This study aimed at evaluating the torsional capacity of reinforced concrete (RC) beams externally wrapped with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials. An analytical model was described and used as a new computational procedure based on the softened truss model (STM) to predict the torsional behavior of RC beams strengthened with FRP. The proposed analytical model was validated with the existing experimental data for rectangular sections strengthened with FRP materials and considering torque-twist relationship and crack pattern at failure. The confined concrete behavior, in the case of FRP wrapping, was considered in the constitutive laws of concrete in the model. Then, an efficient algorithm was developed in MATLAB environment t

We report herein an innovative approach to prostate tumor therapy using tumor specific radioactive gold nanoparticles (198Au) functionalized with Mangiferin (MGF). Production and full characterization of MGF-198AuNPs are described. In vivo therapeutic efficacy of MGF-198AuNPs, through intratumoral delivery, in SCID mice bearing prostate tumor xenografts are described. Singular doses of the nano-radiopharmaceutical (MGF-198AuNPs) resulted in over 85% reduction of tumor volume as compared to untreated control groups. The excellent anti-tumor efficacy of MGF-198AuNPs are attributed to the retention of over 90% of the injected dose within tumors for long periods of time. The retention of MGF-198AuNPs is also rationalized in terms of the higher

     Staphylococcus haemolyticus is one of the most frequently isolated coagulase-negative staphylococci. The ability to form biofilm is considered as one of the most important virulence factors of coagulase negative staphylococci. There is only limited knowledge of the nature of S. haemolyticus biofilms. This study was aimed at evaluating the ability of S. haemolyticus strains to produce biofilm in the presence of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs). The biological synthesis of nanoparticles is an environmentally friendly approach for large-scale production of nanoparticles. Copper oxide nanoparticles were produced in the current study from the S. haemolyticus viable cell filtrate. UV-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffra

We studied the effect of certain environmental conditions for removing heavy metal elements from contaminated aqueous solutions (Cd, Cu, Pb, Fe, Zn, Ni, Cr) using the bacterium Bacillus subtilis to appoint the optimal conditions for removal ,The best optimum temperature range for two isolate was 30-35○C while the hydrogen number for the maximum mineral removal range was 6-7. The best primary mineral removal was 100 mg/L, while the maximum removal for all minerals was obtained after 6 hrs of Cu element time and the maximum removal efficiency was obtained after 24 hrs of Cu element. The results have proved that the best aeration for maximum removal was obtained at rotation speed of 150 rpm/minute. Inoculums of 5ml/100ml which contained 1

The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is commonly used as a measure of land surface greenness based on the assumption that NDVI value is positively proportional to the amount of green vegetation in an image pixel area. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data set of Landsat based on the remote sensing information is used to estimate the area of plant cover in region west of Baghdad during 1990-2001. The results show that in the period of 1990 and 2001 the plant area in region of Baghdad increased from (44760.25) hectare to (75410.67) hectare. The vegetation area increased during the period 1990-2001, and decreases the exposed area.

In this work, solid random gain media were fabricated from laser dye solutions containing nanoparticles as scattering centers. Two different rhodamine dyes (123 and 6G) were used to host the highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles to form the random gain media. The spectroscopic characteristics (mainly fluorescence) of these media were determined and studied. These random gain media showed laser emission in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. Fluorescence characteristics can be controlled to few nanometers by adjusting the characteristics of the host and nanoparticles as well as the preparation conditions of the samples. Emission of narrow linewidth (3nm) and high intensity in the visible region (533-537nm) was obtained.

The virulent genes are the key players in the ability of the bacterium to cause disease. The products of such genes that facilitate the successful colonization and survival of the bacterium in or cause damage to the host are pathogenicity determinants. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of virulence factors (esp, agg, gelE, CylA) in E. faecalis isolated from diverse human clinical collected in Iraqi patient , as well as to assess their ability to form biofilm and to determine their haemolytic and gelatinase activities. Thirty-two isolates of bacteria Enterococcus faecalis were obtained, including 15 isolates (46.87%) of the urine, 6 isolates (18.75%) for each of the stool and uterine secretions, and 5 isolates (15.62%) of the wo