The effects of T-shaped fins on the improvement of phase change materials (PCM) melting are numerically investigated in vertical triple-tube storage containment. The PCM is held in the middle pipe of a triple-pipe heat exchanger while the heat transfer fluid flows through the internal and external pipes. The dimension effects of the T-shaped fins on the melting process of the PCM are investigated to determine the optimum case. Results indicate that while using T-shaped fins improves the melting performance of the PCM, the improvement potential is mainly governed by the fin’s body rather than the head. Hence, the proposed T-shaped fin did not noticeably improve melting at the bottom of the PCM domain; additionally, a flat fin is ad

The City of Ember is a very interesting novel that is although intended for young readers, have so many layers and messages that are misunderstood. In this research, both the novel and the film adaptation are studied with the intent to decode the warning messages that the novelist and the director tried to introduce to the audience. The research studies four vital messages; the first message is that history repeats itself for the novel has many allusions to the history of Jews and their painful holocaust and even goes back in history the days of Moses and the Exodus, the second message tackles the conspiracy theory that states nothing happens by accident and that everything is planned and connected hence comes the third message

Background: MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a global health problem. Many people are looking for new ways to combat MRSA, for example by using bacteriophages (phages). It has been extremely challenging to isolate a sufficient quantity of lytic anti-MRSA phages. Therefore, new techniques for separating, refining, and reworking anti-MRSA phages were sought in this study.

Methods: Of 437 S. aureus isolates, nine clinical MRSA isolates were obtained from three hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq and two ATCC MRSA strains were used to separate wild anti-MRS

In this paper, an analytical solution describing the deflection of a cracked beam repaired with piezoelectric patch is introduced. The solution is derived using perturbation method. A novel analytical model to calculate the proper dimensions of piezoelectric patches used to repair cracked beams is also introduced. This model shows that the thickness of the piezoelectric patch depends mainly on the thickness of the cracked beam, the electro-mechanical properties of the patch material, the applied load and the crack location. Furthermore, the model shows that the length of the piezoelectric patches depends on the thickness of the patch as well as it depends on the length of the cracked beam and the crack depth. The additional flexibil

A novel demountable shear connector is proposed to link a concrete slab to steel sections in a way that resulting steel-concrete composite floor is demountable, i.e. it can be easily dismantled at the end of its service life. The proposed connectors consist of two parts: the first part is a hollow steel tube with internal threads at its lower end. The second part is a compatible partially threaded bolted stud. After linking the stud to the steel section, the hollow steel tube can be fastened over the threaded stud, which create a complete demountable shear connector. The connector is suitable for use in both composite bridges and buildings, and using cast in-situ slabs, precast solid slabs, or hollow-core precast slabs. A series of push-off

Poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) is a typical microbial bio-polyester reserve material; known as “green plastics”, which produced under controlled conditions as intracellular products of the secondary metabolism of diverse gram-negative/positive bacteria and various extremophiles archaea. Although PHB has properties allowing being very attractive, it is too expensive to compete with conventional and non-biodegradable plastics. Feasibility of this research to evaluate the suitability of using a watermelon-derived media as an alternative substrate for PHB synthesis under stress conditions was examined. Results, include the most nutrients extraction, indicated that the watermelon seeds contain a high content of nutrients makes them a promisi

The increasing demand for energy has encouraged the development of renewable resources and environmentally benign fuel such as biodiesel. In this study, ethyl fatty esters (EFEs), a major component of biodiesel fuel, were synthesized from soybean oil using sodium ethoxide as a catalyst. By-products were glycerol and difatty acyl urea (DFAU), which has biological characteristics, as antibiotics and antifungal medications. Both EFEs and DFAU have been characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The optimum conditions were studied as a function of reaction time, reactant molar ratios, catalyst percentage and the effect of organic solvents. The conversion ratio of soybea

This study is included the preparation of two tetradentate amide-thiol proligands of the general structure [H2Ln], [where; (n = (1–2)]. The ligands [H2L1] and [H2L2] have been prepared from the reaction of the cyclic thioester 2-oxo-1, 4-dithiacyclohexane (compound 1) and 3-chloro-2-oxo-1, 4 dithiacyclohexane (compound 2) with 2-aminomethanepyridine in (1:1) ratio respetively. The reaction was carried out in chloroform at room temperature and under N2 atmosphere. Structural formula of these two ligands have been reported.

In this paper, an analytical solution describing the deflection of a cracked beam repaired with piezoelectric patch is introduced. The solution is derived using perturbation method. A novel analytical model to calculate the proper dimensions of piezoelectric patches used to repair cracked beams is also introduced. This model shows that the thickness of the piezoelectric patch depends mainly on the thickness of the cracked beam, the electro-mechanical properties of the patch material, the applied load and the crack location. Furthermore, the model shows that the length of the piezoelectric patches depends on the thickness of the patch as well as it depends on the length of the cracked beam and the crack depth. The additio