In this paper, mesoscale modeling is performed to simulate and understand fracture behavior of two concrete composites: cement and asphalt concrete using disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) tests. Mesoscale models are used as alternative to macroscale models to obtain better realistic behavior of composite and heterogeneous materials such as cement and asphalt concrete. In mesoscale models, aggregate and matrix are represented as distinct materials and each material has its characteristic properties. Disk-shaped compact tension test is used to obtain tensile strength and fracture energy of materials. This test can be used as a better alternative to other tests such as three points bending tests because it is more convenient for both field and

The assessment of the environmental impact of the cement industry using the Leopold Matrix is ​​to determine the negative and positive impacts on the environment resulting from this industry, and what are the long-term and short-term effects, direct and indirect, and the amount of these effects and potential risks, and that this evaluation process is done through a number of methods, including Matrix method, including (Leopold).

The importance of the research because the cement occupies is of great importance in the world, especially in our country, Iraq, in the sector of construction and modernity, and the toxic emissions and solid waste produced by the production of this material. <

Background: This in vitro study compares a self-etch primer (SEP) to an etch-and-rinse (EaR) for bonding sapphire brackets by evaluation of the enamel etch-pattern, shear bond strength, amount of remnant adhesive and enamel surface damage following thermal and fatigue cyclic loading. Material and Methods: Ceramic (sapphire) brackets were bonded to 80 extracted human premolars using two enamel etching protocols: conventional EaR using 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and a SEP (Transbond Plus). Each group was subdivided into two subgroups (n=20 teeth) according to the time of bracket debonding: after 24 h water storage or following 5000 thermo-cycles plus 5000 cycles fatigue loading, to determine the shear bond strength (SBS), adhesiv

mixtures of cyclohexane + n-decane and cyclohexane + 1-pentanol have been measured at 298.15, 308.15, 318.15, and 328.15 K over the whole mole fraction range. From these results, excess molar volumes, VE , have been calculated and fitted to the Flory equations. The VE values are negative and positive over the whole mole fraction range and at all temperatures. The excess refractive indices nE and excess viscosities ?E have been calculated from experimental refractive indices and viscosity measurements at different temperature and fitted to the mixing rules equations and Heric – Coursey equation respectively to predict theoretical refractive indices, we found good agreement between them for binary mixtures in this study. The variation of th

The effects of using aqueous nanofluids containing covalently functionalized graphene nanoplatelets with triethanolamine (TEA-GNPs) as novel working fluids on the thermal performance of a flat-plate solar collector (FPSC) have been investigated. Water-based nanofluids with weight concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1% of TEA-GNPs with specific surface areas of 300, 500, and 750 m2/g were prepared. An experimental setup was designed and built and a simulation program using MATLAB was developed. Experimental tests were performed using inlet fluid temperatures of 30, 40, and 50 °C; flow rates of 0.6, 1.0, and 1.4 kg/min; and heat flux intensities of 600, 800, and 1000 W/m2. The FPSC’s efficiency increased as the flow rate and hea

The performance quality and searching speed of Block Matching (BM) algorithm are affected by shapes and sizes of the search patterns used in the algorithm. In this paper, Kite Cross Hexagonal Search (KCHS) is proposed. This algorithm uses different search patterns (kite, cross, and hexagonal) to search for the best Motion Vector (MV). In first step, KCHS uses cross search pattern. In second step, it uses one of kite search patterns (up, down, left, or right depending on the first step). In subsequent steps, it uses large/small Hexagonal Search (HS) patterns. This new algorithm is compared with several known fast block matching algorithms. Comparisons are based on search points and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). According to resul

Abstract Candida albicans is a commensal fungal pathogen that grows in yeast and hyphal forms in the human gut. C. albicans causes mucosal and cutaneous diseases that can result in significant mortality following systematic infections and it also exhibits drug resistance. Zebrafish have been an excellent model to investigate C. albicans infections because of their transparency and the availability of many transgenic lines. However, there is a limitation in using zebrafish as a model because the fish embryos cannot survive at 37°C therefore it is not suitable for studying Candida infections at physiological relevant human body temperature. In this thesis, the normal embryonic development of Arabian killifish (A. dispar) is investigated, rev

The pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which represents over 90% of pancreatic cancer cases,
has the highest proliferative and metastatic rate in comparison to other pancreatic cancer compartments. This
study is designed to determine whether small nucleolar RNA, H/ACA box 64 (snoRNA64) is associated with
pancreatic cancer initiation and progression. Gene expression data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)
repository have shown that snoRNA64 expression is reduced in primary and metastatic pancreatic cancer as
compared to normal tissues based on statistical analysis of the in Silico analysis. Using qPCR techniques,
pancreatic cancer cell lines include PK-1, PK-8, PK-4, and Mia PaCa-2 with differ

Obesity is an escalating health problem in developing countries. One to ten children worldwide are overweight in a report showed by the International Obesity Task Force. Ghrelin, orexigenic peptide, has 28 amino acids, it is considered the greatest remarkable promotion in the last two decades for understanding the physiological changes of action regu­lating food intake and hunger. Obestatin is a 23-amino acid peptide nearly connected to ghrelin that secures from substitutio