Concrete structures are exposed to aggressive environmental conditions that lead to corrosion of the embedded reinforcement and pre-stressing steel. Consequently, the safety of concrete structures may be compromised, and this requires a significant budgets to repair and maintain critical infrastructure. Prediction of structural safety can lead to significant reductions in maintenance costs by maximizing the impact of investments. The aim of this paper is to establish a framework to assess the reliability of existing post-tensioned concrete bridges. A time-dependent reliability analysis of an existing post-tensioned involving the assessment of Ynys-y-Gwas bridge has been presented in this study. The main cause of failure of this bridge was corrosion of tendons, making it a relevant case study to evaluate the effect of corrosion on bridge safety. Uncertainties associated with material properties, geometry, loads and corrosion parameters are taken into account. The probabilistic models of the uncertainties are combined with a non-linear finite element analysis to study the effect of tendons pitting corrosion on the post-tensioned concrete bridge. The limit state function considered is flexural strength. The Monte-Carlo simulation (MCS) method is used to compute the statistical parameters of the resisting bending moment through a MATLAB code running ABAQUS. It was found that the reliability index for the first year of bridge service life is below the minimum value acceptable for structures. The study confirmed that this bridge was a high risk structure due to its design and location. The proposed framework can be used by engineers and researchers as a tool to support decision for segmental post-tensioned (PT) bridges maintenance since they need for a regular inspection due to their risk to corrosion.
Piperine, a crystalline alkaloid compound isolated from Piper nigrum, piper longum, and other types of piper, has had many fabulous pharmacological advantages for preventing and treating some specific diseases, such as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antimetastatic, antithyroid, immunomodulatory, antitumor, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's, and improving the bioavailability of other drugs. However, its potential for clinical use through oral usage is hindered by water solubility and poor bioavailability. The low level of oral bioavailability is caused by low solubility in water and is photosensitive, susceptible to isomerization by UV light, which causes piperine concentration to decrease. Many different
... Show MoreABSTRACT Objective: Cardiovascular diseases are the first ranked cause of death worldwide. Adhering to health promoting lifestyle behaviors will maintain an individual’s cardiovascular health and decrease the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Methods: In this descriptive study, 150 nursing faculty were surveyed via a non-probability (purposive) sampling method to assess their adherence to health promoting lifestyle in order to know the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The Arabic version of Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) was used to achieve this goal. Results: Seventy-two nursing faculty completed the survey. The results indicated that the study sample had moderate level of health promotion based on Health-Promot
... Show More<span>Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is bluster to network security that purpose at exhausted the networks with malicious traffic. Although several techniques have been designed for DDoS attack detection, intrusion detection system (IDS) It has a great role in protecting the network system and has the ability to collect and analyze data from various network sources to discover any unauthorized access. The goal of IDS is to detect malicious traffic and defend the system against any fraudulent activity or illegal traffic. Therefore, IDS monitors outgoing and incoming network traffic. This paper contains a based intrusion detection system for DDoS attack, and has the ability to detect the attack intelligently, dynami
... Show MoreHard-grade asphalt binders, such as AC 20–30, offer excellent resistance to permanent deformation but are inherently brittle, making them highly susceptible to fatigue and low-temperature cracking. While polymer modification addresses these issues, virgin polymers remain expensive. Despite the growing interest in recycled plastics, the rheological impact of complex waste streams, specifically polyvinyl chloride (PVC) derived from flex banners containing plasticizers, on excessively stiff binders within the complete Superpave Performance Grading (PG) framework remains critically underexplored. This study introduces a novel valorization approach by utilizing solvent-extracted flex banner waste (WPVC) as a dual-action modifier. It leverages
... Show MoreThe purpose of this study was to determine the influence of environmental pH on production of biofilms and virulence genes expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Among 303 clinical and environmental samples 109 (61 + 48) isolates were identified as clinical and environmental P. aeruginosa isolates, respectively. Clinical samples were obtained from patients in the Al-Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad city, Iraq. Waste water from Al-Yarmouk hospital was used from site before treatment unit to collect environmental samples. The ability of prod
Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (SD) are common skin disorders affecting the scalp and extending to other body sites in the case of SD. They are associated with pruritus and scaling, causing an esthetical disturbance in the population affected. Treatment of such conditions involves using a variety of drugs for long terms, thus optimizing drug formulation is essential to improve therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. Conventional topical formulations like shampoos and creams have been widely used but their use is associated with disadvantages. To overcome such effects, novel topical nanotechnology-based formulations are currently under investigation. In the following article, we highlight recently published formulatio
... Show MoreThe object of this work is to investigate the effect of the addition of methanol on the shelf life and color characteristics of novolak resin. Different percentages were added and two mechanisms were suggested for the addition. High ortho structure (1, 2-3) novolak resin was prepared and used in the above investigation. Experimental determination using FT-IR and UV-spectroscopy showed that on the addition of 30% of methanol and according to the second mechanism of addition novolak shelf life increased to 12 months without obvious decomposition and color change. It is suggested that methanol plays an important role in the inhabitation of the reactive sites on the resin that are responsible for the oxidation of the polymer when exposed to
... Show MoreObjective(s): To assess Baghdad University students’ knowledge and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS, and to find out
the relationship of Baghdad University students’ knowledge and attitudes with certain variables (gender,
socioeconomic status, field of study).
Methodology: A descriptive analytic study was used to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Baghdad University
Students’ toward HIV/AIDS. The study was conducted (November 1st 2012 to July 15th 2013). A non-probability
(purposive sample) of 400 students (males-138 and females-262) were selected from four colleges and they were
in the fourth class, a probability (stratified random) method was used to select four colleges at University of
Baghdad as a study settin
الخلفية: إن سمية الدواء والآثار الجانبية للعلاج الكيميائي تؤثر سلبا على مرضى سرطان الثدي. الأهداف: لتقييم فعالية التدخلات الصيدلانية في تحسين معرفة مرضى سرطان الثدي ومواقفهم وممارساتهم فيما يتعلق بالعلاج الكيميائي لسرطان الثدي.