The present study deals with the application of an a bundant low cost biosorbent sunflower shell for metal ions removal. Lead, Cadmium and Zinc were chosen as model sorbates. The influences of initial pH, sorbent dosage, contact time, temperature and initial metal ions concentration on the removal efficiency were examined. The single ion equilibrium sorption data were fitted to the non-competitive Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Freundlich model represents the equilibrium data better than the Langmuir model. In single, binary and ternary component systems,Pb⁺² ions was the most favorable component rather than Cd⁺² and Zn⁺² ions. The biosorption kinetics for the three metal ions followed the p

Laboratory studies were conducted at the biological control unit, college of Agriculture, University of Baghdad to evaluate some biological aspects of the predator Chilocorus bipustulatus (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), which is considered one of the most important predators on many insect pests, especially the scale insect, Parlatoria blanchardi, (Homoptera: Diaspididae) on date palms. The results showed that biological parameters of the predator were varied according to different degree of temperature. Egg incubation period was significantly different and reached to 7.5 and 5.44 day at 25 and 30°C respectively, Fertility was the same 100% at both temperature degrees. Larval growth periods were 17.41 and 16.12 day as well as the mortality du

The aim of present study to investigate the effect of Coraindrum sativum leaves extract on reproductive activity of male albino mice .Thirty male mice with age of 80-100 day and weight between 25-30 g were divided into three groups: group 1 (untreated), group 2 and 3 were administrated orally for 30 days with aqueous extract of Coraindrum sativum leaves at dose 125 and 250mg/kg.b.w. respectively. The following parameters were evaluated: serum testosterone levels, testes weights, sperm characteristics [motility, viability, spermatozoa, morphology and concentration] and histology changes of the testis. The results showed that the treatment caused highly significant degrease (P<0.01) in testosterone levels and the weight of testes assoc

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar spraying with gibberellic acid concentrations (0,50,100)mg.L­¹ and proline acid concentrations (0, 25, 50)mg.L­¹ and their interactions on some growth parameters of pea plant using clay pots in the botanical garden of Biology Department College of Education for pure science Ibn –Al-Haitham ,Baghdad University, for the growing season 2012-2013 the experiment involved the studing of some growth parameters as plant?s height, dry weight, wt. of pods.plant­¹, biology yield and the concentration of some major elements (nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium) in plant?s seeds. The experiment was designed according to Completely Randomized Desig(CRD) with three replications. R

Farmers keep trying to avoid using chemical fertilizer without losing high yield. A field experiment was conducted in the fields of Agriculture College, University of Baghdad during winter seasons of 2015 and 2016 to investigate the response of three bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars (Ibaa99, Abu-Ghraib3 and Buhooth22) to the frequency of spraying with biofertilizer (EM-1) (one time at tillering stage, twice at tillering and stem elongation stages and three times at tillering, stem elongation and booting stages) in addition to the control (without spraying), to the increase of grain yield. Randomized complete block design (RCBD), in split plots arrangement and four replications, was used. Spraying treatments were placed as main p

Visceral leishmaniasis(VL) or kala-azar is one of the world most neglected tropical diseases in mortality and fourth in morbidity, rK39 dipstick was used to diagnose the suspected infected patients as easiest and rapid technique for VL diagnostic, the disease out-coming required to the differentiation of cell mediated immunity either T-helper 1(Th-1) or (Th-2). One of main pointers that may be considered as one of immune evasion strategy in the host-parasite interplay is HLA-G level alteration. HLA-G Known as a special proteins (non-classical HLA class I) molecules which can suppress the immune system by T-cell functions impaired in the aid with target receptors as LILRB4. The development of the cell mediated immunity initiated with Interle

High tunnels, or unheated plastic greenhouses, are becoming increasingly popular among organic vegetable growers across the United States. However, the intensive production typical of these systems presents soil health challenges, including salinization due to high fertilizer or compost inputs coupled with lack of rainfall to leach salts. Legume cover crops may improve soil health in high tunnels by reducing the need for external inputs, while adding organic matter. We tested the soil health effects of a winter hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) cover crop used to replace fertilizer N in an organic tomato cropping system in high tunnels. Studies were replicated across three sites differing in climate and soil type (Kansas, Kentucky, and Minne

Accurate prediction and optimization of morphological traits in Roselle are essential for enhancing crop productivity and adaptability to diverse environments. In the present study, a machine learning framework was developed using Random Forest and Multi-layer Perceptron algorithms to model and predict key morphological traits, branch number, growth period, boll number, and seed number per plant, based on genotype and planting date. The dataset was generated from a field experiment involving ten Roselle genotypes and five planting dates. Both RF and MLP exhibited robust predictive capabilities; however, RF (R² = 0.84) demonstrated superior performance compared to MLP (R² = 0.80), underscoring its efficacy in capturing the nonlinear genoty

Image processing applications are currently spreading rapidly in industrial agriculture. The process of sorting agricultural fruits according to their color comes first among many studies conducted in industrial agriculture. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a study by developing an agricultural crop separator with a low economic cost, however automatically works to increase the effectiveness and efficiency in sorting agricultural crops. In this study, colored pepper fruits were sorted using a Pixy2 camera on the basis of algorithm image analysis, and by using a TCS3200 color sensor on the basis of analyzing the outer surface of the pepper fruits, thus This separation process is done by specifying the pepper according to the color of it