The study aims to build a water quality index that fits the Iraqi aquatic systems and reflects the environmental reality of Iraqi water. The developed Iraqi Water Quality Index (IQWQI) includes physical and chemical components. To build the IQWQI, Delphi method was used to communicate with local and global experts in water quality indices for their opinion regarding the best and most important parameter we can use in building the index and the established weight of each parameter. From the data obtained in this study, 70% were used for building the model and 30% for evaluating the model. Multiple scenarios were applied to the model inputs to study the effects of increasing parameters. The model was built 4 by 4 until it reached 17 parameters for 10 sampling times. Obviously, with the increasing number of parameters, the value of the index will change. To minimize the effect of eclipse that arises in WQI and to solve the problem of overlapping quality and pollution, this study has created another index linked with IQWQI, which included both the quality and the degree of pollution. The second index is called the Environmental Risk Index (ERI), where only the variables that exceed the permissible environmental limits were included. Sensitivity Analysis was done to predicate IQWQI and to determine the most influential parameters in the IQWQI score; two types of models were chosen for the run of the sensitivity test, which are the Artificial Neural Network Regression (ANNR) and Backward Linear Regression (BLR). The results of IWOI and ERI for freshwater use during the dry season were very poor water quality with a high degree of risk. While in the wet season, both indices' values ranged from poor water quality to very poor water quality with a high degree of risk.
Public-private partnership (PPP) has been used over the past 20-30 years by governments in developed countries to meet the public demand for infrastructural services. In Iraq, the PPP concept is comparatively new to the Government of Iraq (GoI), where the government has historically taken most of the responsibility for providing public services. There are few PPP projects in Iraq. However, the number is increasing. Recently the Iraqi market has experienced a number of attempts of PPP in different sectors, especially after the new investment law in 2006. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the investment environment in Iraq and to indicate the main factors affecting PPP in particular for infrastructure projects. Some literature review and
... Show MoreThis paper reviews the distribution range of wild goat Capra aegagrus (Erxleben, 1777) in Iraq with new sighting of very small herd of wild goat occur in Alqosh mountain, north of Nineveh province, where wild goat have a little informations on the distribution areas in Iraq according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Background: CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking are among several risk factors for various types of cancers, but their influence on breast cancer remains controversial. We analyzed the possible association of CYP1A1 gene polymorphisms and tobacco smoking-related breast cancer in women from Iraq. Materials and methods: In this case-control study, gene polymorphism of CYP1A1 gene (CYP1A1m1, T6235C and CYP1A1m2, A4889G) of 199 histologically verified breast cancer patients' and 160 cancer-free control women's specimens were performed by using PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: Three genotype frequencies (TT, TC, and CC) of CYP1A1m1T/C appeared in 16.1, 29.6, and 54.3% of women with breast cancer, respectiv
... Show MoreThe family Pholcidae represented by the species Artema doriae )Thorell, 1881) is recorded in Iraq for the first time.So far, 23 families of spiders have been recorded in Iraq.
In this paper, we add a new family and a description of a species belonging to this family in the checklist of Iraqi spider fauna.
Freshwater mussels are a guild of stationary, suspended-feeding species; they perform significant ecological functions like nitrogen cycling, bioturbation that gives oxygen and habitat that other creatures need to survive, and increasing water clearance by filtration. Knowledge of the freshwater mussel Unio tigridis Bourguignat, 1852, distribution, and molecular study in Iraq was inadequate. In the current study, this species of freshwater Mussels belonging to the family Unionidae was collected from different locations in the Greater Zab River, from April 2022 to November 2022. The average water temperature of the site was arranged between (17.8 to 36.1 C°). All previous studies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq were based on morphologic
... Show MoreThe central marshes are one of the most important wetlands/ecosystems in the southern area of Iraq. This study evaluates the bed soil's mechanical, physical, and chemical properties at certain southern Iraqi central marshes sites. This was conducted to investigate their types and suitability for enhancing the agricultural reality of most field crops and for construction purposes. Soil samples were collected from 15 sites at 10-100 cm depth. Hence, numerous parameters were determined: index properties, unconfined compressive strength, direct shear strength, consolidation, texture, and sieve analysis, water content, specific gravity, dry density, permeability, pH, total soluble salts (TSS), organic materials (OM) and total sulfate con
... Show MoreThe Aaliji Formation in wells (BH.52, BH.90, BH.138, and BH.188) in Bai Hassan Oil Field in Low Folded Zone northern Iraq has been studied to recognize the palaeoenvironment and sequence stratigraphic development. The formation is bounded unconformably with the underlain Shiranish Formation and the overlain Jaddala Formation. The microfacies analysis and the nature of accumulation of both planktonic and benthonic foraminifera indicate the two microfacies associations; where the first one represents deep shelf environment, which is responsible for the deposition of the Planktonic Foraminiferal Lime Wackestone Microfacies and Planktonic Foraminiferal Lime Packstone Microfacies, while the second association represents the deep-sea environme
... Show MoreAn integrated lithofacies and mineralogical assemblage was used to describe a depositional model and sequence stratigraphic framework of the Maastrichtian–Danian succession in the Western Desert of Iraq and eastern Jordan. Fifteen lithofacies types were grouped into three associations recognized in a distally steepened ramp characterized by an apparent, distinct increase in a gradient paleobathymetric deepening westward. The clay and nonclay minerals are dominated by smectite and palygorskite, with trace amounts of kaolinite, sepiolite, illite and chlorite. Meanwhile, quartz, calcite, dolomite, opal CT (Cristobalite - Tridymite), and apatite are the main nonclay minerals. The widely dominated smectite in the Western Phosphatic Basin of Ir
... Show MoreThe Iraqi political and social arena has been characterized, subjectively and objectively, by the weakness of leadership building. This has led to a leadership crisis, which is reflected in the quality of the outcome of the process of rebuilding the state in Iraq. Thus, this building process has lacked the simplest requirements and conditions of success. It has suffered from a major and obvious failure: the situation in Iraq has raised conflict leaders, not constructive leaders, and this confirms the existence of a cultural crisis in the production of conscious, aware leadership compatible with democratic action. The weakness of leadership in Iraq is reflected in a series of ongoing crises that require radical solutions in accordance with l
... Show MoreThe predatory bush crickets Saga ephippigera Fischer Von Waldheim, 1846 is the largest Iraqi orthopterans and one of the most active and successful predators in the Kurdistan region. The nymphs and adults prey on all the stages of various species of insects. Twelve adult specimens were collected from Erbil Province during May 2018 and June 2021. Morphological structures of the adult insects were described and illustrated in details; important taxonomic characteristics of body regions with their appendages were chosen; and the results indicated the importance of morphological characteristics which confirmed the identification of this species correctly.