This experiment was conducted at Poultry Research Station of the Animal Resources Research Department-Office Agricultural Research-Ministry of Agriculture in Iraq, during a period of 16 weeks (four periods and each period of four weeks) from 21 th April to 10 th August 2019. In this experiment 240 Japanese quail's female 9 weeks old, were used in this experiment. Females were randomly assigned to five treatments with three replicates per treatment (16 females/replicate). The experimental treatments were T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 with an addition of Spirulina in an average of (0, 1, 2, 3, 4%) respectively in the diets of quail to study their effect on productive performance. The results of the experiment showed significant increase (P≤0.05) regarding egg production with the addition of T5 and all the other treatments had a significant effect on this trait except T2. In respect of egg weight, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio, T5 showed a significant effect (P≤0.05) during the fourth productive period and the total periods compared to the other treatments. There was a significant improvement (P≤0.05) in feed consumption ratio regarding T3 birds during the fourth period of production compared to T1, T2 and T4 treatments, and did not differ significantly from T5. … Read more Public Full-text
This study presents, for the first time, an innovative Jet Plasma-assisted technique for the green synthesis of TiO₂@Ag core–shell nanoparticles using chard leaf extract as a natural reducing and stabilizing agent. The Jet Plasma provides a highly energetic environment that accelerates nucleation and core–shell formation at low temperatures without toxic precursors. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited uniform and stable structures, as confirmed by comprehensive characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and zeta potential analysis. XRD patterns confirmed the crystalline anatase
... Show MoreIn this study, manganese dioxide (MnO₂) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized via the hydrothermal method and utilized for the adsorption of Janus green dye (JG) from aqueous solutions. The effects of MnO₂ NPs on kinetics and diffusion were also analyzed. The synthesized NPs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), with XRD confirming the nanoparticle size of 6.23 nm. The adsorption kinetics were investigated using three models: pseudo-first-order (PFO), pseudo-second-order (PSO), and the intraparticle diffusion model. The PSO model provided the best fit (R² = 0.999), indicating that the adsorpti
... Show MoreUniversity campuses in Iraq are substantial energy consumers, with consumption increasing significantly during periods of high temperatures, underscoring the necessity to enhance their energy performance. Energy simulation tools offer valuable insights into evaluating and improving the energy efficiency of buildings. This study focuses on simulating passive architectural design for three selected buildings at Al-Khwarizmi College of Engineering (AKCOE) to examine the effectiveness of their cooling systems. DesignBuilder software was employed, and climatic data for a year in Baghdad was collected to assess the influence of passive architectural strategies on the thermal performance of the targeted buildings. The simulations revealed that the
... Show MoreThis study investigates the impact of copper sulfate (CuSO4) doping and glycerin plasticization on the structural, electrical, dielectric, and optical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), and glycerin gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs). The GPEs were prepared using a solution casting method with varying CuSO4 concentrations (5 and 10 wt.%). X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the semi-crystalline nature of the polymer blend and also confirmed the presence of CuSO4. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the miscibility of PVA, PVP, and glycerin through interchain hydrogen bonding and indicated the successful incorporation of Cu2+ ions into the polymer blend matrix. The PVA/PVP/glycerin blend containi
... Show MoreKarbala province regarded one part significant zones in Iraq and considered an economic resource of vegetation such as trees of fruits, sieve and other vegetation. This research aimed to utilize Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI) and Subtracted (NDVI) for investigating the current vegetation cover at last four decay. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is the most extensively used satellite index of vegetation health and density. The primary goals of this research are gather a gathering of studied area (Karbala province) satellite images in sequence time for a similar region, these image captured by Landsat (TM 1985, TM 1995, ETM+ 2005 and Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) 2015. Preprocessing such gap filli
... Show MoreObjectives Acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD) is an inherited autosomal recessive disease caused by pathogenic variants in the sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase-1 (SMPD1) gene, which encodes acid sphingomyelinase (ASM). ASMD has 3 broad phenotypes (type A, type A/B, and type B) characterized by the age of onset, symptomatology, and the rapidity of disease progression. The diagnosis of ASMD can be delayed or missed because of the wide spectrum of severity and its variable manifestations. Analysis of genotype-phenotype correlations can help to determine ASMD disease type and inform management. Here, we describe the clinical presentation of 47 patients with ASMD referred to a single center in Iraq since 2007, whose diagnosis was confirmed b
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