The aim of this study is to shed light on the importance of biofuels as an alternative to conventional energy, in addition to the importance of preserving agricultural crops, which are the main source of this fuel, to maintain food security, especially in developing countries. The increase in global oil prices, in addition to the fear of global warming, are among the main factors that draw the world’s attention to searching for alternative sources of traditional energy, which are sustainable on the one hand, and on the other hand reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, the volume of global investment in renewable energy in general, and in liquid biofuels and biomass in particular, has increased. Global fears emerged that the excessive conversion of large farms suitable for growing food to energy production would threaten global food security. In the first ten years of the new millennium, biofuel production increased fivefold, and the largest increase in biofuel production was recorded in 2007-2008, coinciding with a sharp rise in food prices. Compared to the average food prices in the period 2002-2004, the average global prices of cereals, oils and fats traded were 2 to 2.5 times higher in 2008, this continuous increase in the use of food crops to produce biofuels has reflected on global food security. Accordingly, this review article will address previous studies on biofuel production; identify the theoretical framework for the concept of biofuels and its characteristics, and the relationship between biofuels and food security. In this study, we presented biofuels, which are considered one of the important categories in the field of renewable energy and its environmental and economic effects, as well as the experiences of some countries in its production, and the possibility of benefiting from the natural resources available for its production. We will discuss the scientific (chemical) principles of biofuel production.
The research aims to determine optimal urban planning and design indicators of the urban clusters form in hot arid zones through studying of three urban areas in Baghdad, analyzing their urban indicators which include floor area ratio (FAR), urban clusters height, building density or land coverage, green areas, paved areas, shading ratio and how they affect urban temperature. The research reached the conclusion that air outdoor temperature on urban areas affected primarily by shadows casted on the ground, the effect of shaded area equals (5) times the effect of paved areas and (3.7) times the effect of green areas, this means that increasing urban clusters height in hot arid zones could minimize air outdoor temperature, building
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The present work aimed to investigate the neuraminidase (nan1) gene expression in 32 different clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to explore the role of the enzyme in different types of infection and might give a better understanding of host cell-pathogens interaction. In addition, the effect of monosaccharide D-mannose on neuraminidase gene expression in eight isolates was studied by utilizing a reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The results demonstrated that the highest expression of nan1 gene was in otitis samples (208,913.81) which were significantly higher than that from other infections (P < 0.01). While, the concentrations of gene copies obtained from urin
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The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on EOS/Aqua satellite provides diverse measurements of Methane (CH4) distribution at different pressure levels in the Earth's atmosphere. The focus of this research is to analyze the vertical variations of (CH4) volume mixing ratio (VMR) time-series data at four Standard pressure levels SPL (925, 850, 600, and 300 hPa) in the troposphere above six cities in Iraq from January 2003 to September 2016. The analysis results of monthly average CH4VMR time-series data show a significant increase between 2003 and 2016, especially from 2009 to 2016; the minimum values of CH4 were in 2003 while the maximum values were in 2016. The vertical distribution of CH4<
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The current study included the isolation, purification and cultivation of blue-green alga Oscillatoria pseudogeminata G.Schmidle from soil using the BG-11liquid culture medium for 60 days of cultivation. The growth constant (k) and generation time (G) were measured which (K=0.144) and (G=2.09 days).
Microcystins were purified and determined qualitatively and quantitatively from this alga by using the technique of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (Elisa Kits). The alga showed the ability to produce microcystins in concentration reached 1.47 µg/L for each 50 mg DW. Tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) aged two months were irrigated with three concentrations of purified microcystins 0.5 , 3.0 and 6.0
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The need for Dewatering is very important in construction workshops field and sometimes it needs to pay more attention as a result of its impacts on causing additional settlement of nearby pile foundations. Dewatering construction may become a costly topic if ignored during project planning and designing .In this paper a simplified procedure maybe adopted to calculate the foundation settlement induced by using dewatering system which is required to lower the water table level to reach a dry condition during construction. Synthesized case study adopted at a specified location in Baghdad city and analysis are computed for two types of piles both of them are submerged with water. Results shows the effect of dewatering on pile foundatio
... Show MoreIn this work, the effects of size, and temperature on the linear and nonlinear optical properties in InGaN/GaN inverse parabolic and triangular quantum wells (IPQW and ITQW) for different concentrations at the well center were theoretically investigated. The indium concentrations at the barriers were fixed to be always xmax = 0.2. The energy levels and their associated wave functions are computed within the effective mass approximation. The expressions of optical properties are obtained analytically by using the compact density-matrix approach. The linear, nonlinear, and total absorption coefficients depending on the In concentrations at the well center are investigated as a function of the incident photon energy for different
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Photonic Crystal Fiber Interferometers (PCFIs) are widely used for sensing applications. This work presents the fabrication and study the characterization of a relative humidity sensor based on a polymer-infiltrated photonic crystal fiber that operates in a Mach- Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) reflection mode. The fabrication of the sensor only involves splicing and cleaving Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) with Single Mode Fiber (SMF). A stub of (LMA-10) PCF spliced to SMF (Corning-28). In the splice regions. The PCFI sensor operation based on the adsorption and desorption of water vapour at the silica-air interface within the PCF. The sensor shows a high sensitivity to RH variations from (27% RH - 95% RH), with a change in its reflected powe
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Introduction and Aim: Cancers are a complex group of genetic illnesses that develop through multistep, mutagenic processes which can invade or spread throughout the body. Recent advances in cancer treatment involve oncolytic viruses to infect and destroy cancer cells. The Newcastle disease virus (NDV), an oncolytic virus has shown to have anti-cancer effects either directly by lysing cancer cells or indirectly by activating the immune system. The green fluorescent protein (GFP) has been widely used in studying the anti-tumor activity of oncolytic viruses. This study aimed to study the anticancer effect of a recombinant rNDV-GFP clone on NCI-H727 lung carcinoma cell line in vitro. Materials and Methods: The GFP gene was inserted t
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Background: Bone augmentation techniques are commonly employed in medical fields. This biomaterial system must be readily available, easily applicable by minimally-invasive technique and able to release an osteoinductive growth factor. Such a system will be able to engineer new bone formation locally at the site of injection. Hyaluronic acid has osteogenic potential that can be exploited not only for repairing bone defects but also for providing transplantable bone for the reconstruction of a variety of bone defects. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of Hyaluronic acid gel on bone healing by immunohistochemical estimation of transforming growth factor -beta 3 in experimental and control groups. Materials and methods: Thirt
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