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 strength test and modulus of rupture test at ages of (7, 28 and 90) days. The third part included doing the shrinkage test at age of (7, 14, 21, 28) days. The results show that internally cured self-compacting concrete has the best workability and the best properties of hardened concrete which include (compressive strength, modulus of rupture) of externally cured self-compacting concrete with both water and air as compared with reference concretes. Also, the hardened properties of internally cured self-compacting concrete with percentage of (5%) with thermostone aggregate is the best as compared with that of percentages (10% and 15%) in both external curing conditions. In general, the results of shrinkage test have shown reduction in shrinkage of internally cured self-compacting concrete as compared with reference concretes and this reduction increases with increase in the thermostone aggregate content-within-self-compacting-concrete.
The factors influencing the financial market are rapidly becoming more complex. The impact of non-financial factors on the performance of a company’s common stock can increase in ways that were not previously expected. This study investigated how brand capital affects the risk of stock prices in Iraqi private banks listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange failing by identifying the likelihood of a crash caused by a negative deviation in the distribution of returns on ordinary shares. As a result, the current study’s concept is to review an analytical knowledge framework of the nature of that relationship, its changes, and its impact on the pricing of ordinary shares of the banks of the researched sector for the years 2009 to 2017, as w
... Show Moreplanning is among the most significant in the field of robotics research. As it is linked to finding a safe and efficient route in a cluttered environment for wheeled mobile robots and is considered a significant prerequisite for any such mobile robot project to be a success. This paper proposes the optimal path planning of the wheeled mobile robot with collision avoidance by using an algorithm called grey wolf optimization (GWO) as a method for finding the shortest and safe. The research goals in this study for identify the best path while taking into account the effect of the number of obstacles and design parameters on performance for the algorithm to find the best path. The simulations are run in the MATLAB environment to test the
... Show MoreThis study synthesized nanocomposite photocatalyst materials from a mixture of Cu2O nanoparticles, ZnO nanoparticles, and graphene oxide (GO) through coprecipitation and hydrothermal methods. This study aims to determine the optimum composition of Cu2O/ZnO/GO nanocomposites in degrading methylene blue. The nanocomposite was synthesized in two steps: 1 the synthesis of Cu2O and ZnO nanoparticles through the coprecipitation method and the preparation of GO through the modified Hummer method. 2 The preparation of Cu2O and ZnO nanoparticles mixtures with GO through the hydrothermal method to form Cu2O/ZnO/GO nanocomposites. The adsorption-photocatalysis process of methylene blue
... Show MoreObjective Tea lovers are increasing worldwide. We hope that this report is the first to discuss the possible impacts of high black tea consumption on gestational weight gain (GWG) and birth parameters. Methods Throughout one year, a total of 7,063 pregnant ladies coming for first antenatal visit were screened in a major tertiary center. Of them, 1,138 were involved and divided according to their preference into 3 groups: excessive tea (ET), usual tea (UT), and mixed beverages group. The study included women who gave birth to healthy neonates. Results The rate of ET consumption was 4.13% with a total of 41 cases. The UT group (controls) comprised 94 women. ET was significantly associated (P<0.05) with maternal age, parity, occupation, smokin
... Show MoreBackground: Cigarette smoking (CS) is a periodontal disease risk factor, affecting clinical parameters such as bleeding on probing (BOP), plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI) and proinflammatory cytokines level. This study examines the impact electronic cigarette use on proinflammatory cytokines and periodontal parameters. Methods: In this non-randomized study, ninety participants diagnosed with gingivitis were assigned into three groups. examined the effect of oral hygiene instructions on periodontal parameters and inflammatory biomarkers. Thirty CS (n=30) vaping electronic-cigarettes (e-cig) (n=29), and non-smoker (NS) (n=31) was included. Clinical parameters including PI, BOP, and GI were recorded at baseline and after 3 weeks
... Show MoreThe main idea that led me to write such research paper within the framework of Germanic linguistics is that I have not found any topic dealing with the term correlate in the German language, except in several articles in linguistic journals as well as one topic in a book describing the use of such a linguistic phenomenon in the language system. The research initially deals with the definition of the correlate at the level of the German language system. Correlate is unity describes specific relation of two sentences and identifies denoted constructs. Correlate is called a placeholder at the syntactic level because it does not occupy its original topological fields in the syntactic structure. The correlate (es) or the prepositiona
... Show MoreThis paper presents an improved technique on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm. The procedure is applied on Single Machine with Infinite Bus (SMIB) system with power system stabilizer (PSS) at three different loading regimes. The simulations are made by using MATLAB software. The results show that by using Improved Ant Colony Optimization (IACO) the system will give better performance with less number of iterations as it compared with a previous modification on ACO. In addition, the probability of selecting the arc depends on the best ant performance and the evaporation rate.
The reason for conducting this study is to prolong release of miconazole in the ocular site of action by ocular-based gels (OBGs) formulations. The formulation factors affecting on the release from OBG should be studied using various gelling agents in various concentrations to achieve the improvement in retention and residence time in response to prolonged release. In this study, the formulations were prepared using carbopol 940, pectin, sodium alginate, poloxamer 407, and poly(methacrylic acid) at 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% w/v, respectively. Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose E5 (HPMC E5) 1% was added as thickening agent/viscosity builder. The formulation containing carbopol 940, pectin and sodium alginate at 1.5% w/v, displayed a noticable im
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