Bathymetry and siltation rate for Dokan Reservoir,Iraq

The Dokan Reservoir dam is a concrete cylindrical arch with gravity abutments, located on the Lesser Zab River about 60 km from the city of Sulaimani in north‐eastern Iraq. A bathymetric survey was conducted in November 2014 for a period of 10 days, using an echo sounder of 200‐kHz single beam. The survey results indicated an annual average sediment deposition of 3.8 million m³. Thirty‐two sediment samples were collected from the reservoir bed. The ratio of gravel, sand, silt and clay was 15:14:48:23, respectively. The reservoir bed is covered mainly with silt. The sediments are composed of silty clay (77.6%), silty sandy clay (10%), sandy gravely silty clay (1.2%) and gravely sandy silty clay (1%).     

Platyphylloside: Metabolism and digestibility reductionin vitro

The metabolism of platyphylloside [(5S)-5-hydroxy-1,7-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-heptanone-5-O--d-glucopyranosidel]—known to reduce digestibility—was studiedin vitro in sheep rumen liquor. Platyphylloside is hydrolyzed to 5-hydroxy-3-platyphyllone [(5S)-5-hydroxy-1,7-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-heptanone], which is reduced to centrolobol [1,7-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-heptanol], via 3-platyphyllone [7-bis-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-heptanone]. The digestibility-reducing effect was shown to be correlated with the concentration of centrolobol.     

Rheological and extrusion characteristics of glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate

An experimental investigation of the rheological properties of glass fiber-reinforced polycarbonate melts and the extrusion of such compounds through capillary and slit dies is presented. The viscosity–shear rate function seems independent of instrument for cone-plate and capillary investigations. The presence of fibers increases the level of the viscosity. Normal stresses at fixed shear stress are also increased by the presence of fibers. The extrudate swell is decreased by the presence of fibers and surface roughness is increased. Fiber orientation increases and surface roughness decreases with increasing extrusion rate.     

Sediment flux from Lesser Zab River in Dokan Reservoir: Implications for the sustainability of long‐term water resources in Iraq

Prudent management of Iraqi water resources under climate change conditions requires plans to be based on actual figures of the storage capacity of existing reservoirs. With the absence of sediment flushing measures, the actual storage capacity of Dokan Reservoir (operated since 1959) has been affected by the amount of sediment delivered during its operational life leading to an undetermined reduction in its storage capacity. In consequence, there has not been an update on the dam's operational storage capacity curves. In this research, new operational curves were established for the reservoir based on a recent bathymetric survey undertaken in 2014. The reduction in reservoir capacity during the period between 1959 and 2014 was calculated by the mean of the difference between the designed storage capacity and the storage capacity which was concluded from the 2014 bathymetric survey. Moreover, the rate of sediment transported to the reservoir was calculated based on the overall quantities of accumulated sediment and the water discharge of the Lesser Zab River into the reservoir. The results indicate that the dam capacity is reduced by 25% due to sedimentation of an estimated volume of 367 million cubic metres at water level 480 m.a.s.l. The annual sedimentation rate was about 6.6 million cubic metres, and the sediment yield was estimated to be 701.2 t?km^?3?year.     

Climate Change and Future Long-Term Trends of Rainfall at North-East of Iraq

Iraq is facing water shortage problem despite the presence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. In this research, long rainfall trends up to the year 2099 were studied in Sulaimani city northeast Iraq to give an idea about future prospects. The medium high （A2） and medium low B2 scenarios have been used for purpose of this study as they are more likely than others scenarios, that beside the fact that no climate modeling canter has performed GCM （global climate model） simulations for more than a few emissions scenarios （HadCM3 has only these two scenarios） otherwise pattern scaling can be used for generating different scenarios which entail a huge uncertainty. The results indicate that the average annual rainfall shows a significant downward trend for both A2 and B2 scenarios. In addition, winter projects increase/decrease in the daily rainfall statistics of wet days, the spring season show very slight drop and no change for both scenarios. However, both summer and autumn shows a significant reduction in maximum rainfall value especially in 2080s while the other statistics remain nearly the same. The extremes events are to decrease slightly in 2080s with highest decrease associated with A2 scenario. This is due to the fact that rainfall under scenario A2 is more significant than under scenario B2. The return period of a certain rainfall will increase in the future when a present storm of 20 year could occur once every 43 year in the 2080s. An increase in the frequency of extreme rainfall depends on several factors such as the return period, season of the year, the period considered as well as the emission scenario used.     

Phase-based multidimensional volume registration

We present a method for accurate image registration and motion compensation in multidimensional signals, such as two-dimensional (2-D) X-ray images and three-dimensional (3-D) computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging volumes. The method is based on phase from quadrature filters, which makes it robust to noise and temporal intensity variations. The method is equally applicable to signals of two, three or higher number of dimensions. We use parametric models, e.g., affine models, finite elements or local affine models with global regularization. Experimental results show high accuracy for 2-D and 3-D motion compensation.     

Absolute quantification of perfusion using dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI: pitfalls and possibilities

Absolute quantification of cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood volume and mean transit time is desirable in the determination of tissue viability thresholds and tissue at risk in acute ischaemic stroke, as well as in cases where a global reduction in cerebral blood flow is expected, for example, in patients with dementia or depressive disorders. Absolute values are also useful when comparing sequential examinations of tissue perfusion parameters, for example, in the monitoring and follow-up of various kinds of therapy. Regardless of the method employed, a number of assumptions and approximations must be made to obtain absolute measures of perfusion. Furthermore, the different stages of data acquisition and processing are associated with various degrees of uncertainty. In this review, the problems of particular relevance to absolute quantification of cerebral perfusion parameters using dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging are discussed, and possible solutions are outlined.     

Formation and Healing of Voids at the Metal–Oxide Interface in NiAl Alloys

The present investigation concerns the formation and healing of voids at the metal–oxide interface in β-NiAl alloys. It is shown that transient cavities form at the metal–oxide interface during the initial stage of isothermal oxidation at 1,050 °C. These voids disappear after a few hours of oxidation, due to their filling with oxide. It is proposed that the filling of the transient voids occurs through cracks in the outer oxide scale. This allows for an oxygen transport into the cavities where a new oxide is created and grows outwards from the metal surface. Pt-containing β-NiAl alloys that have better resistance to oxide spallation show suppressed formation of cavities and/or a faster filling of voids. This is explained by the enhanced diffusion of Al in these materials.     

Denoising of arterial spin labeling data: wavelet-domain filtering compared with Gaussian smoothing

Purpose  

To investigate a wavelet-based filtering scheme for denoising of arterial spin labeling (ASL) data, potentially enabling reduction of the required number of averages and the acquisition time.