The present work aimed to study the SiO2μPs, and NPs effect on the biodegradability of St/PVA blends. The samples were prepared by casting method as PVA, St/PVA blends with different concentrations (30, 40, 50, and 60 %). FTIR test was carried out for the samples preparation. The results proved some changes which might be related to changing in crystallinity of St/PVA matrix as well as physical incorporation of SiO2 μPs, and NPs addition. The enzymatic test and water uptake results proved that increase in weight loss with increases of starch ratio. The lowest weight loss was PVA; the highest weight loss is 60% St/PVA whereas the lowest weight loss is 30%St/PVA for blends involved. SiO2μPs (753.7 nm), and NPs (263.1 nm) were added at d

In this study, the effect of construction joints on the performance of reinforced concrete beams was experimentally investigated. Seven beam specimens, with dimensions of 200×100×1000 mm, were fabricated. The variables were considered including; the location and configuration of the joints. One beam was cast without a joint (Reference specimen), two specimens were fabricated with a one horizontal joint located either at tension, or compression zone. The fourth
beam had two horizontal joints placed at tension, and compression area. The remaining specimens were with one or two inclined joints positioned at the shear span or beam’s mid-span. The specimens were subjected to a monotonic central concentrated loading until the failure. T

Twilight is that light appear on the horizon before sunrise and after sunset, Astronomically it is known that sunrise and sunset are effected by high above sea level, but the effect of high above sea level on the time of astronomical twilight still not decided and controversy among astronomers, in This research we studies the effect of high above sea level on the time of astronomical twilight, through adding the equation correct high above sea level to equation computation of twilight and then calculate of changing in the time of twilight for different highest (0-10000) meters above sea level , and the ratio of increase for time with high between (15.45-20.5) minutes. It was found that there was an increase in the time of the twilight along

Water pollution is one of the global challenges that the society must address in the 21^st century aiming to improve the water quality, reduce human pollutants and ecosystem health impacts. In phytotoxicity test, the plant of Iresine herbstii was exposed to remove nickel from simulated wastewater using two different ratios (mass of plant to the mass of nickel) (,R_p/Ni) for 21 days with sub-surface batch system. During the exposure period, the removal of Ni concentrations (2, 5 and 10 mg/L) for two mass ratio (2,800 and 34,000) were (83.6%, 77.2%, 78.0%) and (86.8%, 97% and 95.6%), respectively. final result of the rate was found that the highest removal occurred, 97%, at a mass ratio of 34,000 and

BixSb2-xTe3 alloys with different ratios of Bi (x=0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 2) have been prepared, Thin films of these alloys were prepared using thermal evaporation method under vacuum of 10-5 Torr on glass substrates at room temperature with different deposition rate (0.16, 0.5, 0.83) nm/sec for thickness (100, 300, 500) respectively. The X–ray diffraction measurements for BixSb2-xTe3 bulk and thin films indicate the polycrystalline structure with a strong intensity of peak of plane (015) preferred orientation with additional peaks, (0015) and (1010 ) reflections planes, which is meaning that all films present a very good texture along the (015) plane axis at different intensities for each thin film for different thickness. AFM measureme

In the present research, the chemical washing method has been selected using three chelating agents: citric acid, acetic acid and Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid (EDTA) to remove 137Cs from two different contaminated soil samples were classified as fine and coarse grained. The factors that affecting removal efficiency such as type of soil, mixing ratio and molarity have been investigated. The results revealed that no correlation relation was found between removal efficiency and the studied factors. The results also showed that conventional chemical washing method was not effective in removing 137Cs and that there are further studies still need to achieve this objective.

The efforts embedded in this paper have been devoted to designing, preparing, and testing warm mix asphalt (WMA) mixtures and comparing their behavior against traditional hot mix asphalt mixtures. For WMA preparation, the Sasobit wax additive has been added to a 40/50 asphalt binder with a concentration of 3%. An experimental evaluation has been performed by conducting the Marshall together with volumetric properties, indirect tensile strength, and wheel tracking tests to acquire the tensile strength ratio (TSR), retained stability index (RSI), and rut depth. It was found that the gained benefit of reduction in mixing and compaction temperatures was reversely associated with a noticeable decline in Marshall properties and moisture s

A total number of 68 water samples was revealed 20 isolates being Staphylococcus aureus. Irrigation water isolates represented 25% of isolates while wastewater 75%. all isolates were identified by morphological, microscopial, biochemical tests and VITEK®2 Compact. Bacterial isolates were subjected to 16 antibiotics, all irrigation water and wastewater isolates were resistant to penicillin while they were fully sensitive to Ciprofloxcin. Irrigation water isolates showed relatively greater multi-drug resistance than wastewater, wherein irrigation water isolates showed 100% multi-drug resistance while wastewater isolates showed 73.3% multi-drug resistance, indicating the ability of S. aureus MDR to move from one site to another, which means t

Background This in vitro study compares a novel calcium-phosphate etchant paste to conventional 37% phosphoric acid gel for bonding metal and ceramic brackets by evaluating the shear bond strength, remnant adhesive and enamel damage following water storage, acid challenge and fatigue loading. Material and Methods Metal and ceramic brackets were bonded to 240 extracted human premolars using two enamel conditioning protocols: conventional 37% phosphoric acid (PA) gel (control), and an acidic calcium-phosphate (CaP) paste. The CaP paste was prepared from β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate monohydrate powders mixed with 37% phosphoric acid solution, and the resulting phase was confirmed using FTIR. The bonded premolars were expo

Colibactin is a genotoxin produced by Enterobacteriaceae via a polyketide synthase (pks) island cluster. There is less knowledge regarding the distribution of colibactin genes in E. coli isolates in Iraq and its correlation with biofilm and antibiotic susceptibility. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the frequency of some colibactin genes (CIbA and CIbQ) in uropathogenic E. coli in Iraq and evaluate the correlation with biofilm and antimicrobial resistance. Between October 2023 and January 2024, 70 E. coli isolates were isolated from 120 females diagnosed with UTIs. Isolates were identified first by biochemical methods and confirmed molecularly by amplification of 16S rRNA gene with specific primers. PCR was employed to detect the