This paper aims to investigate the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete beams considering fire resistance by adding Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregates (LECA) to the concrete mix as partial coarse aggregate replacement. LECA is a type of porous clay with a uniform pore structure with fine, closed cells and hard, tightly sintered skin. The experimental work comprised four reinforced self-compacted concrete beams. All the specimens were identical in their geometrical layout of 1600×240×200 mm, reinforcement details, and support condition (simply supported). For all the beams, the main reinforcement was provided by two bars, each having a diameter of 12 mm, while a bar of 6 mm diameter was employed for the top and shear reinforc

Research aims to identify the immediate impact of the announcement of mergers in the stockholders and the feasibility of gain abnormal return and benefiting from  asymmetric information during the announcement that unite 30 days before the announcement of the merger, and announcement day, and 30 days after the announcement of the merger. It was the largest and most important mergers and acquisitions pick that occurred during the global financial crisis, specifically in health care/pharmaceutical industry, Pfizer and Wyeth merger with Novartis acquisition on Alcon. search has adopted three hypotheses: the first hypothesis that ((achieves the target company's shareholders positive abnormal return (or negative) during and befor

Economic analysis plays a pivotal role in managerial decision-making processes. This analysis is predicated on deeply understanding economic forces and market factors influencing corporate strategies and decisions. This paper delves into the role of economic data analysis in managing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to make strategic decisions and enhance performance. The study underscores the significance of this approach and its impact on corporate outcomes. The research analyzes annual reports from three companies: Al-Mahfaza for Mobile and Internet Financial Payment and Settlement Services Company Limited, Al-Arab for Electronic Payment Company, and Iraq Electronic Gateway for Financial Services Company. The paper concl

Pro-inflammatory cytokines play an important role in intercellular communications. In the last two decades, many cytokines have been identified in human milk. These cytokines are variable according to different conditions such as pathogenic infections which strongly stimulated the immune response. The present study aims to determine of IL1β and TNF-α in Toxoplasma gondii-free and infected women in an attempt to clarify the impacts of the infections on cytokines especially in mother's milk. The serum and milk sample were collected from 96 samples (48 for seropositive and 48 for seronegative). To confirm the Toxoplasma gondii infection; enzyme linked immunofluorescence assay (ELIFA) was used to detect anti-Toxoplasma Ig

An experimental and numerical study was carried out to investigate the heat transfer by natural convection in a three dimensional annulus enclosure filled with porous media (silica sand) between two inclined concentric cylinders with (and without) annular fins attached to the inner cylinder under steady state condition. The experiments were carried out for a range of modified Rayleigh number (0.2 ≤Ra*≤ 11) and extended to Ra*=500 for numerical study and for annulus inclination angle of (δ = 0˚, 30˚, 60˚ and 90˚). The numerical study was to give the governing equation under assumptions that used Darcy law and Boussinesq’s approximation and then it was solved numerically using finite difference approximation. It was found that t

Free water surface constructed wetlands (FSCWs) can be used to complement conventional waste water treatment but removal efficiencies are often limited by a high ratio of water volume to biofilm surface area (i.e. high water depth). Floating treatment wetlands (FTWs) consist of floating matrices which can enhance the surface area available for the development of fixed microbial biofilms and provide a platform for plant growth (which can remove pollutants by uptake).  In this study the potential of FTWs for ammoniacal nitrogen (AN) removal was evaluated using experimental mesocosms operated under steady-state flow conditions with ten different treatments (two water depths, two levels of FTW mat coverage, two different plant densities and

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has evolved network management by detaching the control plane from the data forwarding plane, resulting in unparalleled flexibility and efficiency in network administration. However, the heterogeneity of traffic in SDN presents issues in achieving Quality of Service (QoS) demands and efficiently managing network resources. SDN traffic flows are often divided into elephant flows (EFs) and mice flows (MFs). EFs, which are distinguished by their huge packet sizes and long durations, account for a small amount of total traffic but require disproportionate network resources, thus causing congestion and delays for smaller MFs. MFs, on the other hand, have a short lifetime and are latency-sensitive, but they accou