When the depth of stressed soil is rather small, Plate Load Test (PLT) becomes the most efficient test to estimate the soil properties for design purposes. Among these properties, modulus of subgrade reaction is the most important one that usually employed in roads and concrete pavement design. Two methods are available to perform PLT: static and dynamic methods. Static PLT is usually adopted due to its simplicity and time saving to be performs in comparison with cyclic (dynamic) method. The two methods are described in ASTM standard.

In this paper the effect of the test method used in PLT in estimation of some mechanical soil properties was distinguished via a series of both test methods applied in a same site. The comparison of

Failure in asphalt mixture and distress in pavement are major issues to roads infrastructure. Selecting an appropriate chemical composition of asphalt cement is a key component in avoiding these issues. This work aimed to investigate the effect of the chemical composition of different polar fractions on the rheological and physical properties of asphalt cement. Four types of asphalt cement with penetration grades of 20/30, 40/50, 60/70 and 85/100 were divided into four fractions. Complex shear modules, rutting resistance and rotational viscosity of the asphalt cement were determined by using a Dynamic Shear Rheometer and a Rotation Viscometer, respectively. The results show that an increase in the asphaltene content and Gastel index resulte

The typical test for diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, but the chest CT scan might play a complementary role at the first detection of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Objectives: To determine the sensitivity of CT scan on patients with COVID-19 in Al-Najaf, Iraq, and to compare the accuracy of CT scan with that of RT-PCR technique. Material and Method: This is a prospective study. The patients suspicious of having COVID-19 infection and respiratory symptoms were registered. All patients were diagnosed by RT-PCR and chest CT. Diagnostic performance of CT was intended using RT-PCR as the reference sta

The study of important physico-chemical factors of water of Al-Husainia creek during the period of May 2005 till the end of April 2006 indicated that water temperature showed clear monthly fluctuations ranged from 10 C° during January to 33 C° during August. Dissolved oxygen values ranged from 5.5 mg/ml during August to 14.8 mg/ml during January. Slight monthly changes were noticed in pH values, ranged from 7.7 during May to 9 during January. Also, slight monthly changes were recorded in salinity values which ranged from 0.67 ppt during October to 0.91 ppt during May. Clear fluctuation occurred in turbidity values which ranged from 12 cm during April to 177 cm during January. From the above results, it is clear that Al-Husainia cre

Drip irrigation is one of the conservative irrigation techniques since it implies supplying water directly on the soil through the emitter; it can supply water and fertilizer directly into the root zone. An equation to estimate the wetted area in unsaturated soil is taking into calculating the water absorption by roots is simulated numerically using HYDRUS (2D/3D) software. In this paper, HYDRUS comprises analytical types of the estimate of different soil hydraulic properties. Used one soil type, sandy loam, with three types of crops; (corn, tomato, and sweet sorghum), different drip discharge, different initial soil moisture content was assumed, and different time durations. The relative error for the different hydrauli

    The current experiment was conducted to explore the effect of soil crude oil ( crude oil ) pollution on some wood properties of   Casuarina equisetifolia.      Four levels of pollution were applied on 40 (one-year) old seedlings . Measurements were taken by cutting the trees after two growth seasons from date of pollution .The studied Properties were fiber length, diameter, wall thickness, and specific gravity of external and internal wood.  Results showed an adverse effect of pollution on fiber diameter more than on fiber length. While wall thickness did not affect.  Fiber dimensions of external wood showed higher values  than that of internal one, especially for fiber

Soil fertility is a crucial factor in measuring soil quality, it indicates the extent to which soil can support plant life. Soil fertility is measured by the amount of macro and micronutrients, pH, etc. Soil nutrients are depleted after each harvest and therefore must be added. To maintain soil nutrient levels, fertilizer is added to the soil. Adding fertilizer in the precise amount is a matter of great importance because excess or insufficient application can harm plant life and reduce productivity. The use of modern technology is a solution to this problem. Although automated techniques for sowing, weeding, crop harvesting, etc. have been proposed and implemented, none of the techniques are aimed to maintaining soil fertility. The study a

The new sustainable development goals set by the UN include a goal of making cities inclusive, safe, sustainable, and resilient. Cities are growing at huge rates, and conditions of deteriorating QOL̛s are increasing in the form of poor access to services, and slums are remarkable, especially in the cities of the Middle East; hence, the research problem can arise from a lack of knowledge regarding the in determination of a way to assess the resilience of cities to develop mechanisms that will improve the quality of urban life. In this study, a tool called CRF has been applied for the assessment of the city's resilience principles of health and quality of life, economics and social, infrastructure and environmental systems, and the principle

In the last years, new non-invasively laser methods were used to detect breast tumors for pre- and postmenopausal females. The methods based on using laser radiation are safer than the other daily used methods for breast tumor detection like X-ray mammography, CT-scanner, and nuclear medicine.  

      One of these new methods is called FDPM (Frequency Domain Photon Migration). It is based on the modulation of laser beam by variable frequency sinusoidal waves. The modulated laser radiations illuminate the breast tissue and received from opposite side.

      In this paper the amplitude and the phase shift of the received signal were calculated according to the orig