Reliability analysis methods are used to evaluate the safety of reinforced concrete structures by evaluating the limit state function 𝑔(𝑋𝑖). For implicit limit state function and nonlinear analysis , an advanced reliability analysis methods are needed. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) can be used in this case however, as the number of input variables increases, the time required for MCS also increases, making it a time consuming method especially for complex problems with implicit performance functions. In such cases, MCS-based FORM (First Order Reliability Method) and Artificial Neural Network-based FORM (ANN FORM) have been proposed as alternatives. However, it is important to note that both MCS-FORM and ANN-FORM can also be time-con

Contamination of surface and groundwater with excessive concentrations of fluoride is of significant health hazard. Adsorption of fluoride onto waste materials of no economic value could be a potential approach for the treatment of fluoride-bearing water. This experimental and modeling study was devoted to investigate for the first the fluoride removal using unmodified waste granular brick (WGB) in a fixed bed running in continuous mode. Characterization of WGB was carried out by FT-IR, SEM, and EDX analysis. The batch mode experiments showed that they were affected by several parameters including contact time, initial pH, and sorbent dosage. The best values of these parameters that provided maximum removal percent (82%) with the in

     In this study, the first kind Bessel function was used to solve Kepler equation for an elliptical orbiting satellite. It is a classical method that gives a direct solution for calculation of the eccentric anomaly. It was solved for one period from (M=0-360)° with an eccentricity of (e=0-1) and the number of terms from (N=1-10). Also, the error in the representation of the first kind Bessel function was calculated. The results indicated that for eccentricity of (0.1-0.4) and (N = 1-10), the values of eccentric anomaly gave a good result as compared with the exact solution. Besides, the obtained eccentric anomaly values were unaffected by increasing the number of terms (N = 6-10) for eccentricities (0.8 and 0.9). The Bessel

In this work, mesoporous silica SBA-15 was prepared and functionalized with amine groups (i.e., NH2) to form NH2/SBA-15. The curcumin (CUR) was encapsulated into the surface and pore of NH2/SBA-15 to create CUR@NH2/SBA-15 as an efficient carrier in drug delivery systems (DDSs). The three samples (i.e., SBA-15, NH2/SBA-15, and CUR@NH2/SBA-15) were characterized. The study investigated the effect of the carrier dose, initial CUR concentration, pH, and contact time on the CUR loading efficiency (DLE%) via adsorption. The best DLE% for the SBA-15 and NH2/SBA-15 were found to be 45% and 89.7%, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm had a greater correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.998 for SBA-15. A pseudo-secondorder kinetic model seemed to fit well

We report herein an innovative approach to prostate tumor therapy using tumor specific radioactive gold nanoparticles (198Au) functionalized with Mangiferin (MGF). Production and full characterization of MGF-198AuNPs are described. In vivo therapeutic efficacy of MGF-198AuNPs, through intratumoral delivery, in SCID mice bearing prostate tumor xenografts are described. Singular doses of the nano-radiopharmaceutical (MGF-198AuNPs) resulted in over 85% reduction of tumor volume as compared to untreated control groups. The excellent anti-tumor efficacy of MGF-198AuNPs are attributed to the retention of over 90% of the injected dose within tumors for long periods of time. The retention of MGF-198AuNPs is also rationalized in terms of the higher

Date stones were used as precursor for the preparation of activated carbons by chemical
activation with ferric chloride and zinc chloride. The effects of operating conditions represented
by the activation time, activation temperature, and impregnation ratio on the yield and adsorption
capacity towards methylene blue (MB) of prepared activated carbon by ferric chloride activation
(FAC) and zinc chloride activation (ZAC) were studied. For FAC, an optimum conditions of 1.25
h activation time, 700 °C activation temperature, and 1.5 impregnation ratio gave 185.15 mg/g
MB uptake and 47.08 % yield, while for ZAC, 240.77 mg/g MB uptake and 40.46 % yield were
obtained at the optimum conditions of 1.25 h activation time, 500