Moisture-induced damage is one of the primary causes of premature distress in asphalt pavements, leading to reduced service life and increased maintenance costs. Although nanomaterials have shown potential in enhancing asphalt performance, the underlying composite interaction mechanisms among nanomaterials, asphalt binder, and aggregate phases under moisture exposure are still not fully understood. In addition, comparative evaluations under consistent experimental conditions remain limited. This study investigates the influence of five nanomaterials: nano-silica (NS), nano-alumina (NA), nano-titanium dioxide (NT), nano-zinc oxide (NZ), and carbon nanotubes (CNT) on the physical and mechanical properties of asphalt binders and mixtures, with particular emphasis on moisture damage resistance. The nanomaterials were incorporated at dosages of 1.5%, 3.0%, 4.5%, and 6.0% by binder weight. Binder performance was evaluated using conventional and performance grading (PG) tests, while mixture performance was assessed through Marshall properties and moisture susceptibility indicators, including the tensile strength ratio (TSR) and the index of retained strength (IRS). Fluorescence microscopy (FM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed to investigate nanomaterial dispersion characteristics, microstructural morphology, and physicochemical interactions within the asphalt composite system. The results indicate that nanomaterial modification reduced penetration and increased softening point and Marshall stability, reflecting enhanced stiffness and thermal resistance, although ductility decreased at higher dosages. Significant improvements in moisture resistance were observed, particularly under conditioned states. The TSR increased from 81.2% for the control mixture to 92.4% for NS and 91.7% for NA, while the IRS improved from 72.7% to 88.5% for NS. Statistical analysis indicated that both nanomaterial type and dosage significantly affected TSR and IRS performance, with dosage exhibiting comparatively greater influence on moisture resistance improvement. FM and SEM analyses revealed comparatively better dispersion and lower agglomeration tendency for NS and NA, which corresponded to their superior moisture resistance performance. FTIR analysis indicated that the modification process was predominantly physical, with no major formation of new chemical functional groups. Among the investigated nano materials, NS at 6% dosage exhibited the most pronounced improvement, followed by NA at similar dosage levels. Overall, the findings suggest that nanomaterial modification can considerably improve the moisture resistance and mechanical performance of asphalt mixtures under laboratory conditions. However, higher nanomaterial dosages may adversely affect binder workability due to increased viscosity, particularly in CNT-modified binders.
A new series of N-acyl hydrazones (4a-g) derived from indole-3-propionic acid (IPA) were synthesized. These N-acyl hydrazones were prepared by the reaction of 3-(1H-indol-3-yl) propane hydrazide and aldehyde in the existence of glacial acetic acid as a catalyst. 1HNMR and FT-IR analyses were used to identify the synthesized compounds and they were in vitro evaluated as antibacterial agents against six different types of microorganisms by using well diffusion method. All the tested N-acyl hydrazones (4a-g) displayed moderate activity against the Gram-negative E.coli, comparable to that of Amoxicillin. Some of the tested N-acyl hydrazones also exhibited intermediate activity ag
... Show MoreBackground: This is the first nationwide assessment of WHO-designated bacterial resistance in Iraq. Aim: To analyse antimicrobial resistance patterns over 4 years in Iraq, based on data from the national surveillance system. Methods: Using the WHO Antimicrobial Resistance Network software, we collected and analysed 238 973 antimicrobial resistance data from the 106 antimicrobial resistance surveillance sites across Iraq, for 2020–2023, from the Iraqi national surveillance system. The data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Results: Resistance to carbapenem by Acinetobacter baumannii increased markedly, reaching 80% in 2023. Resistance to third-generation cephalosporins was notably high among Acinetobacter baumannii (88.5–92%),
... Show MoreAbstract:
The research aims to achieve defining the concept of environmental quality and associated costs. Studying the impact of environmental quality costs on the performance of economic units. Measuring the relationship between environmental quality and environmental performance of the units. Where the research problem is represented in the weak awareness of some economic units of the importance of environmental quality costs and their impact on evaluating environmental performance, and this leads to neglecting environmental considerations and not improving environmental performance effectively, which negatively affects the en
... Show MoreThe thermal performance of indirect expansion solar assisted heat pump, IX-SAHP, was investigated experimentally under Iraqi climate. An Indirect-Solar Assisted Heat Pump system was designed, built, instrumented and tested. Experimental tests were conducted by varying the controlling parameters to investigate their effects on the thermal performance of the IX-SAHP such as cooling water flow rate, heating water flow rate, ambient temperature and solar radiation intensity. The investigation covered values of cooling water flow rate of (2, 3, 4, 5 l/min) and heating water flow rate of (2, 3, 4, 5 l/min) under meteorological condition of Baghdad from November 2014 to January 2015.
The results indicated that the performance of the IX-
... Show MoreIn recent decades, there has been increasing interest in wastewater treatment because of its direct impact on the environment and public health. Over time, other forms of treatment have been developed and modified, including extended aeration. This process is included in the suspended growth system. In this paper, a comparative study was conducted between the efficiency of the extended aeration plant and that of the trickling filter plant in removal of BOD and COD. The method of comparison was done by knowing the value of the pollutant before and after the treatment and then extract the removal ratio of each pollutant within each plant. The results showed that the percentage of removal of BOD in the trickling filte
... Show More
ABSTRACT:
The study aimed to identify the impact of the role of voluntary accounting disclosure in enhancing confidence in the informational content of financial reports. Correlation - Spearman to measure the degree of correlation, as well as the method of simple linear regression analysis, and the study reached several results, including: The level of enhancing the information content in the annual financial reports of the Palestinian banks listed on the Palestine Exchange under study reached the overall average (total) (94.1%), and also Voluntary Accounting Disclosure in Enhancing Confidence in the Informational Content of the List of Change in Ownership Equity of Listed
... Show MoreBitcoin is a decentralized blockchain-based cryptocurrency that has taken the world by storm. Since its introduction in 2009, it has grown tremendously in terms of popularity and market cap. The idea of having a decentralized public ledger while maintaining anonymity and security attracted the attention of developers and customers alike. Special nodes in the bitcoin network, called miners, are responsible for making the network secure by using a concept called proof-of-work. A certain degree of anonymity is also maintained as no personally identifiable information of a person, like name, address, etc., is linked to the bitcoin wallet. In terms of bitcoin, a user is anonymous if different interactions of the user cannot be linked to
... Show MoreThis paper presents a point multiplication processor over the binary field GF (2233) with internal registers integrated within the point-addition architecture to enhance the Performance Index (PI) of scalar multiplication. The proposed design uses one of two types of finite field multipliers, either the Montgomery multiplier or the interleaved multiplier supported by the additional layer of internal registers. Lopez Dahab coordinates are used for the computation of point multiplication on Koblitz Curve (K-233bit). In contrast, the metric used for comparison of the implementations of the design on different types of FPGA platforms is the Performance Index.
The first approach attains a performance index
... Show MoreNowadays power systems are huge networks that consist of electrical energy sources, static and lumped load components, connected over long distances by A.C. transmission lines. Voltage improvement is an important aspect of the power system. If the issue is not dealt with properly, may lead to voltage collapse. In this paper, HVDC links/bipolar connections were inserted in a power system in order to improve the voltage profile. The load flow was simulated by Electrical Transient Analyzer Program (ETAP.16) program in which Newton- Raphson method is used. The load flow simulation studies show a significant enhancement of the power system performance after applying HVDC links on Kurdistan power systems. Th
... Show More