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.
Previous reports demonstrated the effectiveness of silibinin hemisuccinate as a potential intraocular pressure-lowering agent. The exact mechanism by which silibinin exerted this effect has not yet been documented, but might suggested to interfere with aqueous humor formation. The present study was designed to evaluate the comparative efficacy of silibinin as IOP lowering agent to that of betaxolol in normotensive rabbits, and the interaction of silibinin with betaxolol as a way for investigating the possible mechanism of action of silibinin in this respect. The effects of instillation of 0.75% silibinin solution and 0.5% betaxolol eye drops in the eyes of normotensive rabbits were evaluated using indentation tonometry. The results showe
... Show MoreIn this study, sulfur was removed from imitation oil using oxidative desulfurization process. Silicoaluminophosphate (SAPO-11) was prepared using the hydrothermal method with a concentration of carbon nanotubes (CNT) of 0% and 7.5% at 190 °C crystallization temperature. The final molar composition of the as-prepared SAPO-11 was Al2O3: 0.93P2O5: 0.414SiO2. 4% MO/SAPO-11 was prepared using impregnation methods. The produced SAPO-11 was described using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms). It was found that the addition of CNT increased the crystallinity of SAPO-11. The results showed that the surface area of SAPO-11 cont
... Show MoreA partial temporary immunity SIR epidemic model involv nonlinear treatment rate is proposed and studied. The basic reproduction number is determined. The local and global stability of all equilibria of the model are analyzed. The conditions for occurrence of local bifurcation in the proposed epidemic model are established. Finally, numerical simulation is used to confirm our obtained analytical results and specify the control set of parameters that affect the dynamics of the model.
Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic parasite in immune-compromised persons. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in psoriasis patients is investigated. In addition, the treatment effect on psoriasis patients infected with toxoplasmosis through evaluating Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) cytokine levels is studied. Blood samples were collected from 130 individuals who involved 60 control samples and 70 samples with psoriasis. They attended Medical City Hospital in Baghdad province from October 2017 - February 2018. Then, the anti- T. gondii antibodies (IgM and IgG) and TNF- α in the sera were determined via the enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay. The highe
... Show MoreThis work presents an experimental study of heat transfer and flow of distilled water and metal oxide nanofluid Fe3O4-distilled water at concentrations of (φ = 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 %) by volume in a horizontal pipe with constant magnetic field. All the tests are carried out with Reynolds number range (2900-9820) and uniform heat flux (11262-19562 W/m2). The results show that, the nanofluid concentration and magnetic intensity increase, the Nusselt number increases. The maximum enhancement in Nusselt number with magnetic nanofluid is (5.4 %, 26.4 %, 42.7 %) for volume concentration (0.3, 0.6, 0.9 %) respectively. The enhancement is maximized with magnetic intensity (0.1, 0.2, 0.3 tesla) respectively to (43.9, 44
... Show MoreVerbs in German and Arabic are of two types: active and passive. Passive voice is a grammatical voice construction that is found in many languages. Out of grammatical perspective, each main verb has a form in the active and one in the passive known as a "genus verbi" (type of verb). In passive voice, both in German and in Arabic, the focus is on the action itself or on the result of the action; often the perpetrator is not mentioned. In German, to conjugate verbs in the passive voice, you must know the forms of werden (to become). German uses werden + the past participle and states it at the end of a sentence. In Arabic,
... Show MoreBackground: Otitis media with effusion is a common and important pediatric clinical problem; it is the leading cause of hearing impairment in children. Medical treatment remains controversial. Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of using topical nasal steroids in the treatment of otitis media with effusion. Patients and Methods: Between November 2019 and October 2022, a prospective controlled clinical study was carried out in the department of otolaryngology at Al-Jerrahat Teaching Hospital in Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq. This study comprised 40 patients with bilateral otitis media with effusion (23 males, 17 females). Two groups were created for the patients. Patients in group A (20 patients) were treated with mometasone furoate nasal spra
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