Ecosystems provide humans with services that include benefits from food, fresh water, climate regulation, and socio-economic assets. The Mesopotamian marshlands are among the largest wetlands in the Middle East and they provide various benefits. However, ecosystem services of the Marshlands are consistently undervalued in national economic analysis and decision making. This study focusses on the Central Marshes, the first National Park in Iraq, and is the first attempt at valuing a series of ecosystem services from a valuable natural ecosystem in Iraq. We adopted the Toolkit for Ecosystem Services Site-Based Assessment (TESSA) for the determination of biophysical and economic values of services at the site level. Data on key ecosystem services (as determined by 30 interviews with residents of the Marshes) included the trading of fish, harvested plants, water buffalo milk, and fodder were collected across six months in 2014. We valued the ecosystem services within the CM (40,000 ha) over a 6-month period to have a total value of 860,078.23 USD. This estimated total value was the sum of 86,637.25 USD from harvested plants, 551,334.80 USD from trading fish, 167, 303.70 USD from trading water buffalo milk, and 54,804.00 USD from trading fodder. The average income per individual in Iraq in 2014 was 6720 USD (World Bank data - https://data.worldbank.org/country/iraq): thus, the CM provided an average salary for 256 people. Our results provided greater understanding of the ecosystem services contributed by the Central Marshes and has highlighted the crucial role of nature in supporting sustainable well-being for humans living in the area. In addition, the results can be used to enhance local policy, to aid management plans of the National park, and to estimate lost and damage that could result from impact of climate change on the area.
Leaching process applied for the extraction of bio active compounds from dried roots of (Elecampane) Inula helenium. Ethanol, hexane and distillated water were used as solvents. Roots were soaked with ethanol (5% w/v) with various concentration of ethanol (30 to 98%) at one day to know effect concentration of the solvent with concentration of bio active compound in Inula helenium. The same procedure was done using hexane as solvent. Also distilled water was used as solvent for extraction 5%(w/v) where plant material was soaked in water at different temperatures (25, 40, 65, 80, and 90) C. In all solvents undertaken, the effect of time duration on active ingredient (Thymol, Isoalatolactone, Alatolactone, 10-isobutyryl-oxy 8-9-epoxy thymol is
... Show MoreIn the current research, an eco-biosynthesis method for synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is reported using thymus vulgaris leaves (T. vulgaris) extracts. The optical and structural properties of the nanoparticles is determined using UV-visible, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). In addition, the synthesis factors such as the temperature, the molar ratio of silver nitride and thymus vulgaris leaves extract have been investigated. The XRD pattern presented higher intensity for the five characteristic peaks of silver. FESEM images for same samples indicated that the particle size was distributed between 24-56 nm. In addition, it’s observed the formation of some aggregated Ag particles
... Show MoreImpact strength of self-compacted concrete is a field of interest, mostly when the concrete is produced from sustainable materials. This research's main objective is to clarify the ability to use two types of Portland limestone cement (Karasta and Tasluja) in self compacted concrete under impact loading, further to the economic and environmental benefits of the limestone cement. The impact loading was applied by a low-speed test, using the drop ball on concrete. Moreover, the study reveals the resistance of the grids reinforced concrete to impact loading by using polymer grid, and steel grid reinforced concrete slabs. Mixes reinforced by steel mesh had the highest results, indicating that the steel mesh was more robust because it had
... Show MoreThe aim of this research is to assess the validity of Detailed Micro-Modeling (DMM) as a numerical model for masonry analysis. To achieve this aim, a set of load-displacement curves obtained based on both numerical simulation and experimental results of clay masonry prisms loaded by a vertical load. The finite element method was implemented in DMM for analysis of the experimental clay masonry prism. The finite element software ABAQUS with implicit solver was used to model and analyze the clay masonry prism subjected to a vertical load. The load-displacement relationship of numerical model was found in good agreement with those drawn from experimental results. Evidence shows that load-displacement curvefound from the finite element m
... Show MoreEmergency contraceptives (ECs) are indicated for preventing the chance of unintended pregnancy that follows unprotected sexual intercourse in cases of incorrectly used regular contraceptives and in sexual assault. It is considered a safe choice to prevent pregnancy than abortion which is considered life threating. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of community pharmacists towards emergency contraceptives and their association with sociodemographic variables. This study was a cross sectional study conducted between August and September 2021 on a convenient sample of community pharmacists from Iraq. The survey tool was an online, self-administered questionnaire, in English language and a paper-bas
... Show MoreIn this work, copper substituted cobalt ferrite nanoparticles with
chemical formula Co1-xCuxFe2O4 (x=0, 0.3, and 0.7), has been
synthesized via hydrothermal preparation method. The structure of
the prepared materials was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD).
The (XRD) patterns showed single phase spinel ferrite structure.
Average crystallite size (D), lattice constant (a), and crystal density
(dx) have been calculated from the most intense peak (311).
Comparative standardization also performed using smaller average
particle size (D) on the XRD patterns of as-prepared ferrite samples
in order to select most convenient hydrothermal synthesis conditions
to get ferrite materials with smallest average particl
This paper proposes a novel finite-time generalized proportional integral observer (FTGPIO) based a sliding mode control (SMC) scheme for the tracking control problem of high order uncertain systems subject to fast time-varying disturbances. For this purpose, the construction of the controller consists of two consecutive steps. First, the novel FTGPIO is designed to observe unmeasurable plant dynamics states and disturbance with its higher time derivatives in finite time rather than infinite time as in the standard GPIO. In the FTGPO estimator, the finite time convergence rate of estimations is well achieved, whereas the convergence rate of estimations by classical GPIO is asymptotic and slow. Secondly, on the basis of the finite and fast e
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