The durability of asphalt pavement is associated with the properties and performance of the binder. This work-study intended to understand the impact of blending Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) to conventional asphalt concrete mixtures and calculating the Optimum Asphalt Content (OAC) for conventional mixture also; compare the performance between SBS modified with the conventional mixture. Two different kinds of asphalt penetration grades, A.C. (40-50) and A.C. (60-70), were improved with 2.5 and 3.5% SBS polymer, respectively. Marshall properties were determined in this work. Optimum Asphalt Content (OAC) was 4.93 and 5.1% by weight of mixture for A.C. (40-50) and (60-70), respectively. Marshall properties results show an increasement in the stability value by 8.65 and 20.19% for A.C. (40-50) with 2.5 and 3.5% of SBS, respectively. And an increasement by 9.32 and 20.61% for AC (60-70) with 2.5 and 3.5% of SBS respectively. Furthermore, the results indicate a decrease in Marshall flow by 14.7 and 26.47% for A.C. (40-50) with 2.5 and 3.5% SBS respectively and a decrease by 10.46 and 21.21% for A.C. (60-70) with 2.5 and 3.5% SBS respectively. Other Marshall properties were also calculated. Moreover, Blending SBS polymers to conventional asphalt mixtures produces a better performance to asphalt binder and better Marshall properties, which provides a great solution to Iraqi road problems affected by temperature and high traffic load, including less maintenance. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091709 Full Text: PDF
Background: Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived mitral annular displacement (MAD) utilizes the speckle tracking technique to measure strain vectors, which provides accurate estimates of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).Objectives: To validate the accuracy of mitral annular displacement (MAD), assessed by Speckle Tracking Echocardiography (STE), as a surrogate for determination of left ventricular systolic function in comparison to 2-Dimensions Simpson method in patients with different heart diseases.Methods : This cross-sectional study included patients who referred to outpatient department of Ibn Albitar Center for Cardiac Surgery, Baghdad, Iraq, between October 2012 and April 2013. STE continuously tracked annular
... Show MoreThe research aimed at designing a rehabilitation program using electric stimulation for rehabilitating knee joint working muscles as a result of ACL tear using an apparatus developed by the researchers that stimulate the muscle vibration and work as well as the ability to rehabilitate the join in shorter periods. In addition to that, it aimed at identifying the effect of this program on rehabilitating the knee joint working muscles. The researchers used the experimental method on Baghdad clubs’ players who suffer from complete knee joint ACL tear aged (19 – 24) years old. The results showed that the training program developed the working muscles significantly achieving normal levels of activity.
Background: Chronic cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for coronary artery disease. However, it has additional cardiac adverse effects independent of coronary atherosclerosis. Patient and Methods: After informed consent and perm- ission from the review board of the hospital, 80 healthy subjects who were classified as smokers or non-smokers were included in the study. They were examined by standard echocardiography protocol which was followed by two-dimensional speckle tracking to assess the functions of the right ventricle. Results: The tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) was significantly reduced in smokers as compared to non-smokers (P < 0.05). The tricuspid flow peak late diastolic velocity (A wave) was sig
... Show MoreBackground: C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase protein that its plasma levels increase after trauma or surgery so it is used as an indicator for the level of inflammation after surgery. The objective of this study is to investigate pre- and post-operative levels of CRP in three types of oral surgical interventions (Apicoectomy, Impaction, and Impacted teeth exposure). Materials and Methods: A total number of (48) healthy individuals aged (20-60) years who needed oral surgical intervention for either (removal of impacted third molars, exposure of an impacted canine, or Apicoectomy). A 4ml venous blood was obtained from each patient at two occasions (pre-operatively at the day of operation and post-operatively after 48 hours), then ce
... Show MoreMost companies use social media data for business. Sentiment analysis automatically gathers analyses and summarizes this type of data. Managing unstructured social media data is difficult. Noisy data is a challenge to sentiment analysis. Since over 50% of the sentiment analysis process is data pre-processing, processing big social media data is challenging too. If pre-processing is carried out correctly, data accuracy may improve. Also, sentiment analysis workflow is highly dependent. Because no pre-processing technique works well in all situations or with all data sources, choosing the most important ones is crucial. Prioritization is an excellent technique for choosing the most important ones. As one of many Multi-Criteria Decision Mak
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The problem of the study was to identify the possibility of benefiting from the application of the target cost system as a modern cost system to activate the environmental cost management instead of the traditional systems used in the company due to the great transformations witnessed by the business environment in all fields, which have resulted in the search for modern systems to provide more accurate and more appropriate information to reduce Costs, because accurate information makes the company have a complete vision to achieve the company’s goals. To solve this problem, the research was based on the following hypothesis (that the role of the target cost system leads to the activation of environmental cost management). Target c
... Show MoreThe study was carried out to determine the cytotoxic, antioxidant and gastro-protective effect of ethyl-4-[(3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzylid ene)amino] benzoate (ETHAB) in rats.
Background: Dolutegravir sodium (DTG), used to treat HIV, faces challenges in delivering effective therapeutic concentrations to the brain due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) combined with in situ gels present a promising strategy for enhancing brain drug delivery via the intranasal route. Objective: To compare brain pharmacokinetics of DTGs delivered via NLC-loaded in situ gel intranasal administration with the conventional intravenous (IV) drug solution. Methods: 80 Wistar rats, which were divided into three groups: two groups consisting of 39 animals each and a control group with 2 animals. Rats were administered with a dose of 1.0 mg/kg of DTGs IV, and DTGs NLC-loaded in situ gel were admin
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