Prediction of the structural response of reinforced concrete to the time-dependent, creep and shrinkage, volume changes is complex. Creep is usually determined by measuring the change, with time, in the strain of specimens subjected to a constant stress and stored under appropriate conditions. This paper brings into view the development of creep strain for four self-compacting concrete mixes: A40, AL40, B60 and BL60 (where 40 and 60 represent the compressive strength level at 28 days and L indicates to Portlandlimestone cement). Specimens were put under sustained load and exposed to controlled conditions in a creep chamber (ASTM C512). The test results showed that normal strength Portland-limestone mixes have yielded lower ultimate c

Background. Handball is a team sport that demands quick reflexes and precise motor skills, particularly in shooting. Players' ability to shoot accurately and swiftly while stationary makes upper limb reaction time crucial for success. Objectives. The research objective is to study the relationship between the motor time of the muscles of the arms and the index of accuracy of shooting from constancy in fourth-stage students in handball. Methods. The researchers used the descriptive method because it is one of the methods used in the research on a sample of students of the fourth stage of the college of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, where the sample consisted of 29 male students from the community of origin, 43 students. Results. Th

Cloud Computing is a mass platform to serve high volume data from multi-devices and numerous technologies. Cloud tenants have a high demand to access their data faster without any disruptions. Therefore, cloud providers are struggling to ensure every individual data is secured and always accessible. Hence, an appropriate replication strategy capable of selecting essential data is required in cloud replication environments as the solution. This paper proposed a Crucial File Selection Strategy (CFSS) to address poor response time in a cloud replication environment. A cloud simulator called CloudSim is used to conduct the necessary experiments, and results are presented to evidence the enhancement on replication performance. The obtained an

Abiotic stress-induced genes may lead to understand the response of plants and adaptability to salinity and drought stresses. Differential display reverse transcriptase – polymerase chain reaction (DDRT-PCR) was used to investigate the differences in gene expression between drought- and salinity-stressed plantlets of Ruta graveolens. Direct and stepwise exposures to drought- or salt-responsive genes were screened in R. graveolens plantlets using the DDRT technique. Gene expression was investigated both in the control and in the salt or drought-stressed plantlets and differential banding patterns with different molecular sizes were observed using the primers OPA-01 (646,770 and 983 pb), OPA-08 (593 and 988 pb), OPA-11 (674 and 831 pb

Radiation measuring devices need to periodic calibration process to examine their sensitivity and the extent of the response. This study is used to evaluate the radiation doses of the workers in the laboratories of the Directorate of Safety as a result of the use of point sources in calibrating of the devices in two ways, the first is the direct measurement by the FAG device and the others using RESRAD and RAD PRO programs. The total doses values using FAG were (2.57 μSv/y, 102.3 μSv/y and 20.75 μSv/y for TLD laboratory, Gamma spectroscopy analyses (GSA) laboratory and equipment store respectively, and the total doses that calculated using RESRAD and RAD PRO were 1.518 μSv/y, 76.65 μSv/y and 21.2 μSv/y for the above laboratories. t

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the possible the association between +3061 (G>A, rs1143676) missense mutation in exon 24 of the integrin α-4 subunit (ITGA-4) gene and the response to natalizumab in a sample of Iraqi multiple sclerosis patients. Methods: A sample of 59 patients with multiple sclerosis (16 males and 43 females; mean age of 32 years; age range of 15 to 52 years) receiving natalizumab for at least 12 consecutive months were involved in the study between March and August/ 2022. The sample was categorized into two groups according to their response to natalizumab treatment (responders and non-responders). Polymerase chain reaction and Sanger’s sequencing for the extracted deoxyribonucleic acid was pe

        The performance of asphalt concrete pavement has affected by many factors, the temperature is the most important environmental one which has a large effect on the structural behavior of flexible pavement materials. The main cause of premature failure of pavement is the rutting, Due to the viscoelastic nature of the asphalt cement, rutting is more pronounced in hot climate areas because the viscosity of the asphalt binder which is
inversely related to rutting is significantly reduced with the increase in temperature resulting in a more rut susceptible paving mixtures. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of temperatures variations on the permanent deformation parameters (perm

The aim of this study is to propose mathematical expressions for estimation of the flexural strength of plain concrete members from ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) measurements. More than two hundred pieces of precast concrete kerb units were subjected to a scheduled test program. The tests were divided into two categories; non-destructive ultrasonic and bending or rupture tests. For each precast unit, direct and indirect (surface) ultrasonic pulses were subjected to the concrete media to measure their travel velocities. The results of the tests were monitored in two graphs so that two mathematical relationships can be drawn. Direct pulse velocity versus the flexural strength was given in the first relationship while the second equation des

The action of high repeated trucks load associated with dramatically elevated ambient temperatures leads to the most harmful distress in asphalt pavements occurred in Iraq known as rutting. Essentially, it is produced from the accumulation of irrecoverable strains, which mainly occurred in the asphalt layers. That visually demonstrated as a longitudinal depression in the wheel paths as well as small upheavals to the sides. Poly Phosphoric Acid (PPA) has been used as a means of producing modified asphalt binders and the interest to use it has increased in recent years. The PPA provides modified asphalt binder, which is relatively cheaply produced compared to polymer-modified asphalt. In this paper, PPA was used by three-percentages 1