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 by evaluating SBS and EVA at 2%, 4%, and 6% by weight of asphalt cement, with a focus on their rheological, chemical, and mechanical properties. At the binder level, properties examined included the physical properties: penetration, softening point, viscosity, mass loss due to aging, storage stability, and specific gravity. The Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) was used to assess the high-temperature performance grade (PG) and conduct Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) tests. The results revealed that SBS significantly enhanced high-temperature performance, with 4% SBS and 6% SBS achieving PG 100, compared to PG 70 for both the unmodified and EVA-modified binders. At the most critical testing temperature of 76 °C and the highest stress level of 3.2 kPa, SBS-modified binders exhibited the lowest non-recoverable creep compliance (Jnr) and the highest elastic recovery (R), significantly outperforming EVA-modified binders and the reference binder (RB). At the mixture level, dynamic creep testing confirmed the ranking of asphalt mixes in terms of resistance to permanent deformation, with the following order: 4% SBS > 6% SBS > 6% EVA > 4% EVA > 2% SBS > 2% EVA > unmodified mix. These results, further supported by ANOVA analysis, indicate that SBS-modified mixtures exhibited superior rutting resistance compared to EVA-modified and unmodified mixes. This study provides quantitative insights into the comparative performance of SBS and EVA in extreme hot climatic tempertures, reinforcing the superior effectiveness of SBS in enhancing high-temperature properties. Consequently, SBS emerges as the more suitable modifier for regions experiencing extreme hot climatic conditions. Field validation is recommended to confirm these laboratory findings in real-world applications.
Background: Polymorphisms in the TNF-α gene affect the development and progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Objective: To investigate the associations between (-806 T/C) and (-857 T/C) SNPs with rheumatoid arthritis severity and susceptibility in a sample of Iraqi patients. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Baghdad, Iraq. Twenty healthy controls and 63 patients confirmed to be newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis were included. Those are divided into two groups (patients and controls), and the patients were further subdivided into severe and mild-moderate groups. Samples from those participants were analyzed for clinical and inflammatory parameter measurements. Genotyping by the Sanger method was performed to stu
... Show MoreThe study aims to investigate the effect of Al2O3 and Al additions to Nickel-base superalloys as a coating layer on oxidation resistance, and structural behavior of nickel superalloys such as IN 738 LC. Nickel-base superalloys are popular as base materials for hot components in industrial gas turbines such as blades due to their superior mechanical performance and high-temperature oxidation resistance, but the combustion gases' existence generates hot oxidation at high temperatures for long durations of time, resulting in corrosion of turbine blades which lead to massive economic losses. Turbine blades used in Iraqi electrical gas power stations require costly maintenance using traditional processes regularly. These blades are made
... Show MoreThe current research seeks to identify the impact of Barman's model on acquisition of the concepts of jurisprudence of worship among students of the departments of Qur'anic sciences. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher relied on the experimental method through a design with partial control by relying on two experimental groups receiving teaching by using the Barman model and a control group receives teaching through the normal method. After applying the experiment, the study reached the following results: Students of the Department of Qur’anic Sciences in general need educational programs linked to the curriculum and built on scientific foundations, according to their needs and problems (psychological, cognitive, and soc
... Show MoreRecommender Systems are tools to understand the huge amount of data available in the internet world. Collaborative filtering (CF) is one of the most knowledge discovery methods used positively in recommendation system. Memory collaborative filtering emphasizes on using facts about present users to predict new things for the target user. Similarity measures are the core operations in collaborative filtering and the prediction accuracy is mostly dependent on similarity calculations. In this study, a combination of weighted parameters and traditional similarity measures are conducted to calculate relationship among users over Movie Lens data set rating matrix. The advantages and disadvantages of each measure are spotted. From the study, a n
... Show MoreBackground: Odontogenisis is a complex process controlled by dynamic and reciprocal interactions that regulated by various molecules. Thymosin β4 is a small bioactive peptide with wide spectrum biological effects on much cell types. The present study was designed to highlight the effect of synthetic exogenous Tβ4 on developing dental tissue of the upper central teeth of rats, by histological examination and immunohistochemical evaluation of TGFβ1. Materials and method: Thirty six Albino Wister pregnant rat 18control group received intraperitoneal injection of normal saline and the others are experimental group received 50µg/300µl of Tβ4 injection. The animals were sacrificed at periods 16th and 18th day I.U.L and one day p
... Show MoreThe study aimed to identify the news framing on the Israeli Arabic-speaking i24 channel of the Israeli aggression on Gaza -2021 by analyzing the channel’s Program “this evening”. The study used the media survey method, and in its framework, it relied on the content analysis method for the program’s episodes from May 5, 2021 AD until June 4, 2021 AD, with 22 episodes. The study showed the program’s interest in launching the Palestinian resistance’s rockets significantly, followed by the Israeli military operations, and the program’s reliance on correspondents largely as a source of news material related to the aggression. It also proved that a news report and a reporter's report was the most important form of presenting news
... Show MoreThis study includes applying chemical tests on cow, sheep and chicken bones including both hallow and flat. The results of chemical tests on bones mentioned the moisture percentage which was between 4.95-7.32 %, and it was noticed the difference in protein percentage among different kinds of bones, The highest protien percentage was 39.62 % in hallow chicken bones and the lowest was in hallow sheep bones 20.31%, at the same time, the highest Ash percentage was in hallow sheep bones48.11% , whereas the highest percentage of fat was in hallow cow bones 30%. The chemical and physical tests were conducted for extracted fat from hallow and flat bones for cows, sheeps and chicken. It was found that peroxide values (PV), and free fatty acids (F
... Show MoreThe importance of our research is that it examines the causes and sources of the security challenges in the internal security environment of the GCC countries, and aims to address the most important issues that are of great interest, namely, the issue of inter-GCC differences and addressing the issues of regional security for the Gulf region, After it is one of the most dynamic and more polarized areas for the emergence of threats and challenges because of the multiplicity of sources of threat and their complexity due to the specificity of the strategic environment and the negative repercussions it can have on the Gulf region, especially the issue of regional security of the Gulf Cooperation Council Which has become a magnet for competing i
... Show MoreThe interest of many companies has become dealing with the tools and methods that reduce the costs as one of the most important factors of successful companies, and became the subject of the attention of many economic units because of the impact on the profits of company, and since the nineties of the last century the researchers and writers gave great attention to this subject, especially in light of the large competition and rapid developments in cost management techniques, as well as the wide and significant change in production methods that have been directed towards achieving customer satisfaction, all this and more driven by economic units in all sectors whether it is service or productivity to find methods that would reduc
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