This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From

This study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From

In this work, a Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) sensor based on the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) technology was proposed. A thin layer of gold (Au) was deposited on a D-shaped Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF), which was coated with plasmonic chemically stable gold material with a thickness of 40nm. The performance parameters like sensitivity including wavelength sensitivity and amplitude sensitivity and resolution were evaluated by simulation using COMSOL software. The proposed sensor was created by using the finite element approach, it is numerically examined. The results show that the surface of D-shaped Photonic Crystal Fiber coated with Au behaves as a sensor to detect the refractive index (IR) of toxic metal ions. The impacts of the str

The production of biodiesel generates soap impurities that hinder biodiesel performance and complicate its purification. This study presents a novel approach for soap removal from biodiesel using NiO–doped ZnO nanoparticle (NP) adsorbent. The NPs are synthesized using a gliding arc discharge (GAD) method as a non-thermal plasma source (NTP). NiO doping reduced the bandgap energy by 74%, reduced the crystallite size, and increased the surface area by 78%, entailing lattice strain and structural modifications. Soap removal efficiency was 99.7% for NiO–doped ZnO within 16 min, compared with 95.5% for ZnO. Soap uptake as high as 2320 mg/g NiO–doped ZnO was reported, which could be equally fitted by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms su

This study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr

This work presents an investigation on the fabrication and characterization of Fe doped zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) of 1:1 M ratio of Zn:Fe (Fe/Zn-ZIF-8) and adsorption performances of acquired materials. The synthesized Zn-ZIF-8, Fe-ZIF-8, and Fe/Zn-ZIF-8 materials were characterized for the phase structure, morphology, elemental analysis and surface area by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX), and BET surface area, respectively. The results revealed the adsorption capacity was enhanced by incorporation of Fe into ZIF-8 structure. The CR dye adsorption capacities were 287, 219, and 412 mg/g for Zn-ZIF-8, Fe-ZIF-8, and Fe/Zn-ZIF-8 adsorbers, respectivel

Removal of solar brown and direct black dyes by coagulation with two aluminum based
coagulants was conducted. The main objective is to examine the efficiency of these
coagulants in the treatment of dye polluted water discharged from Al-Kadhymia Textile
Company (Baghdad-Iraq). The performance of these coagulants was investigated through
jar test by comparing dye percent removal at different wastewater pH, coagulant dose,
and initial dye concentration. Results show that alum works better than PAC under acidic
media (5-6) and PAC works better under basic media (7-8) in the removal of both solar
brown and direct black dyes. Higher doses of PAC were required to achieve the
maximum removal efficiency under optimum pH co

This study aimed to assess the efficiency of Nerium oleander in removing three different metals (Cd, Cu, and Ni) from simulated wastewater using horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland (HSSF-CW) system. The HSSF-CW pilot scale was operated at two hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 4 and 7 days, filled with a substrate layer of sand and gravel. The results indicated that the HSSF-CW had high removal efficiency of Cd and Cu. A higher HRT (7 days) resulted in greater removal efficiency reaching up to (99.3% Cd, 99.5% Cu, 86.3% Ni) compared to 4 days. The substrate played a significant role in removal of metals due to adsorption and precipitation. The N. oleander plant also showed a good tolerance to the uptake of Cd, Cu, and Ni ions fr

The aim of the research is to diagnose and analyze the gap between the actual reality and the application of the eighth requirement (operation) in the National Insurance Company in accordance with the international standard specification for the quality management system (ISO 9001:2015), which is related to the planning, implementation and control of operations, which would raise the level of performance of employees and be reflected in the provision of An appropriate service for the faithful, as the reality of the condition of the requirement was studied by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the system to diagnose the gap and find ways to address it. A workshop was held with company officials, through which questions were raise

            The widespread use of the Internet of things (IoT) in different aspects of an individual’s life like banking, wireless intelligent devices and smartphones has led to new security and performance challenges under restricted resources. The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) is the most suitable choice for the environments due to the smaller size of the encryption key and changeable security related parameters. However, major performance metrics such as area, power, latency and throughput are still customisable and based on the design requirements of the device.

The present paper puts forward an enhancement for the throughput performance metric by p