This mixed method research analyses urban heritage and identity management concerning Karbala, and important spiritual and historical center. Homing in on particular spatial issues germane to Muharram’s rites, this study explores spiritual activities for the remembrance of the martyrdoms of Imam Hussein (A) and his brother Abbas (A), and their followers (RA), and identifies the way in which such activities construct urban identity in Karbala. Furthermore, this study contemplates the deployment of contemporary AR and VR technologies for urban identity. After reviewing extensive studies on religious, cultural, and urban heritage, a field survey of the Muharram pilgrimage in Karbala was conducted, spatially analyzing pilgrims’ movements in public areas. Virtual reconstructions of Karbala using immersive technologies are explored to increase visitor engagement to determine physical-virtual spatial interactions’ shaping of preservation and experiences. The results indicate that Muharram rites, especially Hussaini processionals, inherently embody urban, cultural, and religious identifications with Karbala, literally shaping the city’s physical form and promoting social engagement in temporary congregation areas. Furthermore, the virtual technological immersive experiences, including the Day of Ashura, promote ancillary and even remote comprehension of cultural importance and knowledge transmission. Additionally, the integration of VR and AR in cultural heritage preservation not only enhances historical documentation but also creates immersive educational experiences. These technologies bridge the gap between physical and virtual engagement, ensuring that visitors—both present and remote—can interact with Karbala’s cultural legacy in a meaningful way. This approach fosters a stronger emotional and cognitive connection to the city's rich spiritual and historical narratives. This study is original in its multipronged analysis, encompassing virtual technology and spatial analysis for complementary heritage and culture conservation and reconstruction in Karbala. It offers urban planning, cultural preservation, and technological development insights, and charts the course for sensitive modernization in Karbala. Copyright: ©2025 The authors.
A cut-off low is a closed low with a low value of geopotential height at the upper atmospheric levels that has been fully detached (cut-off) from the westerly flow and move independently. A cut-off low causes extreme rainfall events in the mid-latitudes regions. The main aim of this paper is to investigate the cut-off low at 500 hPa over Iraq from a synoptic point of view and the behavior of geopotential height at 500 hPa. To examine the association of the cut-off low at 500 hPa with rainfall events across Iraq, two case studies of heavy rainfall events from different times were conducted. The results showed that the cut-off low at 500 hPa with a low value of geopotential height will strengthen the low-pressure system at the surface, lea
... Show MorePorosity is important because it reflects the presence of oil reserves. Hence, the number of underground reserves and a direct influence on the essential petrophysical parameters, such as permeability and saturation, are related to connected pores. Also, the selection of perforation interval and recommended drilling additional infill wells. For the estimation two distinct methods are used to obtain the results: the first method is based on conventional equations that utilize porosity logs. In contrast, the second approach relies on statistical methods based on making matrices dependent on rock and fluid composition and solving the equations (matrices) instantaneously. In which records have entered as equations, and the matrix is sol
... Show MoreThis research deals with the nature of the Turkish attitude towards the events of the Arab Spring which the Arab region witnessed recently, as this attitude is characterized by hesitation and utter confusion about those events at its beginning. However, the development of events and the consequent repercussions led the Turkish decision makers of the foreign policy to reconsider their attitude towards those events for political, economic, cultural and social motives.
The research aims to determine optimal urban planning and design indicators of the urban clusters form in hot arid zones through studying of three urban areas in Baghdad, analyzing their urban indicators which include floor area ratio (FAR), urban clusters height, building density or land coverage, green areas, paved areas, shading ratio and how they affect urban temperature. The research reached the conclusion that air outdoor temperature on urban areas affected primarily by shadows casted on the ground, the effect of shaded area equals (5) times the effect of paved areas and (3.7) times the effect of green areas, this means that increasing urban clusters height in hot arid zones could minimize air outdoor temperature, building
... Show MoreRapid increase in the use of smart mobile phones and the proliferation of social media networking programs such as facebook, tweeter, whatsapp and viber etc. affects the learning attitude of second language. This research aims to investigate the effects of emoticons provided by Viber application on Iraqi students in context of vocabulary acquisition. 60 Iraqi students are randomly selected from X international school with the average of age 7 to 9 years. All the subjects are given 50 English words for five weeks, 25 English words were written on papers and the rest Viber stickers laden with English words. The results show that students recognize the vocabularies given by Viber stickers better than the written vocabulary. In general, student
... Show MoreAfrican-American writers during the 19th century wrote in the shadow of the prominent romance, sentimental, and domestic fiction. Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig (1859) reflects an “alternative social character”, for the female protagonist suffers racism in the free North, because she is a mulatto child. Through depicting the life of free blacks, who supposedly lives a better life than Southern slaves, Wilson exposes how she has actually lived and sensed life in antebellum America. According to Raymond Williams (2011), there are two kinds of literary writings. The first represents the general tendency of the age, and he calls it “dominant social character”; representing the majority content of both the public writing and speaking. But, a
... Show MoreArtificial intelligence (AI) is entering many fields of life nowadays. One of these fields is biometric authentication. Palm print recognition is considered a fundamental aspect of biometric identification systems due to the inherent stability, reliability, and uniqueness of palm print features, coupled with their non-invasive nature. In this paper, we develop an approach to identify individuals from palm print image recognition using Orange software in which a hybrid of AI methods: Deep Learning (DL) and traditional Machine Learning (ML) methods are used to enhance the overall performance metrics. The system comprises of three stages: pre-processing, feature extraction, and feature classification or matching. The SqueezeNet deep le
... Show MoreSince the beginning of this century, a new communication map has been formed that foretells to get mankind to enter into a media environment in which the media is mixed with communication, which is technically and even intellectually known as integration.
This environment and its features are no different from the environment in its natural physical incision. If the level and temperature in the physical nature is a specific issue in the natural ecological balance, the level of freedoms, especially the transfer of information and views and circulation in society is also a determinant in the extent of media balance in the world on the one hand and in each country on the other.
There is also a special environment for nature,
... Show MoreThe manifestations of climate change are increasing with the days: sudden rains and floods, lakes that evaporate, rivers that experience unprecedentedly low water levels, and successive droughts such as the Tigris, Euphrates, Rhine, and Lape rivers. At the same time, energy consumption is increasing, and there is no way to stop the warming of the Earth's atmosphere despite the many conferences and growing interest in environmental problems. An aspect that has not received sufficient attention is the tremendous heat produced by human activities. This work links four elements in the built environment that are known for their high energy consumption (houses, supermarkets, greenhouses, and asphalt roads) according t
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