This work focuses on the use of biologically produced activated carbon for improving the physi-co-chemical properties of water samples obtained from the Tigris River. An eco-friendly and low-cost activated carbon was prepared from the Alhagi plant using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an impregnation agent. The prepared activated carbon was characterised using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to determine the functional groups that exist on the raw material (Alhagi plant) and Alhagi activated carbon (AAC). Scanning electron microscope–energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope was also used to investigate the surface shape and the elements that compose the powder. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis was used to evaluate the specific surface area and pore size of the prepared AAC. This study investigated three influential variables: activation temperature, activation time and impregnation ratio (IR) (KOH: dried solid wt./wt.). Central composite design was used to determine the interactions between the influential vari-ables. Results show that an activation temperature of 650°C, activation time of 2.5 h and IR of 1:2.6 are optimal for activated carbon preparation. © 2023 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.
The experiment was conducted in the old botanical garden belong to Biology Department/ College of Education for Pure Science - Ibn Al-Haitham/Baghdad University for growing season 2015-2016 to study the effect of irrigation with four concentrations of sodium chloride (0, 50, 100, 150) mM.L-1 and spraying with selenium in three concentrations (0, 10, 20) mgL-1 on growth of broad bean plant using clay pots. The experiment was design according to completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Results indicated that broad bean plant irrigated with saline water and increasing concentrations of sodium chloride in growth medium caused a significant decreased in the plant growth parameters (plant height, no. of compound leaves. Plant-1
... Show MoreThe aim of the present study is to study the meiobenthic invertebrate's community associated with the aquatic plant Ceratophyllum demersum in Al-Salamiyat irrigation canal / north Baghdad, with the chemical and physical parameters of the canal water, during the study period from September 2015 to May 2016. Two sites were chosen for sample collection, the first site (S1) at the beginning of the canal near it's connection with Tigris river, and the second site (S2) after 10 km from the first site. The chemico-physical analysis results revealed that the water temperature ranged from 10-30oC, and pH values ranged between 6.9-7.8, and the dissolved oxygen concentration and the BOD values from 7.2-9.2 mg/l, and 1.2-5.4 mg/l, respectively. The sal
... Show MorePlant extracts occupied a big place in diseases treatment and preserving human health because, they contain many active substances that can be exploited in the field of pharmaceutical manufacturing from natural materials. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of plant extracts for each of Nigella sativa, Alliumsativum and Allium cepa against the fungal growth of Candida albicans that cause many skin diseases and infections to humans as well as Trichophyton mentagrophytes, which affects the hair, skin and nails. These two fungi have been isolated and diagnosed from people who have skin infection. Both fungal isolates were treated with extracts of Nigella sativa, Alliumsativum and Allium cepa
... Show MoreA field study was conducted in Al-Khalis district, Diyala Governorate in 2019 to test the sensitivity of three varieties of pepper to the population density of the whitefly B. tabaci, Anaheim pepper, Aleppo and local variety, and the results showed that the Anaheim variety was the most infested with the whitefly density 4.08 whitefly/ leaf and then the local variety 2.7 whitefly/ leaf. The lowest population density was 1.25 whitefly/ leaf of Aleppo variety. Variety Aleppo also recorded the lowest percentage of whitefly infection B. tabaci of 39.22%, but not have significant differences in the percentage of whitefly infestation, as it reached 53.64% and 54.85% for the Anaheim and local varieties, respectively. The resistance of variety Alepp
... Show MoreA fluorescence microscopy considered as a powerful imaging tool in biology and medicine. In addition to useful signal obtained from fluorescence microscopy, there are some defects in its images such as random variation in brightness, noise that caused by photon detection and some background pixels in the acquired fluorescence microscopic images appear wrongly auto-fluorescence property. All these practical limitations have a negative impact on the correct vision and analysis of the fluorescent microscope users. Our research enters the field of automation of image processing and image analysis using image processing techniques and applying this processing and analysis on one of the very important experiments in biology science. This research
... Show MoreThis study aims to evaluate drinking water quality at the Al Wahda plant (WTP) in Baghdad city. A conventional water treatment plant with an average flow rate of 72.82 MLD. Water samples were taken from the influent and effluent of the treatment plant and analyzed for some physicochemical and biological parameters during the period from June to November 2020. The results of the evaluation indicate that treated water has almost the same characteristics as raw water; in other terms, the plant units do not remove pollutants as efficiently as intended. Based on this, the station appears to be nothing more than a series of water passage units. However, apart from Total dissolved solids, the mean values of all parameters in the study were
... Show MoreDrought is a major abiotic stress, severely affecting the physiological processes and growth of plants. The present investigation aimed to evaluate the impacts of drought stress with three periods for irrigation: every 3 days(control), every 6 days, and every 12 days and foliar spray with different concentrations of ascorbic acid (0, 75, 150, 225) mg.L-1 on the wheat plant. Pots experiment was conducted as a completely randomized design with three replications in the green house, Department of Biology, College of Education for Pure Science (Ibn Al- Haitham), University of Baghdad, during the growing season, 2018 – 2019. The results indicated that drought stress decreased plant growth and hastened the senescence of flag l
... Show MoreCinnamon plant is considered one of important medicinal plants because it is rich with many active compounds. This research is aimed to study possible effects of extract in culture media of Gardenia jasmenoides. Alcoholic extract was prepared from the bark of cinnamon at different concentrations (0.0, 1.0, 2.0) mg/L, then added to culture media to notice the effect of these concentrations on the growth and development of tissues and organs of Gardenia jasmenoides Ellis in vitro. Results showed the positive effect of increasing callus fresh weight and shoot proliferation from single nodes with presence of plant regulators, 5.0 mg/L Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 3.0 mg/L Benzyl adenine (BA). Results showed that extract has a slight eff
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