A pioneering idea for increasing the thermal performance of heat transfer fluids was to use ultrafine solid particles suspended in the base fluid. Nanofluids, synthesized by mixing solid nanometer sized particles at low concentrations with the base fluid, were used as a new heat transfer fluid and developed a remarkable effect on the thermophysical properties and heat transfer coefficient. For any nanofluid to be usable in heat transfer applications, the main concern is its long-term stability. The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of using four different surfactants (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and gum Arabic (GA)), each with three different concentrations, and five ultrasonication times (15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min) on the stability of water-based graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) nanofluids. In addition, the viscosity and thermal conductivity of the highest stability samples were measured at different temperatures. For this aim, nineteen different nanofluids with 0.1 wt% concentration of GNPs were prepared via the two-step method. An ultrasonication probe was utilized to disperse the GNPs in distilled water. UV–vis spectrometry, zeta potential, average particle size, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were helpful in evaluating the stability and characterizing the prepared nanofluids. TEM and zeta potential results were in agreement with the UV–vis measurements. The highest nanofluid stability was obtained at 60-min ultrasonication time. The prepared water-based pristine GNPs nanofluids were not stable, and the stability was improved with the addition of surfactants. The presence of SDBS, SDS, and CTAB surfactants in the nanofluids resulted in excessive foam. The best water-based GNPs nanofluid was selected in terms of better stability, higher thermal conductivity, and lower viscosity. From all the samples that were prepared in this research, the (1–1) SDBS–GNPs sample with 60-min ultrasonication showed the highest stability (82% relative concentration after 60 days), the second better enhancement in the thermal conductivity of the base fluid (8.36%), and nearly the lowest viscosity (7.4% higher than distilled water).
According to the prevalence of multidrug resistance bacteria, especially Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in which the essential mechanism of drug resistance is the ability to possess an efflux pump by which extrusion of antimicrobial agents usually occurs, this study aims to detect the presence of mexB multidrug efflux gene in some local isolates of this bacteria that show resistance towards three antibiotics, out of five. Sensitivity test to antibiotics was performed on all isolates by using meropenem (10μg/disc), imipenem (10μg/disc), amikacin (30 μg/disc), ciprofloxacin (5μg/disc) and ceftazidime (30 μg/disc). Conventional PCR results showed the presence of mexB gene (244bp) in four isolates out of ten (40%). In addition,25, 50μg/ml of cur
... Show MoreAgricultural nozzles usually produce a different drops size depending on the pressure and the physical condition (work life) of the nozzle besides producing a wide range of the drops spectrum in the spray cloud. In this paper the standard flat fan nozzles were investigated regarding the effect of the working pressure and the nozzle physical condition (new and worn nozzles). The size of drops and the spectrum of drops across the long axis of the spray pattern were examined by using Sympatec GmbH Laser Diffraction. Reducing the working pressure from 3 to 2 and then to 1 caused production of larger drops, also using worn nozzles (especially with lower pressure) changed the drops size whi
In practical engineering problems, uncertainty exists not only in external excitations but also in structural parameters. This study investigates the influence of structural geometry, elastic modulus, mass density, and section dimension uncertainty on the stochastic earthquake response of portal frames subjected to random ground motions. The North-South component of the El Centro earthquake in 1940 in California is selected as the ground excitation. Using the power spectral density function, the two-dimensional finite element model of the portal frame’s base motion is modified to account for random ground motions. A probabilistic study of the portal frame structure using stochastic finite elements utilizing Monte Carlo simulation
... Show MoreEvaluate the acute and chronic toxicity of Ruta Chalepensis aerial part aqueous extract used in folk medicine in Iraq in Albino Wistar male and female rats. The study of chronic toxicity at the doses 100, 300 and 600mg/kg body weight in male and female rats for 90 days, recorded no mortality. Treated animals showed a normal weight change compared with control. The parameters of male fertility showed a significant decrease in the weight of testis, epididymis and seminal vesicle as well as a reduction in the number and the motility of spermatozoids at treated groups by the doses 300 and 600 mg/kg body weight compared to control group.
To obtain the approximate solution to Riccati matrix differential equations, a new variational iteration approach was proposed, which is suggested to improve the accuracy and increase the convergence rate of the approximate solutons to the exact solution. This technique was found to give very accurate results in a few number of iterations. In this paper, the modified approaches were derived to give modified solutions of proposed and used and the convergence analysis to the exact solution of the derived sequence of approximate solutions is also stated and proved. Two examples were also solved, which shows the reliability and applicability of the proposed approach.
The numerical response of Chrysoperla mutata MacLachlan was achieved by exposing the larvae of the predators to various densities of dubas nymphs Ommatissus lybicus DeBerg. Survival rate of predators’ larvae and adults emergence increased with increasing consumption . Repriductive response of predator was highly correlated with the amount of food consumed (+0.996).
Background: Impacted teeth are frequent problem and one of the most affected teeth is the maxillary canine. The early diagnosis of impacted canines by radiographic evaluation is imperative. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of impacted maxillary canines in patients attending the Oral diagnosis and Radiology clinic in College of Dentistry, University of Al-Basrah. Materials and Methods: 1280 patients attending the Oral Diagnosis and Radiology clinic in College of Dentistry University of Al-Basrah, between October 2013 and March 2015 were examined for the study. The age of the patients ranged from 15 to 55 years, with a mean age of 22.2 years. Results: The prevalence for maxillary impacted canines in all the cases was fo
... Show MoreMany problems are facing the installation of piles group in laboratory testing and the errors in results of load and settlement are measured experimentally may be happened due to select inadequate method of installation of piles group. There are three main methods of installation in-flight, pre-jacking and hammering methods. In order to find the correction factor between these methods the laboratory model tests were conducted on small-scale models. The parameters studied were the methods of installation (in-flight, pre-jacking and hammering method), the number of piles and in sandy soil in loose state. The results of experimental work show that the increase in the number of piles value led to increase in load carrying ca
... Show MoreTraffic loading and environmental factors are among the most serious variables that cause the spoilage of flexible pavements and lead to a decrease in their design life. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of axle load raise and the change in resilient modulus on the flexible pavement design life. Locally, Highway geometric design code for Iraqi building code has assign certain admissible maximum load limits per every axle truck type that should not be overrun. In this paper nine different axle truck loads (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16) tons, single axle with dual tire and, and two different resilient moduli of asphalt pavement were chosen. The evaluation was carried out assuming high temperature to represent
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