Cost-effectiveness analysis of a road improvement proposal based on sustainability Indicators: Case study Al-Nebai-Baghdad highway

Involving the sustainability assessment in the phases of road development project has become necessary to avoid unforeseen consequences. In Iraq, there is a noticeable lack of the environmental and social assessment of the development project. The economic assessment also needs to consider the project life cycle. The unavailability of validated and comprehensive methodologies of assessment is the main obstacle. Therefore, this study aims to outline a methodology of environmental, social and economic (ESE) assessment during pre-construction stages. The rehabilitation and upgrading project of Al-Nebai-Baghdad Highway is selected for this study. The ESE indicators are selected based on the available data and techniques. The needed data; traffic volume, pavement condition, and geometric design characteristics; are collected to process the engineering and the ESE assessment through aggregating several methodologies and analyse the results using thr cost-effectiveness technique. The results of the engineering assessment showed upgrading the traffic level of service to D due to adding a lane when the pavement condition was upgraded to good condition due to a new overlay. The results of the environmental assessment in terms of vehicle emission stated that the new pavement reduced the emission by1831967 tons but the emission due to widening increased by 1046100 tons. The social assessment indicated that the road casualties reduced by 38.5% but it boosted over the service life. The economical assessment demonstrated the worthiness of the project; the Net Present Value is 76,153,580$, the B/C is 3.45 and the IRR is 35.04. It can be concluded that the ESE assessment is applicable and effective in figuring out the negative and positive consequences over the service life. However, improving the data collection system can enhance the comprehensiveness of the adopted methodologies and consider more indicators

An Impact of Traffic Characteristics on Crash Frequency

With the development of roads, modes of transportation were also developed, and increasing numbers of those modes and routes were needed. This increase brought into focus many problems of the highway system. One of the most important concerns in the highway networks is road safety, which requires various studies to be carried out to reduce crash causalities. One of the factors that affect road safety is the traffic characteristics. This includes average daily traffic, operating speed, traffic density, and heavy vehicles percentage. This study focused on the effect of average daily traffic and heavy vehicles percentage on crash frequency. The old Baghdad – Baquba rural road, a two-lane, two-way road, was chosen for this study. This study used two sets of data (traffic characteristics and crash data). Generalized linear regression models were utilized to develop a model that reflects the effect of the average daily traffic and heavy vehicles percentage on crash frequency. The results showed a positive correlation between average daily traffic and crash frequency and between heavy vehicles percentage and crash frequency

Estimating a congested road capacity – headway relationship of a multi-lane highway in an urban area based on lane position

This paper aims to estimate the road capacity based on the headway time to consider the road user behaviour which is the main element in microsystem of traffic analysis. The lane position is considered also in developing the capacity-headway model to reflect the driver behaviour in using each lane. Palestine Street in Baghdad City is chosen as the site study to simulate the urban multilane characteristics of roads. The data representing the roadway characteristics, vehicle volume, and headway time are collected at peak hours to reflect the high traffic flow level. The model is developed using regression analysis. The results show that the lane position affect the driver decision in choosing the lane of movement and affect significantly the capacity values especially the right lane position

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Effect of folic acid supplementation to Lohmann Brown layers diet on performance, egg quality and folic acid content of eggs and serum

Sometimes, customers added folic acid to layer diet to enhance brown egg shell color. This supplementation may lead to increase the content of folic acid in serum and eggs. The increment of folic acid in egg lead to produce folate egg that it will be beneficial to customers health especially pregnant women. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of supplementation of folic acid enriched diet on layer performance, egg quality, and folic acid content of egg and serum. Five thousand Lohmann classic brown laying hen’s type were use in this experiment. At the first period, hens were fed on basal diet according to Lohmann Classic Brown nutrition requirement guide. The Second period of the experiment, all hens were fed same basal diet enriched with folic acid with 1mg/kg of feed. Eggs were collected and blood samples were collected from the layers at the end of the first and second periods for measuring folic acid content of egg and serum by using HPLC & ELIZA respectively. Egg quality were measuring by calculating of egg weight, albumin height, albumin diameter, yolk height, yolk diameter, yolk color, shell thickness and Haugh unit.&nbsp

An Impact of Traffic Characteristics on Crash Frequency

With the development of roads, modes of transportation were also developed, and increasing numbers of those modes and routes were needed. This increase brought into focus many problems of the highway system. One of the most important concerns in the highway networks is road safety, which requires various studies to be carried out to reduce crash causalities. One of the factors that affect road safety is the traffic characteristics. This includes average daily traffic, operating speed, traffic density, and heavy vehicles percentage. This study focused on the effect of average daily traffic and heavy vehicles percentage on crash frequency. The old Baghdad – Baquba rural road, a two-lane, two-way road, was chosen for this study. This study used two sets of data (traffic characteristics and crash data). Generalized linear regression models were utilized to develop a model that reflects the effect of the average daily traffic and heavy vehicles percentage on crash frequency. The results showed a positive correlation between average daily traffic and crash frequency and between heavy vehicles percentage and crash frequency

Effect of folic acid supplementation to Lohmann Brown layers diet on immune response and intestinal morphology

Sometimes, producer use the folic acid to enhance shell brown color of the brown hens` eggs. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effect of supplementation of folic acid enriched diet on immune response and intestinal morphology of laying hens. Five thousand Lohmann Classic Brown laying hen type were use in this experiment.  At the first period, hens were fed on basal diet according to Lohmann Classic Brown nutrition requirement guide. The Second period of the experiment, all hens were fed same basal diet enriched with folic acid with 1mg/kg of feed. Blood samples were collected from the hens at the end of the first and second periods for measuring the effect of folic acid on immune response which tested by using ELIZA technique. Duodenum, jejunum and ileum were taken from intestine for measuring villi height and crypt depth. Immune tolerance of ND showed a significant increase after administrated folic acid as compare with before administration folic acid. Villi height and crept depth showed a significant difference in second periods after supplementation of folic acid compare with first period before folic acid supplementation