In order to promote sustainable steel-concrete composite structures, special shear connectors that can facilitate deconstruction are needed. A lockbolt demountable shear connector (LB-DSC), including a grout-filled steel tube embedded in the concrete slab and fastened to a geometrically compatible partial-thread bolt, which is bolted on the steel section's top flange of a composite beam, was proposed. The main drawback of previous similar demountable bolts is the sudden slip of the bolt inside its hole. This bolt has a locked conical seat lug that is secured inside a predrilled compatible counter-sunk hole in the steel section's flange to provide a non-slip bolt-flange connection. Deconstruction is achieved by demounting the tube from the t

This study presents an investigation about the effect of fire flame on the punching shear strength of hybrid fiber reinforced concrete flat plates. The main considered parameters are the fiber type (steel or glass) and the burning steady-state temperatures (500 and 600°C). A total of 9 half-scale flat plate specimens of dimensions 1500mm×1500mm×100mm and 1.5% fiber volume fraction were cast and divided into 3 groups. Each group consisted of 3 specimens that were identical to those in the other groups. The specimens of the second and the third groups were subjected to fire flame influence for 1 hour and steady-state temperature of 500 and 600°C respectively. Regarding the cooling process, water sprinkling was applied directly aft

Background: Preeclampsia occurs in 3-5% of
pregnancies and is a major cause (12-20 %) of
maternal mortality in developed countries. It is the
leading cause of preterm birth and intra-uterine
growth restrictions (IUGR).
Objective: The study was designed to determine and
demonstrate the ultra structural changes of
endothelial cells in placenta of women suffering from
hypertensive disease.
Patients & Methods: Placental samples were
obtained from two groups of pregnant women
groups (preeclamptic and normal pregnant women).
The specimens were fixed in 2.5% gluteraldehyde
and preceded for electron microscopic examination.
Results: Placenta of women with preeclampsia has
shown marked degenerative

This article focuses on identity construction and social structures within the Sāmoan community as represented in Sia Figiel’s novel Where We Once Belonged. I argue that however the post/colonial Sāmoan identity is hybridized, the essence of the individual is still connected to Fa’a Sāmoa-the Sāmoan traditions and ways. However rapid are the colonial vicissitudes, the Sāmoan literature and lifestyle are developed to be a resistance platform. This resistance platform is dedicated not only to expose the colonial impact but also to assist the social and political reconstruction of post/colonial Samoa. To this end, this article studies identity construction, and the challenges that women face within Sāmoan social structures.

In this paper, we define a cubic bipolar subalgebra, $BCK$-ideal and $Q$-ideal of a $Q$-algebra, and obtain some of their properties and give some examples. Also we define a cubic bipolar fuzzy point, cubic bipolar fuzzy topology, cubic bipolar fuzzy base and for each concept obtained some of its properties.

Four new binuclear Schiff base metal complexes [(MCl₂)₂L] {M = Fe 1, Co 2, Cu 3, Sn 4, L = N,N’-1,4-Phenylenebis (methanylylidene) bis (ethane-1,2-diamine)} have been synthesized using direct reaction between proligand (L) and the corresponding metal chloride (FeCl₂, CoCl₂, CuCl₂ and SnCl₂). The structures of the complexes have been conclusively determined by a set of spectroscopic techniques (FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, and mass spectra). Finally, the biological properties of the complexes have been investigated with a comparative approach against different species of bacteria (E. coli G-, Pseudomonas G-, Bacillus G+,

In this investigation, Rayleigh–Ritz method is used to calculate the natural frequencies of rectangular isotropic and laminated symmetric and anti-symmetric cross and angle ply composite plate with general elastic supports along its edges. Each of the admissible functions here is composed of a trigonometric function and an arbitrary continuous function that is introduced to ensure the sufficient smoothness of the so-called residual displacement function at the edges. Perhaps more importantly, this study has developed a general approach for deriving a complete set of admissible functions that can be applied to various boundary conditions. Several numerical examples are studied to demonstrate the accuracy and convergence of the current s

Automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) used for many applications especially in security applications, including border control. However, more accurate and language-independent techniques are still needed. This work provides a new approach to identifying Arabic license plates in different formats, colors, and even including English characters. Numbers, characters, and layouts with either 1-line or 2-line layouts are presented. For the test, we intend to use Iraqi license plates as there is a wide range of license plate styles written in Arabic, Kurdish, and English/Arabic languages, each different in style and color. This variety makes it difficult for recent traditional license plate recognition systems and algorithms to recogn

A mercury porosimeter has been used to measure the intrusion volume of the three types mercury positive lead acid-battery plates. The intrusion volumes were used to calculate the pore diameter, pore volume, pore area, and pore size distribution. The variation of the pore area in positive lead acid-battery plates as well as of the pore volume has the following sequence. Paste positive > Uncured positive > Cured positive