The aim of this study is to investigate the existence of some heavy metals (lead, cadmium, chromium) in colored plastic table dishes and study the migration of these metals to the food meals and the affecting factors in migration , such as storage period and food temperature. Six kinds of colored plastic table dishes were collected from Baghdad markets. The heavy metals in table dishes and in the prepared food meals put in them were estimated using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Shimadzu A5000). The results indicated the existence of lead in all samples (1.61_1.00 mg/ kg) and chromium in three samples (0.85_0.97 mg/ kg) while other samples are free of chromium, and cadmium. Investigating the migration of these metals to food at dif

The Vulnerable Indian Roofed Turtle Pangshura tecta (Gray, 1831) (Testudines: Geoemydidae) occurs in the Sub-Himalayan lowlands of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Little is known about its natural history, no studies have been conducted revealing its natural predators. In this study, a group of Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 (Passeriformes: Corvidae) was observed hunting and predating on an Indian Roofed Turtle carcass in the bank of river Kuakhai, Bhubaneswar, India. The first record of this predation behaviour is reported and substantiated by photographic evidence.

This paper describes a new finishing process using magnetic abrasives were newly made to finish effectively brass plate that is very difficult to be polished by the conventional machining processes. Taguchi experimental design method was adopted for evaluating the effect of the process parameters on the improvement of the surface roughness and hardness by the magnetic abrasive polishing. The process parameters are: the applied current to the inductor, the working gap between the workpiece and the inductor, the rotational speed and the volume of powder. The analysis of variance(ANOVA) was analyzed using statistical software to identify the optimal conditions for better surface roughness and hardness. Regressions models based on statistical m

The alluvial fan of Mandali located between latitude 30˚45’00” N longitude 45˚30’00” E in east of Diyala Governorate, Iraq. Thirty-five wells were identified in the study area with average depth of 84 m and estimated area of 21550 ha. A three-dimensional conceptual model was prepared by using GMS program. From wells cross sections, four geological layers have been identified. The hydraulic conductivity of these layers was calculated for steady state condition, where the water levels for nine wells distributed over the study area were observed at same time. Afterward, PEST facility in the GMS was used to estimate the aquifer hydraulic characteristics. Other characteristics such as storage coefficient and specific yield have

Shadow removal is crucial for robot and machine vision as the accuracy of object detection is greatly influenced by the uncertainty and ambiguity of the visual scene. In this paper, we introduce a new algorithm for shadow detection and removal based on different shapes, orientations, and spatial extents of Gaussian equations. Here, the contrast information of the visual scene is utilized for shadow detection and removal through five consecutive processing stages. In the first stage, contrast filtering is performed to obtain the contrast information of the image. The second stage involves a normalization process that suppresses noise and generates a balanced intensity at a specific position compared to the neighboring intensit

A pulsed (TEA-0O2) laser was used to dissociate molecules of silane ethylene (C2I-14) and ammonia (NH3) gases, through collision assisted multiple photon dissociation (MPD) to deposit(SiC i_xNx) thin films, where the X-values are 0, 0.13 and 0.33, on glass substrate at T,----648 K. deposition rate of (0.416-0.833) nm/pulse and thickness of (500-1000)nm .Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) was used to study the nature of the chemical bonds that exist in the films. Results revealed that these films contain complex networks of the atomic (Si, C, and N), other a quantity of atomic hydrogen and chemical bonds such as (Si-N, C-N, C-14 and N-H).Absorbance and Transmittance spectra in the wavelength range (400-1100) nm were used to stud

The aim of this study is to compare the effects of three methods: problem-based learning (PBL), PBL with lecture method, and conventional teaching on self-directed learning skills among physics undergraduates. The actual sample size comprises of 122 students, who were selected randomly from the Physics Department, College of Education in Iraq. In this study, the pre- and post-test were done and the instruments were administered to the students for data collection. The data was analyzed and statistical results rejected null hypothesis of this study. This study revealed that there are no signifigant differences between PBL and PBL with lecture method, thus the PBL without or with lecture method enhances the self-directed learning skills bette