Portland cement concrete is the most commonly used construction material in the world for decades. However, the searches in concrete technology are remaining growing to meet particular properties related to its strength, durability, and sustainability issue. Thus, several types of concrete have been developed to enhance concrete performance. Most of the modern concrete types have to contain supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) as a partial replacement of cement. These materials are either by-products of waste such as fly ash, slag, rice husk ash, and silica fume or from a geological resource like natural pozzolans and metakaolin (MK). Ideally, the utilization of SCMs will enhance the concrete performance, minimize environmental pollution and mitigate the drawbacks of cement production attributed to the highly CO2 emission. In general, MK's ultra-fineness and high pozzolanic activity are exhibited a remarkable performance of concrete in terms of strength and durability. However, the filler effect, acceleration of cement hydration, and the pozzolanic reaction with calcium hydroxide (CH) are the main factors influencing the performance of metakaolin as a cementitious material. Therefore, numerous researches have been undertaken on inclusion MK in concrete and mortar and production of (free-cement concrete) geopolymer concrete. This paper reviews some of previous native researches on effect of using Iraqi metakaolin as a pozzolanic material in different types of concrete. The standpoint of this review will guide the researchers on the importance of utilization of local MK and highlight the missing researches toward completing a comprehensive understanding of incorporation Iraqi-metakaolin in concrete technology.
Background: Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease of the neuromuscular junction that results in fluctuating muscle weakness as well as significant fatigue. Disease exacerbation is a critical condition, and the predisposing factors for it need to be identified to improve preventive measures.
Objectives: Our study aims to determine the predisposing factors for myasthenia gravis exacerbations in a group of Iraqi patients.
Subjects and Methods: A total number of 30 myasthenia gravis patients were admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation of their symptoms, determined as the development of functional disability, dysphagia, or respiratory fai
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Locally natural occurring Iraqi rocks of Bauxite and Porcelanite (after pre calcinations at 1000oC for 1hr) were used, with the addition of different proportions of MgO and Al2O3, to prepare refractory materials. The effects of these additives on the physical and thermal properties of the prepared refractories were investigated.
Many batches of Bauxite/MgO, Bauxite/Al2O3, Bauxite/MgO/Al2O3, and Porcelanite/ MgO/Al2O3 were prepared. The mixture is milled and classified into different size fractions; fine (less than 45μm) 40%, middle (45-75μm) 40%, and coarse (75-106μm) 20% .
... Show MoreA simple setup of random number generator is proposed. The random number generation is based on the shot-noise fluctuations in a p-i-n photodiode. These fluctuations that are defined as shot noise are based on a stationary random process whose statistical properties reflect Poisson statistics associated with photon streams. It has its origin in the quantum nature of light and it is related to vacuum fluctuations. Two photodiodes were used and their shot noise fluctuations were subtracted. The difference was applied to a comparator to obtain the random sequence.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with decreased antioxidant state .This study aim to investigate the status of oxidant/antioxidant in a sample of Iraqi patients with RA and the role of peroxynitrite and its natural scavenger uric acid in them .This case-controlled study was conducted at Baghdad teaching hospital /Baghdad from December 2010-May 2011 . Twenty-five patients with mean age 39 years and 25 apparently healthy subject as controls with mean age 29 years were included in the study .Investigations include estimation of serum levels of nitric oxide (NO) ,peroxynitrite (PN) , malondialdehyde (MDA) , and uric acid (UA) .Serum PN levels were significantly elevated in RA patients a
... Show MoreThe application of pultruded (GFRP) composite has become increasingly prominent in civil infrastructure projects. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of experimental and numerical studies conducted on the mechanical characteristics of (GFRP) composites across various temperature conditions, encompassing ambient and fire scenarios. The compilation comprises over 100 scholarly articles that examine the mechanical behavior of (GFRP) materials, specifically emphasizing their tensile and compressive strengths, showed the mechanical properties of (GFRP) materials are commonly compromised when exposed to high temperatures that approach or surpass the resin's glass transition temperature (Tg). In contrast, temperatures that are low
... Show MoreIn this paper, mesoscale modeling is performed to simulate and understand fracture behavior of two concrete composites: cement and asphalt concrete using disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) tests. Mesoscale models are used as alternative to macroscale models to obtain better realistic behavior of composite and heterogeneous materials such as cement and asphalt concrete. In mesoscale models, aggregate and matrix are represented as distinct materials and each material has its characteristic properties. Disk-shaped compact tension test is used to obtain tensile strength and fracture energy of materials. This test can be used as a better alternative to other tests such as three points bending tests because it is more convenient for both field and
... Show MoreA flexible pavement structure usually comprises more than one asphalt layer, with varying thicknesses and properties, in order to carry the traffic smoothly and safely. It is easy to characterize each asphalt layer with different tests to give a full description of that layer; however, the performance of the whole; asphalt structure needs to be properly understood. Typically, pavement analysis is carried out using multi-layer linear elastic assumptions, via equations and computer programs such as KENPAVE, BISAR, etc. These types of analysis give the response parameters including stress, strain, and deflection at any point under the wheel load. This paper aims to estimate the equivalent Resilient Modulus (MR) of the asphalt concrete
... Show MoreA new, Simple, sensitive and accurate spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of sulfanilamide (SNA) drug in pure and in synthetic sample. This method based on the reaction of sulfanilamide (SNA) with 1,2-napthoquinone-4-sulphonic acid (NQS) to form N-alkylamono naphthoquinone by replacement of the sulphonate group of the naphthoquinone sulphonic acid by an amino group. The colored chromogen shows absorption maximum at 455 nm. The optimum conditions of condensation reaction forms were investigated by: (1) univariable method, by optimizing the effect of experimental variables; (different bases, reagent concentration, borax concentration and reaction time), (2) central composite design (CCD) including
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