This study is concerned with the evaluation of the effect of Euphrates River water quality in Al-Samawa region during
the period 1984-2003 on efficiency and reliability of reverse osmosis desalination systems by calculating the calcium
sulfate scaling index depending on the following indicators: - TDS, Ca+2, Mg+2, Na+1, Cl-1, So4-2, HCO3-1. It was
found from data analysis that this index for these units is greater than permissible limit. Also, the fitted relationship
between this index and TDS is logarithmic, i.e. this index varies more rapidly than TDS, and consequently it is more
representative to the water quality than TDS.

The challenge in studying fusion reaction when the projectile is neutron or proton rich halo nuclei is the coupling mechanism between the elastic and the breakup channel, therefore the motivation from the present calculations is to estimate the best coupling parameter to introduce the effect of coupled-channels for the calculations of the total cross section of the fusion  , the barrier distribution of the fusion   and the average angular momentum ⟨L⟩ for the systems ⁶He+²⁰⁶Pb, ⁸B+²⁸Si, ¹¹Be+²⁰⁹Bi, ¹⁷F+²⁰⁸Pb, ⁶He+²³⁸U, ⁸He+¹⁹⁷Au and ¹⁵C+²³²Th using quantum mechanical approach.  A

In this paper, effective slab width for the composite beams is investigated with special emphasis on the effect of web openings. A three dimensional finite element analysis, by using finite element code ANSYS, is employed to investigate shear lag phenomenon and the resulting effective slab width adopted in the classical T-beam approach. According to case studies and comparison with limitations and rules stipulated by different standards and codes of practice it is found that web openings presence and panel proportion are the most critical factors affecting effective slab width, whereas concrete slab thickness and steel beam depth are less significant. The presence of web opening reduces effective slab width by about 21%.

The wear behavior of alumina particulate reinforced A332 aluminium alloy composites produced by a stir casting process technique were investigated. A pin-on-disc type apparatus was employed for determining the sliding wear rate in composite samples at different grain size (1 µm, 12µm, 50 nm) and different weight percentage (0.05-0.1-0.5-1) wt% of alumina respectively. Mechanical properties characterization which strongly depends on microstructure properties of reinforcement revealed that the presence of ( nano , micro) alumina particulates lead to simultaneous increase in hardness, ultimate tensile stress (UTS), wear resistances. The results revealed that UTS, Hardness, Wear resistances increases with the increase in the percentage of

Previous experimental studies have suggested that hot mixed asphalt (HMA) concrete using hydrated lime (HL) to partially replace the conventional limestone dust filler at 2.5% by the total weight of all aggregates showed an optimum improvement on several key mechanical properties, fatigue life span and moisture susceptibility. However, so far, the knowledge of the thermal response of the modified asphalt concrete and thermal influence on the durability of the pavement constructed are still relatively limited but important to inform pavement design. This paper, at first, reports an experimental study of the tensile fatigue life of HMA concrete mixes designed for wearing layer application. Tests were conducted under three different temperatur

This work describes the effect of temperature on the phase transformation of titanium dioxide (TiO2) prepared using metal organic precursors as starting materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to investigate the structural properties of TiO2 gels calcined at different temperatures (300, 500, 700) ?C. the results showed that the samples have typical peaks of TiO2 polycrystalline brookite nanopowders after calcined at (300 ?C), which confirmed by (111), (121), (200), (012), (131), (220), (040), (231), (132) and (232) diffraction peaks. Also, XRD diffraction spectra showed the presence of crystallites of anatase with low proportion of rutile phase where calcined at (500 ?C), while rutile phase domains at (700 ?C). The crystallite size of

Background: Several infectious lung diseases often develop in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), especially during immunosuppressive medication, including disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The present study aimed to determine the role of respiratory tract bacterial infection in RA activity. Methods: Blood and sputum samples were collected from 31 patients with RA and 12 healthy subjects as control. The bacterial isolates were isolated and identified in collected sputum by biochemical tests and Vitec 2 system. Results: In the present study, thirty-one patients with RA were compared with 12 healthy subjects. Eight patients with RA were not infected with pathogenic bacteria (RA-NIPB) (25.8%). Twenty-three RA patients wer

Jet grouting is one of the most widely applied soil improvement techniques. It is suitable for most geotechnical problems, including improving bearing capacity, decreasing settlement, forming seals, and stabilizing slopes. One of the difficulties faced by designers is determining the strength and geometry of elements created using this method. Jet grouted soil-cement columns in soil are a complicated issue because they are dependent on a number of parameters such as soil type, grout and water flow rate, rotation and lifting speed of monitor, nozzle jetting force, and water to cement ratio of slurry. This paper discusses the effect of the water-cement ratio on the physical and mechanical characteristics of soilcrete. In t

The consumption of fresh fruits has increased nowadays due to the lifestyle of the consumers. Maintaining the quality and nutritional value of cut fruits during storage is difficult compared to whole fruits. Deterioration of internal and external quality usually occurs in freshly harvested fruits. It is necessary to use different techniques to maintain the quality and increase the shelf life of the freshly cut product. This research studied the effect of treating apple slices with cold plasma once and with filtered water again on quality characteristics (hardness, moisture content, sugar content, carbohydrate content, and color) after being stored for five days. The best treatment was determined using two different pressures of the plasma j