The focus of this work is on systematically understanding the effects of packing density of the sand grains on both the internal and bulk mechanical properties for strip footing interacting with granular soil. The studies are based on particle image velocimetry (PIV) method, coupled with a high resolution imaging camera. This provides valuable new insights on the evolution of slip planes at grain-scale under different fractions of the ultimate load. Furthermore, the PIV based results are compared with finite element method simulations in which the experimentally characterised parameters and constitutive behaviour are fed as an input, and a good level of agreements are obtained. The reported results would serve to the practicing engineers, r

The synthesis of zeolite NaX from locally available kaolin has been studied. The operating conditions for zeolite NaX production from kaolin with good crystallinity were as follows; a gel formation step of metakaolin in alkaline medium in presence of additional silica to crystallize the zeolite was achieved at 60 oC for 1 hr,and with stirring. In ageing step of the reactants at room temperature for 5 days and crystallization step at 87±2 oC for 24 hr. The catalytic activity of catalyst prepared from local kaolin was studied by using cumene cracking as a model for catalytic cracking and compared with standard HY zeolite and HX zeolite catalysts. The activity test was carried out in a laboratory continuous flow unit with fixed bed re

The efficiency evaluation of the railway lines performance is done through a set of indicators and criteria, the most important are transport density, the productivity of enrollee, passenger vehicle production, the productivity of freight wagon, and the productivity of locomotives. This study includes an attempt to calculate the most important of these indicators which transport density index from productivity during the four indicators, using artificial neural network technology. Two neural networks software are used in this study, (Simulnet) and (Neuframe), the results of second program has been adopted. Training results and test to the neural network data used in the study, which are obtained from the international in

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding diets containing different levels of parsley on the blood biochemical characteristics of local Iraqi geese. A total of twenty-four local geese, one year old, were used in this experiment during the period from the beginning of October to the end of December. The birds were allocated for Four treatment groups consisted of six geese each. Treatment groups were as follows: Control diet (T1) (free from parsley), T2: Control diet + 80 g / d parsley, T3: Control diet + 160 g / d parsley; T4: Control diet + 240 g / d parsley. At the end of experiment, blood samples were obtained from all geese by venipuncture from brachial vein and blood plasma samples were prepared. Blood biochemical tr

Yersinia enterocolitica has ranked a third among the pathogens that most frequently cause gastrointestinal disorders transmitted to humans through food materials, especially contaminated meats. The meat infected with Yersinia enterocolitica had no change in apparent texture or smell. The aim of this research is to survey the frequency of Y. enterocolitica in ovine meat, compare their ratio of infection between the season, To carry out this study (125) samples of local ovine meat were collected by random sampling from the middle region of Iraq. The samples were divided into two groups steak and mince, then many microbiological tests (culture, & staining, biochemical Tests Api 20E, Vitik 2 and species-specific PCR amplicon for 16S RNA gene) w

In this paper, we establish the conditions of the occurrence of the local bifurcations, such as saddle node, transcritical and pitchfork, of all equilibrium points of an eco-epidemiological model consisting of a prey-predator model with SI (susceptible-infected) epidemic diseases in prey population only and a refuge-stage structure in the predators. It is observed that there is a transcritical bifurcation near the axial and free predator equilibrium points, near disease-free equilibrium point is a saddle-node bifurcation and near positive (coexistence) equilibrium point is a saddle-node bifurcation, a transcritical bifurcation and a pitchfork bifurcation. Further investigations for Hopf bifurcation near coexistence equilibrium point

Background: Pain is one of the most postoperative complications of surgical wound especially within first 24 hrs. leading to delay hospital discharge, stress gastritis and increasing blood pressure. As wound infiltration with long acting local anesthetic (bupivacaine) has been proved to be effective after orthopedic surgeries especially total hip and knee replacements.Objective: our study was designed to determine theeffectiveness of local infiltration of 0.5% of bupivacainebefore closure of surgical wounds in controllingpostoperative pain and improve patient’s outcome after totalhip and knee replacement surgeries in first 24hrspostoperative period.Methods: Twenty patients from class I (healthy patients) and class II (patients mild sys

Background: Optimal root canal retreatment was required safe and efficient removal of filling material from root canal. The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the efficacy of reciprocating and continuous motion of four retreatment systems in removal of root canal filling material. Materials and Methods: Forty distal roots of the mandibular first molars teeth were used in this study, these roots were embedded in cold clear acrylic,roots were instrumented using crown down technique and rotary ProTaper systemize Sx to size F2 ,instrumentation were done with copiousirrigation of 2.5% sodium hypochlorite and 17% buffered solution of EDTA was used as final irrigant followed by distilledwater, roots were obturated with AH26 sealer and Prota

Background: Optimal root canal retreatment was required safe and efficient removal of filling material from root canal. The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the efficacy of reciprocating and continuous motion of four retreatment systems in removal of root canal filling material. Materials and Methods: Forty distal roots of the mandibular first molars teeth were used in this study, these roots were embedded in cold clear acrylic,roots were instrumented using crown down technique and rotary ProTaper systemize Sx to size F2 ,instrumentation were done with copiousirrigation of 2.5% sodium hypochlorite and 17% buffered solution of EDTA was used as final irrigant followed by distilledwater, roots were obturated with AH26 sealer and Prota

The current research aims to determine the role of strategic leadership in achieving organizational excellence. In this context the sample of the research consist of 123 managers .The research problem can be summarized as {what is the role of strategic leadership in achieving organizational excellence}which resulted in a number of sub-questions and its goal was to explain the theoretical philosophy and intellectual expositions of this variables because of they are vital variables imposed by the current situation. To achieve research objectives we had use the questionnaire as a tool to collect data and information after verifying the validity and dependency of the measures. A number of statistical techniques and tools had been use