This study explores the role of nanomaterials in the performance of asphalt binders and mixtures. Two commonly available nanomaterials, i.e., nanosilica (NS) and nanoalumina (NA), were used at contents of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% by weight of asphalt binder. A set of experiments was carried out at the binder level to investigate properties such as penetration, softening point, aging-related mass loss, nanomaterial dispersion (storage stability), and workability (rotational viscosity). In addition, the suitability of NS and NS was also assessed through the testing of nanomodified asphalt mixtures, which focused on Marshall properties, the resilient modulus, moisture susceptibility, permanent deformation, and fatigue resistance. The findings in

The objective of this study was to investigate the release profile of different fat and water soluble bases using diazepam as a model drug , and then to develop  a satisfactory formula with a rapid release of diazepam from suppository bases .The study was conducted using theobroma oil ,glycerol-gelatin and glycerol-PEG1540 bases using conventional mold method for preparation .while the later base was utilized to incorporate diazepam ( buffered solution ) in a hollow type suppositories. The results indicated that all types of bases can be utilized to formulate diazepam as  rectal suppositories with acceptable disintegration time ( 12, 10, 6, and 6min.), respectively . While 100% of the  released drug had been shown differen

Soils located above the groundwater table are generally unsaturated and possess negative pore-water pressures. A soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) that relates the water content of a soil to matric suction is an important relationship for the unsaturated soil mechanics. The SWCC essentially shows the ability of an unsaturated soil to retain water under various matric suctions. The filter paper method is a soil suction measurement technique. Soil suction is one of the most important parameters describing the moisture condition of unsaturated soils. The measurement of soil suction is crucial for applying the theories of the engineering behavior of unsaturated soils.In this paper, three soil samples were collected from three sites within

The undetected error probability is an important measure to assess the communication reliability provided by any error coding scheme. Two error coding schemes namely, Joint crosstalk avoidance and Triple Error Correction (JTEC) and JTEC with Simultaneous Quadruple Error Detection (JTEC-SQED), provide both crosstalk reduction and multi-bit error correction/detection features. The available undetected error probability model yields an upper bound value which does not give accurate estimation on the reliability provided. This paper presents an improved mathematical model to estimate the undetected error probability of these two joint coding schemes. According to the decoding algorithm the errors are classified into patterns and their decoding

Background: Skull secondary tumors are malignant bone tumors which are increasing in incidence.Objective: The objectives of this study were to present clinical features , asses the outcome of patients with secondary skull tumors ,characterize the MRI features, locations, and extent of secondary skull tumors to determine the frequency of the symptomatic disease.Type of the study: This is a prospective study.Methods: This is a prospective study from February 2000 to February 2008. The patients were selected from five neurosurgical centers and one oncology hospital in Baghdad/Iraq. The inclusion criteria were MRI study of the head(either as an initial radiological study or following head CT scan when secondary brain tumor is suspected , vis

Hyperpigmentation is the increase in the natural color of the skin. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Q-Switched Nd:YAG (1064 & 532 nm) Laser in treatment of skin hyper pigmentation. This study was done in the research clinic of Institute of laser for postgraduate Studies/University of Baghdad from October 2008 to the end of January 2009. After clinical assessment of skin hyperpigmentation color, twenty six patients were divided according to their lesions. Eight Patients with freckles, seven patients with melasma, four patients with tattoo. Cases with tattoo, were subdivided into amateur tattoos two, professional tattoos one, and one traumatic tattoo. Four Patients with post inflammatory hyperpigment

Two unsupervised classifiers for optimum multithreshold are presented; fast Otsu and k-means. The unparametric methods produce an efficient procedure to separate the regions (classes) by select optimum levels, either on the gray levels of image histogram (as Otsu classifier), or on the gray levels of image intensities(as k-mean classifier), which are represent threshold values of the classes. In order to compare between the experimental results of these classifiers, the computation time is recorded and the needed iterations for k-means classifier to converge with optimum classes centers. The variation in the recorded computation time for k-means classifier is discussed.