Fourteen morphologically varied Ricinus communis L. seeds were collected from different localities in Egypt, El-Sudan and Saudi Arabia. Seed morphology and ITS barcoding analysis were performed to assess their diversity and phylogenetic relationship. Sequence’s alignment of nrITS region from different accessions display high levels of genetic similarities. Cluster analysis could not group different accessions according to their geographical distribution. Nevertheless, the genetic barcodes are interestingly matched with the morphological features of the Ricinus seeds. In conclusion, seed morphology proved to be a valuable tool in evaluating biodiversity and phylogenetic relationship in plant species with different locations having low levels of genetic diversity such as Ricinus. The molecular assessment of morphologically varied Ricinus seeds will help breeders for better utilization of germplasm for the variety development and would support the genetic resources management and conservation of castor beans.
Catalytic reduction is considered an effective approach for the reduction of toxic organic pollutants from the environment, but finding an active catalyst is still a big challenge. Herein, Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst was synthesized through polyol reduction method and applied for catalytic reduction (conversion) of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). The Ag decorated CeO2 catalyst displayed an outstanding reduction activity with 99% conversion of 4-NP in 5 min with a 0.61 min−1 reaction rate (k). A number of structural characterization techniques were executed to investigate the influence of Ag on CeO2 and its effect on the catalytic conversion of 4-NP. The outstanding catalytic performances of the Ag-CeO2 catalyst can be assigne
... Show MoreThis article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while
... Show MoreThere is an interesting potential for the use of GFRP-pultruded profiles in hybrid GFRP-concrete structural elements, either for new constructions or for the rehabilitation of existing structures. This paper provides experimental and numerical investigations on the flexural performance of reinforced concrete (RC) specimens composite with encased pultruded GFRP I-sections. Five simply supported composite beams were tested in this experimental program to investigate the static flexural behavior of encased GFRP beams with high-strength concrete. Besides, the effect of using shear studs to improve the composite interaction between the GFRP beam and concrete as well as the effect of web stiffeners of GFRP were explored. Encasing the GFRP
... Show MorePultruded materials made of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) come in a broad range of shapes, such as bars, I-sections, C-sections, etc. FRP materials are starting to compete with steel as structural materials owing to their great resistance, low self-weight, and cheap maintenance costs, especially in corrosive conditions. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel concrete Composite Column (CC) using Encased I-Section (EIS) as a reinforcement in contrast to traditional steel bars by using Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) as I-section (CC-EIS) to evaluate the effectiveness of the hybrid columns which have been built by combining GFRP profiles with concrete columns. To achieve the aims of this study, nine circular co
... Show MoreThis article presents the results of an experimental investigation of using carbon fiber–reinforced polymer sheets to enhance the behavior of reinforced concrete deep beams with large web openings in shear spans. A set of 18 specimens were fabricated and tested up to a failure to evaluate the structural performance in terms of cracking, deformation, and load-carrying capacity. All tested specimens were with 1500-mm length, 500-mm cross-sectional deep, and 150-mm wide. Parameters that studied were opening size, opening location, and the strengthening factor. Two deep beams were implemented as control specimens without opening and without strengthening. Eight deep beams were fabricated with openings but without strengthening, while
... Show MoreWhen writing a text, such as a newspaper article, various types of discourse markers are frequently used to group sentences into paragraphs and parts in order to establish a discourse with certain functions, such as coordination, orientation, emphasizing the concepts presented, etc. It should also be noted that this type of mark exists in both written and spoken language. Therefore, it is convenient to dedicate a chapter to these linguistic elements to clarify their use and their classification, which is mainly based on Jose Portolés (2001), as well as the main features, specifically their features (prosodic, morphological, semantic and pragmatic).
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Abstract: A novel design of Mach Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) in terms of using special type of optical fiber that has double clad with graded distribution of the refractive index that can be easily implemented practically was suggested and simulated in this work. The suggested design is compact, rapid, and is simple to be modified and tested. The simulated design contains a MZI of 1546.74 nm of central wavelength that is constructed using special type of double clad optical fiber that has two different numerical apertures. The first aperture will supply single mode propagation via its core, while the second numerical aperture supports a zigzag wave propagation (multimode) in the first clad region. The interferometer’s
... Show MoreTime-domain spectral matching commonly used to define seismic inputs to dynamic analysis in terms of acceleration time history compatible with a specific target response spectrum is used in this study to investigate the second-order geometric effect of P-delta on the seismic response of base-isolated high-rise buildings. A synthetic time series is generated by adjusting reference time series that consist of available readings from a past earthquake of the 1940 El Centro earthquake adopted as an initial time series. The superstructure of a 20-story base isolated building is represented by a 3-D finite element model using ETABS software. The results of the base isolated building show that base isolation technique significantly reduces inter-s
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