Sustainable water management in Iraq (Kurdistan) as a challenge for governmental responsibility

During the last few decades, a critical scarcity of water has occurred in the Middle East due to climate change and the mismanagement of water resources. The situation is complicated by the absence of an effective legislative framework at the local level as well as by the incapability and disrepute of the local water authorities. Most Iraqi citizens depend on the surface waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have their sources in upstream neighbouring countries. Water crises concerning the shared waters urgently require a solution at the international level. Unfortunately, Iraq has faced several wars in a row (1980-2003), which has prevented the country from establishing its institutions. The rapid increase in the population of the transboundary countries on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and the high demands on agriculture, are accelerating water exploitation. In this paper, the present state of water management in Iraq from the viewpoint of the legislative framework, water balance, and transboundary issues will be discussed, with special attention to Kurdistan. Many legislative documents have been established or amended by the Iraqi and Kurdistan parliaments since 2003. In 2015, the Kurdistan Government Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, in cooperation with the EU, issued a guide for environmental legislation related to all environmental components such as air, water, and soil. The recommendations on actions needed in the water management in Kurdistan will be presented; they are inspired by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC) implemented in EU member states.Web of Science1011art. no. 165

DSDV, DYMO, OLSR: Link Duration and Path Stability

In this paper, we evaluate and compare the impact of link duration and path stability of routing protocols; Destination Sequence Distance vector (DSDV), Dynamic MANET On- Demand (DYMO) and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) at different number of connections and node density. In order to improve the efficiency of selected protocols; we enhance DYMO and OLSR. Simulation and comparison of both default and enhanced routing protocols is carried out under the performance parameters; Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), Average End-to End Delay (AE2ED) and Normalized Routing Overhead (NRO). From the results, we observe that DYMO performs better than DSDV, MOD-OLSR and OLSR in terms of PDR, AE2ED, link duration and path stability at the cost of high value of NRO

On Link Availability Probability of Routing Protocols for Urban Scenario in VANETs

This paper presents the link availability probability. We evaluate and compare the link availability probability for routing protocols; Ad hoc On-demand Distance vector (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) and Fisheye State Routing (FSR) for different number of connections and node density. A novel contribution of this work is enhancement in existing parameters of routing protocols; AODV, DSR and FSR as MOD-AODV, MOD-DSR and MOD-FSR. From the results, we observe that MOD-DSR and DSR outperform MOD-AODV, AODV, MODOLSR and OLSR in terms of Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), Average End-to End Delay (AE2ED), link availability probability at the cost of high value of Normalized Routing Overhead (NRO).Comment: IEEE Conference on Open Systems (ICOS2012)", Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 201

Vasopressin for the management of catecholamine-resistant anaphylactic shock

Severe anaesthetic anaphylaxis is relatively uncommon. Oxygen, fluids and epinephrine are considered to be the mainstay for treatment of cardiovascular collapse and current guidelines for the management of anaphylaxis list only epinephrine as a vasopressor to use in the event of a cardiovascular collapse. Recently, evidence has emerged in the support of the use of vasopressin in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, it is also recommended for the treatment of ventricular fibrillation, septic shock and post-cardiopulmonary bypass distribution shock. Currently, there is no algorithm or guideline for the management of anaphylaxis that include the use of vasopressin. We report a 24-year-old woman who developed severe anaphylactic shock at induction of anaesthesia while undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Circulation shock was refractory to epinephrine and high doses of pure alpha-agonist phenylephrine and norepinephrine. Single intravenous dose of two units of vasopressin re-established normal circulation and blood pressure

N-acetyl-B-D-glucosaminidase and inflammatory response after cardiopulmonary bypass

OBJECTIVE: To determine the changes in activity of plasma N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase, a marker for inflammation as well as renal, pulmonary and cardiac damage and proinflammatory cytokines in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting and find out the relationship between their plasma levels with clinical outcome of patients. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Aga Khan University, Karachi, from January to June 2003. PATIENTS AND METHODS: N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) activity and concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha of (TNFalpha), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL8) and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were monitored in plasma samples of 12 angina patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), before, immediately after and 5 days post-surgical procedure. Serum glucose concentrations were also monitored in those patients. Patient\u27s clinical condition was monitored during this time period. RESULTS: No significant increase was observed in plasma NAG activity (a marker of inflammation) or in plasma levels of TNFalpha, IL-6, IL-8 and GM-CSF immediately after surgery, indicating that cardiopulmonary bypass itself does not produce any significant amount of inflammation immediately after CABG. However, 5 days post surgery, there was a significant increase in plasma NAG activity (p=0.001), TNFalpha (p=0.047) and GM-CSF (p=0.045). There was no relationship between plasma NAG activity and clinical outcome because various parameters of renal, cardiac and pulmonary functions, though slightly affected, remained within the normal limits. CONCLUSION: Increased levels of NAG and TNFalpha did not affect clinical outcome. However, data suggest that NAG can be a potential marker for inflammation and end organ damage following CABG. An increase in GM-CSF on day 5 following CABG indicates enhanced body\u27s defense mechanism against infection

Studying of heart diseases prevalence, distribution and cofactors in Sudanese population

Background: the following study aimed to reveals the heart diseases (HD) prevalence, distribution and co-factors in Sudanese population during June 2014-June 2015 and to answer the questions related to, in Sudan.Methods: The data collected from different hospitals as gender, age, body mass index BMI, smoking habits, residential states, Pathologies, cardiothoracic ratio CCT, symptoms and breathing rate.Results: showed that HD were predominant among male with 56% and peaked among 65-77 year old, most of sample were either obese or overweight   representing 57% or 35% respectively. The common cofactors for HD were the socio-economic, smoking, hypertension and obesity which representing 90%, 75%, 60% and 57% respectively. The heart diseases HD incidence in Khartoum, Aljazeera, White Nile, Red Sea, and West of Sudan was 40%, 25%, 20%, 10% and 5% respectively. The common type of HD was Coronary Arteries, Valves, Myocardial infarction, and Congestive Heart Failure representing 45%, 17%, 23%, and 15% respectively. And signs were Hypertension, Diabetes mellitus, High Cholesterol, breathing rate, edema, palpitation with relative frequencies 9%, 11%, 6%, 12%, 8% and 10% respectively. Patients’ cardiothoracic ratio CTR exceeding normal level (0.5), A significant relationship between CTR and Breathing rate (BR) (R2 = 0.8) fits in CTR=0.02BR+0.2 as well between age and BR (R2) fits in BR=0.21age + 12.84. And all patients had BR exceeding the adult normal range (12-20).Conclusions: HD could be as endemic to increase mortality following the uneasy avoidable cofactors in the nearest future.

Dredging induced changes in zooplankton community and water quality in Dal Lake, Kashmir, India

A study was conducted from July 2013 to June 2014 to assess the outcome of dredging activity on the water characteristics and zooplankton community structure in Dal Lake. An assessment was done with respect to alterations in physico-chemical  parameters and zooplankton community changes in predredged and post-dredging periods. The results showed a considerable  reduction in Secchi transparency while water depth, conductivity, total dissolved solids, nitrate and total phosphorous concentrations increased noticeably in post dredging scenario. Variations in the values of dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature as a result of dredging were not statistically significant. The environmental changes as a result of dredging activity affected the structure and distribution of zooplankton community; the abundance of rotifers decreased, while the crustaceans increased. The prominent taxa were Brachionus sp., Keratella cochlearis, Bosmina longirostris, Chydorus sphaericus and Diaptomus sp.Key words: Dredging, water quality, zooplankton, rotifer, crustacean

Post-Weld Heat Treatment Effects on Microstructure, Crystal Structure, and Mechanical Properties of Donor Stir–Assisted Friction stir Welding Material of AA6061-T6 Alloy

Friction stir welding (FSW) technology combines heat input from friction and extreme plastic deformation to produce high-quality joints in aluminum and other alloy systems. This necessitates examining the final welded joint’s mechanical and structural properties. Post-weld heat-treated AA6061-T6 alloy that resulted from the application of a Cu donor stir–assisted (CDSA) friction stir welding (FSW) material was examined for crystal structure and mechanical properties. CDSA FSW samples were tested at a constant tool rotational speed of 1400 rpm and a welding translational speed of 1 mm/s. CDSA samples of 20% and 60% thickness of the AA6061-T6 base alloy were selected to assist the FSW joining at the plunge stage. The FSW AA6061-T6 samples were solid solution treated at 540 °C for 1 h, followed by quenching in water at room temperature. The samples were then artificially aged at 180 °C for 6 h, respectively, followed by air cooling. The samples were tested for microstructure, crystal structure, chemical composition, and mechanical properties using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nanoindentation. The microstructure shows the additional grain refinement in the stir zone (SZ) due to recovery and recrystallization with increasing aging time. Examination of the chemical contents of the FSW AA6061-T6 alloy samples using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) revealed Al (parent material) as the predominant element, while Cu (CDSA) was minimally present as expected. XRD results of the CDSA FSW samples depicted crystal orientations similar to the orientations of the AA6061-T6 alloy. Nanoindentation tests revealed softening effects due to the dissolution of hardening precipitates at the SZ. The hardness of the base metal (BM), left and right regions, is reported as ~ 0.65 GPa, whereas at the SZ, the hardness is ~ 0.55 GPa at a depth of indentation of 4.7 μm