In this study, functional and numerical response tests, which are important components in the selection of biological control agent, were carried out. In functional response trials, the amount of food consumed, attack rate (a) and handling time (Th) were calculated for each developmental period, depending on the number of preys given after 24 hours. The obtained results were evaluated with the Holling. In numerical response experiments, the development of the predator insect was examined depending on the number of preys given in certain numbers (5, 10, 20, 40 and 80) and the data were recorded. This phase of the trials continued until the individuals died. At this stage of the trials, the reproductive response of the p

The estimation of recharge to ground water is the important basics to improve the use of ground water with other available resources, and to save ground water resource from depletion, especially when using large quantity of ground water during a long time such as for agricultural purposes. Al-Wand River Basin in Iraq suffers from water shortage of its requirement of Blajo–Al-Wand Project, and to cover this shortage, the ground water plays a good role to overcome this problem. In this study, three methods were used to estimate the recharge and ground water storage for Al-Wand Basin, these methods are: Water Table Fluctuation (WTF), Water Balance of Climatic for Basin, and Water Table Balance for Basin. The results showe

The corrosion behavior of low carbon steel in washing water of crude oil solution has been studied potentiostatically at five temperatures in the range (30–70)°C .The corrosion potential shifted to more negative values with increasing temperature and the corrosion current density increased with increasing temperature. Folic acid had on inhibiting effect on the corrosion of low carbon steel in washing water at a concentration (5× 10-4-- 5× 10-3 ) mol/dm3 over the temperature range (30–70)°C. Values of the protection efficiency were calculated from the corrosion current density .From the general results for this study, it can be seen that thermodynamic and kinetic function were also calculated (?G, ?S, ?H and Ea )

When the depth of stressed soil is rather small, Plate Load Test (PLT) becomes the most efficient test to estimate the soil properties for design purposes. Among these properties, modulus of subgrade reaction is the most important one that usually employed in roads and concrete pavement design. Two methods are available to perform PLT: static and dynamic methods. Static PLT is usually adopted due to its simplicity and time saving to be performs in comparison with cyclic (dynamic) method. The two methods are described in ASTM standard.

In this paper the effect of the test method used in PLT in estimation of some mechanical soil properties was distinguished via a series of both test methods applied in a same site. The comparison of

The genus Bacillus bacterium isolated from soil and tests their ability to produce glutamic acid, the bacteria are diagnosed by traditional methods and VITEK-2 system. And we studied the optimal conditions for production and try to improve the productivity of the isolation by manipulating the components of the production medium and of the circumstances environmental of production medium. There is 43 isolates of the 70 bacterial isolates belonging to the genus Bacillus depending on phenotypic characteristics of the colonies and microscopic characteristics and found that 13 isolated revert to species B.subtilis depending on physiological and biochemical characteristics. As well as on microscopic and biochemical tests, 13 isolates were subj

Experimental tests were conducted to study the behavior of skirted foundations rested on dry medium sandy soil subjected to vertical and inclined loads. To achieve this goal, a small-scale physical model was designed and performed which contained an aluminum circular footing (100 mm) in diameter and (10 mm) in thickness and skirts with different heights, local medium poorly graded dry sand is placed in a steel soil container (2 mm) thick with internal dimensions (1000 mm x 1000 mm in cross section and 800 mm in height). The main objective of this study was to evaluate the response of skirt attached to the foundation at different skirt (L/D) ratios (0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5) and is subjected to point load at different angles of inclinat

Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) contaminated sites at Al-Rumaila Iraqi oil fields have been characterized as a part of soil remediation project. Activity of radium isotopes in contaminated soil have been determined using gamma spectrometer High Purity Germanium detector (HPGe) and found to be very high for Al-Markezia, Al-Qurainat degassing stations and storage area at Khadhir Almay region. The activity concentration of samples ranges from 6474.11±563.8 Bq/kg to 1232.5±60.9 Bq/kg with mean value of 3853.3 Bq/kg for ²²⁶Ra, 843.59±8.39 Bq/kg to 302.2±9.2 Bq/kg  with mean value of 572.9 Bq/kg for ²³²Th and 294.31±18.56 Bq/kg to 156.64±18.1 Bq/kg with mean value of 225.5 for ⁴⁰K. S