This study aims to suggest an alternative to the use of quality agricultural soil in the brick industry (Iraq). The Late Miocene claystone bed in the Injana Formation in central Iraq was targeted through the study of 18 exposed sections that were sampled by using the trench sampling method. The claystones are characterized by quartz (36.4%) followed by calcite (32.8%), quartz (36.4%) feldspar (2.6%), gypsum (1.3%) and dolomite (0.7%), kaolinite (10.5%), illite (7.7%), chlorite (6.7%), palygorskite (6.0%) and montmorillonite (0.7%). New thermal mineral phases were formed at 950°C, including diopside (62.9%), quartz (18.4%), wollastonite (8.28%), akermanite (7.6%), Anorthite (6.25%), Nosean (4.9%), gehlenite (3.75%) and Lazurite (3.15%). The raw material's engineering tests showed that the Atterberg index for the plasticity varies from low to high, low volumetric and linear shrinkage during drying and firing with a temperature at 950°C. The raw material produced bricks with 155 kg/cm2 uniaxial compressive strength, 23.2% water absorption, and zero to low efflorescence. The results show the potential use of the Late Miocene clays of the Injana Formation to replace the existing agricultural grade muds presently being manufactured within the A and B category based on the Iraqi standard specification No.25 in 1993.
Objective The aim of this study was to assess whether serum cytokine levels correlate with clinical periodontal parameters in health or disease.
Materials and Methods Male subjects (40–60 years) with CP (n = 30), CP + CHD (n = 30), and healthy controls (n = 20) had plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing, probing pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment level (CAL) evaluated. Serum IL-1β and IL-6 levels were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results PLI, GI, PPD, and CAL were significantly higher in patients with CP + CHD compared to those with CP. Serum levels of IL-1β and IL-6 were also si
As material flow cost accounting technology focuses on the most efficient use of resources like energy and materials while minimizing negative environmental effects, the research aims to show how this technology can be applied to promote green productivity and its reflection in attaining sustainable development. In addition to studying sustainability, which helps to reduce environmental impacts and increase green productivity, the research aims to demonstrate the knowledge bases for accounting for the costs of material flow and green productivity. It also studies the technology of accounting for the costs of material flow in achieving sustainable development and the role of green productivity in achieving sustainable development. According
... Show MoreThis paper aims to study the effect of circular Y-shaped fin arrangement to improve the low thermal response rates of a double-tube heat exchanger containing Paraffin phase change material (PCM). ANSYS software is employed to perform the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of the heat exchanger, including fluid flow, heat transfer, and the phase change process. The optimum state of the fin configuration is derived through sensitivity analysis by evaluating the geometrical parameters of the Y-shaped fin. For the same height of the fins (10 mm), the solidification time is reduced by almost 22%, and the discharging rate is enhanced by almost 26% using Y-shaped fins compared with the straight fins. The results demonstrate that the sol
... Show MoreIt is important to note that Posaconazole (POCZ) is a newly developed extended-spectrum triazole that belongs to BCS class II and has a solubility of less than 1µg/ml. In patients with a weakened immune system, POCZ has been shown to be effective as an antifungal treatment for invasive infections caused by candida and aspergillus species. The nano-micelles technique can be used to increase POCZ solubility. In order to increase their apparent solubility in water, nano-micelles are made by combining macromolecules that self-assemble into ordered structures capable of entrapping hydrophobic drug molecules in the interior domain. Dispersed colloidal systems, of which nano-micelles are a subset, are a large and diverse group. Composed of a p
... Show MoreThis study aimed at evaluating the torsional capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) beams externally wrapped with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials. An analytical model was described and used as a new computational procedure based on the softened truss model (STM) to predict the torsional behavior of RC beams strengthened with FRP. The proposed analytical model was validated with the existing experimental data for rectangular sections strengthened with FRP materials and considering torque-twist relationship and crack pattern at failure. The confined concrete behavior, in the case of FRP wrapping, was considered in the constitutive laws of concrete in the model. Then, an efficient algorithm was developed in MATLAB environment t
... Show MoreReliability analysis methods are used to evaluate the safety of reinforced concrete structures by evaluating the limit state function 𝑔(𝑋𝑖). For implicit limit state function and nonlinear analysis , an advanced reliability analysis methods are needed. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) can be used in this case however, as the number of input variables increases, the time required for MCS also increases, making it a time consuming method especially for complex problems with implicit performance functions. In such cases, MCS-based FORM (First Order Reliability Method) and Artificial Neural Network-based FORM (ANN FORM) have been proposed as alternatives. However, it is important to note that both MCS-FORM and ANN-FORM can also be time-con
... Show MoreThis study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel concrete-encased column (CE) using small circular steel tubes filled with cementitious grouting material (GFST) as the primary reinforcement instead of traditional steel bars. The research involved three different types of reinforcement: conventional steel bars, concrete-filled steel tubes with 30% of the reinforcement ratio of steel bars, and concrete-filled steel tubes with the same reinforcement ratio as steel bars. Twenty-four circular concrete columns were tested and categorized into six groups based on the type of reinforcement employed. Each group comprised four columns, with one subjected to concentric axial load, two subjected to eccentric axial load (with eccentrici
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