Ecological restoration of lead/zinc/copper mine tailings: Phytomanagement and amendment strategies to enhance substrate functionality and biomass production

“The extreme physiochemical characteristics of mine tailings inhibit microbial processes and natural plant growth. Consequently, vast and numerous tailings sites remain barren for decades and highly susceptible to wind and water erosion. Phytostabilization is a cost-effective and ecologically productive remediation approach; however, tailings revegetation is generally challenging and must often be assisted with appropriate soil amendments. Amendments applied individually in greenhouse studies discussed herein revealed notable improvement in bioenergy crops growth only with biosolids treatments. Recalcitrant carbon amendments (biochar and humus) showed notable impact only on tailings physichochemical and hydraulic properties. Nevertheless, biosolids may not support sustained vegetation due to their nutrient lability and rapid decomposition. Therefore, strategies to sustain phytostabilization were evaluated by co-applying biosolids with recalcitrant carbon or biological amendments to synergistically ameliorate tailings characteristics while supporting sustainable growth to stimulate soil formation. Co-applying with biochar exhibited efficient nutrient release while concurrently reducing metal availability and uptake. Co-applying with mycorrhizal fungi further improved biomass production, increased organic matter input, and reduced metal bioavailability and uptake. To non-destructively assess plant health, a rapid screening approach was also developed utilizing computer vision and imaging techniques. A wide range of native species was also screened for potential to revegetate mine tailings for greater ecosystem benefit and utilizing the developed approach greatly facilitated quantification of plant responses to phytomanagement strategies for mine-impacted sites”--Abstract, page iv

Role of Pro-inflammatory and Immunoregulatory Cytokines in Pathogenesis of Chronic Gastritis

Background: Chronic gastritis (CG) is histopathological entity characterized by chronic inflammation of the stomach that mostly caused by Helicobacter pylori, development of inflammation in gastric mucosa result in release of pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokines .This study aimed to shed light on the role of cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-4, IL-10, and GM-CSF) in the development and prognosis of CG among Iraqi patients. Patients and methods: 100 Iraqi patients with CG (61 male and 39 female) with age range (10-79) year, were involved in this stady while attending Specialist Hospital of Disease of Liver and Gastrointestinal System at Baghdad Medical City from Nov. 2007 to Apr. 2008. Patients divided according to histological diagnosis into three groups : 66 with active CG, 21 with Superficial CG and 13 with Inactive CG . All Patients were investigated for infection with H. pylori by histological \examination and for quantitative estimation of serum anti H. pylori (IgG) by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), and Amplified Sensitivity Immuno Assay (EASIA) technique to measure the level of cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-4, IL-10, and GM-CSF) for both patients and healthy control groups. Results: Incidence of H. pylori is (66٪) among all patients, highly significant increased (p<0.01) in serum level of anti H. pylori in patient groups: Active CG, Superficial CG and Inactive CG respectively and significant increased (p<0.01) trend of IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-4, IL-10, and GM-CSF in all patient groups as compared with healthy control. Conclusions: High frequency of H. pylori in patient reflect the important role of H. pylori in etiopathogenesis of CG. Increased serum level of cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-4, IL-10, and GM-CSF) propaply play crucial role in driving inflammatory process and promoting gastric mucosa destruction in CG, regulation of these cytokines is consider as an important therapeutic goal

Carbon Dioxide Removal Using Blended Amine Solution in a Randomly Packed Bed Column

  Many researchers are currently investigating carbon dioxide capture and storage since it is suppressing the global warming phenomenon. Aqueous carbon dioxide chemical absorption is the most effective method. The present study incorporates the applicability and performance of blended alkanol amine solutions monoethanolamine (MEA) with diethylenetriamine (DETA) as a chemical blended absorbent investigated in a pilot scale column packed randomly with Rashing rings. The effect of operating conditions on absorption performance was examined. The performance investigation is given in terms of the overall mass transfer coefficient  and carbon dioxide capture efficiency (ƞ). Typically, DETA: MEA with a mass ratio of 1:1 and total mass concentration of 30 % wt.  could provide the highest KGav with a value of 0.1572 (kmol/(m3*Kpa*hr)) and ƞ with a value of 98.79 %. While at the same condition in terms of liquid and gas rate, with DETA: MEA in the blending mass ratio 0.25:1, the KGav and ƞ values equal to: 0.1198 (kmol/(m3*Kpa*hr)) and 96.37%, respectively. Based on these findings, it is reasonable to assume that diethylenetriamine, a solution of alkanol amines, would serve as an efficient blending absorbent for carbon dioxide removal

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THERMAL BIOCLIMATIC INDICES OVER IRAQ

This study was aimed to investigate the trends in (11) thermal bioclimatic indicators throughout Iraq's various climates to better understand their spatiotemporal variations in different climates. All bioclimatic indicators have been calculated from daily ERA5 datasets of temperature extracted from 361 grid points covering Iraq. This data set covers global coverage of monthly temperatures from 1980 to 2022, with a spatial resolution of (0.25°x0.25°). Eleven thermal bioclimatic indicators were subjected to the Mann-Kendall (MK) test in order to measure trends in a single direction, without taking into account the influence of natural cycles. The findings showed that the majority of Iraq's thermal bioclimate indicators had changed. implying that rising temperatures have had a significant influence on the country's bioclimate. The annual mean temperature data revealed that Iraq had a considerable increase in Bio1 of (0.28 to 0.48) °C/decade, which is more than the )0.15( °C/decade worldwide average. The rise was found to be significantly greater in Iraq's northern and eastern regions. The analysis suggested that the diurnal temperature range decreased in most regions of Iraq, especially in the southern and northeastern sections. The maximum temperature increased most dramatically in the warmest quarter, whereas the changes in the coldest quarter were less noticeable, showing an increase in climatic extremes in Iraq. The study unequivocally shows that climate change is leading to an increase in the mean temperature, specifically during the warmest months of the year

Forward physics at the LHC (Elba 2010)

This article does not have an abstract

Measurement of the Decay Amplitudes of B0 --> J/psi K* and B0s --> J/psi phi Decays

A full angular analysis has been performed for the pseudo-scalar to vector-vector decays, B0 --> J/psi K* and B_s --> J/psi phi, to determine the amplitudes for decays with parity-even longitudinal and transverse polarization and parity-odd transverse polarization. The measurements are based on 190 B0 candidates and 40 B_s candidates collected from a data set corresponding to 89 inverse pb of pbarp collisions at root(s) = 1.8 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron. In both decays the decay amplitude for longitudinal polarization dominates and the parity-odd amplitude is found to be small.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Measurement of the Ratios of Branching Fractions B(Bs->Ds- pi+)/B(B0->D-pi+) and B(B+->D0bar pi+)/B(B0->D-pi+)

We report an observation of the decay Bs -> Ds- pi+ in p pbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV using 115 pb^(-1) of data collected by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We observe 83 +/- 11 Bs -> Ds- pi+ candidates, representing a large increase in statistics over previous measurements and the first observation of this decay at a p pbar collider. We present the first measurement of the relative branching fraction B(Bs -> Ds- pi+) / B(B0 -> D- pi+) = 1.32 +/- 0.18 (stat.) +/- 0.38 (syst.). We also measure B(B+ -> D0bar pi+) / B(B0 -> D- pi+) = 1.97 +/- 0.10(stat.) +/- 0.21(syst.), which is consistent with previous measurements

Appraisal of MC2010 shear resistance approaches coupled with a residual flexural strength prediction model

In the present work the predictive performance of the two approaches proposed by Model Code 2010 for the evaluation of the shear capacity of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) elements flexurally reinforced with conventional steel bars is assessed considering a database (DBs) constituted by 80 FRC beams do not including conventional transverse reinforcements. The accuracy of these shear models is evaluated by statistical analysis of the prediction ratio between the experimental and estimated shear capacity of the beams of the DBs, and applying the Demerit Points Classification approach for further information about the reliability of the two approaches in design context. Due to the absence of the post-cracking experimental characterization of the FRC used in several beams considered in the DBs, an approach was developed for estimating the residual flexural strength parameters from the most relevant known variables of steel fiber reinforcement mechanisms for concrete, namely the fiber volume and aspect ratio, and the concrete compressive and tensile strength. The residual flexural strength prediction model is assessed and its influence on the performance of the shear resistance models is evaluatedSFRH/BDE/96381/2013 co-funded by CiviTest - Pesquisa de Novos Materiais para a Engenharia Civil, Lda. and by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. The authors also acknowledge the support provided by the FCT project PTDC/ECM-EST/2635/201

Measurement of B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq) at the Collider Detector at Fermilab

We present a measurement of the ratio of top-quark branching fractions R= B(t -> Wb)/B(t -> Wq), where q can be a b, s or a d quark, using lepton-plus-jets and dilepton data sets with integrated luminosity of ~162 pb^{-1} collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab during Run II of the Tevatron. The measurement is derived from the relative numbers of t-tbar events with different multiplicity of identified secondary vertices. We set a lower limit of R > 0.61 at 95% confidence level.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, published in Physical Review Letters; changes made to be consistent with published versio

Measurement of the Dipion Mass Spectrum in X(3872) -> J/Psi Pi+ Pi- Decays

We measure the dipion mass spectrum in X(3872)--> J/Psi Pi+ Pi- decays using 360 pb-1 of pbar-p collisions at 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector. The spectrum is fit with predictions for odd C-parity (3S1, 1P1, and 3DJ) charmonia decaying to J/Psi Pi+ Pi-, as well as even C-parity states in which the pions are from Rho0 decay. The latter case also encompasses exotic interpretations, such as a D0-D*0Bar molecule. Only the 3S1 and J/Psi Rho hypotheses are compatible with our data. Since 3S1 is untenable on other grounds, decay via J/Psi Rho is favored, which implies C=+1 for the X(3872). Models for different J/Psi-Rho angular momenta L are considered. Flexibility in the models, especially the introduction of Rho-Omega interference, enable good descriptions of our data for both L=0 and 1.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures -- Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let