The concentration of some heavy metals in different parts of reed plant Phragmites australis, along the Al-Sabeel River, Iraq

The present study was conducted to determine the concentrations of some heavy metals of lead, cadmium, and chromium in the roots and stems of Phragmites australis collected from the Al-Sabeel River in Iraq. Samples were collected at four selected sites in three provinces of Najaf, Diwaniyah, and Samawah over a distance of 114 km, from August 2022 to January 2023. The results reveal that the concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Cr in the roots and stems of the reeds as 134.28-91.21, 189.47-180, and 190.57-97.9 mg/kg dry weight, respectively. Cr was the most accumulated element in the stem, while Cd was the most accumulated in the roots. The results also showed that the stem accumulates heavy metals more than the roots, indicating the possibility of using the reed as an indicator of heavy metal pollution

Flexible Data Warehouse Parameters: Toward Building an Integrated Architecture

Clinical databases have gathered a huge amount of information about patients and their medical conditions. Relationships and patterns within this data could provide new medical knowledge. Thus it is a difficult task focusing to model a data warehouse, very often, into internal structures and implementation applications. The aim of is project is to find the parameters of medical data warehouse which will be able to construct a flexible framework by analyze the approaches of data warehouse architectures and compare them regarding the cost and integrity. The proposed parameters may assist in achieving continual access to the common data warehouse. The important consideration, however, is that the clinical data record should contain not only longitudinal health summary information but also be used for business intelligence tool such as data mining and OLA

Effect of different cooling strategies on surface quality and power consumption in finishing end milling of stainless steel 316

In this paper, an experimental investigation into the machinability of AISI 316 alloy during finishing end milling operation under different cooling conditions and with varying process parameters is presented. Three environmental-friendly cooling strategies were utilized, namely, dry, minimal quantity lubrication (MQL) and MQL with nanoparticles (Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$),and the variable process parameters were cutting speed and feed rate. Power consumption and surface quality were utilized as the machining responses to characterize the process performance. Surface quality was examined by evaluating the final surface roughness and surface integrity of the machined surface. The results revealed a reduction in power consumption when MQL and MQL + Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ strategies were applied compared to the dry case by averages of 4.7% and 8.6%, respectively. Besides, a considerable reduction in the surface roughness was noticed with average values of 40% and 44% for MQL and MQL + Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ strategies, respectively, when compared to the dry condition. At the same time, the reduction in generated surface roughness obtained by using MQL + Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$condition was marginal (5.9%) compared with using MQL condition. Moreover, the results showed that the improvement obtained in the surface quality when using MQL and MQL + Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ coolants increased at higher cutting speed and feed rate, and thus, higher productivity can be achieved without deteriorating final surface quality, compared to dry conditions. From scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis, debris, furrows, plastic deformation irregular friction marks, and bores were found in the surface texture when machining under dry conditions. A slight smoother surface with a nano-polishing effect was found in the case of MQL + Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$ compared to the MQL and dry cooling strategies. This proves the effectiveness of lubricant with nanoparticles in reducing the friction and thermal damages on the machined surface as the friction marks were still observed when machining with MQL comparable with the case of MQL + Al$_{2}$O$_{3}$

Responsibility for Others' Actions in Electronic Transactions

إن المسؤولية كإحدى مصادر الالتزام، جاءت لتقرير مسؤولية كل من يخلّ بقواعد المشروعية، ما يلحق ضرراً بالآخرين، وبهذا فهي أضمن لإبقاء تصرفات الموردين والتجار ضمن إطار المشروعية، وينبغي لتطبيق أحكامها إخلال أحد أطراف العقد بتنفيذ التزاماته، أو صدور خطأ من المورد ما يلحق ضررًا غير مشروع بالمستهلك، حيث يتم إلزام المورد بالتعويض الذي تقدره المحكمة، وتشمل المسؤولية التقصيرية في التعاملات الألكترونية, المسؤولية عن الفعل الشخصي، والتي يقصد بها مسؤولية الشخص عن كل فعل ارتكبه هو وأحدث ضررًا بالغير، وتشمل أيضًا المسؤولية عن فعل الغير، التي يقصد بها كل فعل يصدر من قبل الغير الذي يكون تابعًا للمورد كأن يكون عاملًا لديه أو أحد موظفيه، ويحدث هذا الفعل ضرراً حيث إن معظم المعلومات الموجودة عبر شبكة الإنترنت تمر بمجموعة من المراحل، المرحلة الابتدائية تشمل الإنتاج، أما المرحلة النهائية فتقتصر على الاستخدام، إضافة إلى هذا أن هناك مجموعة من الأشخاص يتعاملون بهذه المراحل ومدى وجود تبعية فيما بينهم، وهذا ما دفعنا إلى دراسة مسؤولية هؤلاء الأشخاص، إذ سنسلط الضوء على هذه الجزئية من خلال بحثنا هذا.Responsibility, as one of the sources of commitment, came to determine the responsibility of anyone who violates the rules of legality, which causes harm to others, and thus it is the guarantee to keep the actions of suppliers and traders within the framework of legality, and its provisions should be applied during the breach of one of the parties to the contract with the implementation of his obligations, or the occurrence of an error from the supplier that causes unreasonable harm. A project by the consumer, where the supplier is obliged to pay compensation estimated by the court, and tort liability in electronic transactions includes responsibility for the personal act, Which means the responsibility of a person for every act he committed and caused harm to others, and also includes liability for the act of others, which means every act issued by a third party who is affiliated with the supplier, such as being a worker for him or one of his employees, and this act causes harm as most of the information The Internet goes through a set of stages, the primary stage includes production, and the final stage is limited to use, in addition to this, there is a group of people who deal with these stages and the extent to which there is a dependency among them, and this is what prompted us to study the responsibility of these people, which we will highlight On this part through our research this

Effects of pH and Temperature on Oilfield Scale Formation

Water flooding is one of the most influential methods for pressure maintenance and enhanced oil recovery. However, water flooding is likely to develop the formation of oilfield scale. Scale formation in reservoirs, due to the mixing of injection water and formation water, could cause formation damage and production limit. Therefore, it is necessary to simulate the compatibility of brine and injection water. Scale prediction is performed using many thermodynamic and/or kinetic based models. In this study, simulations with speciation (ion pairing) are studied, which is a thermodynamic based tool. The utilization of reservoir conditions, formation water analysis, and sea water analysis as the inputs in this method resulted to the accurate prediction of potential scales. In this study, the factors impacting on the scale potential such as pH, temperature, and mixing ratio were also investigated. The obtained results showed that calcite and aragonite were the major scale potential to precipitate. Finally, the results illustrated the important effect of pH and temperature on different scales formation

Factors influencing the actual usage of e-government among employees within public sector organizations in the UAE

Organizations are becoming flatter, more flexible and networked due to the advent of new technologies. Leaders in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aim to be attain the first spot worldwide in terms of efficiency and effectiveness by focusing on long- term vision and strategy. However, the gap between the essential indicators of ICT towards UAE’s government vision might affect the long-term goals. This study addresses the relationship between smart government effectiveness and knowledge management, while considering the role of institutional challenges as a moderator variable within the public sector in UAE. As a guide for the proposed model in this study, three acceptance models were implemented, namely, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), technology acceptance model (TAM), and DeLone and McLean model of information systems success (D&M IS Success Model) as guided for the proposed model. Additionally, quantitative data were collected in this study and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Smarts software. Resultantly, the actual use of E-government was predicted and significantly associated with the change in “Influencing factors”, comprising system quality, information quality, service quality, and social influence. In conclusion, the research hypotheses were accepted as the findings revealed a statistical relationship between the actual use of E-government and influencing factors

Vertical transmission of fungal endophytes is widespread in forbs

To date, it has been thought that endophytic fungi in forbs infect the leaves of their hosts most commonly by air-borne spores (termed “horizontal transmission”). Here, we show that vertical transmission from mother plant to offspring, via seeds, occurs in six forb species (Centaurea cyanus, C. nigra,Papaver rhoeas,Plantago lanceolata,Rumex acetosa, and Senecio vulgaris), suggesting that this may be a widespread phenomenon. Mature seeds were collected from field-grown plants and endophytes isolated from these, and from subsequent cotyledons and true leaves of seedlings, grown in sterile conditions. Most seeds contain one species of fungus, although the identity of the endophyte differs between plant species. Strong evidence for vertical transmission was found for two endophyte species, Alternaria alternata and Cladosporium sphaerospermum. These fungi were recovered from within seeds, cotyledons, and true leaves, although the plant species they were associated with differed. Vertical transmission appears to be an imperfect process, and germination seems to present a bottleneck for fungal growth. We also found that A. alternata and C. sphaerospermum occur on, and within pollen grains, showing that endophyte transmission can be both within and between plant generations. Fungal growth with the pollen tube is likely to be the way in which endophytes enter the developing seed. The fact that true vertical transmission seems common suggests a more mutualistic association between these fungi and their hosts than has previously been thought, and possession of endophytes by seedling plants could have far-reaching ecological consequences. Seedlings may have different growth rates and be better protected against herbivores and pathogens, dependent on the fungi that were present in the mother plant. This would represent a novel case of trans-generational resistance in plants

Prosthesis-patient mismatch after aortic valve replacement in the PARTNER 2 trial and registry

Objectives This study aimed to compare incidence and impact of measured prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPMM) versus predicted PPM (PPMP) after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Background TAVR studies have used measured effective orifice area indexed (EOAi) to body surface area (BSA) to define PPM, but most SAVR series have used predicted EOAi. This difference may contribute to discrepancies in incidence and outcomes of PPM between series. Methods The study analyzed SAVR patients from the PARTNER (Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves) 2A trial and TAVR patients from the PARTNER 2 SAPIEN 3 Intermediate Risk registry. PPM was classified as moderate if EOAi ≤0.85 cm2/m2 (≤0.70 if obese: body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) and severe if EOAi ≤0.65 cm2/m2 (≤0.55 if obese). PPMM was determined by the core lab–measured EOAi on 30-day echocardiogram. PPMP was determined by 2 methods: 1) using normal EOA reference values previously reported for each valve model and size (PPMP1; n = 929 SAVR, 1,069 TAVR) indexed to BSA; and 2) using normal reference EOA predicted from aortic annulus size measured by computed tomography (PPMP2; n = 864 TAVR only) indexed to BSA. Primary endpoint was the composite of 5-year all-cause death and rehospitalization. Results The incidence of moderate and severe PPMP was much lower than PPMM in both SAVR (PPMP1: 28.4% and 1.2% vs. PPMM: 31.0% and 23.6%) and TAVR (PPMP1: 21.0% and 0.1% and PPMP2: 17.0% and 0% vs. PPMM: 27.9% and 5.7%). The incidence of severe PPMM and severe PPMP1 was lower in TAVR versus SAVR (P < 0.001). The presence of PPM by any method was associated with higher transprosthetic gradient. Severe PPMP1 was independently associated with events in SAVR after adjustment for sex and Society of Thoracic Surgeons score (hazard ratio: 3.18;95% CI: 1.69-5.96; P < 0.001), whereas no association was observed between PPM by any method and outcomes in TAVR. Conclusions EOAi measured by echocardiography results in a higher incidence of PPM following SAVR or TAVR than PPM based on predicted EOAi. Severe PPMP is rare (<1.5%), but is associated with increased all-cause death and rehospitalization after SAVR, whereas it is absent following TAVR