Abstract. In this study, we evaluate ecological and cultural resiliency in response to desertification of the Mesopotamian Marshes of Southern Iraq. Our research illustrates that the desiccation of the marshes has caused a drastic change in how Marsh Arab women interact with their environment; specifically, in comparison to the predesiccation period, women's roles are increasingly limited to domestic rather than marsh-dependent activities. With the exception of raising water buffalo and limited horticulture activities, most families today have little opportunity to utilize women's ability to generate income by applying their traditional ecological knowledge and skills. Furthermore, these women are no longer transmitting their marsh-specific knowledge and skills to the next generation, and these valuable and ancient cultural memories are being lost. Upstream dam construction, drought, and regional climate change is depriving Marsh Arab communities of marsh ecosystem services such as potable water, water buffalo forage, fish yields, and reed production. In marsh areas, where enough water remains to sustain ecosystem services (such as in Chibayish and the Iraq Marshlands National Park), cultural knowledge has been retained and passed on to the next generations. We recommend that programs be implemented to preserve these traditional skills, to develop a market for handicrafts to support women and their families, and to support cultural knowledge. Otherwise, with the passing of the older generation, these remnants of ancient Sumerian knowledge systems and traditional ways of life will soon be forgotten.

BACKGROUND: Sal (Shorea robusta) deoiled seed cake extract (SDOCE) was assessed for its suitability as a cheap natural substrate for lipase production under submerged fermentation. The bacterial isolate Aeromonas sp. S1 isolated from dairy industry was used for lipase production. Both the isolate and its lipase were shown to be potential tools for treatment of dairy wastewater containing higher organic load.

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) seeds were used as an adsorbent product to remove lead ions from aqueous solutions through the batch adsorption process. In this study, the optimum condition used to determine the adsorption of industrial wastewater were including pH, temperature, agitation speed and contact time. The results were evaluated by using seeds of two date palm cultivars (Hillawi and Zahdi) The results showed that, the highest removal ratio of lead ions from industrial wastewater samples achieved by Hillawi seeds was 0.598 mg/g, 79.81% at time 90 min., pH 6.5, agitation speed 50 rpm and Temp. 25°C. While Zahdi seeds had given the results of 0.349 mg/g, 43.65% at Time 90 min., pH 4.5, agitation speed 200 rpm and Temp.35°C. Surface morphology and functional surface groups were determined by using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), respectively.

Citation: Raghad S. Jaafar, Fadhil N. Al-knany, Bayan A. Mahdi and Asaad M.R. Al-Taee, Study the Probiotic Properties of Pediococcus pentosaceus AbstractOne of the most important problems to the fish in aquaculture is pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, is a serious necessity in aquaculture to upgrade microbial hegemony strategies. The present study focused on isolation, screening, biochemical and molecular level characterizations of potential probiotic bacteria from the fish pond in Basra city southern Iraq. Isolated bacteria were characterized based on their morphological and biochemical traits and were identified using automated instrument (Vitek II) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. As a result, bacteria were identified as Pediococcus pentosaceus. In order to be used in aquaculture as probiotics, bacteria must have good probiotic properties such as the ability to live in the presence of bile salts and low pH. Hence, bacteria were incubated with different concentrations of bile salts and pH values for different periods of time. In addition to that, bacteria were subjected to additional tests, such as tolerance to survive in simulated human gastrointestinal tract conditions and antibiotic susceptibility. Results of all these tests indicated that Pediococcus pentosaceus has good probiotic properties. The pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella sp.) were identified using the automated instrument for bacterial identification (Vitek II). The antagonistic ability of P. pentosaceus toward the pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella sp.) was tested using the agar sawing method. The result indicated that P. pentosaceus has good antagonistic ability.