This study aims to determine the reasons for the increase in the frequency of sand and dust storms in the Middle East and to identify their sources and mitigate them. A set of climatic data from 60 years (1960–2022) was analyzed. Sand storms in Iraq are a silty sand mature arkose composed of 72.7% sand, 25.1% silt, and 2.19% clay; the clay fraction in dust storms constitutes 70%, with a small amount of silt (20.6%) and sand (9.4%). Dust and sand storms (%) are composed of quartz (49.2, 67.1), feldspar (4.9, 20.9), calcite (38, 5), gypsum (4.8, 0.4), dolomite (0.8, 1.0), and heavy minerals (3.2, 6.6). Increasing temperatures in Iraq, by an average of 2 °C for sixty years, have contributed to an increase in the number of dust storms from 75 to 200 times annually. North African storms affect the Middle East, with a monthly average exceeding 300 g/m3 in peak dust seasons. To reduce the negative impacts on public health, property, and infrastructure, the study suggests solutions to mitigate them, including reducing carbon dioxide gas emissions to prevent the expansion of drought and the afforestation of the desert with plants adapted to drought using advanced techniques and avoiding land overuse.
The growing emphasis on sustainable construction has prompted interest in repurposing agricultural by-products as alternatives to conventional aggregates in asphalt mixtures. While natural sand is widely available, its use can lead to less stable, more tender mixes, which can limit various specifications. This study explores the potential of palm date seed (PDS) powder as a partial and full replacement for natural sand in asphalt concrete. A series of laboratory tests was conducted to evaluate the effect of PDS incorporation on the mechanical and durability performance of asphalt mixtures, including Marshall properties, resilient modulus, fatigue resistance, moisture susceptibility, and permanent deformation. Additionally, microstructural a
... Show MoreThe current research aims to determine the impact of the cognitive reconstruction program on the development of psychological hardness among middle school students through the experimental verification of three hypotheses. The research sample consisted of (16) out of (450) students selected from Ibn Rushud preparatory school- Al-Rusafa 2. These participants have been randomly distributed into two equal groups. The researcher has used the method of cognitive reconstruction with the experimental group, whereas with the controlling group, he used nothing. The researcher has further used the scale of psychological hardness of Kobassa with the participants; the scale has been built in a way that suits the sample of the study, which consisted
... Show MoreThe maintenance of the diesel engine parts in any electric power station contains many problems that lead to stopping. Several reasons lead to such problems; these reasons should be analyzed and evaluated in order to eliminate their effects. This paper is based on evaluation of the main causes that lead to diesel engine injector failure as a main part of electric power stations, using fault tree analysis (FTA). The FTA is the most broadly utilized strategies in the industrial area to perform reliability analysis of complex designing frameworks. A fault tree is a logical representation of the relationship of basic events that lead to a given unwanted event (i.e., top event).
Starting with introducing the FTA and how it could be uti
... Show MoreThis study aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of seven calliphorid species of third- instar larvae that were collected from central Iraq. The purpose was to morphologically characterize these species and develop an identification key to differentiate them from closely related species. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) graphical images and high-resolution traditional optical microscopes were used to analyze the morphological characteristics of the species Calliphora vomitoria (Linnaeus, 1758), C. vicina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830, Chrysomya albiceps (Widemann, 1819), Ch. rufifacies (Macquart, 1844), Ch. megacephala (Fabricius, 1794), Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann, 1830), and L. sericata (Meigen, 1826). An identification key was const
... Show MoreDust is a frequent contributor to health risks and changes in the climate, one of the most dangerous issues facing people today. Desertification, drought, agricultural practices, and sand and dust storms from neighboring regions bring on this issue. Deep learning (DL) long short-term memory (LSTM) based regression was a proposed solution to increase the forecasting accuracy of dust and monitoring. The proposed system has two parts to detect and monitor the dust; at the first step, the LSTM and dense layers are used to build a system using to detect the dust, while at the second step, the proposed Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT) model is used as a forecasting and monitoring model. The experiment DL system
... Show MoreThe current research deals with spatial relations as a tool to link urban landmarks in a homogeneous composition with monumental sculptures, by identifying these landmarks and the extent of their impact on them, which constitutes an urgent need to evaluate the appropriate place and its effects on them, so that this analytical study is a critical approach adopted in artistic studies of monumental models in Arabcapitals .The current research came in four chapters, the first chapter of which dealt with the research problem, its importance and the need for it, then its objectives that were determined in revealing the spatial relations and their impact on
... Show MoreHepatitis B virus occurs among the ubiquitous viral pathogens that pose a serious threat to the lives of millions around the globe. As a consequence of lacking proofreading during the replication cycle directed by the reverse transcriptase, HBV became distinguished by a considerable genetic variation. To date, ten different genotypes of this virus have been recognized through our world. Each of these genotypes was linked to various rates of severity and disease outcomes, ranging from cirrhosis to liver carcinoma, and to response to antivirals as well. Therefore, genotypic studies and molecular characterization of the virus may offer unparalleled assistance to predict the most successful treatment approaches. Moreover, this review attempts t
... Show MoreUrsolic acid (UA, 3 ?-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid) are isomeric triterpenic acids. The high quantities of pentacyclic triterpenoids in Scabiosa species seems to be obvious and there is an evidence that most of pentacyclic triterpenoids that have been isolated are saponins. This is one of the most important characteristic of the genus Scabiosa, the main aglycones are ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. In the current study, isolation from the aerial part and roots of Scabiosa palaestina L. was performed using Preparative HPLC. Furthermore, detection and quantitation of ursolic acid was performed by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The identification of isolated triterpenoid involves two methods including FT-IR coupl
... Show MoreThis research aims at identifying the level of quality of University environment according to the viewpoint of female students taking the College of Sciences for Woman an example, as represented in the college units as registration unit and the unit of students' affairs, the curricula, instructors, study halls, the college library, scientific labs, computer access, stationary and photocopying services, health care center, the unit of artistic, cultural and sportive activity, the canteen, the college gardens, college buildings and equipment and bathrooms. To achieve the objectives of the research, the researcher prepared a questionnaire to identify the viewpoints of female students concerning the extent of the availability of the standards o
... Show MoreThis study investigated a novel application of forward osmosis using different types of draw solutions for oilfield produced water treatment from the East Baghdad oilfield affiliated to the Midland Oil Company (Iraq). Magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) were used as draw solutions in forward osmosis process to evaluate their effectiveness. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory scale forward osmosis system with cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membrane. In this work, sodium chloride solution was used as a feed solution with a concentration of 76 g/L (same concentration as the East Baghdad oilfield produced water) and the applied external pressure on the feed solution side was 2 bar. The impact of draw solution (DS)
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