Test results of six half-scale reinforced concrete flat plates connections with an opening in the vicinity of the column are reported. The test specimens represent a portion of a slab bounded by the lines of contraflexure around the column. The tests were designed to study the effect of openings on the punching shear behavior of the slab-column connections. The test parameters were the location and the size of the openings. One specimen had no opening and the remaining five had various arrangements of openings around the column. All specimens were cast with normal density concrete of approximately 30 MPa compressive strength. The openings in the specimens were square, with the sides parallel to the sides of the column. Three sizes of openings were used: the same size as the column (150 x 150 mm), 67 percent of the column size (100 x 100mm), and 150 percent of the column size (225×225mm). Due to the presence of the openings, the specimens showed a decrease in punching shear capacity ranged between 11.43% and 29.25% with respect to the control solid slab. Also, the stiffness decreased between 0.31% and 83.00%, depending on the size and location of these openings with respect to the column.
The current study was carried out to investigate the correlation of gene expressions of ADA1 and ADA2 genes with the development of autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) in a sample of Iraqi females. One hundred patients with AITD and 80 controls were included. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT–PCR) was utilized for investigation of ADA1 and ADA2 gene expression among patients and controls. The correlation of age and body mass index (BMI) with AITD occurrence comparing with controls was studied. Based on the results of this study, there is high expression level of ADA1 and ADA2 genes in patients compared with healthy controls; also, the gene expression fold (2-ΔΔCT) of ADA1 and ADA2 among AITD patients was recorded and a
... Show MoreABSTRACT : Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common inflammatory neurodegenerative diseases linked with dementia, it is characterized by the deposition of amyloid beta-peptide (Ab) in the brain. The present study aims to innovate a biochemical relationship between AD and interleukin 38 (IL-38) as an anti-inflammatory cytokine, expose novel mechanisms and concepts regarding other biochemical parameters studied previously or recently in AD patients and also examine the biochemical action of memantine (10 mg daily) on AD patients. Sixty (60) diagnosed AD patients participated in the present study and classified into four (4) groups: G3 were composed of (15) newly diagnosed males (52-78) years / without treatment, G4 composed of (15
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Natural convection in an annular space provided with metal foam fins attached to the inner cylinder is studied numerically. The metal foam fins made of copper were inserted in different axial sections with three fins in each section. The temperature of the inner cylinder is kept constant while the annular outer surface is adiabatic. The thickness effect of the inner pipe wall was considered. Naiver Stokes equation with Boussinesq approximation is used for the fluid regime while Brinkman-Forchheimer Darcy model is used for metal foam. In addition, the local thermal non-equilibrium condition in the energy equation of the porous media is presumed. The effect of Rayleigh numb |
In this study, a new adsorbent derived from sunflower husk powder and coated in CuO nanoparticles (CSFH) was investigated to evaluate the simultaneous adsorption of Levofloxacin (LEV), Meropenem (MER), and Tetracycline (TEC) from an aqueous solution. Significant improvements in the adsorption capacity of the sunflower husk were identified after the powder particles had been coated in CuO nanoparticles. Kinetic data were correlated using a pseudo-second-order model, and was successful for the three antibiotics. Moreover, high compatibility was identified between the LEV, MER, and TEC, isotherm data, and the Langmuir model, which produced a better fit to suit the isotherm curves. In addition, the spontaneous and exothermic nature of the adsor
... Show MoreIn this paper, thermal performance of a zig-zig solar air heater (ZZSAH) with and without using steel wire mesh on the absorber plate of the collector is experimentally investigated. The experimental work includes four inclination angles of the collector 20o, 30o, 45o, and 60o and four air mass flow rates of 0.03, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08 kg/s under varieties of operating conditions of a geographic location of Baghdad. New correlation equations of Nusselt number are obtained from experimental results for both types of collectors where the effect of varying of the inclination angle of collector taken into consideration in the experiment. The correlations show good agreement wi
... Show MoreInfluence of combined square nozzle with helical tape inserted in a constant heat flux tube on heat transfer enhancement for turbulent airflow for Reynolds number ranging from 7000 to 14500 were investigated experimentally. Three different pitch ratios for square nozzle (PR = 5.8, 7.7 and 11.6) according to three different numbers of square nozzle (N = 3, 4 and 5) and constant pitch ratios for helical tape were used. The results observed that the Nusselt number and friction factor for combination with winglets were found to be up to 33.8 % and 21.4 %, respectively higher than nozzle alone for pitch ratio PR=5.8. The maximum value of thermal performance for using combination with winglets was about 1.351 for pitch ratio= 5.8. Nusselt numb
... Show MoreThe objective of this paper is to improve the general quality of infrared images by proposes an algorithm relying upon strategy for infrared images (IR) enhancement. This algorithm was based on two methods: adaptive histogram equalization (AHE) and Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE). The contribution of this paper is on how well contrast enhancement improvement procedures proposed for infrared images, and to propose a strategy that may be most appropriate for consolidation into commercial infrared imaging applications.
The database for this paper consists of night vision infrared images were taken by Zenmuse camera (FLIR Systems, Inc) attached on MATRIC100 drone in Karbala city. The experimental tests showed sign