The aim of this paper is to present the first record of ctenophore species Pleurobrachia pileus (O. F. Müller, 1776) in the coral reef as was recently found in Iraqi marine waters. The specimens were collected from two sites, the first was in Khor Abdullah during May 2015, and the second site was located in the pelagic water of the coral reef area, near the Al-Basrah deep sea crude oil marine loading terminal. Three samples were collected at this site during May 2015, February and March 2018 which showed that P. pileus were present at a densities of 3.0, 2.2 and 0.55 ind./ m³ respectively. The species can affect on the abundance of other zooplankton community through predation.

The current study was conductedas a pot experiment to determine the effect of soil texture on biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) of six most efficient local isolates, specified, of Bradyrhizobium. Cowpea (Vignaunguiculata L.), as a legume host crop, was used as a host crop and 15N dilution analysis was used for accurate determination of the amount of N biologically fixed under experimental parameters specified. Soils used are clay loam, sandy clay loam and sandy loam. Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF), in different soil textural classes, was as in the following order: medium texture soil > heavy texture soil > light textured soil. Statistical analysis showed that there is a significant variation in BNF % among six Iraqi isolates in the th

The red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier, 1790), which belongs to the family Curculionidae, order Coleoptera, is one of the most important palm pests, which leads to heavy losses in date palms. In the last few years, it has been recorded in Iraq, from Safwan city south of Iraq, where it was detected on date palm trees (Phoenix dactylifera L, Arecales: Arecaceae). In the current study, specimens of adult weevils were collected from infested date palms (Phoenix dactylifera), that showed signs of infection in Safwan district, south of Basra province. The results of the investigation showed the presence of phoretic mites associated with the red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier,

Nigella sativa seeds (NSS) are reputed traditionally and scientifically as a potent agent that promote milk secretion (galactagogue), but their mechanism of action is studied trivially. One suggestion was that these seeds are bio-transformed to sex hormones within the ovaries. Therefore, this investigation was designated to throw light on the action of these seeds in the absence of ovaries i.e. in male rats. Thirty Norway male albino rats were used in this investigation. They were divided into experimental (n=20,fed NSS 2g/ Kg body weight /day for 14 days) and control (n=10, fed placebo for 14 days). After sacrifice mammary gland and blood samples were obtained. Experimental rats revealed a significant increase (p (0.01>in

In this study, a 3 mm thickness 7075-T6 aluminium alloy sheet was used in the friction stir welding process. Using the design of experiment to reduce the number of experiments and to obtain the optimum friction stir welding parameters by utilizing Taguchi technique based on the ultimate tensile test results. Orthogonal array of L9 (3³) was used based on three numbers of the parameters and three levels for each parameter, where shoulder-workpiece interference depth (0.20, 0.25, and 0.3) mm, pin geometry (cylindrical thread flat end, cylindrical thread with 3 flat round end, cylindrical thread round end), and thread pitch (0.8, 1, and 1.2) mm) this technique executed by Minitab 17 software. The results showed th

This research includes the use of CdTe in the design of a solar cell. The SCAPS-1D computer program was used to simulate thin cell capacity of CdTe/CdS by numerical analysis with the addition of a buffer layer (Zn₂SnO₄) to enhance cell efficiency. The thickness of the window layer (n-CdS) was reduced to 25nm with the inclusion of an insulating layer of 50 nm thickness to prevent leakage towards the forward bias with respect to the lower charge carriers. As for the absorber layer thickness (p-CdTe), it varied between 0.5µm and 6µm. The preferable thickness in the absorbent layer was 1.5µm. Different operating temperatures (298K-388K) were used, while the highest conversion efficiency (η=18.43%) was obtain

        A newly developed analytical method was conducted for the determination of Ketotifen fumarate (KTF) in pharmaceuticals drugs via quenching of continuous fluorescence of 9(10H)-Acridone (ACD). The method was applied using flow injection system of a new homemade ISNAG fluorimeter with fluorescence measurements at ± 90◦ via 2×4 solar cell. The calibration graph was linear in the range of 1-45 mmol/L, with correlation coefficient r = 0.9762 and the limit of detection 29.785 µg/sample from the stepwise dilution for the minimum concentration in the linear dynamic ranged of the calibration graph. The method was successfully applied to the determination of Ketotifen fumarate in two different pharma

The two parameters of Exponential-Rayleigh distribution were estimated using the maximum likelihood estimation method (MLE) for progressively censoring data. To find estimated values for these two scale parameters using real data for COVID-19 which was taken from the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment, AL-Karkh General Hospital. Then the Chi-square test was utilized to determine if the sample (data) corresponded with the Exponential-Rayleigh distribution (ER). Employing the nonlinear membership function (s-function) to find fuzzy numbers for these parameters estimators. Then utilizing the ranking function transforms the fuzzy numbers into crisp numbers. Finally, using mean square error (MSE) to compare the outcomes of the survival

The Neutron Fermi Age, t, and the neutron slowing down density,   q (r, t) , have been measured for some materials such as Graphite and Iron by using gamma spectrometry system UCS-30 with NaI (Tl) detector. This technique was applied for Graphite and Iron materials by using Indium foils covered by Cadmium and the measurements done at the Indium resonance of 1.46 eV. These materials are exposed to a plane ²⁴¹Am/Be neutron source with recent activity 38 mCi. The measurements of the Fermi Age were found to be t = 297 ± 21 cm² for Graphite, t = 400 ± 28 cm² for Iron. Neutron slowing down density was also calculated depending on the recent experimental t value and distance.

In this paper, an inexpensive, simple and well-accurate process of the generation of bimetallic silver Ag//gold Au core//shell is colloidal metal nanoparticles (MNPs). This is achieved via an atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma glow discharge between two electrodes. One of these electrodes is a capillary tube placing over solution about (1 cm) that acts as the cathode, while the other electrode is a metal disk immersed in the solution and acts as an anode. Glow discharge process carried out at room temperature using a home-made cell with (6 KV) applied voltage and direct current (DC) about (1.8 mA) for different discharge periods. A wide range of bimetallic Ag//Au colloidal MNPs was rapidly synthesized as a result of non-thermal plas