UHD Journal of Science and Technology

Artificial Intelligence and Remote Sensing for Desertification in Iraq: Overcoming Traditional Monitoring Constraints

Bnar Abdulsalam Abdulrahman, Nama Ezzaalddin Mustafa — Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Desertification is one of the most pressing environmental threats and socioeconomic issues facing Iraq, both as a result of aggravated weather and climatic conditions due to climate change and urban sprawl and as a consequence of unsustainable land use. Conventional methods of monitoring – like ground surveys and visual interpretation of satellite images – are costly and time-consuming and may not be able to monitor large-scale changes on a real-time basis. To overcome these limitations, this article 1 investigates the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), including its integration with remote sensing, in improving the detection, assessment, and prediction of land degradation. Exploiting data-driven models, AI enables rapid and reliable diagnoses toward better land management, in line with essential Sustainable Development Goals, such as food security, climate action, and biodiversity conservation. Major challenges hindering the application process in Iraq were also reported in this paper, including poor data infrastructure, lack of policy integration, and institution capacity. Finally, it suggests research directions to reinforce the AI monitoring system, to provide support for a more efficient response to desertification and sustainable development.

Ameliorative effect of Salicylic Acid on the Growth of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Seedling under Cadmium Stress

Bahra J. Swara, Nazhad Kh. Talabany, lkbal M. Albarzinji — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Worldwide, Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is regarded as the most widely farmed vegetable. In Iraq, sewage water is used to irrigate lettuce that leading to health risks for consumers, particularly due to heavy metal contaminants, such as cadmium. This study was conducted as a factorial experiment in Taq-Taq city, Erbil, Iraq during the winter season 2021 to investigate the effects of soaking lettuce seeds in cadmium (Cd) (0, 10, 20, or 30mM) and salicylic acid (SA) (0, 2, 4, 6, or 8mM) on the germination and some seedling growth properties of this plant. Results show that soaking the seeds in distilled water led to a decrease in the percent of seeds germination compared to that soaked in Cd solutions, while exist of SA at moderate concentrations increase the germination percent. Most of the seedling growth characteristics exhibited a considerable increase with soaking seeds in Cd solution. SA in high concentration reduced significantly seeds germination and most of the seedling shoot and root characteristics, except the root length, which grew significantly. Most of the responses of Cd and SA were non-significant regarding chlorophyll a, b, and total carotenoids. This study concluded that soaking lettuce seeds in Cd up to 30mM and SA up to 4mM act as a stimulate hermetic effects on germination and subsequence growth of lettuce seedling, these findings confirm the increase growth and yield of lettuce irrigated by wastewater (including Cd) in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan region in spite of the increased health risks.

Bioactive Potential of Nigella sativa (Black Seed): Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Anticancer Activities Across Extraction Methods

Syamand Qadir — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Nigella sativa L. (black seed) is among the most commonly used medicinal plants and is well-known for its high content of bioactive ingredients and its various pharmacological activities. This work explores the antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer properties of Nigella sativa seed extracts from various extraction methods: water (hydrodistillation and decoction), ethanolic and methanolic extractions, and cold press oil. The methanol FT ex-tracts had the highest TPC (2.93 mg GAE/g) and TFC (1.89 mg QE/g), and this was associated with the highest protective antioxidant efficacy in the FRAP, ABTS and DPPH tests. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the extracts were evaluated with clinically significant bacterial and fungal strains. Methanol and ethanol extracts showed the most inhibitory activity with 17 mm of inhibitory zone and water and oil extracts showed the low-er inhibitory activity. Cytotoxicity on PC-3 prostate cancer cells in vitro was also assessed by means of the MTT assay. The data obtained exhibited a significant concentration-dependent decrease in cell viability, where the methanol extract showed the greatest antiproliferative effects, reaching a percentage decrease in growth of 48.49% at the highest tested concentration. These results indicate that the choice of solvents has a substantial effect on the extraction yield and bioactivities of Nigella sativa. The better activities of methanol and ethanol extracts demonstrate the potential of them as a natural source for the development of antioxidants, antimicrobials, and anticancer that can be employed in nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and therapeutic products.

KEY WORDS: Nigella sativa, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, anti-cancer potential and extraction methods.

Design and Implementation of a Hash-based Post-Quantum Digital Signature Scheme for Lightweight Applications

Tara Nawzad Ahmad Al Attar, Mohammed Anwar Mohammed, Rebaz Nawzad Mohammed — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The rapid advancement of quantum computing poses a serious threat to classical digital signature algorithms such as RSA and ECDSA, which rely on mathematical problems vulnerable to quantum attacks. Hash-based digital signatures offer a strong post-quantum alternative due to their reliance on cryptographic hash functions and their resistance to both classical and quantum adversaries. This study evaluates the feasibility of hash-based signatures in lightweight and resource-constrained environments by implementing three representative schemes: Lamport One-Time Signatures (OTS), Winternitz One-Time Signatures (WOTS), and Merkle-WOTS. The analysis focuses on key performance factors relevant to constrained devices, including key size, signature size, signing time, and verification speed. Experimental results show that while Lamport OTS provides conceptual simplicity and WOTS offers improved efficiency, the Merkle-WOTS scheme delivers the most practical balance. It supports multiple signatures under a compact public key while maintaining moderate signature sizes and competitive performance. These findings indicate that Merkle-WOTS is a strong candidate for post-quantum authentication in IoT and other lightweight embedded systems.