Asphalt Hot Mix (HMA) is mainly applied in highway construction in Iraq because of its economic advantage and easy maintenance. Various factors impact the performance of HMA in the field. It is one of the significant impacts on aggregate gradation. The Universal Specification for Roads and Bridges in Iraq (SCRB) limits the different types of asphalt layers and allows for designed tolerance aggregate gradation. It is quite hard for contractors in the present asphalt industries to achieve the required job mix because of sieves' control problems. This study focuses on the effects on the required specification performance of aggregate deviations by using original and modified asphalt binder with AC(40-50) and

      Multi-drug resistance in Listeria monocytogenes is considered a major public health problem associated with foodborne outbreaks and causes high hospitalization and mortality rates. This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistant genes among Listeria monocytogenes isolated from meat and clinical samples. Phenotypically, the isolates were tested for their susceptibility against the 12 most commonly used antimicrobials in veterinary and human therapy via the disc diffusion method, while conventional PCR was performed to study the presence or absence of 14 resistance genes predicted in L. monocytogenes isolates. The study established that 30(66.66%) of L. monocytogenes isolates showe

     This study was conducted to use the local Ephedra alata plant as a model for extracting and detecting alkaloids in the stem of plant (alkaloids-rich extract and crude extract). Different extraction procedures were adopted for qualitative as well as the quantitative examination of the alkaloid extracts, as well as plant crude extract, the best methods for the extraction of the plant materials were applied. Simple, fast and accurate methods like TLC (thin layer chromatography) and HPLC (High-performance liquid chromatography), were used for the identification of the alkaloids (ephedrine) in different extracts of stems E. alata stems. Ephedrine alkaloid was detected in each alkaloids-rich and crude extrac

A rapid high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of sphinganine (Sa) and sphingosine (So) in urine samples by employing a silica-based monolithic column is described. The samples were first extracted using ethyl acetate and derivatized using ortho-phthaldialdehyde in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. C20 sphinganine was used as internal standard. Under the optimized conditions, separation was achieved using a mixture of methanol:water (93:7, v/v), column temperature at 30°C, flow rate of 1 mL min−1, and an injection volume of 10 μL. Good linearity was obtained for Sa and So over the concentration range 20–500 ng mL−1(correlation coefficients ≥0.9978). The detection limits were 0.45 ng mL−1 for Sa and

The Dynamic Load Factor (DLF) is defined as the ratio between the maximum dynamic and static responses in terms of stress, strain, deflection, reaction, etc. DLF adopted by different design codes is based on parameters such as bridge span length, traffic load models, and bridge natural frequency. During the last decades, a lot of researches have been made to study the DLF of simply supported bridges due to vehicle loading. On the other hand, fewer works have been reported on continuous bridges especially with skew supports. This paper focuses on the investigation of the DLF for a highly skewed steel I-girder bridge, namely the US13 Bridge in Delaware State, USA. Field testing under various load passes of a weighed load vehicle was u

The productivity of oil wells may be improved by determining the value of enhancing well productivity and the likely reasons or sources of formation damage after the well has been recognized as underperforming. Oil well productivity may be improved, but the economics of this gradual improvement may be compromised. It is important to analyze the influence of the skin effect on the recovery of the reserve.    The acid treatment evaluated for the well AD-12, primarily for the zone Mi4;  using a license of Stimpro Stimulation Software to validate the experimental work to the field scale, this software is considered the most comprehensive instrument for planning and monitoring matrix acid treatments and utilizing actual data to provide a far

      A simple and highly sensitive cloud point extraction process was suggested for preconcentration of micrograms amount of isoxsuprine hydrochloride (ISX) in pure and pharmaceutical samples. After diazotization coupling of ISX with diazotized sulfadimidine in alkaline medium, the azo-dye product quantitatively extracted into the Triton X-114 rich phase, dissolved in ethanol and determined spectrophotometrically at 490 nm. The suggested reaction was studied with and without extraction and simple comparison between the batch and CPE methods was achieved. Analytical variables including concentrations of reagent, Triton X-114 and base, incubated temperature, and time were carefully studied. Under the selected optimum conditions,

Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye grown for use as animal feed. In Florida, due to its soft coat, triticale is highly vulnerable to Sitophilus oryzae L. (rice weevil) and there is interest in development of methods to detect early-instar larvae so that infestations can be targeted before they become economically damaging. The objective of this study was to develop prediction models of the infestation degree for triticale seed infested with rice weevils of different growth stages. Spectral signatures were tested as a method to detect rice weevils in triticale seed. Groups of seeds at 11 different levels (degrees) of infestation, 0–62%, were obtained by combining different ratios of infested and uninfested seeds. A spectrophotometer wa