This study was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding diets containing different levels of parsley on the hematological traits of local Iraqi geese. A total of twenty-four local geese, one year old, were used in this experiment. The birds were allocated into four treatment groups, consisting of six geese each. Treatment groups were: control diet (C) (free from parsley); T1: control diet + 80 g/d parsley; T2: control diet + 160 g/d parsley; and T3: control diet + 240 g/d parsley. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were obtained from all geese from the brachial vein by venipuncture. Hematological traits included in this study were red blood cells count (RBC), hemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), mean cell

In recent years, various methods have been developed to enhance the characteristics of asphalt pavement in order to face the continuous challenges of increasing traffic loads and changing climate conditions. One of the most popular and successful methods is modifying the asphalt mixtures or asphalt binder with the addition of polymers. Therefore, two types of Polyethylene (PE) polymer, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density PE (LDPE), are used in this research. Two methods were applied to prepare PE-modified asphalt mixtures: Semi-Wet Method (S-WM) and Dry Method (DM). The findings of the investigation indicated that the addition of PE polymer can reduce the wear loss of aggregate. In general, the experimental results revealed that asphalt

This paper is devoted to investigate the effect of internal curing technique on the properties of self-compacting concrete. In this study, self-compacting concrete is produced by using limestone powder as partial replacement by weight of cement with percentage of (5%), sand is partially replaced by volume with saturated fine lightweight aggregate which is thermostone aggregate as internal curing material in three percentages of (5%, 10%, 15%) for self-compacting concrete, and the use of two external curing conditions which are water and air. The experimental work was divided into three parts: in the first part, the workability tests of fresh self-compacting concrete were conducted. The second part included conducting compressive str

The nonlinear refractive (NLR) index and third order susceptibility (X3) of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) have been studied using two laser wavelengths (473 and 532 nm). The z-scan technique was used to examine the nonlinearity. Results showed that all concentrations have negative NLR indices in the order of 10−10 cm2/W at two laser wavelengths. Moreover, the nonlinearity of CQDs was improved by increasing the concentration of CQDs. The highest value of third order susceptibility was found to be 3.32*10−8 (esu) for CQDs with a concentration of 70 mA at 473 nm wavelength.

Nosocomial infections are one of the most important causes of mortality and morbidity in hospitals. These are major public health problems worldwide, but particularly in developing countries. The purpose of this research was to analyze the frequency of the microorganisms in the specimens taken from the surgical wounds, and to examine antimicrobial susceptibility for some isolates . Wound swabs were examined from June 2010 to January 2011. The isolates were identified by conventional methods, antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method as per NCCLS guidelines.A total of 102 wound swabs were examined 22(21.56%) swabs were sterile and 80(78.43%) were positive for microorganisms. The results showed

Flexible pavements are considered an essential element of transportation infrastructure. So, evaluations of flexible pavement performance are necessary for the proper management of transportation infrastructure. Pavement condition index (PCI) and international roughness index (IRI) are common indices applied to evaluate pavement surface conditions. However, the pavement condition surveys to calculate PCI are costly and time-consuming as compared to IRI. This article focuses on developing regression models that predict PCI from IRI. Eighty-three flexible pavement sections, with section length equal to 250 m, were selected in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq, to develop PCI-IRI relationships. In terms of the quantity and severity of eac

In recent years, the search for economic and environmentally friendly alternatives has become a global necessity to achieve sustainability and preserve raw materials. From this concept, natural bitumen (NB) derived from sulphur springs is now one of the most promising alternative energy resources for many applications, especially in asphalt pavement construction. Its low price and abundance characterise NB since sulphur springs produce thousands of tonnes of NB annually and are used in very limited fields. Two main objectives were adopted for this work. The first objective is to examine the virgin NB properties from five sulphur springs and compare them with petroleum asphalt. The second objective is to enhance NB properties by appl

Highlights

Compaction of triticale grain with three moisture contents (8%, 12%, and 16% wet basis) was measured at five applied pressures (0, 7, 14, 34, and 55 kPa).

The use of blended cement in concrete provides economic, energy savings, and ecological benefits, and also provides. Improvement in the properties of materials incorporating blended cements. The major aim of this investigation is to develop blended cement technology using grinded local rocks . The research includes information on constituent materials, manufacturing processes and performance characteristics of blended cements made with replacement (10 and 20) % of grinded local rocks (limestone, quartzite and porcelinite) from cement. The main conclusion of this study was that all types of manufactured blended cement conformed to the specification according to ASTM C595-12 (chemical and physical requirements). The percentage of the compress