Abstract The present work aims to study the performance of reinforced compacted clay soil by sand columns stabilized with sodium silicate to obtain more solid columns than the surrounding soil. The experimental work was carried out by using a lab model to evaluate the performance of both the floating and end bearing sand columns. The results showed that the improvement ratio for the soil reinforced with sand columns stabilized with sodium silicate reached 390% for the type of floating columns and 438% for end bearing columns.
A factorial experiment was applied with four replicates on rosemary plants (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) grown in pots inside the glasshouse of the Department of Biology, College of Science, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq, during April, 2019 to July, 2020, to determine the effects of soil moisture content ( SM1: 100% and SM2: 60% field capacity), nitrogen fertilizer (N1: 100, N2: 200 and N3: 300kg/hectare), and magnesium fertilizer (Mg1: 0.0, Mg2: 30 and Mg3: 60kg/hectare) and their interactions on some growth characteristics and essential oil content of rosemary plants. Two cuttings were taken from rosemary shoots (on March, 2020 and July, 2020) after 12 and 15 months of planting respectively. Results showed that cutting 1:
... Show MoreIn this study, a genetic algorithm (GA) is used to detect damage in curved beam model, stiffness as well as mass matrices of the curved beam elements is formulated using Hamilton's principle. Each node of the curved beam element possesses seven degrees of freedom including the warping degree of freedom. The curved beam element had been derived based on the Kang and Yoo’s thin-walled curved beam theory. The identification of damage is formulated as an optimization problem, binary and continuous genetic algorithms
(BGA, CGA) are used to detect and locate the damage using two objective functions (change in natural frequencies, Modal Assurance Criterion MAC). The results show the objective function based on change in natural frequency i
Groundwater quality investigation has been carried out in the western part of Iraq (west longitude '40°40). The physicochemical analyses of 64 groundwater samples collected from seven aquifers were used in the determination of groundwater characterization and assessment. The concept of spatial hydrochemical bi-model was prepared for quantitative and qualitative interpretation. Hydrogeochemical data referred that the groundwater is of meteoric origin and has processes responsible for observed brackishness. The geochemical facies of the groundwater reveal that none of the anions and cations pairs exceed 50% and there are practically mixtures of multi-water types (such as Ca–Mg–Cl–HCO3 and Na+K–SO4–Cl water type) as do
... Show MoreBackground Psoriasis is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory skin conditions; its prevalence ranges from 1 to 3%. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), a cytokine that enhances inflammation, is overexpressed in synovium and skin plaques in psoriasis. TNF-α plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. IL-10 is the most crucial cytokine for reducing excessive immune responses and decreasing pro-inflammatory reactions in all autoimmune disorders. Objective To evaluate the effect of Apremilast on ILـ10, TNFـα, and BMI in obese psoriatic patients. Methods Thirty patients included in this investigative study to measure the concentrations of TNFـα, ILـ10 and BMI, before and after receiving Apremilast. TNFـα and
... Show MoreConstruction joints are stopping places in the process of placing concrete, and they are required because in many structures it is impractical to place concrete in one continuous operation. The amount of concrete that can be placed at one time is governed by the batching and mixing capacity and by the strength of the formwork. A good construction joint should provide adequate flexural and shear continuity through the interface.
In this study, the effect of location of construction joints on the performance of reinforced concrete structural elements is experimentally investigated.
Nineteen beam specimens with dimensions of 200×200×950 mm were tested. The variables investigated are the location of the construction joints
... Show MoreThis paper studied the behaviour of reinforced reactive powder concrete (RPC) two-way slabs under static load. The experimental program included testing three simply supported slabs of 1000 mm length, 1000 mm width, and 70 mm thickness. Tested specimens were of identical properties except their steel fibers volume ratio (0.5 %, 1 %, and 1.5 %). Static test results revealed that, increasing steel fibers volume ratio from 0.5% to 1% and from 1% to 1.5%, led to an increase in: first crack load by (32.2 % and 52.3 %), ultimate load by (36.1 % and 17.0 %), ultimate deflection by (33.6 % and 3.4 %), absorbed energy by (128 % and 20.2 %), and the ultimate strain by (1.1 % and 6.73 %). The stiffness and ductility of the specimens also increased. A
... Show MoreIn this study, the concentrations of uranium for four species of plants; Spinacia, Brassica Oleracea, BEASSICA Oleracea Var Capitata and Beta Vulgaris were measured in addition to the measurement of uranium concentrations in the selected soil by calculating the number of significant traces of alpha in CR-39. The 2.455 Bq/kg in Spinacia plant were the highest concentration while the lowest concentration of uranium were 1.91 Bq/kg in BEASSICA Oleracea Var Capitata plant. As for the transfer factor, the highest value 0.416 were found in Spinacia plant and the lowest value 0.323 were found in BEASSICA Oleracea Var Capitata plant. The uranium in the models studied in it did not exceed the international limit, according to the International Atomi
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