Polycrystalline Cadmium Oxide (CdO) thin films were prepared
using pulsed laser deposition onto glass substrates at room
temperature with different thicknesses of (300, 350 and 400)nm,
these films were irradiated with cesium-137(Cs-137) radiation. The
thickness and irradiation effects on structural and optical properties
were studied. It is observed by XRD results that films are
polycrystalline before and after irradiation, with cubic structure and
show preferential growth along (111) and (200) directions. The
crystallite sizes increases with increasing of thickness, and decreases
with gamma radiation, which are found to be within the range
(23.84-4.52) nm and (41.44-4.974)nm before and after irradiation for

Freshwater mussels are a guild of stationary, suspended-feeding species; they perform significant ecological functions like nitrogen cycling, bioturbation that gives oxygen and habitat that other creatures need to survive, and increasing water clearance by filtration. Knowledge of the freshwater mussel Unio tigridis Bourguignat, 1852, distribution, and molecular study in Iraq was inadequate. In the current study, this species of freshwater Mussels belonging to the family Unionidae was collected from different locations in the Greater Zab River, from April 2022 to November 2022. The average water temperature of the site was arranged between (17.8 to 36.1 C°). All previous studies in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq were based on morphologic

Concrete columns with hollow-core sections find widespread application owing to their excellent structural efficiency and efficient material utilization. However, corrosion poses a challenge in concrete buildings with steel reinforcement. This paper explores the possibility of using glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforcement as a non-corrosive and economically viable substitute for steel reinforcement in short square hollow concrete columns. Twelve hollow short columns were meticulously prepared in the laboratory experiments and subjected to pure axial compressive loads until failure. All columns featured a hollow square section with exterior dimensions of (180 × 180) mm and 900 mm height. The columns were categorized into

Expanded use of antibiotics may increase the ability of pathogenic bacteria to develop antimicrobial resistance. Greater attention must be paid to applying more sustainable techniques for treating wastewater contaminated with antibiotics. Semiconductor photocatalytic processes have proven to be the most effective methods for the degradation of antibiotics. Thus, constructing durable and highly active photocatalytic hybrid materials for the photodegradation of antibiotic pollutants is challenging. Herein, FeTiO3/Fe-doped g-C3N4 (FTO/FCN) heterojunctions were designed with different FTO to FCN ratios by matching the energy level of semiconductors, thereby developing effective direct Z-type heterojunctions. The photodegradation behaviors of th

     A key agreement protocol (KAP) is a fundamental block in any cryptosystem since it ensures secure communication between two parties. Furthermore, KAP should include advanced features in limited-resource environments such as IoT, in which this protocol must be lightweight and efficient in consuming resources. Despite the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) algorithm having often been considered efficient in providing an acceptable security degree with less resource consumption, it has suffered from weakness against Man-In-The-Middle Attacks (MITMA). This paper presents two versions of the Variant Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (VECDH) algorithms as a key agreement protocol. The security analysis indicates that the proposed algori

     In the present work, polymeric composites were prepared for coating floors and swimming pools in dark colors. This was achieved through the use of a polymer coating solution added to fine cement with weight percentage (wt%) values of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 to obtain dark-colored (gray) composites. Mortar samples were prepared using the adhesion test. The contact angle and adhesion strength were studied for the prepared samples concerning the effect of changing the weight ratio of additive cement on water absorption. Also, the antibacterial activity was tested for the prepared coatings. The results showed that the contact angle increases with increasing the weight ratios of additive cement, which indicates that the

Bacterial strains were isolated from oil-contaminated soil, in 2018, these isolates were identified, and with the aim of finding out the ability of these isolates to degrede the oil compounds, the color change of medium which added to it isolates was read by the method of Pacto Bushnell Hans. Then the change in the petroleum compounds was read by gas chromatography, for the most effective isolates.

The nine isolated bacterial showed different degrees of color change, and the isolates (Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Micrococcus) outperformed the color change amount (78, 78, 77) %, respectively, compared to the control, and the three isolates together showed the best color change of 90.7. % Compared to the control, and the

 In this work, a reactive DC magnetron sputtering technique was used to prepare TiO₂ thin films. The variation in argon and oxygen gases mixing ratios (4:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:4) was used to achieve optimal properties for gas sensing. In addition, an analysis of the optical XRD properties of TiO₂ thin films is presented. High-quality and uniform nanocrystalline films were obtained at a working gas pressure of 0.25 mbar and  1:4 (Ar/O₂) gas mixture. The optical properties showed a transparent thin film with uniform adherence to the substrate. The average transmission of the TiO₂ films deposited on the glass substrates was higher than 95% over the range of 400 to 800 nm.