The performance of asphalt pavements is crucial due to heavy traffic loads from civil and industrial developments. Various additives and modifiers are used in flexible roads to improve their resistance to deterioration caused by climatic changes. From this context, modifying the asphalt binder with polymers is popular in asphalt pavement construction. The present research investigates the effect of Polyethylene (PE) polymers in powder form on the characteristics of asphalt mixtures since these polymers are composed of hydrocarbons. It is similar to asphalt binders, making them very effective in enhancing the performance of neat asphalt produced from the oil refinery. To confirm this, two types of PE, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density PE (LDPE), were blended with neat asphalt binder at different dosages of 0%, 2%, 4%, and 6% by the weight of asphalt binder. The physical tests, including penetration, ductility, softening point, and weight loss on heat, were conducted to examine neat and PE-modified binders' rheological properties, durability, and temperature sensitivity. Marshall stability, stiffness index, tensile strength, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were also employed to assess the performance of PE-modified asphalt mixtures. The findings reveal that incorporating PE into asphalt mixtures significantly improves their mechanical properties, and the most optimal results are achieved when using 6% of both HDPE and LDPE. Specifically, modifying the asphalt binder with the inclusion of 6% HDPE and LDPE presents a remarkable increase in stability of 167.6% and 150.9%, respectively, compared to conventional mixtures. The stiffness index is improved for HDPE and LDPE-modified mixtures, which offers these mixtures superior resistance to permanent deformation. The moisture damage resistance can be enhanced by modification of the asphalt binder with HDPE and LDPE, especially at the inclusion of 6%. SEM images of asphalt pavement demonstrate HDPE's superiority in terms of distribution and dispersion in asphalt binder. In conclusion, the properties of HDPE-modified mixtures are better than those of LDPE-modified and untreated mixtures.
This study involved preparation of Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) using Hummer method and chemical method respectively. These carbon nanomaterials were used as starting material to make novel functionalize with thiocarbohydrazide (TCH) which was prepared by reacting CS2 with hydrazine to form GO or RGO- 4-amino,5-substituted 1H,1,2,4 Triazole 5(4H) thion (ASTT) ,(GOT) and( RGOT) respectively via cyclocondensation reaction. Also MnO2 nanorod was prepared to form hybridized with GOT and RGOT. A commercial multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and functionalization with carboxylic groups' (f-MWCNT) and its nanocomposite with GOT were also prepared. All carbon nanomaterials were characterized with different techniques such as
... Show MoreUnderstanding the effects of fear, quadratic fixed effort harvesting, and predator-dependent refuge are essential topics in ecology. Accordingly, a modified Leslie–Gower prey–predator model incorporating these biological factors is mathematically modeled using the Beddington–DeAngelis type of functional response to describe the predation processes. The model’s qualitative features are investigated, including local equilibria stability, permanence, and global stability. Bifurcation analysis is carried out on the temporal model to identify local bifurcations such as transcritical, saddle-node, and Hopf bifurcation. A comprehensive numerical inquiry is carried out using MATLAB to verify the obtained theoretical findings and und
... Show MoreBackground: Among individuals who have a stenotic aortic valve, a precise assessment of aortic valve area is essential for clinical judgment. So far, no studies have been conducted to investigate and assess the role of the three dimensional echo-cardiography in the assessment of the valve stenosis. This study aims to compare and assess the precision of the measurement of the stenosis area of the aortic valve by 2D versus 3D echo-cardiography.
Binary mixtures of three, heavy oil-stocks was subjected to density measurements at temperatures of 30, 35 and 40 °C. and precise data was acquired on the volumetric behavior of these systems. The results are reported in terms of equations for excess specific volumes of mixtures. The heavy oil-stocks used were of good varity, namely 40 stock, 60 stock, and 150 stock. The lightest one is 40 stock with °API gravity 33.69 while 60 stock is a middle type and 150 stock is a heavy one, with °API gravity 27.74 and 23.79 respectively. Temperatures in the range of 30-40 °C have a minor effect on excess volume of heavy oil-stock binary mixture thus, insignificant expansion or shrinkage is observed by increasing the temperature this effect beco
... Show MoreObjectives: Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized with bone mass loss and microstructure, resulting in fragility fractures. Continued secretion of Osteopontin (OPN), osteonectin (ON), osteocalcin (OCN), Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and Ca+2 lead to bone remodeling disorders, followed by bone loss and osteoporosis (OP). The current study aims to investigate the biochemical proteins OPN, OCN, and ON in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and determine whether we could use them as good indicators for OP diagnostics. Materials and Methods: Case- control study carried out between December 2022 and July 2023. OP disease was confirmed among 108 Iraqi postmenopausal women randomly selected from different Iraqi hospitals, B
... Show MoreBackground: Normal Left Ventricular systolic function is present in nearly 50% of patients with congestive heart failure, the majority of such patients have systemic hypertension. Recent studies have demonstrated Left Ventricular dyssynchrony among patients with heart failure and normal systolic function. The co-existence between Left Ventricular dyssynchrony and hypertension with normal systolic function (with no clinical evidence of heart failure) is less well understood.
Objective:
To assess the Left Ventricular dyssynchrony among hypertensive patients with normal systolic function by using Tissue doppler imaging.To find out the associations between the LV dyssynchrony and other global
... Show MoreBreast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women. The metabolism of iron is closely regulated by hepcidin which exerts its action by interacting with a ferroportin.
The aim of the present study was to assess the alterations in the levels of some serum biomarkers that have a role in iron homeostasis (hepcidin and ferroportin) in addition to hematological parameters (hemoglobin, leukocyte and platelets count) in different stages of BC.
This study included 66 women with BC. The patients were categorized as follows : group 1 includes :22 patients with stage I disease ,group 2 includes: 22 patients with stage II disease ,and group 3 include: 22 patients with stage III disease .Group 4 includes :22 appare
... Show MoreObjective: The present study aims to assess the stressful life events for patients with substance abuse in Baghdad city.
Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out at (Baghdad teaching hospital and Ibn-Rushed Psychiatric hospital).
Starting from 1
st of December 2012 to 3
rd of July 2013, A non-probability (purposive) sample of 64 patients that
diagnosed with substance abuse, the data were collected through the use of semi-structured interview by
questionnaire, which consists of three parts sociodemographic data, medical information, and Life events scale
consists of 49-items distributed to six domains including, family and social domain, health domain, security, legal and
criminal domain, work and school do
Basrah crude oil Vacuum residue 773+ K with specific gravity 1.107 and 4.87wt. % sulfur, was treated with hexane commercial fraction provided from Al-Taji Gas Company for preparing deasphaltened oil(DAO)suitable for hydrotreating process. Deasphaltening was carried out with 1h mixing time, 10ml:1g solvent to oil ratio and at room temperature. Hexane deasphaltened oil was hydrotreated on presulfied commercial Co-Mo/γ-Al2O3 catalyst in a trickle bed reactor. The hydrotreating process was carried out at temperature 660 K,LHSV 1.3 h^ –1, H2/oil ratio 300 l/l and constant pressure of 4MPa. The hydrotreated product was distillated under vacuum distillation unit. It is found that the mixture of 75% of vacuum residue with 25% anthracene satisfie
... Show MoreUndoubtedly, rutting in asphalt concrete pavement is considered a major dilemma in terms of pavement performance and safety faced by road users as well as the road authorities. Rutting is a bowl-shaped depression in the wheel paths that develop gradually with the increasing number of load applications. Heavy axle loadings besides the high pavement summer temperature enhance the problem of rutting. According to the AASHTO design equation for flexible pavements, a 1.1 in rut depth will reduce the present serviceability index of relatively new pavement, having no other distress, from 4.2 to 2.5. With this amount of drop in serviceability, the entire life of the pavement in effect has been lost. Therefore, it is crucial to look at the mechani
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