In their cross-sectional study, Al-Rubaye et al studied the extent of vitamin D (VD) deficiency/ insufficiency, factors affecting its degree, and the adverse outcomes of the altered VD status among a group of mothers and their neonates from Baghdad, Iraq. They found that 96.6% of the mothers had VD deficiency/ insufficiency compared to 86.4% in their neonates. Maternal VD levels and neonatal weights were significantly correlated with neonatal VD levels. We believe that the study results need to be revised. This is based two points listed in this letter to editor
Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) beams have gained attention due to their promising mechanical properties and potential for structural applications. Combining GFRP core and encasing materials creates a composite beam with superior mechanical properties. This paper describes the testing encased GFRP beams as composite Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams under low-velocity impact load. Theoretical analysis was used with practical results to simulate the tested beams' behavior and predict the generated energies during the impact loading. The impact response was investigated using repeated drops of 42.5 kg falling mass from various heights. An analysis was performed using accelerometer readings to calculate the generalized inertial load
... Show MoreRapid worldwide urbanization and drastic population growth have increased the demand for new road construction, which will cause a substantial amount of natural resources such as aggregates to be consumed. The use of recycled concrete aggregate could be one of the possible ways to offset the aggregate shortage problem and reduce environmental pollution. This paper reports an experimental study of unbound granular material using recycled concrete aggregate for pavement subbase construction. Five percentages of recycled concrete aggregate obtained from two different sources with an originally designed compressive strength of 20–30 MPa as well as 31–40 MPa at three particle size levels, i.e., coarse, fine, and extra fine, were test
... Show MoreIn the current study, synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) before and after functionalization with ampicillin antibiotic and their application as anti-pathogenic agents towards bacteria were investigated. AgNPs were synthesized by a green method from AgNO3 solution with glucose subjected to microwave radiation. Characterization of the nanoparticles was conducted using UV-Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), zeta potential determination and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. From SEM analysis, the typical silver nanoparticle particle size was found to be 30 nm and Zeta potential measurements gave information about particle stability. Analysis of FTIR patterns and UV-VIS spectroscopy con
... Show MoreBackground: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of in vitro long-term simulation of oral conditions on the bond strength of PEEK CAD/CAM lingual retainers.
Material and methods: The sample consisted of 12 PEEK CAD/CAM retainers each composed of 2 centrally perforated 3x4mm pads joined by a connector. They were treated by 98% sulfuric acid for 1 minute and then conditioned with Single Bond Universal and bonded to the lingual surface of premolar teeth by 3M Transbond TM System. Half of the retainers were artificially aged using a 30-day water storage and 5000 thermocycling protocol before bond strength testing to compare with the non-aged specimens.
Results: The artificially aged retainers showed a marginally
... Show MoreA detailed methodology is presented in this paper for the calculation of nucleate boiling safety margin (NBSM) in nuclear research reactors using a temperature function with three different thermal-hydraulic hot-spot analyses: nominal, cumulative and statistical for normal operating condition and coolant flow variation. A computer simulation program is developed for applying the methodology to the IRT-5000 reactor based on experimental core data. According to cumulative analysis as the overconservative approach, the NBSM at normal operating condition of thermal power 5 MW and coolant velocity 1.672 m/s was 2.3% with reactor power limit 5.13 MW. However, during power or coolant flow trip condition, transient nucleate boiling would occur for
... Show MoreIn this work, multilayer nanostructures were prepared from two metal oxide thin films by dc reactive magnetron sputtering technique. These metal oxide were nickel oxide (NiO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2). The prepared nanostructures showed high structural purity as confirmed by the spectroscopic and structural characterization tests, mainly FTIR, XRD and EDX. This feature may be attributed to the fine control of operation parameters of dc reactive magnetron sputtering system as well as the preparation conditions using the same system. The nanostructures prepared in this work can be successfully used for the fabrication of nanodevices for photonics and optoelectronics requiring highly-pure nanomaterials.
Noor Oil Field is one of Iraqi oil fields located in Missan province / Amarah city. This field is not subjected to licensing rounds, but depends on the national effort of Missan Oil Company. The first two wells in the field were drilled in seventies and were not opened to production until 2009. The aim of this study is to study the possibility of using the method of gas lift to increase the productivity of this field . PROSPER software was used to design the continuous gas lift by using maximum production rate in the design.
The design was made after comparing the measured pressure with the calculated pressure, this comparison show that the method of Beggs-Brill and Petroleum Exper
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