In this study, three strengthening techniques, near-surface mounted NSM-CRFP, NSM-CFRP with externally bonding EB-CFRP, and hybrid CFRP with circularization were studied to increase the seismic performance of existing RC slender columns under lateral loads. Experimentally, 1:3 scale RC models were studied and subjected to both lateral static load and seismic excitation. In the dynamic test, a model was subjected to El Centro 1940 NS earthquake excitation by using a shaking table. According to the test results, the strengthening techniques showed a significant increase in load carrying capacity, of about 86.6%, and 46.6%, for circularization and NSM-CFRP respectively, of the reference unstrengthened columns. On the other hand, column

Development and population expansion have the lion's share of driving up the fuel cost. Biodiesel has considerable attention as a renewable, ecologically friendly and alternative fuel source. In this study, CaO nanocatalyst is produced from mango leaves as a catalysis for the transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel. The mango tree is a perennial plant, and its fruit holds significant economic worth due to its abundance of vitamins and minerals. This plant has a wide geographical range and its leaves can be utilized without any negative impact on its growth and yield. An analysis was conducted to determine the calcium content in the fallen leaves, revealing a significant quantity of calcium that holds potential fo

Endophytic fungi live inside plants or any part of them without creating any visible pathogenic signs. Endophytic fungi are found within medicinal plants and have shown strong biologic activity, such as anticancer and antioxidant activities, as well as producing extracellular enzymes. In this study, different fungal strains were isolated from the leaves of the medicinal plant Ziziphus spina, including Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Cladosporium sp., Rhizopus sp., and Mucor sp. Extracellular enzymes have been quantified using agar plate-based methods in which fungi were grown in specified growth media to detect the enzymes produced. The results showed that A. niger has the highest ability to produce amy

In this paper, fire resistance and residual capacity tests were carried out on encased pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) I-beams with high-strength concrete beams. The specimens were loaded concurrently under 25% of the ultimate load and fire exposure (an increase in temperature of 700 °C) for 70 min. Subsequently, the fire-damaged specimens were allowed to cool and then were loaded statically until failure to explore the residual behaviors. The effects of using shear connectors and web stiffeners on the residual behavior were investigated. Finite Element (FE) analysis was developed to simulate the encased pultruded GFRP I-beams under the effect of fire loading. The thermal analyses were performed using the general-pu

The process of discharging the quantities of dyes resulting from industrial processes with wastewater leads to the occurrence of a serious environmental problem that threatens the environmental health security of humans. Therefore, a number of studies have been addressed that include presenting many physical and chemical treatment methods to get rid or reduce the proportion of pigments such as biological decomposition, ion exchange, and sedimentation. Chemotherapy, reverse osmosis, coagulation, Toxic sludge generation, flocculation. In addition to the above, this review deals with a number of studies that present activated carbon of plant origin, methods of obtaining it, types and advantages of it being cheap and environmentally friendly. A

In this research, the effect of reinforcing epoxy resin composites with a filler derived from chopped agriculture waste from oil palm (OP). Epoxy/OP composites were formed by dispersing (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt%) OP filler using a high-speed mechanical stirrer utilizing a hand lay-up method. The effect of adding zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, with an average size of 10-30 nm, with different wt% (1,2,3, and 5wt%) to the epoxy/oil palm composite,  on the behavior of an epoxy/oil palm composite was studied with different ratios (1,2,3, and 5wt%) and an average size of  10-30 nm.  Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry and mechanical properties (tensile, impact, hardness, and wear rate) were used to examine the composites. The FTIR

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been identified as the main causative agent responsible for severe infections in burn patients worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the exoU/exoS genotype in P. aeruginosa isolates collected from burn wound infections in Iraq. From January to April 2023, a total of eighty isolates of P. aeruginosawere obtained from patients with burn wound infections in two Iraqi hospitals (Teaching Baghdad Hospital and AL-Yarmok Hospital).The isolates were first identified using biochemical tests and then verified using molecular techniques, specifically by targeting the 16S rRNA gene with specific primers. The exoU/exoS genotype was detected using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by specifical