The use of Near-Surface Mounted (NSM) Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strips is an efficient technology for increasing flexural and shear strength or for repairing damaged Reinforced Concrete (RC) members. This strengthening method is a promising technology. However, the thin layer of concrete covering the NSM-CFRP strips is not adequate to resist heat effect when directly exposed to a fire or at a high temperature. There is clear evidence that the strength and stiffness of CFRPs severely deteriorate at high temperatures. Therefore, in terms of fire resistance, the NSM technique has a significant defect. Thus, it is very important to develop a set of efficient fire protection systems to overcome these disadvantages. This paper presents a numerical study that investigates the fire behavior of thermally insulated RC beams flexurally strengthened with NSM-CFRP strips and subjected to fire exposure according to the ISO 834 standard. The numerical study considered three-dimensional finite element models in the ABAQUS software that have been developed to simulate and predict the performance (thermal and structural response) of fire endurance tests on strengthened, uninsulated strengthened, and thermally insulated beams strengthened with NSM-CFRP strips, which were exposed to fire and had different fire insulation schemes. The insulation used was plaster from local material with a thickness range of 25 to 50mm. The variation of the thermal and mechanical properties with the temperature of the constituent materials was considered. All beams' mechanical and thermal responses were adequately simulated using numerical models. The results of the numerical simulations were in good agreement with the experimental data. The fire behavior of the NSM-CFRP strengthened RC beams was examined and particularly the efficiency of the NSM strengthening system during the fire. The behavior in the fire of the NSM-CFRP strengthening system on the RC beams thermally protected with different fire insulation schemes was assessed. Finally, the effectiveness of fire insulation was studied.
Notes are given regarding new record species of the braconid parasite short note in Iraq. That is Apanteles angalcti it is found to parasitize early larval instaxs of Ectomyslois ceratontae, one of the most serious pests of pomegra- nate fruit.
In this paper, a modified derivation has been introduced to analyze the construction of C-space. The profit from using C-space is to make the process of path planning more safety and easer. After getting the C-space construction and map for two-link planar robot arm, which include all the possible situations of collision between robot parts and obstacle(s), the A* algorithm, which is usually used to find a heuristic path on Cartesian W-space, has been used to find a heuristic path on C-space map. Several modifications are needed to apply the methodology for a manipulator with degrees of freedom more than two. The results of C-space map, which are derived by the modified analysis, prove the accuracy of the overall C-space mapping and cons
... Show MoreA QR code is a type of barcode that can hold more information than the familiar kind scanned at checkouts around the world. The “QR” stands for “Quick Response”, a reference to the speed at which the large amounts of information they contain can be decoded by scanners. They are being widely used for advertising campaigns, linking to company websites, contest sign-up pages and online menus. In this paper, we propose an efficient module to extract QR code from background and solve problem of rotation in case of inaccurate image taken from mobile camera.
Groundwater modelling is particularly challenging in arid regions where limited water recharge is available. A fault zone will add a significant challenge to the modelling process. The Western Desert in Iraq has been chosen to implement the modelling concept and calculate the model sensitivity to the changes in aquifer hydraulic properties and calibration by researching 102 observations and irrigation wells. MODFLOW-NWT, which is a Newtonian formulation for MODFLOW-2005 approaches, have been used in this study. Further, the simulation run has been implemented using the Upstream-Weighting package (UPW) to treat the dry cells. The results show sensitivity to the change of the Kx value for the major groundwater discharge flow. Only abo
... Show MoreBackground: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor historically recognized for its role in the regulation of toxicity mediated by environmental chemicals. Recent research points to AhR's critical participation in male reproductive physiology, particularly in spermatogenesis, hormone signaling, and the maintenance of sperm quality. Both endogenous ligands (e.g., dietary and gut microbiota-derived metabolites) and exogenous pollutants (e.g., dioxins and benzo-α-pyrene) influence AhR-mediated pathways, making it a key link between environmental exposures and male fertility. Results: This review highlights AhR's influence on the male reproductive system, emphasizing the role of endogenous AhR ligands an
... Show MoreThe objective of this review was to describe the COVID-19 complications after recovery.
The researchers systematically reviewed studies that reported post-COVID-19 complications from three databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and the World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 database. The search was conducted between 21 November 2020 and 14 January 2021. Inclusion criteria were articles written in English, with primary data, reporting complications of COVID-19 after full
This work proposes a new video buffer framework (VBF) to acquire a favorable quality of experience (QoE) for video streaming in cellular networks. The proposed framework consists of three main parts: client selection algorithm, categorization method, and distribution mechanism. The client selection algorithm was named independent client selection algorithm (ICSA), which is proposed to select the best clients who have less interfering effects on video quality and recognize the clients’ urgency based on buffer occupancy level. In the categorization method, each frame in the video buffer is given a specific number for better estimation of the playout outage probability, so it can efficiently handle so many frames from different video
... Show MoreThis article aims to provide a bibliometric analysis of intellectual capital research published in the Scopus database from 1956 to 2020 to trace the development of scientific activities that can pave the way for future studies by shedding light on the gaps in the field. The analysis focuses on 638 intellectual capital-related papers published in the Scopus database over 60 years, drawing upon a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer. This paper highlights the mainstream of the current research in the intellectual capital field, based on the Scopus database, by presenting a detailed bibliometric analysis of the trend and development of intellectual capital research in the past six decades, including journals, authors, countries, inst
... Show MorePorous materials play an important role in creating a sustainable environment by improving wastewater treatment's efficacy. Porous materials, including adsorbents or ion exchangers, catalysts, metal–organic frameworks, composites, carbon materials, and membranes, have widespread applications in treating wastewater and air pollution. This review examines recent developments in porous materials, focusing on their effectiveness for different wastewater pollutants. Specifically, they can treat a wide range of water contaminants, and many remove over 95% of targeted contaminants. Recent advancements include a wider range of adsorption options, heterogeneous catalysis, a new UV/H2O