The study presents the test results of Completely Decomposed Granite (CDG) soil tested under drained triaxial compression, direct shear and simple shear tests. Special attention was focused on the modification of the upper halve of conventional Direct Shear Test (DST) to behave as free
head in movement along with vertical strain control during shear stage by using Geotechnical Digital System (GDS). The results show that Free Direct Shear Test (FDST) has clear effect on the measured shear stress and vertical strain during the test. It has been found that shear strength
parameters measured from FDST were closer to those measured from simple shear and drained triaxial compression test. This study also provides an independent check on the consistency of the data by providing an interpretation for angle of dilation together with shearing resistance by using flow rule analysis
P. aeruginosa is a famous bacterium that causes several diseases and has a high ability to be a multidrug resistant organism that is linked with the formation of biofilm. This study aimed to investigate tssC1 gene role in the resistance of different antibiotics in the presence of biofilm. We constructed biofilm for the isolates under the study and showed the effect of different antibiotics on biofilm formation and maturation. The presence of the gene was detected through achieving PCR reaction. Finally, tssC1 gene variation was determined through sequencing and aligning the sequencing products. The results showed that most of the isolates (80%) formed biofilm that played a role in the resistance of different antibiotics which could
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a common health problem that has a worldwide distribution. Apart from the direct effect of the virus on the liver, there are many extrahepatic manifestations among which the probable effect on bone turnover associated with low bone mineral density (BMD). Objectives: This study aimed to determine the association between treated and untreated chronic HBV infection with BMD. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which included a total of 48 patients with chronic HBV (28 patients treated with tenofovir-disoproxil-fumarate [TDF] antiviral drug and 20 patients have not yet started treatment). Other age- and sex-matched 30 apparently healthy individuals were recruited to represent the hea
... Show MoreThis research is devoted to investigate the behavior and performance of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with externally bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates under the effect of torsion. In this study a theoretical analysis has been conducted using finite element code ANSYS. Six previously tested beams are used to investigate reinforced concrete beams behavior
under torsion, two of them are solid and the rest are box-section beams. Also, two beams are without CFRP reinforcement, which are used as control beams for the strengthened one, and the other four beams are strengthened with CFRP laminates with different number of layers and spacing. Numerical investigation is conducted on these beams, and comparisons b
In the present work experiments were conducted to study the effect of solid loading (1,5 and 9 vol.%) on the enhancement of carbon dioxide absorption in bubble column at various volumetric gas flow rate (0.75, 1 and 1.5 m3/h) and absorbent concentration (caustic soda)( 0.1,0.5 and 1 M ). Activated carbon and alumina oxide (Al2O3) are used as solid particles. The Danckwerts method was used to calculate interfacial area and individual mass transfer coefficients during absorption of carbon dioxide in a bubble column. The results show that the absorption rate was increased with increasing volumetric gas flow rate, caustic soda concentration and solid loading. Mass transfer coefficient and interfac
... Show MoreThe protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica is a causative agent of amoebiasis, where it causes millions of cases of dysentery and liver abscess each year. Metronidazole is a drug of choice against amoebiasis. The drug is a choice because of its efficacy and low cost, but at the same time it causes several adverse side effects; therefore, it is important to find effective medications to treat amoebiasis without any complications or any side effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different concentrations (50, 75 and 100 µg/ml) of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) against trophozoites stages of E. histolytica in vitro. The results showed a significant decrease (p ? 0.05) in numbers of trophozoites stages after treated
... Show MoreThe research aimed at studying the inhibitive effect of the hot watery dry and ethanolic ginger(85%) and fragrant oil which are added in concentrates of o.o25, o.o5o and 0.1g / 100g respectively in the growth of bacteria and molds. The results of the initial chemical diagnosis showed containment of ginger roots extract on. Alkaloids, Glycosides, Flavonoids and Suponins. The highest inhibitive effect of the bacteria reached the concentrate . 0.1% of the oil extract then the concentrate 0.050% of the ethanolic hot extract follows it. While 0.1% was the least inhibitive concentrate for the hot watery extract. But the inhibitive effect of the hot oily and alcoholic extracts in the numbers of molds colonies was 0.025%, when the concentrate 0.1%
... Show MoreThe present work aimed to study the SiO2μPs, and NPs effect on the biodegradability of St/PVA blends. The samples were prepared by casting method as PVA, St/PVA blends with different concentrations (30, 40, 50, and 60 %). FTIR test was carried out for the samples preparation. The results proved some changes which might be related to changing in crystallinity of St/PVA matrix as well as physical incorporation of SiO2 μPs, and NPs addition. The enzymatic test and water uptake results proved that increase in weight loss with increases of starch ratio. The lowest weight loss was PVA; the highest weight loss is 60% St/PVA whereas the lowest weight loss is 30%St/PVA for blends involved. SiO2μPs (753.7 nm), and NPs (263.1 nm) were added at d
... Show MoreThis experimental study focuses on scouring in box culvert inlets under steady-state conditions and at different percentages of blockage ranging from 0% to 65%, and also looks at the hydraulics of water in the culvert. The investigation shows that the blockage of the culverts has influenced the scouring pattern at the blocked culverts' entrances. Ten experiments were carried out at the laboratory to see how blockage impacts the scouring pattern upstream of a box culvert during steady flow. Both partially blocked and unblocked cases were implemented in this study. The experimental tests were done until the equilibrium scour occurred, which took about 3.5 hours of water flow to reach equilibrium conditions. The results r
... Show MoreAbstract In this study, an investigation is conducted to realise the possibility of organic materials use in radio frequency (RF) electronics for RF-energy harvesting. Iraqi palm tree remnants mixed with nickel oxide nanoparticles hosted in polyethylene, INP substrates, is proposed for this study. Moreover, a metamaterial (MTM) antenna is printed on the created INP substrate of 0.8 mm thickness using silver nanoparticles conductive ink. The fabricated antenna performances are instigated numerically than validated experimentally in terms of S11 spectra and radiation patterns. It is found that the proposed antenna shows an ultra-wide band matching bandwidth to cover the frequencies from 2.4 to 10 GHz with bore-sight gain variation from 2.2 to
... Show MoreTunnel construction below or adjacent to piles will affect the performance and eventually the stability of piles due to ground deformation resulting in the movement of piles and changes in the axial force distribution along the piles. A three dimensional finite element analysis using PLAXIS 3D (2013) was performed to study the behaviour of a single pile and 3 x 3 piles group during the advancement of shield tunnelling in ground. The 10-node tetrahedral elements were used to model both the soil and the tunnel lining. The Hardening Soil (HS) model was used to simulate the soil structure interaction at the tunnel-soil interface. An isotropic elastic model was used for the pile, piles