Aquatic Oligochaetes community in the Iraqi southern marshes, Al- Hawiezah, Al-Chibayish and Al-Hammar, have been studied for the period from July 2006 to June 2007. Two sites within each marsh, in addition to a reference site located at Shatt Al-Garma, have been chosen for sample collection using Ekman dredge. The results revealed that the highest average annual density was 16800 individual / m2 recorded in Al-Hawiezah marsh, while in Al-Chibayish and al-Hammar marsh the density did not exceed 5111 individual/m2. In contrast, the density of Oligochaetes recorded in Shatt Al-Garma was about 10500 individual / m2. The highest monthly density was recorded in April 2007.The highest local percentage occurrence was 96% recorded in Al-Hawiezah marsh, while the highest average monthly percentage occurrence was recorded in January 2007.The study revealed the presence of 19 Oligochaetes species belonging to 14 genera and 4 families. Naididae was represented by 8 spp.; Tubuficidae 8 spp.; Lumbriculidae 2 spp. and Lumbricidae 1 spp. Tubificid worms formed about 73% of the total count while Naididae formed 15%, Lumbriculidae 8% and Lumbricidae 4%.Among Tubificidae, Limnodrilus was the most abundant genus composed about 35% of L. hoffmeisteri; 11.5% L. claparedianus; 8% L. profundicola and 4.7% L. maumeensis, followed by Tubifex tubifex 23%. Other species were Branchuira sowerbyi formed 15%; 2.8 and 2 % for Peloscolex velutinus and Aulodrilus pigueti respectively. Naididae worms comprised 8 species including 32% of Dero digitata, 24% of Nais variabilis, 14% of Amphichaeta sp. and 11% of each of D.obtuse and Pristina longiseta. However, D. dorsalis represented only 7.5% of the total Naididae. Few individuals of B. sowerbyi and Lumbriculus variegates, with two regenerated parts at the posterior end were also detected in some samples. This case was considered a rare observation within the population of these worms in this particular area.
The electrospun nanofibers membranes (ENMs) have gained great attention due to their superior performance. However, the low mechanical strength of ENMs, such as the rigidity and low strength, limits their applications in many aspects which need adequate strength, such as water filtration. This work investigates the impact of electrospinning parameters on the properties of ENMs fabricated from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solved in N, N-Dimethylformamide (DMF). The studied electrospinning parameters were polymer concentration, solution flow rate, collector rotating speed, and the distance between the needle and collector. The fabricated ENMs were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to understand the surface morphology and es
... Show More<p>The current work investigated the combustion efficiency of biodiesel engines under diverse ratios of compression (15.5, 16.5, 17.5, and 18.5) and different biodiesel fuels produced from apricot oil, papaya oil, sunflower oil, and tomato seed oil. The combustion process of the biodiesel fuel inside the engine was simulated utilizing ANSYS Fluent v16 (CFD). On AV1 diesel engines (Kirloskar), numerical simulations were conducted at 1500 rpm. The outcomes of the simulation demonstrated that increasing the compression ratio (CR) led to increased peak temperature and pressures in the combustion chamber, as well as elevated levels of CO<sub>2</sub> and NO mass fractions and decreased CO emission values un
... Show MoreIn this work, 332 Al alloy was prepared and reinforced with (0.5% and 1%) nano-Al2O3 particles. The prepared unreinforced and reinforced 332 Al alloy with nano-Al2O3 were solution heat treated (T6) at 510 ̊C and aged at 225 ̊C with different times (1, 3, and 5 h). Hardness test was performed on all the prepared alloys. All prepared alloys were dry slided under different applied loads (5, 10, 15, and 20 N) against steel counterface surface using pin on disk apparatus. The results showed that refinement effect was observed after addition of nano-Al2O3 particles and a change in silicon morphology after performing the solution heat treatment. The results also showed that har
... Show MoreIn the present work, pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique was applied to a pellet of Chromium Oxide (99.999% pure) with 2.5 cm diameter and 3 mm thickness at a pressure of 5 Tons using a Hydraulic piston. The films were deposited using Nd: YAG laser λ= (4664) nm at 600 mJ and 400 number of shot on a glass substrate, The thickness of the film was (107 nm). Structural and morphological analysis showed that the films started to crystallize at annealing temperature greater than 400 oC. Absorbance and transmittance spectra were recorded in the wavelength range (300-
4400) nm before and after annealing. The effects of annealing temperature on absorption coefficient, refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of d
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a pandemic worldwide. On a daily basis the number of deaths associated with COVID-19 is rapidly increasing. The main transmission route of SARS-CoV-2 is through the air (airborne transmission). This review details the airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the aerodynamics, and different modes of transmission (e.g. droplets, droplet nuclei, and aerosol particles). SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted by an infected person during activities such as expiration, coughing, sneezing, and talking. During such activities and some medical procedures, aerosols and droplets contaminated with SARS-CoV-2 particles are formed. Depending on their
... Show MoreWettability of CO2-brine-mineral systems plays a vital role during geological CO2-storage. Residual trapping is lower in deep saline aquifers where the CO2 is migrating through quartz rich reservoirs but CO2 accumulation within a three-way structural closure would have a high storage volume due to higher CO2 saturation in hydrophobic quartz rich reservoir rock. However, such wettability is only poorly understood at realistic subsurface conditions, which are anoxic or reducing. As a consequence of the reducing environment, the geological formations (i.e. deep saline aquifers) contain appreciable concentrations of various organic acids. We thus demonstrate here what impact traces of organic acids exposed to storage rock have on their wettabil
... Show MoreThe concerns about water contaminants affect most developing countries bypassing rivers over them. The issue is challenging to introduce water quality within the allowed limits for drinking, industrial and agricultural purposes. In the present study, physical-chemical parameters measurements of water samples taken from eleven stations were collected during six months in 2020 through flow path along the whole length of Tigris River inside AL Kut city (center of Wassit government) were investigated for six parameters are total hardness TH, hydrogen ion pH, biological oxygen demand BOD5, total dissolved solids TDS, nitrate NO3, and sulfate SO4. The water quality analysis results were compared with the maximum allowable limit concentrat
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