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

This study was carried out to assess genetic diversity of ten cultivars of Rice (Oryza sativa L.). One of DNA markers based on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was used namely DAF markers (DNA Amplification Fingerprint). Six primers were tested, the results showed, that no amplification products using the primers OPD.14 and OPM.5. Two primers (OPX.8 and OPT.2) produced monomorphic band across all cultivars, while only two primers generated polymorphic bands. The number of total bands produced from one of them (OPN.7) were sixteen. Also this primer produced ten polymorphic profiles (DAF patterns) which were unique to the ten cultivars that could be distinguished. The number of total bands generated by primer OPX.1 were thirteen and this prim

Chlorine disinfection is a globally used method to ensure the safety of drinking water. However, it has not always been successful against viruses and, therefore, it is important to find new methods to disinfect water. Seventeen different coliphages were isolated from the treated municipal wastewater. These coliphages and MS2 were treated with different dosages of chlorine in drinking water, and a combined chlorine/ultraviolet irradiation treatment for the chlorine-resistant coliphages. Chlorine disinfection with 0.3–0.5 mg/L total chlorine (free Cl-dosage 0.12–0.21 mg/L) for 10 min achieved 2.5–5.7 Log10-reductions for 11 sensitive coliphages. The six most resistant coliphages showed no reduction with these chlorine concentra

One of the goals of adding adjuvants to agricultural spray solutions is to enhance the droplet size characteristics of this spray. Droplet size, in turn, has an influence in the deposited spray quality, in addition to the drift and losses of spray to off-target places. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of adding adjuvants to two types of water from different sources on the droplet size characteristics. Two types of adjuvants were employed in the tests: the active substance content of the first adjuvant was a 50% aqueous solution of sodium salt of alkylbenzenesulfonic acid—10% (HY), whereas the second was from rapeseed oil (natural origin)—85% (OL). Both adjuvants were tested in two concentrations: the first was

Fresh water production from saline or waste water utilizing solar stills is the secured future approach in water industry with low cost and no environmental pollution accompanied with low productivity. In this work, the effect of inserting different available materials in a passive Single Slope Solar SSS stills on their productivity is accomplished. Side by side tests are performed on a conventional still, and three SSS stills inserted with carbon filter media, Copper wire mesh, and Cellulose sheets. All these stills are symmetrical in dimensions with 0.5 m2 base area tested for 20mm water level. The stills have been manufactured, instrumented, and tested in July 2021 under DhiQar-Iraq climate conditions (latitude 31.2° N, longitude 46.34