A square experimental arena with vegetation on one interior side was deployed in a Sharjah, United Arab Emirates desert. Individual darkling beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) Akis subtricostata Redtenbacher, 1850 and Trachyderma philistina Reiche and Saulcy, 1857 were placed inside the arena at temperatures ranging between 27 - 49°C. Whether they chose the vegetated side of the arena or not was recorded, as well as how long it took for them to reach the vegetated side, if they chose it. Both species preferred the vegetated side at all temperatures, and the chance of them choosing the vegetated side increased significantly with increasing temperature (logistic regression, p = 0.0096 and p = 0.0003 for T. philistina and A. subtricostata, respectively). T.philistina and A. subtricostata always chose the vegetated side at temperatures above 31°and 44°C, respectively. Individual beetles that chose the vegetated side moved quickly and directly to it at temperatures above 30°C. Below 30°C, however, beetles tended to move slower and take more pauses within the arena. Time to reach the vegetated side declined significantly with increasing temperature (least-squares regression, p < 0.00005 for both species). A few individuals of both species died at the highest temperatures (48 - 49°C).
Background: Complete denture wearers show lower levels of bite force than dentate subjects. This has a significant influence on their chewing efficiency. In this study an attempt was made to investigate the effect of the impression technique on the maximum bite force in complete denture wearers. Materials and methods: The patients selected for this research were 12 edentulous patients. Three different techniques for registering the final impression were made; the mucostatic, mucofunctional, and the selective pressure impression technique. Two sets of upper and lower denture bases and one set of upper and lower dentures were constructed for each subject. Intraoral and extraoral instruments and devices, as well as a computer program were used
... Show MoreThis paper reports a comprehensive study on the behavior of concavely curved soffit reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in flexure with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites under static loading. The main objective of this paper is to explore the effect of surface concavity on the bond performance of externally bonded wet layup CFRP sheets and laminates. An experimental program consisting of flexural strengthening of 24 RC beams with concavely curved soffits was carried out. All specimens were simply supported RC beams tested under three-point bending. Of the 24 beams, 6 beams were flat soffit RC beams, and the remainder were fabricated with concavely curved soffits with a degree of curvature that is ranging from 5 mm/m
... Show MoreThis research a study model of linear regression problem of autocorrelation of random error is spread when a normal distribution as used in linear regression analysis for relationship between variables and through this relationship can predict the value of a variable with the values of other variables, and was comparing methods (method of least squares, method of the average un-weighted, Thiel method and Laplace method) using the mean square error (MSE) boxes and simulation and the study included fore sizes of samples (15, 30, 60, 100). The results showed that the least-squares method is best, applying the fore methods of buckwheat production data and the cultivated area of the provinces of Iraq for years (2010), (2011), (2012),
... Show MoreThe effect of D phase polyamide (PA6)on the rheological properties, Young Modulus and the thermal expansion coefficient of two blends groups (bitumen-polyamide) were tested. The first group was for bitumen-PA6 blends and the second group for bitumen blended with polymer resulted from the crystallization of PA6-formic acid solution in water(PAFW).The obtained results proved that adding both types of polyamide has led to a rise in toughness and softening point temperature while the penetration Index approached -3 after adding the polyamide. So, all these changes make bitumen-polyamide blends more suitable for use in hot climate regions. The blends properties were explained according to the reaction that takes place between the polyamide and
... Show MoreIn this work, effects of using different evaporative cooling pads (ECPs) on the energetic and exergetic efficiency of a direct evaporative air cooler (DEAC) have been theoretically and experimentally investigated. Three types of ECPs were used, i.e., honeycomb cellulose cooler pad (HCCP), shading-cloth cooler pad (SCCP), and aspen wood wool cooler pad (AWWCP). For SCCP and AWWCP, a 3-cm pad thickness was used, while for the HCCP, three different values of pad thickness were used, i.e., 3, 5, and 7 cm. Tests were carried out using air velocities of 8, 14, and 19 m/s, measured at the DEAC outlet. Engineering equation solver (EES) used for performing the required calculations of the various parameters affecting the thermal performance of the D
... Show MoreThe steel jetty selected for strengthening is in Baghdad city, over Tigris River, consists of 55 short spans, each of approximately 4 meters and one naviga-tional opening of 12 m. The bridge is 224 meters length and 8 meters in width. The strengthening system was designed to remove overstresses that occurred when the bridge was subjected to abnormal loads of 380 tons. A strengthening system which installed in spring 2008 was used where the main concept is to depend on added side supporting elements which impose reversal forces on the bridge to counteract most of the loads expected from the abnormal heavy loads. The bridge was load tested before and after the strengthening system was activated. The load test results indicate that the strengt
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Keratoconus is a progressive non inflammatory bilateral (usually asymmetric) ectatic corneal disease characterized by paraxial stromal thinning ,weakening that lead to corneal surface distortion ,vision loss primarily from irregular astigmatism and myopia and secondly from corneal scar. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate visual and refractive outcomes after intracorneal continuous ring (ICCR) implantation combined with intrapocket corneal collagen cross linking in patient with keratoconus. Setting: Eye Specialty Private Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. METHODS: This study assessed the results of implantation of Myoring ICCR combined with CXL in 40 eyes with KC. Outcome measures include UDVA,CDVA(spectacle correction),refraction, complications and s
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