In Australia, most of the existing buildings were designed before the release of the Australian standard for earthquake actions in 2007. Therefore, many existing buildings in Australia lack adequate seismic design, and their seismic performance must be assessed. The recent earthquake that struck Mansfield, Victoria near Melbourne elevated the need to produce fragility curves for existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Australia. Fragility curves are frequently utilized to assess buildings’ seismic performance and it is defined as the demand probability surpassing capacity at a given intensity level. Numerous factors can influence the results of the fragility assessment of RC buildings. Among the most important factors that can affect the performance-based seismic assessment of buildings are the building height and the characteristics of the earthquake. Despite this, very few studies accounted for the earthquake characteristics and the influence of height on the vulnerability of buildings in Australia. Consequently, the combined effect of building height and the characteristics of the earthquake were investigated in this study. This was achieved through numerical modeling and time-history analyses of three typical two-, four-, and nine-story RC frame buildings in Australia. Moreover, these buildings were subjected to three different types of ground motions which were: short- and long-duration, and near-fault earthquakes. Fragility analysis was then conducted for the three buildings under all the selected earthquake suites. It was noted from the median values of the fragility curves that the four-story and the nine-story RC buildings were 17% and 18% more susceptible to damage in comparison with the two-story building under short-duration earthquakes. Moreover, it was also noted that the median value of the vulnerability increased by 33%, 40%, and 50% for the two-, four-, and nine-story buildings, sequentially, when subjected to near-fault compared to short-duration earthquakes.
The influence of different types of plasmonic gold (Au-NPs) and silver (Ag-NPs) nanoparticles as well as aging on the performance of Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) sensors were studied. The average diameters of Au-NPs and Ag-NPs were about 23 nm and 15 nm, respectively, with a number of laser pulses of about 200. plasmonic nanoparticles were synthesized by laser ablation process in distilled water using a fixed energy laser fluence of about 14 J/cm2 of Nd-YAG laser, with 1060 nm wavelength and 1 Hz pulse repetition rate. The SERS sensor was carried out by quick drop casting process of plasmonicplasmonic nanoparticles on glass substrates. The morphological aspects and the performance of SERS sensors were investigated
... Show MoreThe research seeks to achieve its goal of demonstrating the impact of applying banking governance variables on the financial performance of Islamic banks, and the independent research variables are represented by (X) by (the number of independent members in the board (X1), the number of directors in the board (X2), the number of committees emanating from the board ( X3), the percentage of shares owned by major shareholders in the board (X4), the number of members of the Sharia supervisory board (X5)), and the dependent variable (Y) is represented by (rate of return on assets (Y1), rate of return on equity (Y2)).
The research sample included (4) Islamic banks, namely (Iraqi Islamic Bank, National Islamic Bank, Jihan Islamic Bank,
... Show MoreThe effect of molecules intersystem crossing (Kisc) on characteristics
(energy and duration) of a Passive Q- switched Laser Pulse has been
studied by mathematical description (rate equations model) for
temporal performance of which was used as a saturable absorber
material (passive switch) with laser. The study shows that the energy
and duration pulse are decreasing while the molecules intersystem
crossing into saturable absorber energy levels is increasing.
The effect of three high temperatures for five exposure periods on the developments of larvae, pupae and adults of Trogoderma granarium (Everts) and their biological performance were investigated. The results revealed that the percent of mortality was increased as the temperature and the exposure period increased, e. g. exposing last instar larvae to 45°C for 6 hrs caused 100% death of this stage, while exposing adults (1-3) days old to the same temperature and exposure time resulted in that these adults did not able to survive more than 24 hrs.; in addition, the results showed that the ability of reproduction of adults was depended on the temperature, duration of exposure and the sex.
This study presents a mathematical model describing the interaction of gut bacteria in the participation of probiotics and antibiotics, assuming that some good bacteria become harmful through mutations due to antibiotic exposure. The qualitative analysis exposes twelve equilibrium points, such as a good-bacteria equilibrium, a bad-bacteria equilibrium, and a coexisting endemic equilibrium in which both bacteria exist while being exposed to antibiotics. The theory of the Sotomayor theorem is applied to study the local bifurcation around all possible equilibrium points. It’s noticed that the transcritical and saddle-node bifurcation could occur near some of the system’s equilibrium points, while pitchfork bifurcation cannot be accrued at
... Show MoreIn this investigation, the mechanical properties and microstructure of Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) of Al.6061 alloy reinforced by ceramic materials SiC and Al2O3 with different additive percentages 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 wt.% for the particle size of 53 µm are studied. Metal matrix composites were prepared by stir casting using vortex technique and then treated thermally by solution heat treatment at 530 0C for 1 hr. and followed by aging at 175 0C with different periods. Mechanical tests were done for the samples before and after heat treatment, such as impact test, hardness test, and tensile test. Also, the microstructure of the metal matrix composites was examine
... Show MoreIn this research prepare membranes pure silicon carbide (SiC) as well as gas Alloy (ammonia) and using a laser was leaked membrane of glass flooring. To Drasesh optical properties of membranes prepared depending on the technique (Swanepoel) and Adhrt results obtained in general increased permeability pure silicon membranes
The worsening of environmental problems has led to them being addressed by many entities, the most important of which are the top regulators. Federal Board of supreme audit Office is one of the most important regulators in Iraq. The problem of the research was the fundamental question of the extent to which the Federal Financial Supervisory Office was committed to implementing and exercising environmental control over the audited ones. The refore, the research was based on the main objective of questioning the role of the Federal Financial Supervisory Office in the exercise of environmental control and the compliance of those under its control, by identifying the antosai standards for environmental control, particularly the stand
... Show MoreBackground: For decades, the use of naturally accessible materials in treating human disease has been widespread. The goal of this study was to determine the anti-fungal effectiveness /of the lemongrass essential oil (LGEO) versus Candida albicans (C. albicans) adhesion to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) materials. Material and methods: LGEO's anti-fungal activity was tested against C. albicans adhesion using the following concentration of LGEO in PMMA monomer (2.5 vol. %, 5 vol. % LGEO) selected from the pilot study as the best two effective concentrations. A total of 40 specimens were fabricated for the candida adherence test and were subdivided into four equal groups: negative control 0 vol. % addition, experimental with 2.5 vol. % and
... Show MoreThe present work was conducted in the fields of Al-Sewarah and Kurkok stations which belong to the State Board of Agricultural Researches, Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq during the growing season of 2018. The goal of the study was to test the effects of the application of cyanobacteria (Anabaena circinalis and Nostoc commune) alone or in combination with reducing the dose of chemical fertilizers (CFs), which consisted of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea (46% nitrogen), on growth, yield and yield components of wheat cv. IPA99. Application of 50% and 100% of CFs without cyanobacteria as well as control (without cyanobacteria and CFs) were also included in this study for comparison.
The resul
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