When the flange of a reinforced concrete spandrel beam is in tension, current design codes and specifications enable a portion of the bonded flexure tension reinforcement to be distributed over an effective flange width. The flexural behavior of the RC L-shaped spandrel beam when reinforcement is laterally displaced in the tension flange is investigated experimentally and numerically in this work. Numerical analysis utilizing the finite element method is performed on discretized flanged beam models validated using experimentally verified L-shaped beam specimens to achieve study objectives. A parametric study was carried out to evaluate the influence of various factors on the beam’s flexure behavior. Results showed that

In this work an experimental study is performed to evaluate the thermal performance
of locally made closed loop solar hot water system using a shell and helical coiled tube
heat exchanger as a storage tank. Several measurements are taken include inlet and outlet
temperatures of both collectors and supply water and temperature distribution within the
storage tank. This is beside the water flow rate in both collectors and load cycle. The
main parameters of the system are obtained.

Mechanical degradation hampers the practical usage of polymers for turbulent drag reduction
application. Mechanical degradation refers to the chemical process in which the activation energy of
polymer chain scission is exceeded by mechanical action on the polymer chain, and bond rupture
occurs. When a water-soluble polymer and surfactant are mixed in water solution, the specific structures
(aggregates) are formed, in which polymer film is formed around micelle. In this work, Xanthan gum (XG) –
Sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SELS) complex formation and its effect on percentage viscosity reduction
(%VR) was studied. It was found that SELS surfactant reduced the mechanical degradation of XG much
more efficiently than th

In this study, a three-dimensional finite element analysis using ANSYS 12.1 program had been employed to simulate simply supported reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams with multiple web circular openings subjected to an impact loading. Three design parameters were considered, including size, location and number of the web openings. Twelve models of simply supported RC T-beams were subjected to one point of transient (impact) loading at mid span. Beams were simulated and analysis results were obtained in terms of mid span deflection-time histories and compared with the results of the solid reference one. The maximum mid span deflection is an important index for evaluating damage levels of the RC beams subjected to impact loading. Three experi

The avoidance strategy of prey to predation and the predation strategy for predators are important topics in evolutionary biology. Both prey and predators adjust their behaviors in order to obtain the maximal benefits and to raise their biomass for each. Therefore, this paper is aimed at studying the impact of prey’s fear and group defense against predation on the dynamics of the food-web model. Consequently, in this paper, a mathematical model that describes a tritrophic Leslie-Gower food-web system is formulated. Sokol-Howell type of function response is adapted to describe the predation process due to the prey’s group defensive capability. The effects of fear due to the predation process are considered in the first two levels

Objective(s): assessment of  the health follow up and weight control for women with osteoporosis and find out the relationship between their health follow up and weight control and their socio-demographic characteristics.

Methodology: A descriptive study was conducted on women with osteoporosis for the period of September, 26^th 2020 to Jun, 20th 2021. Non- probability (convenient) sample of (70) women with osteoporosis selected from (5) Private Clinics for Joints and Fractures in Baqubah City. A questionnaire was designed though extensive review of literatures and it consists of three parts: the first part includes women’s socio demographic characteristics, the second part inclu

Experimental investigation of the influence of inserting the metal foam to the solar chimney to induce natural ventilation are described and analyzed in this work. To carry out the experimental test, two identical solar chimneys (without insertion of metal foam and with insertion of metal foam) are designed and placed facing south with dimensions of length× width× air gap (2 m× 1 m× 0.2 m). Four incline angles are tested (20^o,30^o,45^o,60^o) for each chimney in Baghdad climate condition (33.3^o latitude, 44.4^o longitude) on October, November, December 2018. The solar chimney performance is investigated by experimentally recording absorber pl

In recent years and decades, there is a great need for developing new alternative energy sources or renewable sustainable energy. On the other hand, new technology approaches are growing . towards benefits from the valuable nutrients in wastewater which are unrecoverable by traditional wastewater treatment processes.  In the current study, a novel integrated system of microbial fuel cell and anoxic bioreactor (MFC-ANB) was designed and constructed to investigate its potential for slaughterhouses wastewater treatment, nitrogen recovery, and power generation. The system consisted of a double-chamber tubular type MFC with biocathode inoculated with freshly collected activated sludge. The MFC-ANB system was continuously fed with real-fi

Obesity has been connected to a higher risk of acquiring a number of diseases, including cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Periostin is a crucial regulator of the growth and maintenance of bones, teeth, and the heart.

BACKGROUND: HLA-B27 can effect clinical presentation and course of ankylosing spondylitis. Different detection techniques of HLA-B27 are available with variable sensitivities and specificities. OBJECTIVE: To compare serologic and molecular diagnostic techniques of detecting HLA-B27 status and to correlate it with some clinical variables among ankylosing spondylitis patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 83 Iraqi patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Clinical and laboratory evaluations were reported. HLA-B27 status was determined in all patients by real-time PCR using HLA-B27 RealFast™ kit; ELISA method was used as well to detect soluble serum HLA-B27 antigens using Human Leukocyte Antigen® kit. RESULTS: