Experts have given much attention on the use of waste in asphalt paving because of its significance from a sustainability perspective. This paper evaluated the performance properties of asphalt concrete mixes modified with Crumb Rubber (CR) as a partial replacement for two grade sizes of fine aggregate (2.36, and 0.3 mm) at six replacement rates: 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% by weight. Asphalt concrete mixes were prepared at their Optimum Asphalt Content (OAC) and then tested for their engineering properties. Marshall properties, fatigue, rutting, ideal CT index test, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Energy-Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy were deployed to examine the crystalline structure and elemental composition of the CR-modified and unmodified asphalt concrete mixtures. The results showed a difference in Marshall's characteristics. The CT index revealed that the optimum cracking tolerance was achieved with a 2% CR substitution. Wheel track test results indicated that a 4% CR addition improved the rutting resistance of the asphalt mixture. SEM and EDX analyses exhibited significant changes in microstructure and elemental composition with the addition of CR. The main findings reveal that the use of 2% CR as a partial replacement of fine aggregate contributes to the production of more durable asphalt concrete mixtures with better serviceability. However, these results are based on laboratory experiments and require field verification to ensure practical applicability and long-term performance.
This study concerns the removal of a trihydrate antibiotic (Amoxicillin) from synthetically contaminated water by adsorption on modified bentonite. The bentonite was modified using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB), which turned it from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic material. The effects of different parameters were studied in batch experiments. These parameters were contact time, solution pH, agitation speed, initial concentration (C0) of the contaminant, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum removal of amoxicillin (93 %) was achieved at contact time = 240 min, pH = 10, agitation speed = 200 rpm, initial concentration = 30 ppm, and adsorbent dosage = 3 g bentonite per 1L of pollutant solution. The characterization of the adsorbent, modi
... Show MoreChromene is considered a fused pyran ring with a benzene ring, which is found in many plants and is part of many important compounds such as anthocyanidins, anthocyanins, catechins, and flavanones. These compounds are included under the headings "flavonoids" and "isoflavonoids." These compounds are well known as bioactive molecules with wide medicinal uses. According to these pharmacokinetic characteristics, many researchers are giving more attention to this type of compound and its derivatives. Many chromene derivatives have been synthesized to study their biological effects for the treatment of many diseases. Furthermore, the researcher displayed wide interest in finding new methods for synthesizing chromene derivatives. These met
... Show MoreUnderstanding, promoting, and teaching media literacy is an important societal challenge. STEM educators are increasingly looking to incorporate 21st century skills such as media literacy into core subject education. In this paper we investigate how undergraduate Computer Science (CS) students can learn media literacy as a by-product of collaborative video tutorial production. The paper presents a study of 34 third-year CS undergraduates who, as part of their learning, were each asked to produce three video tutorials on Raspberry Pi programming, using a collaborative video production tool for mobile phones (Bootlegger). We provide results of both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the production process and resulting video tutorials,
... Show MoreEndophytic fungi live inside plants or any part of them without creating any visible pathogenic signs. Endophytic fungi are found within medicinal plants and have shown strong biologic activity, such as anticancer and antioxidant activities, as well as producing extracellular enzymes. In this study, different fungal strains were isolated from the leaves of the medicinal plant Ziziphus spina, including Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium sp., Rhizopus sp., and Mucor sp. Extracellular enzymes have been quantified using agar plate-based methods in which fungi were grown in specified growth media to detect the enzymes produced. The results showed that A. niger has the highest ability to produce amy
... Show MoreIn this work, lead oxide nanoparticles were prepared by laser ablation of lead target immersed in deionized water by using pulsed Nd:YAG laser with laser energy 400 mJ/pulse and different laser pulses. The chemical bonding of lead oxide nps was investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR); surface morphology and optical properties were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy respectively, and the size effect of lead oxide nanoparticles was studied on its antibacterial action against two types of bacteria Gram-negitive (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcusaurus) by diffusion method. The antibacterial property results show that the antibacterial activity of the Lead oxide NPs was
... Show MoreA large number of natural or synthetic dyes have been removed from both national and international lists of permitted food colors because of their mutagenic or carcinogenic activity. Therefore, this study aimed to use the Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA-Based Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) assay as a feasible method to evaluate the ability of some food colors as genotoxin-induced DNA damage and mutations. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum was used as a bioindicator to determine the genotoxic effects by RAPD-PCR using M13 primer after treatment with some synthetic dyes currently used as food color additives, including Sunset Yellow, Carmoisine, and Tartrazine. Besides qualitative analysis, the bioinformatic GelJ software was used for clus
... Show MoreThis study sought to investigate the impacts of big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and business intelligence (BI) on Firms' e-learning and business performance at Jordanian telecommunications industry. After the samples were checked, a total of 269 were collected. All of the information gathered throughout the investigation was analyzed using the PLS software. The results show a network of interconnections can improve both e-learning and corporate effectiveness. This research concluded that the integration of big data, AI, and BI has a positive impact on e-learning infrastructure development and organizational efficiency. The findings indicate that big data has a positive and direct impact on business performance, including Big
... Show MoreHere we report for the first time the presence of Apoleptomastix bicoloricornis (Girault, 1915) (Hymenoptera, Encyrtidae), as parasitoid of the rice mealybug, Brevennia rehi (Lindinger, 1943) (Hemiptera, Psedococcidae) in Iraq. Brief notes are provided in distinguishing the parasitoid from other closely allied species.
Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control. CD200 is a cell surface glycoprotein expressed on many cells, it belongs to the immunoglobulin family (Ig) and have a great role in the regulation of inflammation in autoimmunity. CD200 is the ligand for CD200R1 receptor. To determine if serum level of CD200 and its receptor CD200R1 can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in patients with breast cancer.This case control study was carried out at Oncology Teaching Hospital – Medical city in Baghdad. Six groups were enrolled, four groups were confirmed with breast cancer stage (I, II, III and IV), fifth group (benign) and sixth group was control (healthy individual). Serum is divided to me
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