The sintering behavior of Alumina was investigated by adding TiO2. The addition of TiO2 lowered the sintering temperature of the Alumina compared with those of pure Alumina. The result suggests that TiO2 acts as an activator for sintering of Alumina. Water absorption, apparent porosity and density were examined for both pure and TiO2 added to Alumina samples. The variations of sintering behavior were discussed in terms of shrinkage, porosity, water absorption and density. Thermal shock resistance was also examined. In term of this work, the way of improving the thermal shock resistance in oxide- based materials by adding reactive Titania powder to the Alumina samples. The laboratory results showed an improvement in thermal shock resistance

Some biological aspects of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha have been studied at Al-Musayab thermal power plant ,sixty km. south west of Baghdad. Data collected during the period extended from November, 2002 to October, 2003 except for the month of April The population consisted of five age groups; O, I, II, III, and IV which have 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 annuli respectively. The study also proved the validity of annuli readings for age and growth determination. The average annual growth rates for age groups O,I, II, III, and IV were 5.7, 5.5, 5.4, 5.2 and 5.4 respectively. Average calculated length for laboratory reared mussel was 2.5 mm compared to 5.4 mm in natural environment. Correlation coefficients were very high between age an

To investigate the effect of spraying some plant extraction and anti-oxidants on growth and yield of two cultivars of sunflower, a field experiment was conducted during fall season of 2009 and spring season of 2010 at the Experimental Farm, Department of Field Crop Science, College of Agriculture/ University of Baghdad. RCBD with three replications as factorial at two factors was used. First factor was cultivars Akmar and Shmoss, second was spraying with extraction of karkade at 25%, liquorices at 50%, vitamin C at concentration 1.5 mg.l-1 and nutrient which content 15 elements at concentration 15 % in addition to control treatment which sprayed with distilled water only. The result showed no significant differences between the two cultivar