Proximate Composition of Fresh Water Prawn Marobrachium Nipponenses and Crab Potamon sp. from al-Hawizah Marshes, South of Iraq

The seasonal changes were studied in the chemical composition in muscle of caridean prawn Macrobrachium nipponenses and crab Potamon sp. from al-Hawizah marshes– south Iraq for the period from June 2016 to May 2017. that was found to be varied among the two different size groups examined. The results showed that there were clear seasonal differences in the chemical composition of both crustaceans, with the highest rate of protein 20.02% in species M. nipponenses in the spring, while the highest rate of fat for the same species 3.52% in winter, while the highest rate For the second species of protein 19.28% in the spring, while the highest rate of fat ratio in this species 2.64% in the autumn, and showed the moisture and ash ratios of the two species mentioned clear seasonal differences.In general, the protein content in muscle male and female of two crustaceans was higher in small size groups than in large size groups. The protein content in two sexes and size groups of two species were high. Keywords: Macrobrachium nipponense, proximate chemical, Protein, Fats, Carbohydrates. DOI: 10.7176/CMR/11-1-0

Consumption Rates of Invasive Freshwater Gastropod Pomacea Canaliculata on Aquatic Plants from Shatt Al-Arab River, Basra, Iraq

Pomacea canaliculata (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) is a common species in many parts of the world and an important consumer of aquatic macrophytes. We conducted laboratory tests to quantify the rates of consumption of aquatic plants in Shatt Al-Arab River, Basra, Iraq. six freshwater plant species were presented to an invasive P. canaliculata in laboratory tests. This study was carried out during January to December 2017 to evaluate the consumption rates to specific aquatic plants than others by freshwater snails Pomacea canaliculata. Specimens of Snails were collected from ponds in intertidal zones at banks of Shatt al-Arab River near Al- Salhyaa canal in Shatt Al- Arab city  from aquatic plants; Typha domingensis, Phragmites australis, Bacopa monniera, Ceratophyllum demersum and Potamogeton crispus. The presence of these Specimens aquatic plants was affected by the water temperature and   salinity, they almost disappear in winter leading to low snail numbers at that season. Statistical analysis shows a significant differences (P<0.05) between numbers of snails on five aquatic plants in the field that were these are collected. Bacopa monniera , Lemna minor, C. demersum and P. crispus were the higher preferred to snails in this study, while T. domingensis, P. australis recorded lower preferred by snails. In this study we use snail Pomacea canaliculata as a biological control agent of common macrophyte weeds species. Results indicated that P. canaliculata reared on Lemna, Bacopa, Ceratophyllum and Potamogeton had the highest food preference and consumption rates, but all individuals fed with Phragmites showed lowest feeding consumption rates and little the food preference. significantly differing from the others. However, in the absence of Bacopa , Lemna, Ceratophyllum and Potamogeton were consumed. Keywords: Consumption rate, aquatic plants, Pomacea canaliculata, Snail . DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/52-0

Evaluation of Green Spaces in Hilla City According to Green Network Concept

The study focuses on the feasibility of connecting urban green spaces at an urban scale through a network because of the population growth and land use changes at the expense of green areas, which has led to the fragmentation and destabilization of the ecosystem in the Hilla city center in Babylon province /Iraq. The methodology will be according to two stages: first, the current state assessment was used to determine the encroachment of the areas. Secondly, it uses the gravity model and the least-cost path model in GIS to determine the level of interaction between nodes. Therefore, the research hypothesis was that connecting strong nodes to a comprehensive and integrated network increases the strength of the interaction. According to the results, there is no clear hierarchy in the distribution of urban green spaces within Hilla city, with only two levels: locality and urban on the urban level, there is no possibility of establishing a network between green spaces because of three factors: encroached uses mainly the residential, distance between patches and the node weight

Experimental Establishing of Moving Hydraulic Jump in a Trapezoidal Channel

This research was prepared as a preliminary laboratory study to achieve a moving hydraulic jump with controlled discharges. It is an initial part of the study that is being prepared to treat the salt tide occurring in the Shatt al-Arab due to the lack of water imports that were coming from the Karun and Karkheh rivers from Iranian territory, as this scarcity caused a salt tide that affected significantly the environmental reality of the city of Basra and the agricultural lands surrounding the Shatt al-Arab, such as the Shatt al-Arab district and the Siba orchards. As part of the proposed solutions, a moving hydraulic jump is created that pushes the salt tongue into the Persian Gulf; the results were promising. A moving hydraulic leap is a good example of unstable super- and sub-critical flow regimes and is regarded as a specific case of unsteady flow in a channel. There aren't many published experiments on this particular flow type, and the quantitative simulation of such a flow state has some inherent complexity. An experimental setup was created for this work in order to assess the hydraulic performance of a moving hydraulic jump in a trapezoidal flume. A sluice gate was installed at the flume's upstream edge to provide an unstable supercritical flow regime, movable hydraulic jumps along the channel, and temporal water stages at the gate's upstream side for the various downstream end boundary situations. Several flow factors, including energy head, pressure head, and flow depth, were estimated from the recorded data. The study found connections between discharge and shifting hydraulic jump variables. By employing relatively stable momentum and energy formulas, simple and time-independent formulas were developed that accurately predicted the pressure head in the subcritical region of an unstable mixed flow. As a result, the moving hydraulic jump factor can be correctly predicted using time-independent correlations by using the discharge variation as a boundary scenario. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-04-08 Full Text: PD

Application of Metaheuristic Algorithms and ANN Model for Univariate Water Level Forecasting

With the rapid development of machine learning (ML) models, the artificial neural network (ANN) is being increasingly applied for forecasting hydrological processes. However, researchers have not treated hybrid ML models in much detail. To address these issues, this study herein suggests a novel methodology to forecast the monthly water level (WL) based on multiple lags of the Tigris River in Al-Kut, Iraq, over ten years. The methodology includes preprocessing data methods, and the ANN model optimises with a marine predator algorithm (MPA). In the optimisation procedure, to decrease uncertainty and expand the predicting range, the slime mould algorithm (SMA-ANN), constriction coefficient-based particle swarm optimisation and chaotic gravitational search algorithms (CPSOCGSA-ANN), and particle swarm optimisation (PSO-ANN) are applied to compare and validate the MPA-ANN model performance. Analysis of results revealed that the data pretreatment methods improved the original data quality and selected the ideal predictors' scenario by singular spectrum analysis and mutual information methods, respectively. For example, the correlation coefficient of the first lag improved from 0.648 to 0.938. Depending on various evaluation metrics, MPA-ANN tends to forecast WL better than SMA-ANN, PSO-ANN, and CPSOCGSA-ANN algorithms with coefficients of determination of 0.94, 0.81, 0.85, and 0.90, respectively. Evidence shows that the proposed methodology yields excellent results, with a scatter index equal to 0.002. The research outcomes represent an additional step towards evolving various hybrid ML techniques, which are valuable to practitioners wishing to forecast WL data and the management of water resources in light of environmental shifts

Influence of High Volume RHA on Properties of Cement Mortar

This work study the impact of partial cement replacement by high volume Rice Husk Ash (RHA) on some characteristics of cement mortar like compressive strength and flexural strength at different ages. In this research, RHA was used in three different ratios (20, 40, and 60)% as a cement substitution and the findings were compared with control mixture (0% RHA). The findings demonstrated that the replacement of cement by RHA reduced the compressive strength of all selected ratios and the increase in the content of RHA lead to reduce compressive strength comparative to control sample with 100% cement as a binder at all ages. However, the flexural strength results indicated that the RHA in 20% showed approximately same results as control sample at early ages while increasing the curing period lead to improve flexural strength. Increasing RHA higher than 20% lead to decrease Flexural strength at all selected ages

Extracorporeal cellular therapy (ELAD) in severe alcoholic hepatitis: A multinational, prospective, controlled, randomized trial.

Severe alcoholic hepatitis (sAH) is associated with a poor prognosis. There is no proven effective treatment for sAH, which is why early transplantation has been increasingly discussed. Hepatoblastoma-derived C3A cells express anti-inflammatory proteins and growth factors and were tested in an extracorporeal cellular therapy (ELAD) study to establish their effect on survival for subjects with sAH. Adults with sAH, bilirubin ≥8 mg/dL, Maddrey\u27s discriminant function ≥ 32, and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score ≤ 35 were randomized to receive standard of care (SOC) only or 3-5 days of continuous ELAD treatment plus SOC. After a minimum follow-up of 91 days, overall survival (OS) was assessed by using a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. A total of 203 subjects were enrolled (96 ELAD and 107 SOC) at 40 sites worldwide. Comparison of baseline characteristics showed no significant differences between groups and within subgroups. There was no significant difference in serious adverse events between the 2 groups. In an analysis of the intent-to-treat population, there was no difference in OS (51.0% versus 49.5%). The study failed its primary and secondary end point in a population with sAH and with a MELD ranging from 18 to 35 and no upper age limit. In the prespecified analysis of subjects with MELD \u3c 28 (n = 120), ELAD was associated with a trend toward higher OS at 91 days (68.6% versus 53.6%; P = .08). Regression analysis identified high creatinine and international normalized ratio, but not bilirubin, as the MELD components predicting negative outcomes with ELAD. A new trial investigating a potential benefit of ELAD in younger subjects with sufficient renal function and less severe coagulopathy has been initiated. Liver Transplantation 24 380-393 2018 AASLD

Stepped-wedge randomised trial of laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy in adults with chronic constipation: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR) is an established treatment for external full-thickness rectal prolapse. However, its clinical efficacy in patients with internal prolapse is uncertain due to the lack of high-quality evidence. METHODS: An individual level, stepped-wedge randomised trial has been designed to allow observer-blinded data comparisons between patients awaiting LVMR with those who have undergone surgery. Adults with symptomatic internal rectal prolapse, unresponsive to prior conservative management, will be eligible to participate. They will be randomised to three arms with different delays before surgery (0, 12 and 24 weeks). Efficacy outcome data will be collected at equally stepped time points (12, 24, 36 and 48 weeks). The primary objective is to determine clinical efficacy of LVMR compared to controls with reduction in the Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life (PAC-QOL) at 24 weeks serving as the primary outcome. Secondary objectives are to determine: (1) the clinical effectiveness of LVMR to 48 weeks to a maximum of 72 weeks; (2) pre-operative determinants of outcome; (3) relevant health economics for LVMR; (4) qualitative evaluation of patient and health professional experience of LVMR and (5) 30-day morbidity and mortality rates. DISCUSSION: An individual-level, stepped-wedge, randomised trial serves the purpose of providing an untreated comparison for the active treatment group, while at the same time allowing the waiting-listed participants an opportunity to obtain the intervention at a later date. In keeping with the basic ethical tenets of this design, the average waiting time for LVMR (12 weeks) will be shorter than that for routine services (24 weeks)