This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on seven one-way, reinforced concrete (RC) slabs with a new technique of slab weight reduction using polystyrene-embedded arched blocks (PEABs). All slabs had the same dimensions, steel reinforcement, and concrete compressive strength. One of these slabs was a solid slab, which was taken as a control slab, while the other six slabs were cast with PEABs. The main variables were the ratio of the length of the PEABs to the length of the slab (lp/L) and the ratio of the height of the PEABs to the total slab depth (hP/H). The minimum decrease in the ultimate load capacity was about 6% with a minimum reduction in the slab weight of 15%. In contrast, the maximum decrease in the ultimate load capacity was about 24% with a maximum reduction in the slab weight of 40%. Moreover, the mode of failure changed from flexure to shear failure, especially for those slabs with an lP/L ratio equal to one. The geometric and material non-linearity was adopted in the proposed finite element (FE) model to simulate the slabs with PEABs using Abaqus software. Good agreement was obtained between the developed FE and experimental results.
The growing relevance of printed and digitalized hand-written characters has necessitated the need for convalescent automatic recognition of characters in Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Among the handwritten characters, Arabic is one of those with special attention due to its distinctive nature, and the inherent challenges in its recognition systems. This distinctiveness of Arabic characters, with the difference in personal writing styles and proficiency, are complicating the effectiveness of its online handwritten recognition systems. This research, based on limitations and scope of previous related studies, studied the recognition of Arabic isolated characters through the identification o
... Show MoreSixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations were measured in aerosol samples collected for the period from April 2012 to February 2013 at thermal south power station of Baghdad. Fourty one aerosol sample were extracted with (1:1) dichloromethane and methanol using soxhlet for seventeen hour. The extraction solution was analyzed applying GC/MS. The PAH concentrations outside thermal south power station were higher than those inside it, and higher in summer season than in winter. Naphthalene, pyrene, Anthracene, Indeno [1, 2, 3-cd] pyrene and Phenanthrene were the most abundant PAHs detected in all points at the site sampling. The total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (TPAH) and total suspended particles (TSP) concentrat
... Show MoreContemporary residential neighborhoods suffer from weak sustainability of urban residential environments as a result of the adoption of inefficient spatial organization at the neighborhood unit level. This resulted negative characteristics which affected the achievement of sustainable development plans for the residential environment that constitute the majority of the urban fabric of cities.
The physical affordances ,within the vocabulary of recent times,overcame the spiritual ones and affected the residential environment. Accordingly,the concept of space changed in contemporary residential areas through the dominance of the physical aspect (mass) on the symbolic aspect (space).The modern technology occupied an important level b
... Show MoreIn the present work, the surface properties of mixed binary surfactants containing sodium dodecylbenzene sulfate (SDBS) and Tween 80 (TW80) surfactants in aqueous solutions were studied at temperature 293 K using surface tension measurements. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) magnitude for both individual surfactants and their mixtures were established the obtained results revealed that the magnitude of cmc of the mixtures are less than the magnitude of individual surfactants and decrease with the increase in Tween 80 percent in solution which indicate the nonideal mixing of the two surfactants. The values of molecular interaction parameters and the mole fraction of surfactants in the micelle (X1) were calculated
... Show MoreThis research is addressing the effect of different ferrocene concentration (0.00, 2.15x10-3, 4.30x10-3, 8.60x10-3, and 12.9x10-3) on the bulk free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate monomer in benzene using benzoyl peroxide as initiator. The polymerization was conducted at 60º C under free oxygen atmosphere. The resulting polymers were characterized by FTIR. The results were compared with the presence and absence of ferrocene at 10% conversion. The %conversion was 3.04% with no ferrocene present in the polymerization medium and its increase to 9.06 with a first lowest ferrocene concentration added, i.e. 2.15 x10-3mol/l. This was positively reflected on the poly(methyl methacrylate) molecular weight measured by viscosity techniq
... Show MoreThe purpose of this research is to highlight the relationship between the administrative investigation and the improvement of institutional performance, and the research sought to achieve a set of cognitive and applied goals. the administrative investigation is the modern trend of managing the offices of the general hginspectors and the main source to build the necessary standards to manage and invest its resources efficiently and effectively required to achieve the goals it seeks. The institutional performance is the cornerstone for the implementation of all tasks and duties carried out by institutions operating within the borders of a particular country, The significant change
... Show MoreA new Schiff base of 4- flourophenyl-4- nitrobenzyliden (L) ,was prepared and used to prepare a number of metal complexes with Cr (III) , Fe (III), Co(II) ,Ni (II) and Cu (II). These complexes were isolated and characterized by (FITR),UV-Vis spectroscopy and flame atomic absorption techniques in addition to magnetic susceptibility, and conductivity measurements. The study of the nature of the complexes formed in ethanol was done following the molar ratio method gave results, agreed with those obtained from isolated solid state studies. The antibacterial activity for the ligand and its metal complexes were examined against two selected microorganisms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.The results indicated that the complexes
... Show MoreSilica-based mesoporous materials are a class of porous materials with unique characteristics such as ordered pore structure, large surface area, and large pore volume. This review covers the different types of porous material (zeolite and mesoporous) and the physical properties of mesoporous materials that make them valuable in industry. Mesoporous materials can be divided into two groups: silica-based mesoporous materials and non-silica-based mesoporous materials. The most well-known family of silica-based mesoporous materials is the Mesoporous Molecular Sieves family, which attracts attention because of its beneficial properties. The family includes three members that are differentiated based on their pore arrangement. In this review,
... Show MoreThe purified frog skin peptides were tested on leukemic patients lymphocytes, which revealed effects of cytotoxicity. Four frogs (Rana ridibunda) were stimulated by single intra-peritoneal injection of norepinephrine-HCl . Five different peptides;1(18) A, 2(19) L, 3(20) I,4(21) E and 5(22) Y were isolated and quantified. The peptide 3(20)I had 5.87% of hemolysis, while healthy human lymphocytes cytotoxic activity was for 2(19)L with inhibition( -10.4%).All peptides were subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The results revealed peptides 1(18)A, 2(19)L, 3(20)I which appeared as low as 10 KDa marker. Theoretically, the whole polypeptide had a molecular weight 7488.61 Dalt
... Show MoreExploding wire Technique is a way for production metal and its compound nanoparticle that is capable of production of bulk amount at low cost semiconductor. In this work a copper iodine nanoparticles were fabricate by exploding copper wires with different currents in iodine solution. The produced samples were examined by XRD, FTIR, SEM and TEM to characterize their properties. The XRD proved the Nano-size for producer. The crystalline size increases with increasing current. FTIR measurements show a peaks located at 638.92 for Cu-I stretch bond indicate on formation of copper iodide compound and the peaks intensities increase with increasing current. The SEM and TEM measurements show that the thin films have nanostructures.