Land use change, particularly the expansion of urban areas and associated human activities at the expense of natural and semi-natural areas, is a major ecological issue in urban areas around the world. Climate change being a very strong additional driver for changing the temperature and habitat in the cities. This also applies to Baghdad, Iraq, where urbanisation and climate change exerts a major pressure on the natural habitats of the city, and thus may affect the ability of city planners to adapt to future climate change scenarios. Here we present evidence of substantial growth in urban areas, increases in temperature, and degradation of natural vegetation within Baghdad city by using Remote Sensing techniques and an assessment for the Jadriyah and Umm Al-Khanazeer site (JUKI). These changes were associated with loss of bird species richness within the area, which was previously the only Important Bird Area (IBA) within the city. A standardised scoring system (following Birdlife International global framework) was used to assess Pressure-State-Response: JUKI site scored 3-5 for pressure (Medium), two for the state (Moderate), and two for the response (Low). Despite the degradation highlighted in Baghdad city, the JUKI site still has 88% intact habitat to support bird trigger species. We conclude that the site urgently needs a detailed management plan to ensure the protection of its habitats and avian fauna, and that the area should be declared as a protected area according to the “IUCN Category IV: Habitat/Species Management Area; to provide a means by which the urban residents may obtain regular contact with nature”, and re-designated JUKI as an IBA site. The study also identifies the most affected areas in the city of Baghdad, which should take the priority of the afforestation efforts and any future restoration campaigns.
The research deals with the structures of the contemporary travelers' buildings in particular, and which is a functional complex installations where flexibility, technical and stereotypes play an important role as well as the human values These facilities must represent physiological and psychological comfort for travelers. TThose are facilities where architectural form plays a distinguished role in reversing the specialty and identity of the building. Hence the importance of the subject has been in forced, as a result for the need to study these facilities and to determine the impact and affects by the surrounding environment, to the extent of the urban, environmental, urban, social, and psychological levels. The importance of the resea
... Show MoreThere many methods for estimation of permeability. In this Paper, permeability has been estimated by two methods. The conventional and modified methods are used to calculate flow zone indicator (FZI). The hydraulic flow unit (HU) was identified by FZI technique. This technique is effective in predicting the permeability in un-cored intervals/wells. HU is related with FZI and rock quality index (RQI). All available cores from 7 wells (Su -4, Su -5, Su -7, Su -8, Su -9, Su -12, and Su -14) were used to be database for HU classification. The plot of probability cumulative of FZI is used. The plot of core-derived probability FZI for both modified and conventional method which indicates 4 Hu (A, B, C and D) for Nahr Umr forma
... Show MoreTThe property of 134−140Neodymium nuclei have been studied in framework Interacting Boson Model (IBM) and a new method called New Empirical Formula (NEF). The energy positive parity bands of 134−140Nd have been calculated using (IBM) and (NEF) while the negative parity bands of 134−140Nd have been calculated using (NEF) only. The E-GOS curve as a function of the spin (I) has been drawn to determine the property of the positive parity yrast band. The parameters of the best fit to the measured data are determined. The reduced transition probabilities of these nuclei was calculated. The critical point has been determined for 140Nd isotope. The potential energy surfaces (PESs) to the IBM Hamiltonian have been obtained using the intrin
... Show MoreSemi-empirical methods were applied for calculating the vibration frequencies and IR absorption intensities for normal coordinates of the {mono (C56H28), di (C84H28), tri (C112H28) and tetra (C140H28)} -rings layer for (7,7) armchair single wall carbon nanotube at their equilibrium geometries which were all found to have D7d symmetry point group.
Assignment of the modes of vibration (3N-6) was done depending on the pictures of their modes by applying (Gaussian 03) program. Comparison of the vibration frequencies of (mono, di, tri and tetra) rings layer which are active in IR, and inactive in Ramman spectra. For C-H stretching vibrat
... Show MoreBackground: Nickel-titanium (NiTi) archwires have become increasingly popular because of their ability to release constant light forces, which are especially useful during initial alignment and leveling phase. The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare the load–deflection characteristics of four commercially available NiTi archwires. Materials and methods: 200 NiTi 0.014, 0.016, 0.018, 0.016x0.022 and 0.019x0.025-inch nickel–titanium archwires from four different manufacturers (3M, Ortho Technology, Jiscop and Astar) were tested. The load-deflection properties of these archwires were evaluated by a full arch bending test in both palatal and gingival directionsat 37°C temperature using a universal material t
... Show MoreThe current study was designed to investigate the presence of aflatoxin M1 in 25 samples of pasteurized canned milk which collected randomly from some Iraqi local markets using ELISA technique. Aflatoxin M1 was present in 21 samples, the concentration of aflatoxin M1 ranged from (0.25-50 ppb). UV radiation (365nm wave length) was used for detoxification of aflatoxin M1 (sample with highest concentration /50 ppb of aflatoxin M1 in two different volumes ((25 & 50 ml)) for two different time (15 & 30 min) and 30, 60, 90 cm distance between lamp and milk layer were used for this purpose). Results showed that distance between lamp and milk layer was the most effective parameter in reduction of aflatoxin M1, and whenever the distance increase the
... Show MoreBackground and Aim: The use of food dyes can cause certain diseases, such as anemia and indigestion, along with other disorders, tumors, and even cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the chemical nature and toxicity of some commercial dyes locally used in processed foods compared with standard food dyes. Materials and Methods: Three types of standard and commercial food color additives (Sunset Yellow, Tartrazine, and Carmoisine) were extensively examined. The chemical structures and functional groups of the dyes were evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The melting temperatures of the dyes were also determined by chemical thermal analysis. The acute toxicity test to evaluate the standard and commercial
... Show MoreA band rationing method is applied to calculate the salinity index (SI) and Normalized Multi-Band Drought Index (NMDI) as pre-processing to take Agriculture decision in these areas is presented. To separate the land from other features that exist in the scene, the classical classification method (Maximum likelihood classification) is used by classified the study area to multi classes (Healthy vegetation (HV), Grasslands (GL), Water (W), Urban (U), Bare Soil (BS)). A Landsat 8 satellite image of an area in the south of Iraq are used, where the land cover is classified according to indicator ranges for each (SI) and (NMDI).