This research presents the possibility of using banana peel (arising from agricultural production waste) as biosorbent for removal of copper from simulated aqueous solution. Batch sorption experiments were performed as a function of pH, sorbent dose, and contact time. The optimal pH value of Copper (II) removal by banana peel was 6. The amount of sorbed metal ions was calculated as 52.632 mg/g. Sorption kinetic data were tested using pseudo-first order, and pseudo-second order models. Kinetic studies showed that the sorption followed a pseudo second order reaction due to the high correlation coefficient and the agreement between the experimental and calculated values of qe. Thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy change (ΔH°), entropy change (ΔS°) and Gibbs free energy change (ΔG°) were also investigated. Free energy change showed that biosorption of Cu (II) was spontaneous and nature endothermic at all studied temperatures (25–45 °C).
An Indirect simple sensitive and applicable spectrofluorometric method has been developed for the determination of Cefotaxime Sodium (CEF), ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride (CIP) and Famotidine (FAM) using reaction system bromate-bromide and acriflavine (AF) as fluorescent dye. The method is based on the oxidation of drugs with known excess bromate-bromide mixture in acidic medium and subsequent determination of unreacted oxidant by quenching fluorescence of AF. Fluorescence intensity of residual AF was measured at 528 nm after excitation at 402 nm. The fluorescence-concentration plots were rectilinear over the ranges 0.1-3.0, 0.05-2.6 and 0.1-3.8 µg ml-1 with lower detection limits of 0.013, 0.018 and 0.021 µg ml-1 an
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's
... Show MoreThis 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
... Show MoreThis 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
... Show MoreOil recovery could be impacted by the relation between vertical permeability (Kv) and horizontal permeability (Kh) (Kv/Kh). 4816 plugs that have been getting hold of 18 wells of Mishrif formation in the West Qurna oilfield were used. Kv/Kh data provided some scatter, but the mean is ~1. Kv/Kh =1 was used for the Petrel model before upscaling according to the heterogeneity of each layer.
Kv/Kh values for Mishrif Formation in West Qurna Oilfield are 0.8 for relatively homogeneous, 0.4 for heterogeneous rock, and 0.1 for cap rocks (CRII).
Eclipse TM was used for reservoir simulation. PVT and SCAL data e
... Show MoreFor the design of a deep foundation, piles are presumed to transfer the axial and lateral loads into the ground. However, the effects of the combined loads are generally ignored in engineering practice since there are uncertainties to the precise definition of soil–pile interactions. Hence, for technical discussions of the soil–pile interactions due to dynamic loads, a three-dimensional finite element model was developed to evaluate the soil pile performance based on the 1 g shaking table test. The static loads consisted of 50% of the allowable vertical pile capacity and 50% of the allowable lateral pile capacity. The dynamic loads were taken from the recorded data of the Kobe e
This paper analyzes the effect of scaling-up model and acceleration history on seismic response of closed-ended pipe pile using a finite element modeling approach and the findings of 1 g shaking table tests of a pile embedded in dry and saturated soils. A number of scaling laws were used to create the numerical modeling according to the data obtained from 1 g shake table tests performed in the laboratory. The current study found that the behaviors of the scaled models, in general have similar trends. From numerical modeling on both the dry and saturated sands, the normalized lateral displacement, bending moment, and vertical displacement of piles with scale factors of 2 and 35 are less than those of the pile with a scale factor of 1 and the
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