Geomorphology is concerned with the topographic units that make up the Earth's surface. These take many forms, such as mountains and rivers, and include many dangers such as landslides, landslides and erosion. Many studies appeared in this field to analyze its effects and risks resulting from it, including urban studies, to determine the trends of optimal urban expansion and its geomorphological interactions. The results showed that the city of Kut originated and expanded near the course of the Tigris River and its branches, and it suffers from unbalanced urban expansion, due to the high rate of population growth, and overcrowding in housing units with the growth of urban land uses in it, which prompted the city to extend horizontally and vertically and use land New at the expense of the lands and areas surrounding the city of Kut. To do so, this research dealt with determining the trends of current and future urban expansion of the city of Kut, and the detection of geomorphological controls that determine that expansion through the geographical characteristics of the city. The research relied on the descriptive, analytical, historical and quantitative method, collecting data through field studies and relevant government institutions, and using satellite visuals and GIS techniques in analyzing data and drawing conclusions. It has become clear from the research that there are natural determinants represented (rivers, marshes, Sabkha, natural resources) and they outweigh the effect of human determinants represented (orchards and agricultural lands, industrial areas, government and military structures, landfills, quarries and brick factories), which is due to poor planning. The override on the city’s base map scheme, and therefore these determinants restrict that expansion or increase its cost, determine its direction and reduce the city’s absorptive capacity. As for the best available directions for the future urban expansion of the city, they are towards the northwest along the (Kut-Baghdad) road, and towards the southeast along the (Kut-Nasiriya) road, because there are no geomorphic or human determinants that impede the spatial expansion of the city towards it. Thus, defining and measuring the trend of urban expansion will be faced with the various natural-geomorphological determinants, which must be considered among the priorities of any strategic plan for developing urban areas, and protecting them from geomorphological risks.
The development of economic and environmentally friendly extractants to recover cobalt metal is required due to the increasing demand for this metal. In this study, solvent extraction of Co(II) from aqueous solution using a mixture of N,N0-carbonyl difatty amides (CDFAs) synthesised from palm oil as the extractant was carried out. The effects of various parameters such as acid, contact time, extractant concentration, metal ion concentration and stripping agent and the separation of Co(II) from other metal ions such as Fe(II), Ni(II), Zn(III) and Cd(II) were investigated. It was found that the extraction of Co(II) into the organic phase involved the formation of 1:1 complexes. Co(II) was successfully separated from commonly associated metal
... Show MoreConstruction of artificial higher order protein complexes allows sampling of structural architectures and functional features not accessible by classical monomeric proteins. Here, we combine in silico modelling with expanded genetic code facilitated strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition to construct artificial complexes that are structurally integrated protein dimers and demonstrate functional synergy. Using fluorescent proteins sfGFP and Venus as models, homodimers and heterodimers are constructed that switched ON once assembled and display enhanced spectral properties. Symmetrical crosslinks are found to be important for functional enhancement. The determined molecular structure of one artific
The ongoing research to improve the clinical outcome of titanium implants has resulted in the implementation of multiple approaches to deliver osteogenic growth factors accelerating and sustaining osseointegration. Here we show the presentation of human bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7) adsorbed to titanium discs coated with poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA). We have previously shown that PEA promotes fibronectin organization into nanonetworks exposing integrin- and growth-factor-binding domains, allowing a synergistic interaction at the integrin/growth factor receptor level. Here, titanium discs were coated with PEA and fibronectin and then decorated with ng/mL doses of BMP-7. Human mesenchymal stem cells were used to investigate cellular resp
... Show MoreThe main objective of this paper is to study the behavior of Non-Prismatic Reinforced Concrete (NPRC) beams with and without rectangular openings either when exposed to fire or not. The experimental program involves casting and testing 9 NPRC beams divided into 3 main groups. These groups were categorized according to heating temperature (ambient temperature, 400°C, and 700°C), with each group containing 3 NPRC beams (solid beams and beams with 6 and 8 trapezoidal openings). For beams with similar geometry, increasing the burning temperature results in their deterioration as reflected in their increasing mid-span deflection throughout the fire exposure period and their residual deflection after cooling. Meanwhile, the existing ope
... Show MoreUnderstanding, promoting, and teaching media literacy is an important societal challenge. STEM educators are increasingly looking to incorporate 21st century skills such as media literacy into core subject education. In this paper we investigate how undergraduate Computer Science (CS) students can learn media literacy as a by-product of collaborative video tutorial production. The paper presents a study of 34 third-year CS undergraduates who, as part of their learning, were each asked to produce three video tutorials on Raspberry Pi programming, using a collaborative video production tool for mobile phones (Bootlegger). We provide results of both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the production process and resulting video tutorials,
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