In the 1970s, the world knew the long-tailed nesokia Nesokia bunnii (Khajuria, 1981) (Rodentia, Muridae) from the Mesopotamian marshes of Garden of Eden in Southern Iraq. This distinct rodent was known from only five voucher specimens collected at the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southern Iraq while its occurrence in Southwestern Iran had
never been reported. In the 1990s, a large extent of its natural habitat was catastrophically desiccated and the animal was last seen in the 1970s. Since then, the status of this elusive rodent was shrouded in mystery. In 2007, an extraordinary photograph of a carcass of this species came to the light from Hawizeh Marsh which was interpreted as concrete evidence of the species’ persistence in the marshes of southern Iraq after the desiccation in the last century. In 2021, after more than 40 years, exclusive photographic records of living N. bunnii were obtained for the first time from Central Marshes in southern Iraq and from Edhe’am Marsh in southwestern Iran. The new distribution range is highlighted in this note. Furthermore, the first photographs of living N. bunnii are provided along with notes on its ecology and behavior.
This study has been conducted to examin the effect of potassium sorbate at different level of 0.03,0.06,0.10% on the number of bacteria and mold and to extend the storage life of laboratory processed biscuit. The results indicated that the use of 0.03% potassium sorbate prolonged the storage peroid until the third month .three types of bacteria has been isolated from processed biscuit, namely, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Esherichia coli using 0.06% potassium sorbate showed no growth of bacteria up to six month of storage ,while using of 0.03% and 0.06% potassium sorbate prevent the growth of mold up to three and six months of storage respectively. Both Aspergillus and Penicillium were isolated from the processed biscuit.
Manual probing and periodontal charting are the gold standard for periodontal diagnosis that have been used in practice over a century. These methods are affordable and reliable but they are associated with some drawbacks that cannot be avoided. Among these issues is their reliance on operator’s skills, time-consuming and tedious procedure, lack sensitivity especially in cases of early bone loss, and causing discomfort to the patient. Availability of a wide range of biomarkers in the oral biofluids, dental biofilm, and tissues that potentially reflect the periodontal health and disease accurately encouraged their use as predictive/diagnostic/monitoring tools. Analysing biomarkers during care-giving to the patient using chairside kits i
... Show MoreStatisticians often use regression models like parametric, nonparametric, and semi-parametric models to represent economic and social phenomena. These models explain the relationships between different variables in these phenomena. One of the parametric model techniques is conic projection regression. It helps to find the most important slopes for multidimensional data using prior information about the regression's parameters to estimate the most efficient estimator. R algorithms, written in the R language, simplify this complex method. These algorithms are based on quadratic programming, which makes the estimations more accurate.
Nanocomposite was prepared using unsaturated polyester (UP) resin as a matrix and graphene nanoparticles as a reinforcement material in six percentage weights (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 1 and 1.5%). Mechanical, calorimetric and thermal studies were performed on the (UP) resin/graphene nanocomposite. All tests showed a clear improvement of all mechanical properties examined (hardness, flexural strength (F.S), impact strength (I.S) and tensile strength (T.S)) with increasing graphene percentage. In addition, the temperature of glass transition and thermal conductivity of this composite increased with increasing graphene content.
This study was carried out to find out the effect of germination of broad beans and chickpeas seeds for different periods on their antinutritional factors content ( Trypsin inhibitor and Phytic acid ) and the chemical constituents of germination seeds compared with the control samples (ungerminated seeds) . The results indicated asignificant increase (P<0.05) in crude protein content as germination period proceeded.The highest values of 28.0% and 24.0% were reached on the sixth and fourth day for germinated broad beans and chickpeas respectively, The intial values were 25.6% and 23.5% for control samples, respectively. The content of raffinose,stachyose and verbascose were reduced as germination period proceeded, Stachyose and verbascose we
... Show MoreThis work deals with the study of the morphodynamics, history of development of landforms and the origin of the Ga’ara depression. The depression is a suboval erosional topographic feature extending in E-Wdirection and located about 50 km north of Rutba Town, at the Western Desert of Iraq. The area is characterized by fresh and clean surfaces, scarcity of vegetation, abundance of rills, intense drainage and immature soil. These clues indicate that the erosion in the study area is effective. Four types of erosion features are recognized in this area namely sheet, rill, badland and wind erosion. The extent of the wind erosion depends on its position in relation to the prevailing wind direction. Water, wind and gravity are the main agents of
... Show MoreThe performance of asphalt pavements is crucial due to heavy traffic loads from civil and industrial developments. Various additives and modifiers are used in flexible roads to improve their resistance to deterioration caused by climatic changes. From this context, modifying the asphalt binder with polymers is popular in asphalt pavement construction. The present research investigates the effect of Polyethylene (PE) polymers in powder form on the characteristics of asphalt mixtures since these polymers are composed of hydrocarbons. It is similar to asphalt binders, making them very effective in enhancing the performance of neat asphalt produced from the oil refinery. To confirm this, two types of PE, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density P
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