This review focuses on conservation agriculture (CA) and its effects on increasing the soil’s resistance to erosion. CA involves minimum soil disturbance (minimum tillage/ no-till), diversified crop rotation, and maintenance of the soil cover to increase soil fertility and reduce erosion. CA reduces soil loss by up to 90% and water erosion by approximately 50 to 70% from runoff as it increases the health of the soil, yield of crops, and water-retention capacity of the soil by incorporating soil organic matter and promoting biodiversity. Crop rotation prevents the replenishment and depletion of soil nutrients by atmospheric fixation of nitrogen/biological nitrogen fixation. Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is a new strategy in which traveling by agricultural equipment is minimized to preserve the integrity of the land and soil, and compaction is reduced. It has advanced tools such as remote sensing (RS) to assess the erosion of soil and to evaluate the effectiveness of such practices in place. They enhance farmers’ capacity for better management of the resources and access to accurate information about the soil. Even though the previously discussed practices have numerous benefits, there are shortcomings and limitations to implementing CA practices for enhanced resistance of the soil to erosion. CA entails a special tool, the affordability of which may not be accessible to small-scale farmers or farmers in developing countries. In addition, the deployment of advanced methods such as RS requires investment in technology and infrastructure. Environmental issues of more weeds and pests where the appropriate pesticides are not used, also face CA, and the technological issue of implementing advanced methods in certain regions. Finally, the practice of CA entails providing training and education to the farmers on the correct use of new technologies and new approaches, which can be difficult in some regions with limited training materials. Finally, the review highlights the importance of implementing these practices to ensure agricultural and environmental sustainability because CA is an essential means of ensuring sustainable farm productivity and improvement in soil erosion resistance.
The current research focuses on a major problem: the weak role of disclosing corporate information in the application of laws, regulations and instructions related to the application of corporate governance principles weakens the ability to protect the rights of shareholders and investors in companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange and the study aims to study and analyze the role of disclosure and transparency in achieving the necessary protection to ensure the rights of shareholders. The study was applied to a sample of (42) analysis samples representing (84%) of the total questionnaires distributed to investors and shareholders in all listed companies in the Iraqi Stock Exchange. The results confirm the shareholder's right to obtai
... Show MoreUnsaturated soil can raise many geotechnical problems upon wetting and drying resulting in swelling upon wetting and collapsing (shrinkage) in drying and changing in the soil shear strength. The classical principles of saturated soil are often not suitable in explaining these phenomena. In this study, expansive soil (bentonite and sand) were tested in different water contents and dry unit weight chosen from the compaction curve to examine the effect of water content change on soil properties (swelling pressure, expansion index, shear strength (soil cohesion) and soil suction by the filter paper method). The physical properties of these soils were studied by conducting series of tests in laboratory. Fitting methods
... Show MoreIraq is located near the northern tip of the Arabian plate, which is advancing northwards relative to the Eurasian plate, and is predictably, a tectonically active country. Seismic activity in Iraq increased significantly during the last decade. So structural and geotechnical engineers have been giving increasing attention to the design of buildings for earthquake resistance. Dynamic properties play a vital role in the design of structures subjected to seismic load. The main objective of this study is to prepare a data base for the dynamic properties of different soils in seismic active zones in Iraq using the results of cross hole and down hole tests. From the data base collected it has been observed that the average ve
... Show MoreThe production of polyhydroxyalkanoates PHAs from biopolymer degrading bacteria was examined
The action of high repeated trucks load associated with dramatically elevated ambient temperatures leads to the most harmful distress in asphalt pavements occurred in Iraq known as rutting. Essentially, it is produced from the accumulation of irrecoverable strains, which mainly occurred in the asphalt layers. That visually demonstrated as a longitudinal depression in the wheel paths as well as small upheavals to the sides. Poly Phosphoric Acid (PPA) has been used as a means of producing modified asphalt binders and the interest to use it has increased in recent years. The PPA provides modified asphalt binder, which is relatively cheaply produced compared to polymer-modified asphalt. In this paper, PPA was used by three-percentages 1
... Show MoreResistance spot welding (RSW) aluminum alloys has a major problem of inconsistent quality from weld to weld, because of the problems of the non-uniform oxide layer. The high resistivity of the oxide causes strong heat released which influence significantly on the electrode lifetime and the weld quality. Much effort has been devoted experimentally to the study of the sheet surface characteristics for as-received sheet and surface pretreatment sheet by pickling in NaOH and glassblasted with three thicknesses (0.6, 1.0, and 1.5 mm) of AA1050. Three different welding process parameters energy setup as a low, medium, and high were carried. Tensile-shear strength tests were performed to indicate the weld quality. Moreover, microhardness tests,
... Show MoreThis research focuses on improvement of the corrosion behaviour of commercial pure titanium (Ti) grade II when exposed to Hank’s solution through different surface treatments. The disc shape of titanium samples were constructed to be divided according to their surface treatment. The first experimental group the Ti sample was exposed to computer numerical control (CNC) fiber laser machine. Whereas, the other experimental group the Ti sample was only coated with Polyetherketon keton (PEKK) by using carbon dioxide (CO2) laser technique while the last experimental group the Ti sample was treated with CNC fiber laser followed by PEKK coating by using CO2 laser technique. All were compared with the untreated control group. The electrochemical a
... Show MoreThe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an unprecedented disruption in medical education and healthcare systems worldwide. The disease can cause life-threatening conditions and it presents challenges for medical education, as instructors must deliver lectures safely, while ensuring the integrity and continuity of the medical education process. It is therefore important to assess the usability of online learning methods, and to determine their feasibility and adequacy for medical students. We aimed to provide an overview of the situation experienced by medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of medical students regarding electronic medical education.
... Show MoreGypseous soils are widely distributed and especially in Iraq where arid area of hot climatic is present. These soils are considered as problematic soils; therefore this work attends to improve the geotechnical properties of such soil and reduce the dangers of collapse due to wetting process. In this research, undisturbed soil sample of 30 % gypsum content from Karbala city is used. The Single Oedometer collapse test is used in order to investigate the collapse characteristics of natural soil and after treatment with 3%, 6%, 9%, 12% and 15% of Cutback Asphalt. Moreover, two selected additive percentages (9% and 12%) are used to evaluate the suitability of using the Cutback Asphalt for improvement of the bearing capacity o
... Show MoreShallow foundations have been commonly used to transfer load to soil layer within the permissible limits of settlement based on the bearing capacity of the soil. For most practical cases, the shape of the shallow foundation is of slight significance. Also, friction resistance forces in the first layers of soils are negligible due to non-sufficient surrounding surface area and compaction conditions. However, the bearing capacity of a shallow foundation can be increased by several techniques. Geocell is one of the geosynthetic tool applied mainly to reinforce soil. This study presents a numerical approach of honeycombed geocell steel panels reinforcing the sandy soil under shallow foundation, and several parameters are investigated such as th
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