Effect of High Standard of Temperature on the Hardened Needled Concrete

Fibers are usually used to reinforce concrete. The study shows the using of needles for reinforcing high-strength concrete (60MPa) when the samples are exposed to temperatures (100°C and 400°C) with a percentage of needles (0%, 0.5% and 1%) compared with the conditions of room temperature (25°C). They study shows that the compressive strength decreases by about (0.94% and 17.6%) for (0% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. The compressive strength decreases by about (1.7% and 15.9%) for (0.5% needle (steel fiber)) at100°C and 400°C, respectively. The compressive strength decreases by about (0.3% and 14.2%) for (1% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. All the above-mentioned results are compared with cubes tested at room temperature (25°C). Based on the results of this work, the tensile strength decreases by about (0.49% and 6.65%) for (0% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. The tensile strength decreases by about (0.73% and 6.1%) for (0.5% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. The tensile strength decreases by about (0.24% and 5.54%) for (1% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. All the above-mentioned results are compared with cubes tested at room temperature (25 °C). The flexural strength decreases by about (1.08% and 26%) for (0% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. The flexural strength decreases by about (2.1% and 26.3%) for (0.5% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. The flexural strength decreases by about (3.1% and 24.7%) for (1% needle (steel fiber)) at 100°C and 400°C, respectively. All the above-mentioned results are compared with cubes tested at room temperature (25°C)

Metal Assisted Nanowire Growth for Silicon Nanowire/Amorphous Silicon Composite Solar Cell

Solar cells are photovoltaic devices that convert the energy of light to electricity by the photovoltaic effect. Crystalline silicon-based solar cells are the most dominant solar cells in the market today due to the high efficiency and relatively low cost. However, the cost of such solar cell is still high due to the large amount of material that is consumed in fabricating such a device. Polycrystalline/amorphous thin films and nanomaterial technologies have emerged to reduce the high cost of c-Si based solar cells and increase the efficiency. In this research, we combined these two technologies to propose and fabricate silicon nanowires (SiNWs)/amorphous Silicon (a-Si) composite solar cell structure at low temperatures using heavily doped polycrystalline silicon/glass as a substrate. Silicon Nanowire (SiNW) is one of the promising 1D semiconductor nanomaterial which has recently attracted significant attention due to its potential applications in many fields, including photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. SiNW is a term that is used widely to describe a rod with a diameter of between 1 to 100 nm and length of several microns. The vertical array geometry of such a device has great advantages in increasing the efficiency of solar cells due to its high light absorption and efficient light scattering. Replacing the silicon with polycrystalline silicon that was fabricated on glass substrate by means of aluminum induced crystallization method of amorphous silicon is considered a significant step in reducing the cost since glass is a cheaper material. In this research, heavily doped polycrystalline (p+ polySi/ITO/glass) silicon film was fabricated successfully by the means of aluminum induced crystallization of a-Si on ITO/glass substrate. Raman spectroscope, optical microscope, Hall Effect measurement, and SEM were used for the characterizing the (p+ polySi/ITO/glass). P-type SiNW were grown successfully in the PECVD system on silicon, a-Si/ITO/glass, and p+ polySi/ITO/glass substrates using Au nanoparticles as a catalyst at temperatures between (310 ˚C and 346 ˚C). It is to be noted that this temperature range is still lower than the eutectic temperature of Au-Si (363 ˚C). SEM and TEM systems were used to characterize the SiNW on c-Si and p+ polySi/ITO/glass substrates

Mineral Trioxide Aggregate vs Calcium-Enriched Mixture Pulpotomy in Young Permanent Molars with a Diagnosis of Irreversible Pulpitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction: The aim of this blind randomized clinical study was to prospectively compare the clinical and radiographic success outcomes of calcium-enriched mixture (CEM) pulpotomy versus white mineral trioxide aggregate (WMTA) pulpotomy in permanent molars diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis. Materials and Methods: Forty patients met the inclusion criteria and agreed to join. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups: CEM pulpotomy (n=20) and WMTA pulpotomy (n=20). Clinical success was reviewed at 7 days and 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. We organized radiographic assessment at 6 and 12 months. The data was analyzed using Chi-square, Independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney for the baseline and post-operative characteristics of the patients. Results: None of the patients were lost during recalls. Twenty-one females and 19 males participated in the study ranging between 7-14 years of age. The follow up period was extended in some of the cases for more than 1 year (12-23 month). Regarding the baseline and post-operative characteristics of the patients, there was no significant difference between the groups (P>0.05). All the cases showed clinical and radiographic success outcomes for both groups at/after12-month recall periods. There was no significant difference between the two groups clinically and radiographically (P=1). Conclusions: Based on this randomized clinical trial study, CEM and WMTA as pulpotomy agents expressed excellent clinical and radiographic outcomes with no significant difference in the treatment of permanent molars with irreversible pulpitis over a 12-month period

Islam and Modernity: A Relationship Predicament or A Dilemma of Absence?

The writings and views on Islam and modernity varied There are who believe that Islam has its modernity which in some aspects corresponds to the modernity of the West and there are those who argue that Islam is superior to Western modernity In general there are two trends the separation of Islam from modernity and the link between Islam and modernit

A proteomics-based approach to studying the impact of transgenic maize (MON810) in rats as a model

Phd thesisTransgenic maize MON810 is a maize variety that has been genetically modified to express Cry1Ab isolated from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to produce a natural insecticide (Bt toxin) which kills larvae of the European corn borer (ECB), a major pest of maize. The mode of action of Bt toxin in ECB is through binding to specific receptors on the epithelial cells of the highly alkaline midgut of the insect, resulting in pore-formation, osmotic imbalance, cell lysis and subsequent death of the insect. In contrast, this Bt toxin is considered to be harmless or nontoxic to mammals due to acidified gut pepsinolysis and the lack of Cry protein binding-sites on the mammalian gut epithelial cells. However, to date, no studies have investigated the cellular effects of these Cry proteins at the proteome level. The aim of this study was therefor to investigate the in vivo and in vitro effects of MON810 maize expressing the δ-insecticidal protein Cry1Ab from Bacillus thuringiensis, on differential gene expression at the proteome level in the epithelial cells of the small intestine of the rat as a model for mammals. Proteomic profiling techniques were included for the in vivo and in vitro studies to obtain a better understanding of the underlying molecular responses in rat to MON810. Transgenic Bt maize (MON810), the corresponding parental non-transgenic maize (MON CONV CORN), and 3 other maize varieties, MON Garst 8450, MON Gold HVST H8920 and MCert Rod commercial control (used as internal controls), were provided by Monsanto, USA. All diets were formulated by TestDiet and contained approximately 33% (w/w) corn grain; other diet components were adjusted to provide approximately equal levels of protein, calories and nutrients. Different reference varieties were used in this study to determine whether the changes that may occur with the consumption of MON810 maize lay within the expected range for several different unmodified reference varieties. Two rats feeding trials (7-day and 28-day) were conducted to assess the safety of MON810 maize using forty immature male Wistar rats (rats were between 6 to 7 weeks of age at the beginning of the study). Rats were assigned to the above 5 experimental groups based on body weight means. No adverse behavioural effects on rats were observed and there were no significant differences in absolute body weights, body weight gains, food consumption and feed conversion efficiency between rats fed MON810 in the diet when compared to rats fed diets containing grain from the other maize varieties. Thus the transgenic variety MON810 had no adverse effects on these parameters. Following these feeding studies, rats were sacrificed and the total proteins extracted from the small intestinal epithelial cells were separated by 2D gel electrophoresis. Differentially expressed proteins were identified using SameSpot Progenesis software followed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS); the mass spectrometry data were analysed by Global Proteome Machine (GPM) search engine for protein identification. The same proteomic profiling techniques were used for the in vitro approaches for MON810 maize safety evaluation where primary intestinal epithelial cells and HCT116 cell line were used. In vivo effects of these different maize varieties on the proteome of the epithelial cells of the small intestine when all five groups were compared showed that there were 5, 4, 3, 0, 0, differentially expresed protein spots for Mcert, Mon Conv Corn, MON810, Mon Garst and MON Gold, respectively for the 7- day trial. Two stress-related proteins (LDLR chaperone MESD precursor and peroxiredoxin-6) were up-regulated (2.4 fold) in the MON810 group and 1 stress-related protein (thioredoxindependent peroxide reductase) was up-regulated (2.6 fold) in the Mcert group. For the 28-day trial, only 2 proteins spots (representing 6 proteins) were up-regulated in the small intestinal epithelial cells of rats fed MON810, one of which was a stress-related protein (stress-induced phosphoprotein 1; 3.1 fold). In vitro effects of MON810 and its near isogenic line on the proteome of the epithelial cell lines were negligible, with only 4 protein spots (5 stress-related protein) being up-regulated in the small intestinal primary epithelial cells (IE cells) when exposed to Bt maize extracts and 2 protein spots (1 stress-related protein) being up-regulated when exposed to non-Bt maize extracts. There were no differentially expressed spots between the HCT116 cell lines. The findings from the in vivo and in vitro studies both suggest that MON810 has negligible effects on rats at the cellular level. They also confirm the lack of mammalian toxicity when using rats as a model system

Security based partner selection in Inter-organizational workflow systems

The creation of inter-organizational workflow implies the coalition of partners' efforts and resources in order to achieve a set of common objectives and goals. However, this openness may cause a huge damage to the participating entities due to security breaches. The risk of unsuccessful collaboration should be well studied. Thus, the key for successful collaboration is to select the appropriate collaborators based on specific security criteria for each outsourced task. In this sense, several criteria have to be considered, among them: trust and reputation level, policy similarity level, security level and privacy compliance level. The proposed security based partner selection approach allows us to rank participating entities in the collaboration based on the main security criteria in order to assign each task to the suitable partner with the most appropriate and efficient way

Development Program to Estimate the Suitable of Raw Materials to Produce Cement

Raw material composition plays an essential role on the lining life of cement rotary kiln.They are obtained from hard rock quarries that represent the first step in the cement manufacturing process. That raw materials are transported to Al- Kufa cement plant then crushed and ground to very fine powder and then blended in the correct proportions.This research aims to study suitable rations of raw materials to produce cement in al Kufa cement plant in Iraq. Through a software program, suitale raw materials ratios for the clinker were estimated, then chemical and physical tests for clinker and cement according to Iraqi Standard Specification were done to recognize the effects on the properties of cement such as the ratios of major and minor oxides, Lime saturations factor (LSF), Silica Modulus (SM) Alumina Modulus (AM), compressive strength, setting time and soundness. Keywords: Portland Cement, Raw material, Cement industry, Rotary kiln and Factors Affective of clinker DOI: 10.7176/CER/11-1-0

Seepage Analysis of Earth Dam Under Drawdown Condition

Seepage analysis of earth dam is one of the major interesting points in water resource engineering. The amount of water seeping through and under an earth dam together with the distribution of the water pressure can be estimated by using the theory of flow through porous media. This theory is one of the most valuable analytical tools available to the engineer. In this research, the finite element method was used for solving the governing equation of flow within and under earth dam. The program Geo-Studio is used in this analysis via its sub-programs named SEEP/W. It is used to determine the phreatic line, amount of seepage within the dam and its foundation, the distribution of pore water pressure, the distribution of total head, and the exit gradient of homogenous earth dam. Al-Shahabi dam is taken as a case study. It is a homogenous earth dam located in Wasit, Iraq. The dam at actual design was analyzed.  When the reservoir is rapidly drawdown, pore water pressures within dam body are reduced in two ways: first way is a slower dissipation of pore water pressure due to drainage and second way is an immediate elastic effect due to the removal of the partial or total water head. During rapid drawdown, the pore water pressure at all points within the dam body decreases. Some points in the dam may be affected by negative pore water pressure during the period of water drawdown, this indicates that the water level becomes below these points. The exit gradient at the downstream of the dam almost reduces during the period of water drawdown, which means that the safety factor versus boiling rises with time. The rate of flow in the dam reduces with time; such decrease is caused by the rapid flow of water caused by emptying the reservoir in a short period

Using Branch and Bound Method to Minimize Bi-Criteria

This paper presents a branch and bound algorithm for sequencing a set of n independent jobs on a single machine to minimize sum of total late work and the number of tardy jobs, the type of the problem is NP-hard.Lower bounds were proposed and heuristic method to get an upper bound. Some special cases were proved and some dominancerules were proposed and proved, the problem solved with up to 40 jobs