Abstract: Plastic pollution is a major issue of the current century. This waste is found in seas, freshwater, lakes, rivers, coastal areas, and soil. In this article, this article discusses the various sources of plastic pollution, including the manufacturing process of plastics and the addition of materials to improve their properties, as well as the use of single-use plastics that are not recyclable, in addition to burning and illegal waste disposal in the open. The impact on public health is through human exposure to toxins from plastics in the environment directly through inhaling dust and fumes, consuming contaminated food and drink, and skin contact. Indirectly, when marine creatures consume microplastics, they will find their way into our diet. Recycling plastic waste and using bioplastics is one solution to alleviate this problem, but consideration must be given to reducing overall plastic consumption.
In this work, chemical spray pyrolysis deposition (CSP) technique was used to prepare a mixed In2O3-CdO thin films with different CdO content (10, 30 and 50)%volume ratio on glass substrates at 150 ᵒC substrate temperature. The surface morphology and structural properties were measured to find the optimum conditions to improve thin films properties for using as photo detector. Current –Time, the sensitivity and response speed vary for each mixture. Samples with 10% vol. CdO content has square pulse response with average rise time nearly 1s and fall time 1s.
The results revealed that the incidence of Rhizoctonial damping-off of tomato was 65% and 67% in both rotations. Substrates of pine leaf litter and mushcom 2 suppressed infection reaching 59 and 60%. Mushcom1 restricted disease occurrence to 53%. In contrast, formulated Th + B. subtillus revealed a noticeable disease reduction reaching 33.16%, due to nutrients incited from mushroom thallus. The highest occurrence of damping-off (92 and 94 %) was found in control (sandy loam soil) during rotations. However, partial suppressive of Trichoderma spp. against R. solani was detected in different substrates. Mortality was 90% in control (non-amended soil). Finally, a comparable reduction of
... Show MoreBackground: Differentiation between malignant and benign vertebral compression fracture is often problematic. This is precisely difficult in elderly who are predisposed to benign compression caused by osteoporosis .Establishing correct diagnosis is of great importance in determining the treatment andprognosis.A study was performed to determine which magnetic resonance imaging findings are useful in discrimination between metastatic and acute osteoporotic compression fractures of the spine. Recently MRI is being increasingly used for evaluation of these fractures.Objectives: The aim of this study is to establish the correct diagnosis of malignant and benign compression vertebral fracture by MRI to determine treatment and prognosis.Methods
... Show MoreThis paper describes the problem of online autonomous mobile robot path planning, which is consisted of finding optimal paths or trajectories for an autonomous mobile robot from a starting point to a destination across a flat map of a terrain, represented by a 2-D workspace. An enhanced algorithm for solving the problem of path planning using Bacterial Foraging Optimization algorithm is presented. This nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm, which imitates the foraging behavior of E-coli bacteria, was used to find the optimal path from a starting point to a target point. The proposed algorithm was demonstrated by simulations in both static and dynamic different environments. A comparative study was evaluated between the developed algori
... Show MoreThe quality of groundwater in the Al-Hawija area was assessed using a water quality index. Data of nine physico-chemical parameters of 28 groundwater wells were used to calculate the water quality index (WQI). A heterogeneous water quality was reported, where in close proximity to the Lesser Zab River (LZR), it has low WQI values and permissible for human consumptions due to the dilution processes by fresh water; whereas, it becomes deteriorated in areas located far away the river. The values of WQI ranges from 22 to 336, indicating a good to very poor groundwater quality.
For the most reliable and reproducible results for calibration or general testing purposes of two immiscible liquids, such as water in engine oil, good emulsification is vital. This study explores the impact of emulsion quality on the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy calibration standards for measuring water contamination in used or in-service engine oil, in an attempt to strengthen the specific guidelines of ASTM International standards for sample preparation. By using different emulsification techniques and readily available laboratory equipment, this work is an attempt to establish the ideal sample preparation technique for reliability, repeatability, and reproducibility for FT-IR analysis while still considering t
... Show MoreThis work reports the development of an analytical method for the simultaneous analysis of three fluoroquinolones; ciprofloxacin (CIP), norfloxacin (NOR) and ofloxacin (OFL) in soil matrix. The proposed method was performed by using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), solid-phase extraction (SPE) for samples purification, and finally the pre-concentrated samples were analyzed by HPLC detector. In this study, various organic solvents were tested to extract the test compounds, and the extraction performance was evaluated by testing various parameters including extraction solvent, solvent volume, extraction time, temperature and number of the extraction cycles. The current method showed a good linearity over the concentration ranging from
... Show MoreReinforced concrete (RC) beams containing a longitudinal cavity have become an innovative development and advantage for economic purposes of light-weight members without largely affecting their resistance against the applied loads. This type of openings can also be used for maintenance purposes and usage space of communication lines, pipelines, etc. RC beams are primarily loaded in the plane of the members, which are two-dimensional in a plane stress state and the dominant structural behaviours include bending, shear, or combination of both. In the present study, six numerical models of RC beams with and without openings were simulated by using commercial finite element software ANSYS to evaluate the structural behaviours of those b
... Show MoreDevelopment and population expansion have the lion's share of driving up the fuel cost. Biodiesel has considerable attention as a renewable, ecologically friendly and alternative fuel source. In this study, CaO nanocatalyst is produced from mango leaves as a catalysis for the transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel. The mango tree is a perennial plant, and its fruit holds significant economic worth due to its abundance of vitamins and minerals. This plant has a wide geographical range and its leaves can be utilized without any negative impact on its growth and yield. An analysis was conducted to determine the calcium content in the fallen leaves, revealing a significant quantity of calcium that holds potential fo
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