This study investigated the impact of lime stabilization on the fate and transformation of AgNPs. It also evaluated the changes in the population and diversity of the five most relevant bacterial phyla in soil after applying lime-stabilized sludge containing AgNPs. The study was performed by spiking an environmentally relevant concentration of AgNPs (2 mg AgNPs/g TS) in sludge, applying lime stabilization to increase pH to above 12 for two hours, and applying lime-treated sludge to soil samples. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to investigate the morphological and compositional changes of AgNPs during lime stabilization. After the application of lime stabilized sludge to

This work studies the impact of input machining parameters of Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) on the machining process performance. Tool steel O1 was selected as the workpiece material, copper as the electrode material, and kerosene as the dielectric medium. Experimental runs have been carried out with a Design of Experiment (DOE) technique. Twenty tests are accomplished with the current range of (18 to 24 Ampere), a pulse duration range of (150 to 200 µs), and a pulse-off time range of (25 to 75 µs). Based upon the experimental study's output results, the EDM parameter's effect (voltage of power supply, discharge current, pulse duration, and pulse pause interval) on the responses of the process represented by sur

This paper is focused on studying the effect of cutting parameters (spindle speed, feed and depth of cut) on the response (temperature and tool life) during turning process. The inserts used in this study are carbide inserts coated with TiAlN (Titanum, Aluminium and Nitride) for machining a shaft of stainless steel 316L. Finite difference method was used to find the temperature distribution. The experimental results were done using infrared camera while the simulation process was performed using Matlab software package. The results showed that the  maximum difference between the experimental and simulation results was equal to 19.3 , so, a good agreement between the experimental and simulation results  was achieved. Tool life w

This study presents the results of atmospheric particulates sampling using high volume air sampler for selected places at Al Tuwaitha nuclear site. The collected samples were analyzed for gross alpha /beta radioactivity using Ludlum model 3030 and measurement particles activity in Al Tuwaitha nuclear site and the surrounding areas for the period from 28/12/2016 to 13/4/2017.The measurement of activity concentrations ranged from (0.42±0.03 to 4.18±0.13) Bq/m3 for alpha particles and from(0.93±0.06 to 9.21±0.26) Bq/m3for beta particles. The activity concentration of nuclides inversely proportional with air temperature and wind speed while humidity is directly proportional with it. Highest value of activity concentration has been found at(

OBJECTIVE: Synthetic vertebral body replacement has been widely used recently to treat different spinal conditions affecting the anterior column. They arrange from trauma, infections, and even tumor conditions. In this study, we assess the functional outcome of this modality in different spinal conditions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-six cases operated from October 2010 to December 2017. Twelve patients had spinal type A3 fractures, 11 cases with spinal tuberculosis (TB), and 13 cases with spinal tumors. They were followed clinically for a mean period of 2.4 years. RESULTS: All the cases were approached anteriorly. Seven cases had a post-operative infection. No neurological worsening reported. We had dramatic neurologic

Retained soft tissue foreign bodies following injuries are frequently seen in the Emergency and Plastic Surgery practice. The patients with such presentations require a watchful and detailed clinical as- sessment to overcome the anticipant possibility of missing them. However, the diagnosis based on the clinical evaluation is usually challenging and needs to be supported by imaging modalities that are suboptimal and may fail in identifying some types of foreign bodies. Owing to that, serious complications such as chronic pain, infection, and delayed wound healing can be faced that necessitate a prompt intervention to halt those detrimental consequences. The classical method of removal is a surgical exploration which is not free of risks.

This investigation proposed an identification system of offline signature by utilizing rotation compensation depending on the features that were saved in the database. The proposed system contains five principle stages, they are: (1) data acquisition, (2) signature data file loading, (3) signature preprocessing, (4) feature extraction, and (5) feature matching. The feature extraction includes determination of the center point coordinates, and the angle for rotation compensation (θ), implementation of rotation compensation, determination of discriminating features and statistical condition. During this work seven essential collections of features are utilized to acquire the characteristics: (i) density (D), (ii) average (A), (iii) s

Four major factories (Petroleum Refineries Company, Detergents Plant, Thermal Power Plant, and Gaseous Power Plant) are located to the north of Baiji City. They release pollutants in form of gases, liquids and solids; they find their way to the surrounding environment. To assess the environmental pollution of the area, 18 samples of surface soil distributed around the industrial establishments were collected and analyzed to determine the concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) components which are often targets in the environmental checking. Identification and quantification of the 16 PAHs components was accomplished using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) had a model Shimadzu LC-10 AVP. The total concentratio