In this paper, mesoscale modeling is performed to simulate and understand fracture behavior of two concrete composites: cement and asphalt concrete using disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) tests. Mesoscale models are used as alternative to macroscale models to obtain better realistic behavior of composite and heterogeneous materials such as cement and asphalt concrete. In mesoscale models, aggregate and matrix are represented as distinct materials and each material has its characteristic properties. Disk-shaped compact tension test is used to obtain tensile strength and fracture energy of materials. This test can be used as a better alternative to other tests such as three points bending tests because it is more convenient for both field and

The ability of four local fungal isolates for extracellular laccase production has been tested with five grams 1:1(w/v) humidified sawdust as substrate in mineral salt medium. After 21 day of incubation at 25±1 ? C and using one mycelial plug (5mm), higher level of laccase activity (0.15U/ml) and specific activity (15U/mg) were observed by Pleurotus ostreatus in comparison with other fungal isolates. The results of optimum conditions for laccase production from selected isolate showed that, the maximum laccase activity (0.55U/ml) and specific activity (55U/mg) were obtained at moisture ratio 1:3 (w/v), using 3 mycelial plugs (5 mm), after 15 days incubation period at 25±1 ? C. The results of phenol degradation by crud laccase revealed th

Esterification reaction is most important reaction in biodiesel production. In this study, oleic acid was used as a suggested feedstock to study and simulate production of biodiesel. Batch esterification of oleic acid was carried out at operating conditions; temperature from 40 to 70 °C, ethanol to oleic acid molar ratio from 1/1 to 6/1, H2SO4 as the catalyst 1 and 5% wt of oleic acid, reaction time up to 180 min. The optimum conditions for the esterification reaction were molar ratio of ethanol/oleic acid 6/1, 5%wt H2SO4 relative to oleic acid, 70 °C, 90 min and conversion of oleic 0.92. The activation energy for the suggested model was 26625 J/mole for forward reaction and 42189 J/mole for equilibrium constant. The obtained results s

It is known that the oral administration of ibuprofen caused an irritation of stomach as a side effect due to its carboxylic moiety. Ibuprofen ester was synthesized by linking the carboxylic moiety of ibuprofen and the hydroxylic group of paracetamol to reduce its side effect. Study the kinetic hydrolysis of prepared ester was examined at different values of physiological pH (1.0, 5.8, 6.4 and 7.4) at 37 ± 0.1 of 1 hour period. Measurements of absorbance were carried out by UV-Visible spectrophotometer to follow the stability of ester, it showed Pseudo first order hydrolysis. The pH- apparent rate profiles of ester was exhibited a good stability at pH 1.0 and pH 5.8. Pharmacological activity in vivo of prepared ester was evaluated in re

In this work, the effects of solvent properties on the characteristics of absorption and fluorescence for two laser dyes was studied. Dyes used in this work include Coumarin 5400 and DCM, while the solvents include ethanol, methanol, acetone, propanol and chloroform. Coumarin 5400 dye shows sharp fluorescence peaks in the green band of visible region while the DCM dye shows relatively wide band within 590-630 nm. Therefore, the selection of any dye for random gain medium applications should be performed after determining the most appropriate solvent as the optimum fluorescence characteristics are obtained.

The present studier aims to study the kinetic of reaction at different experimental conditions depending on coliform bacteria concentration and hypochlorite ion. The effects that had been investigated were different of sodium hypochlorite doses, contact time, pH and temperature (20, 29, 37) ^o C. The water samples were taken from Al-Wathba water treatment plant in Risafa side of Tigris River in Baghdad. The biological tests included the most probable number (M.P.N) for indicating the concentration of coliform bacteria with different contact times and the total plate count (T.P.C) for indicating the amount of colonies for general bacteria. The iodimetry method (chemical test) was used for indicating the concentration of hypochlo

An experimental of kinetics investigation of the solution free radical polymerization of isopropylacrylamide (IPAM) initiated with potassium persulfate (PPS) was conducted. The reactions were carried out at constant temperature of 60 °C in distilled water under unstirred and inert conditions. Using the well-known conversion vs. time technique, the effects of initiator and monomer concentration on the rate of polymerization (Rp) were investigated over a wide range. Under the conditions of our work, the orders 0.38 and 1.68 were found with respect to initiator and monomer, respectively. However, the rate of polymerization (Rp) is not straight forwardly corresponding monomer concentration. The value 46.11 kJ mol1 was determined as the o

The present study develops the sorption model for simulating the effects of pH and temperature on the uptake of cadmium from contaminated water using waste foundry sand (WFS) by allowing the variation of the maximum adsorption capacity and affinity constant. The presence of two acidic functional groups with the same or different affinity is the basis in the derivation of the two models; Model 1 and Model 2 respectively. The developed Bi-Langmuir model with different affinity (Model 2) has a remarkable ability in the description of process under consideration with coefficient of determination > 0.9838 and sum of squared error < 0.08514. This result is proved by FTIR test where the weak acids responsible of cadmium ions removal