The impacts of harvested cropland in the double cropping region (DCR) of the northern China plains (NCP) on the regional climate are examined using surface meteorological data and the satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and land surface temperature (LST). The NDVI data are used to distinguish the DCR from the single cropping region (SCR) in the NCP. Notable increases in LST in the period May–June are found in the area identified as the DCR on the basis of the NDVI data. The difference between the mean daily maximum temperature averaged over the DCR and SCR stations peaks at 1.27°C in June. The specific humidity in the DCR is significantly smaller than in the SCR. These results suggest that the enhanced agricultural production by multiple cropping may amplify regional warming and aridity to further modify the regional climate in addition to the global climate change. Results in this study may also be used as a quantitative observed reference state of the crop/vegetation effects for future climate modeling studies.
Background: Community pharmacists endure significantly elevated levels of work-related stress and depression, posing a threat to their overall well-being and possibly affecting the quality of patient care. Objectives: To explore workplace-associated stress and depression in Iraqi community pharmacists. Methods: This observational study was conducted using a cross-sectional design. Information was gathered through the utilization of an internet-based survey. The study involved a community pharmacist with a minimum of one year of experience working at community pharmacies. The survey utilized pre-validated questionnaires. The level of stress experienced was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)-10, while the level of depression was
... Show MoreBackground: Measuring implant stability is an important issue in predicting treatment success. Dental implant stability is usually measured through resonance frequency analysis (RFA). Osstell® RFA devices can be used with transducers (Smartpeg™) that correspond to the implants used as well as with transducers designed for application with Penguin® RFA devices (Multipeg™). Aims: This study aims to assess the reliability of a MultiPeg™ transducer with an Osstell® device in measuring dental implant stability. Materials and Methods: Sixteen healthy participants who required dental implant treatment were enrolled in this study. Implant stability was measured by using an Osstell® device with two transducers, namely, Smartpeg™ and M
... Show MoreThe present paper is an experimental study to improve the productivity of the conventional solar still. This done by modifying conventional still in a way that the distilled basin is larger than distillation basin, thus providing an increase in the condensation surface and speeding up the condensation process. Moreover, increase in the dimensions of the distilled base helps coupling reflective panels to the distilled base to reflect incident solar radiation to the distillation basin. For this purpose , two solar stills were made, one conventional designand another made according to the proposed design. The two solar stills were tested during the period from February to July 2009 under varying weather conditions of Basra, Iraq (latitude o
... Show MoreMangrove landscaping in the Segara Anakan Lagoon (SAL) is an adaptation pattern of mangrove ecosystems to live and grow in unstable areas. This research aimed to develop a mangrove landscape to mitigate the impacts of ocean waves, currents, and inundation due to climate change. The study was conducted in SAL and Cilacap Coast (CC) using the environmental properties and climate change data. The data obtained were analyzed using mapping and trendline analyses. The results showed that mangrove landscaping in Segara Anakan had four zones with Nypa frutican, Rhizophora styllosa, Aegiceras corniculatum, Rhizophora apiculata, Avicennia marina, Sonneratia alba identified as the best adaptation of mangrove species. Climate change give a high impa
... Show MoreAssessing performance efficiency is critical to the management need for oversight, planning, and continuous periodic evaluation of the multiple activities of Northern Cement State Company in order to determine the level of achievement of the objectives set, and to correct the deviations and delays that the evaluation shows and limitation of liability. What cannot be measured cannot be managed. The aim of this research is to highlight the impact of using BSC, financial and non-financial, to give comprehensive and clear picture of the company's performance and to measure the quality of its performance by using six-sigma and the level of deviations in achieving the planned goals. Therefore, four-key hypotheses were formulated for th
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