Hydrated lime has been recognized as an effective additive used to improve asphalt concrete properties in pavement applications. However, further work is still needed to quantify the effect of hydrated lime on asphaltic concrete performance under varied weather, temperature, and environmental conditions and in the application of different pavement courses. A research project was conducted using hydrated lime to modify the asphalt concretes used for the applications of wearing (surface), leveling (binder), and base courses. A previous publication reported the experimental study on the resistance to Marshall stability and the volumetric properties, the resilient modulus, and permanent deformation at three different weather temperatures. This

This paper describes a new proposed structure of the Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller based on modified Elman neural network for the DC-DC buck converter system which is used in battery operation of the portable devices. The Dolphin Echolocation Optimization (DEO) algorithm is considered as a perfect on-line tuning technique therefore, it was used for tuning and obtaining the parameters of the modified Elman neural-PID controller to avoid the local minimum problem during learning the proposed controller. Simulation results show that the best weight parameters of the proposed controller, which are taken from the DEO, lead to find the best action and unsaturated state that will stabilize the Buck converter system performan

This project sought to fabricate a flexible gas sensor based on a short functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs) network for nitrogen dioxide gas detection. The network was prepared by filtration from the suspension (FFS) method and modified by coating with a layer of polypyrrole conductive polymer (PPy) prepared by the oxidative chemical polymerization to improve the properties of the network. The structural, optical, and morphological properties of the f-MWCNTs and f-MWCNTs/PPy network were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourie-transform infrared (FTIR), with an AFM (atomic force microscopy). XRD proved that the structure of f-MWCNTs is unaffected by the synthesis procedure. The FTIR spectra verified the existence o

The current study performed in order to detect and quantify epicatechin in two tea samples of Camellia sinensis (black and green tea) by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Extraction of epicatechin from black and green tea was done by using two different methods: maceration (cold extraction method) and decoction (hot extraction method). Qualitative and quantitative determinations of epicatechin in two tea samples were investigated. Epicatechin identification was made by utilizing preliminary chemical tests and TLC. This identification was also boosted by HPLC and then quantified epicatechin in all ethyl acetate fractions of two tea samples. This research revealed the existence of epica

 ABSTRACT

Two compounds were isolated from the fruit part of Rhus coriaria that grow wildly or cultivated in the north of Iraq. The compounds were separated by preparative high-Performance Liquid Chromatography and their structures were established based on detailed spectroscopic techniques like FTIR and LC-MS/MS.

Keywords: Rhus coriaria, Preparative HPLC, LC-MSMS, FTIR

A rapid high performance liquid chromatography method for the determination of sphinganine (Sa) and sphingosine (So) in urine samples by employing a silica-based monolithic column is described. The samples were first extracted using ethyl acetate and derivatized using ortho-phthaldialdehyde in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. C20 sphinganine was used as internal standard. Under the optimized conditions, separation was achieved using a mixture of methanol:water (93:7, v/v), column temperature at 30°C, flow rate of 1 mL min−1, and an injection volume of 10 μL. Good linearity was obtained for Sa and So over the concentration range 20–500 ng mL−1(correlation coefficients ≥0.9978). The detection limits were 0.45 ng mL−1 for Sa and

The global rise in temperature and the desert climatic conditions prevalent in Middle Eastern countries have exacerbated rutting distress in heavily trafficked highways. Conventional asphalt binders with a high-temperature performance grade (PG 70) have proven inadequate under such extreme conditions, necessitating the development of modified binders with enhanced high-temperature performance. While polymer modification using styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS), an elastomeric polymer, and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), a plastomeric polymer, has been widely studied, limited research provides a direct comparison of their effectiveness at both the binder and mixture levels under extremely high-temperature conditions. This study addresses this gap

The objective of an Optimal Power Flow (OPF) algorithm is to find steady state operation point which minimizes generation cost, loss etc. while maintaining an acceptable system performance in terms of limits on generators real and reactive powers, line flow limits etc. The OPF solution includes an objective function. A common objective function concerns the active power generation cost. A Linear programming method is proposed to solve the OPF problem. The Linear Programming (LP) approach transforms the nonlinear optimization problem into an iterative algorithm that in each iteration solves a linear optimization problem resulting from linearization both the objective function and constrains. A computer program, written in MATLAB environme