CONCENTRATION OF HEAVY METALS IN SOIL CONTAMINATED WITH CRUDE OIL AT TWO IRAQUIAN SITES ACCORDING TO ENVIRONMENTAL INDICES OF POLLUTION

Contaminated soil samples were collected from the Al-Kasak refinery and Al-Qayyarah refinery in western and southern Nineveh, at specific distances in six dimensions (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 300) meters from the source of pollution, to study the concentrations of heavy metals Pb, Mn, Ni, Cd and the effect of oil refinery pollutants on some soil pollution standards, in addition to some physical and chemical properties of the soil and their concentrations. The results showed an increase in the concentration of heavy metals in the soil near the sources of pollution, with cadmium significantly superior to the Al-Qayyarah site over Al-Kasak site (491.744 mg kg-1) and lead, nickel and manganese recorded a higher concentration at Al-Kasak site compared to Al-Qayyarah site (166.356, 114.687, 36.487 mg kg-1), respectively. The order of mineral elements in the two study sites was Cd>Pb>Ni>Mn. As for the Contamination Factor (CF), it was Cd > Pb > Ni > Mn with values of 684.50, 9.91, 5.13, and 0.1701, where the concentration factor was highly polluted for cadmium and lead, and with significant contamination for nickel, while manganese was low in contamination, cadmium recorded severe pollution at Al-Qayyarah site compared to Al-Kasak site. In contrast, lead, nickel, and manganese were significantly contaminated at the Al-Kasak site compared to Al-Qayyarah. In addition, the pollution load index (PLI) was at the level of 5.81, 4.67, highly polluted at D1 and D2, while the rest of the percentages were at the level of 2, moderate pollution, Al-Kasak site had the highest pollution (PLI) value of (6.28). At the same time, the ecological risk (ER) averaged (20534.88, 16896.71, 19867.11, 19063.14, 18721.07, 18888.61), which indicates that all the sites had very high pollution. The ecological risk index was also within the limits of very high pollution, with the highest value on D1 recorded (20568.45). The potential ecological risk of cadmium was very high at the Al-Qayyarah site, with a value of (19410.95) compared to the Al-Kasak site, where the ecological risk of lead, nickel, and manganese was very high. The ecological risk indices for the Al-Qayyarah site were higher than the Al-Kasak site. The study aims to estimate the concentration of heavy metals according to environmental indices and the impact of oil refineries on the ecosystem in raising the level of heavy metal concentration. Keywords: soil pollution; contamination factor; pollution load index; ecological risk.   Concentração de metais pesados em solo contaminado com petróleo bruto em duas localidades iraquianas de acordo com índices ambientais de poluição   RESUMO: Amostras de solo contaminado foram coletadas da refinaria Al-Kasak e da refinaria Al-Qayyarah no oeste e sul de Nínive, nas distâncias específicas de 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 e 300 metros da fonte de poluição. Estudou-se as concentrações dos metais pesados Pb, Mn, Ni, Cd e os seus efeitos em alguns padrões de poluição do solo e em propriedades físicas e químicas do solo. Os resultados mostraram um aumento na concentração de metais pesados no solo próximo às fontes de poluição, com cádmio significativamente superior em Al-Qayyarah quando comparado com Al-Kasak (491.744 mg kg-1); chumbo, níquel e manganês apresentaram concentrações mais elevadas em Al-Kasak (166,356, 114,687, 36,487 mg kg-1, respectivamente). A ordem dos elementos minerais nos dois locais de estudo foi Cd>Pb>Ni>Mn. Quanto ao Fator de Contaminação (FC), a ordem observada foi Cd > Pb > Ni > Mn com valores de 684,50, 9,91, 5,13 e 0,1701; o fator de concentração indica alta poluição para cádmio e chumbo, e com contaminação significativa para níquel; manganês apresentou baixos fatores de contaminação, e, cádmio gerou o grau de poluição severa em Al-Qayyarah quando comparado com Al-Kasak. Em contraste, chumbo, níquel e manganês foram significativamente contaminados no local de Al-Kasak em comparação com Al-Qayyarah. Além disso, o índice de carga poluente (PLI) ficou no nível 5,81, 4,67, altamente poluído em D1 e D2, enquanto o restante dos percentuais ficou no nível 2, poluição moderada, o local de Al-Kasak teve a maior poluição (PLI) valor de (6,28). Ao mesmo tempo, o risco ecológico (ER) foi médio (20.534,88, 16.896,71, 19.867,11, 19.063,14, 18.721,07, 18.888,61), o que indica que todos os locais apresentavam poluição muito elevada. O índice de risco ecológico também esteve dentro dos limites de poluição muito elevada, tendo sido registado o valor mais elevado no D1 (20568,45). O risco ecológico potencial do cádmio era muito elevado no local de Al-Qayyarah, com um valor de (19410,95) em comparação com o local de Al-Kasak, onde o risco ecológico de chumbo, níquel e manganês era muito elevado. Os índices de risco ecológico para o sítio Al-Qayyarah foram mais elevados do que para o sítio Al-Kasak. O estudo tem como objetivo estimar a concentração de metais pesados de acordo com índices ambientais e o impacto das refinarias de petróleo no ecossistema na elevação do nível de concentração de metais pesados. Palavras-chave: poluição do solo; fator de contaminação; índice de carga poluente; risco ecológico.Contaminated soil samples were collected from the Al-Kasak refinery and Al-Qayyarah refinery in western and southern Nineveh, at specific distances in six dimensions (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 300) meters from the source of pollution, to study the concentrations of heavy metals Pb, Mn, Ni, Cd and the effect of oil refinery pollutants on some soil pollution standards, in addition to some physical and chemical properties of the soil and their concentrations. The results showed an increase in the concentration of heavy metals in the soil near the sources of pollution, with cadmium significantly superior to the Al-Qayyarah site over Al-Kasak site (491.744 mg kg-1) and lead, nickel and manganese recorded a higher concentration at Al-Kasak site compared to Al-Qayyarah site (166.356, 114.687, 36.487 mg kg-1), respectively. The order of mineral elements in the two study sites was Cd>Pb>Ni>Mn. As for the Contamination Factor (CF), it was Cd > Pb > Ni > Mn with values of 684.50, 9.91, 5.13, and 0.1701, where the concentration factor was highly polluted for cadmium and lead, and with significant contamination for nickel, while manganese was low in contamination, cadmium recorded severe pollution at Al-Qayyarah site compared to Al-Kasak site. In contrast, lead, nickel, and manganese were significantly contaminated at the Al-Kasak site compared to Al-Qayyarah. In addition, the pollution load index (PLI) was at the level of 5.81, 4.67, highly polluted at D1 and D2, while the rest of the percentages were at the level of 2, moderate pollution, Al-Kasak site had the highest pollution (PLI) value of (6.28). At the same time, the ecological risk (ER) averaged (20534.88, 16896.71, 19867.11, 19063.14, 18721.07, 18888.61), which indicates that all the sites had very high pollution. The ecological risk index was also within the limits of very high pollution, with the highest value on D1 recorded (20568.45). The potential ecological risk of cadmium was very high at the Al-Qayyarah site, with a value of (19410.95) compared to the Al-Kasak site, where the ecological risk of lead, nickel, and manganese was very high. The ecological risk indices for the Al-Qayyarah site were higher than the Al-Kasak site. The study aims to estimate the concentration of heavy metals according to environmental indices and the impact of oil refineries on the ecosystem in raising the level of heavy metal concentration. Keywords: soil pollution; contamination factor; pollution load index; ecological risk.   Concentração de metais pesados em solo contaminado com petróleo bruto em duas localidades iraquianas de acordo com índices ambientais de poluição   RESUMO: Amostras de solo contaminado foram coletadas da refinaria Al-Kasak e da refinaria Al-Qayyarah no oeste e sul de Nínive, nas distâncias específicas de 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 e 300 metros da fonte de poluição. Estudou-se as concentrações dos metais pesados Pb, Mn, Ni, Cd e os seus efeitos em alguns padrões de poluição do solo e em propriedades físicas e químicas do solo. Os resultados mostraram um aumento na concentração de metais pesados no solo próximo às fontes de poluição, com cádmio significativamente superior em Al-Qayyarah quando comparado com Al-Kasak (491.744 mg kg-1); chumbo, níquel e manganês apresentaram concentrações mais elevadas em Al-Kasak (166,356, 114,687, 36,487 mg kg-1, respectivamente). A ordem dos elementos minerais nos dois locais de estudo foi Cd>Pb>Ni>Mn. Quanto ao Fator de Contaminação (FC), a ordem observada foi Cd > Pb > Ni > Mn com valores de 684,50, 9,91, 5,13 e 0,1701; o fator de concentração indica alta poluição para cádmio e chumbo, e com contaminação significativa para níquel; manganês apresentou baixos fatores de contaminação, e, cádmio gerou o grau de poluição severa em Al-Qayyarah quando comparado com Al-Kasak. Em contraste, chumbo, níquel e manganês foram significativamente contaminados no local de Al-Kasak em comparação com Al-Qayyarah. Além disso, o índice de carga poluente (PLI) ficou no nível 5,81, 4,67, altamente poluído em D1 e D2, enquanto o restante dos percentuais ficou no nível 2, poluição moderada, o local de Al-Kasak teve a maior poluição (PLI) valor de (6,28). Ao mesmo tempo, o risco ecológico (ER) foi médio (20.534,88, 16.896,71, 19.867,11, 19.063,14, 18.721,07, 18.888,61), o que indica que todos os locais apresentavam poluição muito elevada. O índice de risco ecológico também esteve dentro dos limites de poluição muito elevada, tendo sido registado o valor mais elevado no D1 (20568,45). O risco ecológico potencial do cádmio era muito elevado no local de Al-Qayyarah, com um valor de (19410,95) em comparação com o local de Al-Kasak, onde o risco ecológico de chumbo, níquel e manganês era muito elevado. Os índices de risco ecológico para o sítio Al-Qayyarah foram mais elevados do que para o sítio Al-Kasak. O estudo tem como objetivo estimar a concentração de metais pesados de acordo com índices ambientais e o impacto das refinarias de petróleo no ecossistema na elevação do nível de concentração de metais pesados. Palavras-chave: poluição do solo; fator de contaminação; índice de carga poluente; risco ecológico

Estimating the Concentration of Cadmium in the Qayyarah and Kasak Sites and its Impact on the Environment

Cadmium recorded a significant superiority in the soil of the Qayyarah site with a peak of (491.744) mg/kg compared to the Kasak site, which showed its highest concentration in the soil of (D1) at (0) metres. The highest value was recorded at (520.217) mg/kg, which indicates high pollution. Compared to the rest of the dimensions, the lowest concentration of cadmium was in the soil (D2) at a distance of (50) meters, amounting to (428,050) mg/kg. While we note that the Qayyarah site recorded the lowest values of cadmium at the distance (S2D2) (50 metres), with a concentration rate of (450.867) mg/kg. As for cadmium, its highest concentration was at the distance (S2D3) (100 metres) and (S2D5). It reached (521.867) mg/kg. While the Kasak site recorded the highest value of cadmium at a distance of (S1D1) (0 metres) with a concentration of (527.667) mg/kg, while the lowest concentration of cadmium was at point (S1D2) (50 metres) with a value of (405.233) mg/kg

Life Table of the Green Lacewing Apertochrysa sp. (Neuroptera:Chrysopidae) Reared on Rice Moth Corcyra cephalonica(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

The survivorship from egg to adult emergence and fertility of Apertochrysa sp. fed on Corcyra cephalonica were studied in laboratory and population parameters of Apertochrysa sp. were used for construction of life table under ideal condition in laboratory free from natural enemies. The highest mortality occurred in eggs (44.3%) followed by mortality (15.4%) in 2nd instar larva and in pupal stage (11.4%). The sex ratio (proportion of female to male) was 1:1.4. The maximum life span of female was 38 days. The highest number of eggs produced per female was 6.33 at seventh day of oviposition. The gross reproductive rate (GRR) was 19.48 females per female per generation. The net reproductive rate (Ro) was 2.28 females per female per generation. Mean generation time (T) was 40.6 days, while the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) was 0.02 female per female per day. The finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.02 females per female per day. The population double time (DT) was within 14.8 day

Nonlinear Model Predictive Control-based Collision Avoidance for Mobile Robot

This work proposes an efficient and safe single-layer Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) system based on LiDAR to solve the problem of autonomous navigation in cluttered environments with previously unidentified static and dynamic obstacles of any shape. Initially, LiDAR sensor data is collected. Then, the Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm, is used to cluster the (Lidar) points that belong to each obstacle together. Moreover, a Minimum Euclidean Distance (MED) between the robot and each obstacle with the aid of a safety margin is utilized to implement safety-critical obstacle avoidance rather than existing methods in the literature that depend on enclosing the obstacles with a circle or minimum bounding ellipse. After that, to impose avoidance constraints with feasibility guarantees and without compromising stability, an NMPC for set-point stabilization is taken into consideration with a design strategy based on terminal inequality and equality constraints. Consequently, numerous obstacles can be avoided at the same time efficiently and rapidly through unstructured environments with narrow corridors.  Finally, a case study with an omnidirectional wheeled mobile robot (OWMR) is presented to assess the proposed NMPC formulation for set-point stabilization. Furthermore, the efficacy of the proposed system is tested by experiments in simulated scenarios using a robot simulator named CoppeliaSim in combination with MATLAB which utilizes the CasADi Toolbox, and Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox. Two simulation scenarios are considered to show the performance of the proposed framework. The first scenario considers only static obstacles while the second scenario is more challenging and contains static and dynamic obstacles. In both scenarios, the OWMR successfully reached the target pose (1.5m, 1.5m, 0°) with a small deviation. Four performance indices are utilized to evaluate the set-point stabilization performance of the proposed control framework including the steady-state error in the posture vector which is less than 0.02 meters for position and 0.012 for orientation, and the integral of norm squared actual control inputs which is 19.96 and 21.74 for the first and second scenarios respectively. The proposed control framework shows a positive performance in a narrow-cluttered environment with unknown obstacles

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Vocational Interests among Palestinian Students

The purpose of the study was to identify the impact of emotional intelligence on vocational interests among Palestinian students. A sample of 333 students in the southern Hebron district participated in the study. Data was analysed using SPSS. The results showed that Palestinian students had a high level of emotional intelligence and a moderate level of vocational interests. Emotional intelligence appeared as an innovative prediction of vocational interests. The consequences of the findings for practice are highlighted

Design and implementation of robot control system for multistory buildings

The advancement of technology, make robots have more attention from researchers to make life of mankind comfortable. This paper deals with the design of an itemized control system prepared for window cleaning/maintenance of towers and multistory buildings which can be aided to simulating human activities. These activities (washing, coating, wiping, climbing, and maintenance events) normally achieved by specialized personal. The designed control system was prepared to guide the units of the required job to move freely along the outside surface of a window with a fairly enough area and mediate time for achieving the desired goal. The system design is implemented using Arduino kit, due to facilities in program and control of cleaning windows through infer the stepper motor movement and rotation. The controller has been achieved as real time system (30 msec.), it is done throw control of three stepper motor by taken in consideration the speed of the motors (π/3000 rad/sec) and the time can be adjustable within the cleaning area that the device covering it

Diagnosing Pilgrimage Common Diseases by Interactive Multimedia Courseware

في هذه الدراسة، نحاول تقديم خدمة الرعاية الصحية للحجاج. تصف هذه الدراسة كيف يمكن استخدام مناهج الوسائط المتعددة في جعل الحجاج على علم بالأمراض الشائعة الموجودة في المملكة العربية السعودية أثناء موسم الحج. كما سيتم استخدام البرامج التعليمية للوسائط المتعددة في توفير بعض المعلومات حول أعراض هذه الأمراض، وكيف يمكن علاج كل منها. يحتوي البرنامج التعليمي للوسائط المتعددة على تمثيل افتراضي للمستشفى، وبعض مقاطع الفيديو للحالات الفعلية للمرضى، وأنشطة التعلم الأصيلة التي تهدف إلى تعزيز الكفاءات الصحية أثناء الحج. تم فحص المناهج الدراسية لدراسة الطريقة التي يتم بها تطبيق عناصر المناهج الدراسية في التعلم في الوقت الحقيقي. أكثر من ذلك، في هذا البحث، يتم تقديم مناقشة حول أخطر الأمراض التي قد تحدث خلال موسم الحج. إن استخدام دورة الوسائط المتعددة قادر على توفير المعلومات بشكل فعال وفعال للحجاج حول هذه الأمراض. تؤدي هذه التقنية هذه المهمة باستخدام المعرفة المتراكمة من التجارب السابقة، لا سيما في مجال تشخيص الأمراض والطب والعلاج. تم إنشاء المناهج الدراسية باستخدام أداة تأليف تُعرف باسم مدرب ToolBook لتزويد الحجاج بخدمة عالية الجودة.In this study, we attempt to provide healthcare service to the pilgrims. This study describes how a multimedia courseware can be used in making the pilgrims aware of the common diseases that are present in Saudi Arabia during the pilgrimage. The multimedia courseware will also be used in providing some information about the symptoms of these diseases, and how each of them can be treated. The multimedia courseware contains a virtual representation of a hospital, some videos of actual cases of patients, and authentic learning activities intended to enhance health competencies during the pilgrimage. An examination of the courseware was conducted so as to study the manner in which the elements of the courseware are applied in real-time learning. More so, in this research, a discussion on the most dangerous diseases which may occur during the season of pilgrimage is provided. The use of the multimedia course is able to effectively and efficiently provide information to the pilgrims about these diseases. This technology performs this task by using the knowledge that has been accumulated from past experience, particularly in the field of disease diagnosis, medicine and treatment. The courseware has been created using an authoring tool known as ToolBook instructor to provide pilgrims with quality service

Implementing GIS and linear regression models to investigate partial building failures

One of the most dangerous field problems in the civil engineering discipline is the suddenly developed cracks in the building, which could be caused by the swelling of the subsurface soil. Thus, this work has focused on employing a procedure in the geographic information system known as the inverse distance weighted (IDW) technique, to analyze the extent of cracks in a residential complex in the city of Kirkuk in Iraq using the physical and chemical soil data for seven boreholes from the field of the study. Physical soil parameters such as liquid limit (LL), gravel, sand, silt and clay percentages were characterized first, followed by chemical properties such as gypsum content (GYP), total suspended solids (TSS), potential of hydrogen (pH), and organic content (ORG). Furthermore, statistical studies such as plasticity index (PI) and soil characteristics association, linear single, and various linear multi-regression models were used. The data analysis shows that there are significantly positive and negative relationships between PI as a swelling indicator and the physical and chemical soil properties, although weak to moderate correlations were observed between PI and these variables. The PI values were accurately predicted by the proposed linear multi-regression models of the physical and integrated physical and chemical soil characteristics, with multiple R values of 0.92 for both models. As a result, the suggested statistical models can provide complete geographic and mechanical explanations for the crack sources in the investigated residential complex