According to the European Union Water Framework Directive requirements, diatom metrics were used to assess the ecological status of surface waters in the Gaziantep central catchment (Turkey). A total of 42 diatom taxa were identified. A few environmental factors (especially lead, copper, orthophosphate, and chromium) played significant roles on the distribution of diatom assemblages among the sampling stations. The first two axes of the canonical correspondence analysis elucidated 91.6 % of the species–environment correlations with 13.9 % of the cumulative variance of species. The applied diatom indices (TIT – Trophic Index Turkey, TI – Trophic Index, and EPI-D – Eutrophication and/or Pollution Index-Diatom) showed different results in the evaluation of the ecological status of sampling stations. The results of TIT and TI indicate that Kıratlı creek has a poor ecological condition, while a good ecological condition was reported by the EPI-D index. This creek is associated with relatively high nutrient values (e.g., 91.1 µg L–1 P-PO4, 8.6 mg L–1 N-NO3, 0.59 mg L–1 N-NO2, and 97.5 mg L–1 SO4) and characterized by pollution-tolerant taxa (e.g., Amphora ovalis Cocconeis placentula Cyclotella meneghiniana Gomphonema parvulum Fragilaria biceps, and Navicula trivialis). The results of the Spearman correlation analysis reveal that TIT has a significant positive correlation with P-PO4 (p < 0.01, r = 0.780), conductivity (p < 0.01, r = 0.769), N-NO3 (p < 0.01, r = 0.714), and N-NO2 (p < 0.01, r = 0.778). Our results show that TIT is a suitable diatom metric to assess the ecological status of surface waters in the Gaziantep central catchment and for the Mediterranean region in general.
The Love Creek Nature Center, one of the three nature centers located within the boundaries of Berrien County, is owned and operated by the county for public enjoyment and instruction of nature. The 44.5 ha study area, located seven km east of Berrien Springs, and two km southwest of Berrien Center, on Huckleberry Road, in T6S, R17W, sections 16, 17 (Lat. 41° 56' N; Long. 86° 18' W) is made up of deciduous woods and abandoned fields at various stages of succession. It is bounded on the east by the Berrien County Dog Pound and Huckleberry Road, to the north by cultivated Berrien County land and the Berrien General Hospital, to the west by the recently closed Berrien - Oronoko Township Landfill Dump; and to the south b
... Show MoreThe volatility of the financial markets and the oil market plays a major role in influencing macroeconomic activity, as well as the high interaction between the both markets and the remarkable sensitivity to their each other fluctuations which cause the undesirable impact on other economic sectors as an expected result due the mentioned interaction.
The study aimed to analyze the relationship between the volatility of the major US market indices represented by the DJIA index, S & P500, due to their comprehensiveness of the financial market, as they summarize the performance of the entire US market which is the largest economy in the world, as well as the difference in the calculation mechanism, and oi
... Show MoreAims: Assess selected measures of oral health: Enamel defect, eruption of permanent teeth, dental caries, investigate the nutritional status of orphans by physical examination and relate the nutritional status with measures of oral health.
Materials and methods: 192 orphans aged of 6 and 12 who were living in all orphanages in Baghdad, Iraq, were studied. Enamel defect was derived from the WHO's modified developmental defects of enamel (DDE) index, investigation of caries using Decay -Missing – Filled index for permanent teeth (DMF), the decay-missing filled index for primary teeth (dmf) index and all of the perm
Background: The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) describes a wide range of symptoms, including difficulty with social interaction and communication skills. Controversial thinking about oral health of children with ASD, in general may have a lower hygiene level than healthy individuals, low caries rate and high body weight in comparison to healthy children. This study was conducted to assess the oral health status in relation to nutritional status among institutionalized autistic children and adolescents. Materials and methods: From 12 institutes in Baghdad, the study group contained 364 child and adolescent with ASD (Male= 294, Female=70), while control group included 441 normal child and adolescent (Male=357, Female=84) from primary and seco
... Show MoreMicrofibers released by synthetic clothes have a significant negative effect on the environment. Several solutions have been proposed and evaluated for their effectiveness, but studies have failed to address the human-centered aspects of these products. In this research, the possibilities and needs from a consumer perspective for a new filtering system for domestic washing machines were examined. First, a quantitative (questionnaire) and a qualitative (interviews and observations) exploration were done to understand the desired requirements from a user perspective. Next, the acceptance of various existing solutions for microfiber catching was investigated. To verify these requirements, a new concept was designed and evaluated with a
... Show MoreIn the present work, Uranium (238U), Thorium (232Th) and Potassium (40K) specific activity concentration in (Bq/kg) was measured in five different types for wheat flours that are available in the Iraqi markets. The gamma spectrometry method with an NaI (Tl) detector has been used for radiometric measurements. Calculations of radium equivalent activity, annual effective dose equivalent, external hazard index (Hex), internal hazard index (Hin), representing gamma index and gamma dose rate in all flour samples were 17.98132 Bq/kg, 0.0100334, 0.04502, 0.04857, 0.06872, 0.125883 and 8.181244 respectively. It is found that the average of specific activity concentration of wheat flour sam
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Background: The overproduction of thyroid hormones is known as hyperthyroidism. Increased susceptibility to caries and periodontal disease are two potential oral symptoms. The interleukin-6 (IL-6) was observed to significantly increased in the hyperthyroid group. According to multiple research, IL-6 dysregulation has been linked to a number of oral disorders, including periodontal diseases. The study aimed to evaluate periodontal health status in relation to IL6 among hyperthyroidism patients. Subjects and Methods: The sample was composed of 90 female patients aged 25-45 years attending endocrine disorder |