2 virus targets the antigen converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, thus resulting in elevated morbidity and an increased risk of severe and fatal COVID-19 infection in individuals with hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the association between increased susceptibility and severity in order to evaluate their impact in hypertensive COVID-19 patients using in vitro and in silico models. Methods: We identified 80 miRNA binding sites on ACE2 (for different miRNAs) as well as various 30 SNPs in the miRNA binding sites of the 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) in the ACE2 gene using different online software and tools. From August 2020 to August 2021, a total of 200 nasopharyngeal/mouth swabs samples were collected from Multan, Pakistan. In order to quantify the cDNA of ACE2 and miR-3658 genes, we used Rotor Gene qRT-PCR on hypertensive patients with COVID-19 as well as healthy controls. Results: Interestingly, the binding site of miR-3658 corresponding to the 3' UTR of ACE2 featured three SNPs (rs1457913029, C>T; rs960535757, A>C, G; rs1423809569, C>T), and its genomic sequence featured a single SNP (rs1024225815, C>T) with the same nucleotide variation (rs1457913029, C>T) which potentially increases the severity of COVID-19. Similarly, three other SNPs (rs1557852115, C>G; rs770335293, A>G; rs1024225815, C>T) were also found on the first binding site positions of miR-3658. Our in vitro study found that ACE2 gene expression had an effect on miR-3658 in COVID-19 patients who also had hypertension. In both cases, our analysis demonstrated that the in silico model captured the same biological mechanisms as the in vitro system. Conclusion: The identified SNPs could represent potential informative signatures owing to their position in the splicing site of the ACE2 gene.

This study investigated gender-based differences in suicidal ideation among Koya University students. A total of 209 students participated in the study, comprising 104 females and 105 males. A scale for suicidal ideation was adopted to answer the research questions. The research was conducted using a quantitative survey design, and a non-random sampling technique (convenience sampling) was employed to collect the sample. The results indicated a statistically significant difference between males and females regarding suicidal ideation, with a higher prevalence among female students. These findings provide important insights into the issue of suicide among university students in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

This paper investigates the properties of 100-nm ZnO thin films prepared by radio frequency (RF) sputtering technique on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyimide (PI) plastic substrates using X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns to show the proper formation of hexagonal ZnO (002) structure, with ZnO on PET plastic substrate recording higher peak and FWHM compared to ZnO on PI plastic substrate. AFM reveals smooth surface morphologies on both substrates with a root-mean-square (RMS) roughness of below 10 nm. Optical transmittance measures values exceeding 80% in the visible and infrared (IR) regions on each substrate. ZnO on PET records 3.33 eV, and ZnO on PI measures 3.35 eV of optical band gap (Eg) from the Tauc plot. The photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) parameter measurement study shows that ZnO thin films on PET and PI plastic substrates have efficiencies (η = 0.93) and (η = 0.88), respectively.

This study measured the activity concentration of natural radionuclides in cooking oil samples by using a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The detected average activity concentration of K-40, Ra-226, and Th-232 is 2.68 ± 1.29 Bq kg−1, 0.35 ± 0.15 Bq kg−1, and 0.30 ± 0.12 Bq kg−1, respectively. Moreover, the measured concentrations were used to assess several radiological hazard indices due to ingestion [i.e., annual effective dose (AED), total AED, and excess life cancer risk (ELCR)] by consumers of these cooking oils. Even though the results indicate that their annual values are far below the worldwide permitted levels, it was observed that the radionuclides pose the highest annual effective dose 17.47 µSv y−1 to children (10-15 years old) to (12-17 years old) and that the testes organ receives the highest annual effective organ dose rate (Dorgan) 1.1 μSv y−1 due to ingestion of the cooking oil samples.

In this work, the adsorption capacities of CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles were enhanced successfully by modifying coated-CoFe2O4@SiO2 magnetic nanoparticles with sodium dodecyl sulfate and dithiooxamide and became CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles. The CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles were characterized using FESEM, TEM, VSM, BET, TG-DTG, and FTIR techniques. The CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles were used as an adsorbent for the removal of cadmium ions in the aqueous solution. The CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles demonstrated high capability to remove cadmium ions in the aqueous solution under optimum conditions, such as pH = 6; dosage = 50 mg; time = 30 min; T = 298 K. Furthermore, the Langmuir isotherm model was found to be more suitable for describing the adsorption of cadmium ions onto CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles compared to the Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models. The optimum adsorption capacity for CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles at 298 K was observed to be 350.08 mg/g. The thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption of cadmium ions onto CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles was a spontaneous process. Moreover, the kinetic studies were performed on the adsorption of cadmium ions onto CoFe2O4@SiO2–SDS–DTO magnetic nanoparticles, and the experimental data demonstrated a proper fit with the pseudo-second order model, which confirms the adsorption capacity of the pseudo-second-order model.