Solid-state fermentation (SSF) is an advanced bioprocess technique with several advantages; however, various challenges including nutrient heterogeneity and limited mass transfer. To address these limitations, this study investigated the use of konjac sponge as an inert carrier for Bacillus subtilis in an adsorbed-carrier SSF (ACSSF) system employing loquat seed hydrolysate, and examined the effects of substrate composition, moisture content, and inoculum size, which were subsequently optimized. The results demonstrate that the adsorbed carrier system enables better contact between the microorganism and the substrate, leading to boosted mass transfer and hence Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production. Under the optimized conditions (pH

To assess the biochemical, mechanical and structural characteristics of retained dentin after applying three novel bromelain‑contained chemomechanical caries removal (CMCR) formulations in comparison to the conventional excavation methods (hand and rotary) and a commercial papain‑contained gel (Brix 3000). Seventy‑two extracted permanent molars with natural occlusal carious lesions (score > 4 following the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS‑II)) were randomly allocated into six groups (n = 12) according to the excavation methods: hand excavation, rotary excavation, Brix 3000, bromelain‑contained gel (F1), bromelain‑chloramine‑T (F2), and bromelain chlorhexidine gel (F3). The superficial and deepe

The accumulation of sediment in reservoirs poses a major challenge that impacts the storage capacity, quality of water, and efficiency of hydroelectric power generation systems. Geospatial methods, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), were used to assess Dukan Reservoir sediment quantities. Satellite and reservoir water level data from 2010 to 2022 were used for sedimentation assessment. The satellite data was used to analyze the water spread area, employing the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) to enhance the water surface in the satellite imagery of Dukan Reservoir. The cone formula was employed to calculate the live storag

The study attempts to assess water quality in Abu-Zirig Marsh which used epiphytic Diatom community for assessing water quality. Many of Diatom indices {Trophic diatom index (TDI), Diatom index (DI), Generic diatom index (GDI) have been used to give qualitative information about the status of the freshwater ecosystem(good, moderate, high pollution). In this study, the epiphytic diatoms on both host aquatic plants Phragmites australis and Typha domengensis were collected from Abu-Zirig Marsh within Thi-Qar Province at three sites in Autumn, 2018 and winter, 2019. Epiphytic diatoms were Identified by the preparation of permanent slides method, some species of epiphytic diatom showed dominance such as Cyclotella menegh

This study aims to assess the water quality index (WQI) according to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment's Water Quality Index method (CCME WQI). Four locations (measurement stations) are selected along the Tigris River, in Iraq.  Two of them are located in the north near Mosul City, (Mosul Dam and Mosul city), and the other two are located in the south near Al-Amarah city, (Ali Garbi and Al-Amarah). The water data collected is for the period 2011 to 2013, including eleven water quality parameters. These are magnesium (Mg⁺²), calcium (Ca²⁺), potassium (K⁺), sodium (Na⁺), sulfate (SO₄^2-), chloride (Cl^-), nitrate (NO₃<

This study focused on treatment of real wastewater rejected from leather industry in Al-Nahrawan city in Iraq by Electrocoagulation (EC) process followed by Reverse Osmosis (RO) process. The successive treatment was applied due to high concentration of Cr3+ ions (about 1600 ppm) rejected in wastewater of this industry and for applying EC with moderate power consumption and better results of produced water. In Electrocoagulation process (EC), the effect of NaCl concentration (1.5, 3 g/l), current density (C.D.) (15-25 mA/cm2), electrolysis time (1-2 h), and distance between electrodes (E.D.) (1-2 cm) were examined in a batch cell by implementing Taguchi experimental design. According to the results obtained from multiple regression and signa

In recent years, the search for economic and environmentally friendly alternatives has become a global necessity to achieve sustainability and preserve raw materials. From this concept, natural bitumen (NB) derived from sulphur springs is now one of the most promising alternative energy resources for many applications, especially in asphalt pavement construction. Its low price and abundance characterise NB since sulphur springs produce thousands of tonnes of NB annually and are used in very limited fields. Two main objectives were adopted for this work. The first objective is to examine the virgin NB properties from five sulphur springs and compare them with petroleum asphalt. The second objective is to enhance NB properties by appl