In this study, pure polylactic acid (PLA) and composite polylactic acid/ curcumin (PLA / Cur) were prepared by a suspension of ultrasonically agitated micrometer-sized curcumin powder, which was mixed with chloroform solvent  under slow mechanical stirring and incorporated into the PLA. The resulting suspension was used to cast free-standing PLA / Cur composite films. The filler content was chosen to be 2.0 wt % curcumin. Physical properties (glass transition, temperature, mechanical and thermodynamic) were analyzed by Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy (PALS), which is a unique tool for analyzing the defects of polymer materials. The free volume and holebility of PLA and PLA / Cur were studied&nbsp

Species of genus Chrotogonus (surface grasshoppers) are phytophagous and damaging to various economical important plants in their seedling stages. In order to know the biodiversity of surface grasshoppers, the detailed study has been conducted from four provinces of Pakistan. During this study, biodiversity, taxonomy, diagnosis, morphometric analysis, habitat, global distribution, and remarks of each species have been described. Total of 826 specimens were collected and sorted out into three species and three subspecies: C. (Chrotogonus) homalodemus homalodemus (Blanchard, 1836), C. (Chrotogonus) homalodemus (Blanchard, 1836), C. (Chrotogonus) trachypter

Several problems have emerged as a result of urban expansion or the connection of urban areas with rural areas. This process has led to the urbanization of rural areas, and to have overlapping edges and margins of areas, which were outside the basic design of the city. Accordingly, the present research assumes that the accelerating growth of Baghdad population has contributed significantly to the process of unplanned urbanization. Thus, the study aims to examine the factors that have led to an increase of urban sprawl at the expense of the agricultural land. The study has thus adopted the descriptive, analytical, and historical approaches relying on the simple linear regression method to predict the phenomenon of urban expansion and its

In this research local wheat peel was used as an adsorbent surface for removal of Azure B (AB) dye from the aqueous solution. The adsorption process was performed at different experimental parameters, equilibrium time, temperature, ionic strength and solution pH. The isotherms of adsorption are of H-type as compared with Giles curves and the adsorption data were coincide with Freundlich equation. The adsorption kinetic data were analyzed using pseudo- first and second order kinetic models. The effect of temperature was studied and the amount of dye adsorbed was found to increase with the increasing of temperature from 25 to 50 oC. The values of thermodynamic functions like enthalpy and entropy have been estimated. The quantity of adso

Antibiotic resistance has been a growing worldwide public health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that the search for new antibiotics is slow, while antibiotic resistance is growing. WHO has also declared that antibiotic resistance is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity in the 21st century. Therefore, this review discusses the potential of metal-based drugs as antibacterial agents from the period of the early 2000s to date. The review reveals that a lot of preliminary work has been done to assess these as potential drugs. However, their mode of action is faintly described. Furthermore, a few examples of metal-based drugs assessed for their modes of action are described. These compounds are ide

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

Worldwide, enormous amounts of waste cause major environmental issues, including scrap tires and plastic, and large waste, a consequence of the demolition of buildings, including crushed concrete, crushed clay bricks, and crushed thermo-stone. From that point, it’s possible to consider that the recycling processes for these materials and using them in the manufacturing field will reduce the adverse effects on the environment of these wastes and the consumption of natural resources. Sustainable concrete blocks can be considered as one of the products produced by using these materials as partial volume replacement of the coarse, fine aggregate, or cement content, considering their dry density, workability, absorption, compressive st

Recently times, industrial development has increased, including plastic industries, and since plastic has a very long analytical life, it will cause environmental pollution. Therefore studies have resorted to reusing recycled plastic waste (sustainable plastic) to produce environmentally friendly concrete (green concrete). In this research, some studies were reviewed and then summarized into several things, including the percentage of plastic replacement from the aggregate and the effect of this percentage on the fresh properties of concrete, such as the workability and the effect of plastic waste on the hardening properties of concrete such as dry density, compressive, tensile and flexural strength.