The incorporation of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) into asphalt concrete supports circular economy goals by reducing reliance on virgin materials and minimizing construction waste. However, RCA’s inherent limitations, such as high porosity, microcracking, and poor interfacial bonding, compromise the structural integrity and durability of asphalt mixtures. This study introduces sugarcane molasses (SCM), a naturally derived, carbohydrate-rich byproduct of sugarcane refining, as a novel and eco-friendly surface treatment for RCA aimed at enhancing its compatibility with asphalt binders. SCM was applied at 5-6% by weight of RCA replacing coarse aggregate at varying levels (0-100%) to assess its effect on asphalt mixture performance. A comprehensive laboratory testing program was conducted, including microstructural analysis, aggregate impact and crushing strength tests, and performance evaluation using Marshall properties, resilient modulus, wheel tracking, moisture susceptibility, and fatigue resistance. SCM treatment resulted in a significantly denser and smoother interfacial transition zone (ITZ), reduced porosity, and improved cohesion at the aggregate-binder interface. Treated mixtures exhibited notable enhancements across all performance metrics: Marshall stability increased to 14.2 kN at 100% RCA, resilient modulus loss remained under 7%, Tensile strength ratio (TSR) values consistently exceeded the 80% threshold, and fatigue resistance peaked at 50% RCA with the highest asphalt flexibility ratio (AFR) and ductility. The findings demonstrate that SCM effectively mitigates the mechanical and durability shortcomings of untreated RCA. Among all mixes, 50% SCM-treated RCA yielded the most balanced performance. Although SCM treatment was found to be slightly cost-ineffective, the cost-performance index highlights its positive potential, particularly for 50% SCM-treated RCA mixtures. However, these results are material-specific, and field validation is essential to confirm performance across different RCA sources and environmental conditions.
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and systemic autoimmune disease that is characterized by severe synovial inflammation, cartilage erosion, bone loss, and generalized vasculopathy. Although the immunologic mechanism of RA is still unclear, it is now thought to be a primarily Th17-driven disease. Along with other factors, IL-23 stimulates the expansion of Th17 cells from naive CD4+ T cells.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-23 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and determine the correlation between plasma/serum IL-23 levels and disease activity. So, we performed a systematic review with meta-analysis comparing
... Show MoreWithin the framework of big data, energy issues are highly significant. Despite the significance of energy, theoretical studies focusing primarily on the issue of energy within big data analytics in relation to computational intelligent algorithms are scarce. The purpose of this study is to explore the theoretical aspects of energy issues in big data analytics in relation to computational intelligent algorithms since this is critical in exploring the emperica aspects of big data. In this chapter, we present a theoretical study of energy issues related to applications of computational intelligent algorithms in big data analytics. This work highlights that big data analytics using computational intelligent algorithms generates a very high amo
... Show MoreBP algorithm is the most widely used supervised training algorithms for multi-layered feedforward neural net works. However, BP takes long time to converge and quite sensitive to the initial weights of a network. In this paper, a modified cuckoo search algorithm is used to get the optimal set of initial weights that will be used by BP algorithm. And changing the value of BP learning rate to improve the error convergence. The performance of the proposed hybrid algorithm is compared with the stan dard BP using simple data sets. The simulation result show that the proposed algorithm has improved the BP training in terms of quick convergence of the solution depending on the slope of the error graph.
The wastewater arising from pulp and paper mills is highly polluted and has to be treated before discharged into rivers. Coagulation-flocculation process using natural polymers has grown rapidly in wastewater treatment. In this work, the performance of alum and Polyaluminum Chloride (PACl) when used alone and when coupled with Fenugreek mucilage on the treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewater were studied. The experiments were carried out in jar tests with alum, PACl and Fenugreek mucilage dosages range of 50-2000 mg/L, rapid mixing at 200 rpm for 2 min, followed by slow mixing at 40 rpm for 15 min and settling time of 30 min. The effectiveness of Fenugreek mucilage was measured by the reduction of turbidity and Chemical Oxygen Demand
... Show MoreRegular sampling for six months from January to July 2012 were taken in small, shallow, perennial, standing ponds near the Greater Zab River, Gwer district, Erbil. A variety of physicochemical parameters were determined. Air and water temperature were falling between 15.2 - 34.7 ? C and 15.5 and 26.5 ?C. The waters are neutral (pH 7.38-8.27), hard, alkaline, salty, high in TDS and EC (892-966?S/cm, and rich in nutrients (NO3: 2.1-4.1mg/l, PO4: 0.33-0.62 mg / l , SO4: 24.7-80.2 mg / l ). The attention fixed on a filamentous blue- green algae Glaucospira Lagerheim, 1982) which is new to Iraqi flora. It is a filament (trichome), solitary, pale or yellowish blue – green, without sheath, Screw like coiled, motile, some of them are activ
... Show MoreThe importance of operational risks increases with the increase in technological development, the development of banking operations, the extent of banking compliance, and the attempt of many banks to achieve quality in banking services. And the extent of the position occupied by Iraqi banks for banking compliance and reducing operational risks. The Basel Committee (2) paid its attention to operational risks and the interest of international banks to follow policies that work to ensure banking compliance and cover operational risks, because of its role in reducing losses due to increased costs and achieving an increase in profits. Realizing and working to confront the best possible and traditional methods, that some risks Operational problem
... Show MoreCuring of concrete is the maintenance of a satisfactory moisture content and temperature for a
period of time immediately following placing so the desired properties are developed. Accelerated
curing is advantages where early strength gain in concrete is important. The expose of concrete
specimens to the accelerated curing conditions which permit the specimens to develop a significant
portion of their ultimate strength within a period of time (1-2 days), depends on the method of the
curing cycle.Three accelerated curing test methods are adopted in this study. These are warm water,
autogenous and proposed test methods. The results of this study has shown good correlation
between the accelerated strength especially for
Background: EBV infection in tissue micro-environment is challenged by the precisely regulated survivaland apoptosis mechanisms. Abnormal bcl-2 proto-oncogene expression in colonic carcinomas allowsaccumulation and propagation of these genetically altered cells.Objective: To analyze the relevant concordance of BCL-2 gene , EBNA1 s and LMP-1-EBV expression inissues from a group of Iraqi patients with colonic adenocarcinomas.Patients and Methods: One hundred (100) tissue biopsies, belonged to (40) patients with colorectalcancers, (40) patients with benign colon tumors, and (20) apparently normal colorectal control tissues,were enrolled in this study. The detection of EBNA1 s and LMP-1-EBV as well as BCL-2 was done byimmunohistochemist
... Show MoreIn this work, The effect of annealing treatment at different temperatures (373, 423 and 473) K and chemical treatment with talwen at different immersion time (40, 60 and 80) min on structural and optical properties of the bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blend copper phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt/poly dioxyethylenethienylene doped with polystyrenesulphonic acid (CuPcTs/PEDOT:PSS) thin films were investigated. The films were fabricated using spin coating technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements displayed only one peak at 2θ =4.5o corresponding to (001) direction which has dhkl larger than for standard CuPcTs. The dhkl increase then decrease with increasing annealing temperature and
the time of chemical treatment w
One of the unique properties of laser heating applications is its powerful ability for precise pouring of energy on the needed regions in heat treatment applications. The rapid rise in temperature at the irradiated region produces a high temperature gradient, which contributes in phase metallurgical changes, inside the volume of the irradiated material. This article presents a comprehensive numerical work for a model based on experimentally laser heated AISI 1110 steel samples. The numerical investigation is based on the finite element method (FEM) taking in consideration the temperature dependent material properties to predict the temperature distribution within the irradiated material volume. The finite element analysis (FEA) was carried
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