Criticism is inherently impolite and a face-threatening act generally leading to conflicts among interlocutors. It is equally challenging for both native and non-native speakers, and needs pre-planning before performing it. The current research examines the production of non-institutional criticism by Iraqi EFL university learners and American native speakers. More specifically, it explores to what extent Iraqi EFL learners and American native speakers vary in (i) performing criticism, (ii) mitigating criticism, and (iii) their pragmatic choices according to the contextual variables of power and distance. To collect data, a discourse-completion task was used to elicit written data from 20 Iraqi EFL learners and 20 American native speaker

This study aims to fabricate and assess the β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) bioactive ceramic coat layer on bioinert ceramic zirconia implants through the direct laser melting technique by applying a long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser of 1064 nm. Surface morphologies, adherence, and structural change in the coatings were evaluated by optical microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscope, hardness, and x-ray diffractometer. The elastic modulus (EM) of the coating was also determined using the nanoindentation test. The quality of the coating was improved when the laser power was 90 W with a decrease in the scan speed to 4 mm s−1. The chemical composition of the coat was maintained after laser processing; also, the Energy Dispersive

In this work, a magnetic switch was prepared using two typesof ferrofluid materials, the pure ferrofluid and ferrofluid doped with copper nanoparticles (10 nm). The critical magnetic field (Hc) and the state of magnetic saturation (Hs) were studied using three types of laser sources. The main parameters of the magnetic switch measured using pure ferrofluid and He-Ne Laser source were Hc(0.5 mv, 0.4 G), Hs (8.5 mv, 3 G). For the ferrofluid doped with copper nanoparticles were Hc (1 mv, 4 G), Hs (15 mv, 9.6 G), Using green semiconductor laser for the Pure ferrofluid were Hc (0.5 mv, 0.3 G) Hs (15 mv, 2.9 G). While the ferrofluid doped with copper nanoparticles were Hc (0.5 mv, 1 G), Hs (12 mv, 2.8 G) and by using the violet semiconductor l

Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) based on the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) effect has been proposed to detect polluted water samples. The sensing characteristics are illustrated using the finite element method. The right hole of the right side of PCF core has been coated with chemically stable gold material to achieve the practical sensing approach. The performance parameter of the proposed sensor is investigated in terms of wavelength sensitivity, amplitude sensitivity, sensor resolution, and linearity of the resonant wavelength with the variation of refractive index of analyte. In the sensing range of 1.33 to 1.3624, maximum sensitivities of 1360.2 nm ∕ RIU and 184 RIU⁻¹ are achieved with the high sensor resolutions of 7

In the present study waste aluminium cans were recycled and converted to produce alumina catalyst. These cans contain more than 98% aluminum oxide in their structure and were successfully synthesized to produce nano sized gamma alumina under mild conditions. A comprehensive study was carried out in order to examine the effect of several important parameters on maximum yield of alumina that can be produced. These parameters were reactants mole ratios (1.5, 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5), sodium hydroxide concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 55%) and weights of aluminum cans (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 g). The compositions of alumina solution were determined by Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS); and maximum yield of alumina solution was 96.3% obtain

Drastic threat to the natural system is caused by the uncontrolled release of synthetic pollutants, including azo dyes. This study centered on the decolorization and biodegradation of water soluble azo dye reactive blue (RB) in a batch mode sequential anaerobic-aerobic processes. A local sewage treatment plant was the source where activated sludge was collected to be used as non-adapted mixed culture with both free and the alginate immobilized cells for RB biodegradation. Under anaerobic conditions, the free and immobilized mixed cells were proved to completely decolorize 10 mg/ L of RB within 20 and 30 h, respectively. Alginate- immobilized mixed cells, resulted in 88%, 87%, and 87% maximum COD removals with samples con

Regression testing is a crucial phase in the software development lifecycle that makes sure that new changes/updates in the software system don’t introduce defects or don’t affect adversely the existing functionalities. However, as the software systems grow in complexity, the number of test cases in regression suite can become large which results into more testing time and resource consumption. In addition, the presence of redundant and faulty test cases may affect the efficiency of the regression testing process. Therefore, this paper presents a new Hybrid Framework to Exclude Similar & Faulty Test Cases in Regression Testing (ETCPM) that utilizes automated code analysis techniques and historical test execution data to

The 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

Abstract: The international community now places significant emphasis on achieving zero carbon emissions, requiring both new researchers and experienced policymakers to prioritise this goal. This article examines the effects of carbon taxes, carbon cap and trade, renewable energy (RE) production and consumption, and economic growth (EG) on carbon emission reduction in the United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia. The study collected secondary data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) secondary source spanning the years 1991 to 2022. The study examines the relationship between variables using the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) approach. The findings indicate that carbon taxes, carbon cap and tr

The change in project cost, or cost growth, occurs from many factors, some of which are related to soil problem conditions that may occurs during construction and/or during site investigation period. This paper described a new soil improvement method with a minimum cost solution by using polymer fiber materials having a length of (3 cm) in both directions and (2.5 mm) in thickness, distributed in uniform medium dense .
sandy soil at different depths (B, 1.5B and 2B) below the footings. Three square footings has been used (5,7.5 and 10 cm) to carry the above investigation by using lever arm loading system design for such purposes.
These fibers were distributed from depth of (0.1B) below the footing base down to the investigated dep