Evaluate the compressive strength of cement paste modified with high reactivity attapulgite and affected by curing temperature

This study explores the influence of partial replacement of high reactivity Attapulgite (HRA) with cement by weight and evaluate the effect of curing temperatures on the compressive strength of modified cement paste (MCP). Recently, the Iraqi clay(Attapulgite) has been processed to pozzolanic material HRA, after extracting it from the quarry the clays crushed and grind to filler then specific the suitable calcinations temperature to make this clays as a pozolznic material. The possibility of replacing the Iraqi clays with cement can be reduce the cost and the impact of cement manufacturing on environment. In this study, three percentages of high reactivity Attapulgite used as a replacement 0, 10 and 20 % by weight of cement. The samples cured in four temperatures 20, 40, 60 and 80 °C. The samples with dimension 50x50x50 mm3 were casted and tested at ages 7, and 28 days. The test result shows that the compressive strength at early ages without HRA and cured at 20 °C were higher than samples with HRA. The maximum percentage of HRA as a replacement with cement has a reduced the compressive strength of the concrete. The result at 28 days for the samples with 10% of HRA at curing temperature 40 °C shows increased in compressive strength up to 60 °C, while when the samples were cured at curing temperature 80 °C shows decreased the compressive strength

Methane and Other Hydrocarbon Gas Emissions Resulting from Flaring in Kuwait Oilfields

Non

Assessment of Depression among IBD patients in Gastroenterology and Hepatology Specialized Hospital, Medical City, Iraq using the PHQ-9

Background: The management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) must take mental health into account because it might be difficult to find the best therapies and mental health resources. Anxiety and depression are the two psychological illnesses that IBD patients experience most frequently. The growing incidence of these mental illnesses encourages mental screening of every IBD patient at the initial session. There are easy-to-use, scientifically effective screening techniques for mental health issues. As important as or even more so than a therapy modality may be psychological techniques. Objective: To assess the level of depression among IBD patients in the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Specialized Hospital, Medical City, Ministry of Health and Environment. Patients and methods: The patients were provided with the three-page Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) as a self-administrated tool to learn more about their health. When completed, the doctor scans the completed questionnaire, verifies the "yes" responses, and then applies the diagnostic algorithms, which are briefly listed at the bottom of each page. This study was conducted on 98 patients with IBD attending the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Specialized Hospital, Medical City, Baghdad during the period from January – June 2022. Results: Of the total number of cases included in the study 47 (47.9%) were females and 51 (52.1%) were males. The highest frequency was for young adults, 48 cases (49%), and the lowest was for children, 9 (9.2%). There were 43 cases with Ulcerative Colitis and 55 with Crohn's disease. According to the PHQ-9 score, 26 cases (26.5%) had mild scores and 9 (9.2%) cases had severe scores. The highest frequency of PHQ-9 scores was in the moderately severe range with 44 (44.9%). Conclusion: Mild and moderate levels of depression were the most prevalent among IBD patients across all age and sex groups, which should encourage physicians to address the mental health status of their patients and to include mental health care in the routine checkup of their patients. Received: Feb,, 2023 Accepted: Oct, 2023 Published: Jan.2024

Enhancement of Workers' Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare in Ashghal Projects

One of Ashghal's core values and top priority is the occupational health and safety of customers, employees and contractors. Ashghal prioritizes and is concerned about developing the welfare of workers on the site and in the camp. Ashghal develops welfare specifications for the projects to protect workers and be sure the specifications align with international and national requirements. The specification covers the facilities within the site, such as: number of toilets, handwashing basins, rest area/mess hall, shelter, drinking water, first aid room, transportation, clinic, etc. Ashghal develops an implementation and monitoring system to be sure welfare specifications are provided to all workers, referring to welfare specifications as contractual requirements, then linking workers' welfare as one of the monthly KPIs for the project, implementing it by the contractor, and monitoring it by the consultant. Ashghal is also working on developing specifications and requirements for workers' welfare, for example, developing and updating the specifications and requirements for their welfare on Ashghal construction sites, which will be issued soon as the "ACS.

Assessment of CO2 with Weather Factors and its Percentage for Indoor and Outdoor

In this paper, measurements of CO2 rate and its relation to temperature, humidity and wind speed were carried out at 13 different locations in Erbil city during March [ 2017 to 2018], it was found that CO2 rate is the same as global level (418ppm) for outdoor. Measurements of CO2 rates for indoor environment showed that using kerosene heaters (during winter season) caused a rapid increase of CO2 rate in a short time, which has harmful side effect on human health

Impact of Modifier Oxides on Mechanical and Radiation Shielding Properties of B2O3-SrO-TeO2-RO Glasses (Where RO = TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO)

The influence of modifier oxides (TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO) on the mechanical and radiation shielding properties of boro-tellurate glasses is investigated. Samples with a composition of B2O3-SrO-TeO2-RO (RO represents the modifier oxides) were fabricated using the melt quench method, and their physical, mechanical, and radiation attenuation parameters were reported. For this aim, Monte Carlo simulation was employed to predict the radiation attenuation parameters, while the Makishima-Mackenzie model was adopted to determine the mechanical properties. The tightly packed structure with better cross-linkage density is possessed by the Ti-containing glass (SBT-Ti) system among the titled glass batch. The higher Poisson and micro-hardness values of the SBT-Ti glass indicate its structure’s reduced free volume and better compactness. For the glass with PbO, the linear and mass attenuation coefficients are highly increased compared to those glasses doped with TiO2, ZnO, and BaO. The thinner half-value layer was reported at 0.015 MeV, taking values 0.006, 0.005, 0.004, and 0.002 for samples with TiO2, ZnO, BaO, and PbO, respectively. SBT-Pb sample (with PbO) has a thinner HVL compared to other fabricated glass samples. The fabricated glasses’ thickness (Deq) equivalent to 1 cm of lead (Pb) was reported. The results demonstrated that Deq is high at low energy and equals 11.62, 8.81, 7.61, 4.56 cm for SBT-Ti, SBT-Zn, SBT-Ba, and SBT-Pb glass samples, respectively. According to the Deq results, the fabricated glasses have a shielding capacity between 30 and 43% compared to the pure Pb at gamma-ray energy of 1.5 MeV. At high energy (8 MeV), the transmission factor values for a thickness of 1 cm of the fabricated samples reach 88.68, 87.83, 85.95, and 83.11% for glasses SBT-Ti, SBT-Zn, SBT-Ba, and SBT-Pb, respectively. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.The authors acknowledge the support of Taif University Researchers Supporting Project number (TURSP-2020/127), Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia