This study was conducted to estimate some heavy metals cadmium, lead, nickel and iron in 15 samples of Iraqi honey with 3 replicates for each sample which were collected from apiaries near potential contamination areas in five Iraqi governorates, including Baghdad, Karbala, Babylon, Diyala and Salah al-Din. The atomic absorption technique was used to estimate the concentrations of heavy metals, the results showed that there were significant differences at (P≤0.05) between the concentrations of these elements in the honey samples, the highest concentrations of cadmium 0.123 mg/kg were recorded in Baghdad, near the petrochemical production complex, lead 4.657 mg/kg and nickel 0.023 mg/kg in Babylon near the power plant, iron was 1.863 mg/kg in Karbala near the waste collection and incineration plant, and all the concentrations of cadmium and lead in the studied honey samples were higher than the acceptable limits set by the European Commission Regulation.
Cover crops (CC) improve soil quality, including soil microbial enzymatic activities and soil chemical parameters. Scientific studies conducted in research centers have shown positive effects of CC on soil enzymatic activities; however, studies conducted in farmer fields are lacking in the literature. The objective of this study was to quantify CC effects on soil microbial enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolase, and dehydrogenase) under a corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation. The study was conducted in 2016 and 2018 in Chariton County, Missouri, where CC were first established in 2012. All tested soil enzyme levels were significantly different between 2016 and 2018
... Show MoreIdentification of pathogens and locating their inocul¬um source (S) are the first strategies toward successful disease management program the pretransplating seedl¬ing damping - off problem on vegetable crops was found to be caused by Pythium aphanidermatum and Rhizocto¬nia solani. Both fungi were isolated from peat (moss) for the first time in Iraq. In addition, considerable num¬ber of pathogenic fungi was found as contaminants in soil samples from Alrashidiah vegetable covered farming station. Among the isolated fungi were: Pythium apha¬nidermatum, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani phialophora spp., Cephalisporium spp Rizopus stolonfier and Botrytis cine¬rea, in addition to several
... Show MoreCommunication of the human brain with the surroundings became reality by using Brain- Computer Interface (BCI) based mechanism. Electroencephalography (EEG) being the non-invasive method has become popular for interaction with the brain. Traditionally, the devices were used for clinical applications to detect various brain diseases but with the advancement in technologies, companies like Emotiv, NeuoSky are coming up with low cost, easily portable EEG based consumer graded devices that can be used in various application domains like gaming, education etc as these devices are comfortable to wear also. This paper reviews the fields where the EEG has shown its impact and the way it has p
This paper presents an enhancement technique for tracking and regulating the blood glucose level for diabetic patients using an intelligent auto-tuning Proportional-Integral-Derivative PID controller. The proposed controller aims to generate the best insulin control action responsible for regulating the blood glucose level precisely, accurately, and quickly. The tuning control algorithm used the Dolphin Echolocation Optimization (DEO) algorithm for obtaining the near-optimal PID controller parameters with a proposed time domain specification performance index. The MATLAB simulation results for three different patients showed that the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed control algorithm in terms of fast gene
... Show MoreWater quality sensors have recently received a lot of attention due to their impact on human health. Due to their distinct features, environmental sensors are based on carbon quantum dots (CQDs). In this study, CQDs were prepared using the electro-chemical method, where the structural and optical properties were studied. These quantum dots were used in the environmental sensor application after mixing them with three different materials: CQDs, Alq3 polymer and CQDs and Alq3 solutions using two different methods: drop casting and spin coating, and depositing them on silicon. The sensitivity of the water pollutants was studied for each case of the prepared samples after measuring the change in resistance of the samples at a temperature of
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus is one of the commonest chronic disorders worldwide with a rapid rise in prevalence. In Iraq its prevalence is high especially in elderly age group. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have higher vulnerability for complications, whether microvascular or macrovascular. Ocular complications are common in diabetes mellitus, and comprise diabetic retinopathy, diabetic papillopathy, cataract, glaucoma, dry eye disease and diabetic keratopathy. Diabetic keratopathy involves endothelial and epithelial tissues of the cornea, leading to persistent epithelial defect, corneal erosion, or corneal ulcers.
Aim of the Study: To compare the mean corneal endothelial cell count between patients wi
... Show MoreKinetic analysis has received great importance in the fields of sports and biomedicine, as it provides accurate data about the motor performance of athletes and helps in improving performance and preventing injuries, and among the technological tools currently available, artificial intelligence applications such as the (on form) application, which works to analyze performance directly and indirectly and has several advantages where direct analysis of performance is possible and reduce time and costs without referring to the video and analyzing it with analysis programs such as the (kenovea) program, which needs more time and greater experience by the person analyzing it, The research aimed at a comparative study to measure some mechanical v
... Show MoreVehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are integral to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), enabling real-time communication between vehicles and infrastructure to enhance traffic flow, road safety, and passenger experience. However, the open and dynamic nature of VANETs presents significant privacy and security challenges, including data eavesdropping, message manipulation, and unauthorized access. This study addresses these concerns by leveraging advancements in Fog Computing (FC), which offers lowlatency, distributed data processing near-end devices to enhance the resilience and security of VANET communications. The paper comprehensively analyzes the security frameworks for fog-enabled VANETs, introducing a novel taxonomy that c
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