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An experimental study to increase productivity and thermal efficiency in solar collectors by optimizing them with a parabolic trough coupled to Fresnel lenses. Fresnel lenses are of great interest as an efficient sun-gathering device due to their high concentration and low heat loss. This paper aims to examine for the first time the addition of Fresnel lenses to a parabolic trough (PTC), which can be considered a promising heat-concentrating technology for solar-powered systems. The test was carried out in Iraq - the city of Diwaniyah (31.99° N, 44. 93° E). The study showed that the use of Fresnel lenses led to an increase in production efficiency. Experiments showed that the total production efficiency is (26.5% and 40.9%) for CSS with PTC and CSS with PTC with Fresnel lenses, respectively, compared with the traditional stator. and thermal efficiency (47.5%,60.1%,70.9%) for CSS, CSS with PTC, and CSS with PTC with two Fresnel lenses on PTC, respectively. This paper proposes the use of spot-type concentrating lenses in concentrated solar collectors to improve the performance of solar distillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a premier insight into renewable energy, global perspectives, challenges, development, and the environmental impact of solar power in Iraq. Every day, degrees of global sun radiation range from 2000 kWh/m2 to 2500 kWh/m2. The global demand for electricity due to environmental concerns increases the pressure to use alternative, sustainable, and hassle-free power sources. Solar power is an infinite, CO2-free energy source that may be used anywhere in the planet. Solar energy generates 1.4 ×105 TW of power on the earth's surface, as well as around 3.6×104 TW of this electricity is utilized. Global power usage decreased by 3.6 ×104 TW in 2012 to 17 TW. Photovoltaic (PV) cells are critical components for turning solar radiation into electricity. Photovoltaic technology, energy conversion efficiency, economic evaluation, electricity legislation, environmental effect, a wide range of uses, and possibilities, this study goes into great detail on s and development. This painting collects new literature (e.g. research papers, conference proceedings, reports, books) on photovoltaic technology, monetary analysis, environmental impact, and public awareness policies. Due to the fast advancement of PV technology, the assessment determined that PV is a simple approach to harvest solar energy. Finally, this work shows the projects that can be adapted to control the use of renewable electricity systems in standard electricity and in particular solar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an ANN based adaptive Auto Reclosing AR which integrated of an operation of distance measuring relay in HV Over Head Transmission Line OHTL. This work is brought to enhance stability synchronism, and reliability during the transient faults of OHTL. Thus, it leads to increase the continuity of the electric power system, especially of hydropower plants are connected to utility grid. This work are used Matlab\Simulink environment to design and simulate a single-phase auto-reclosing, which depends on the Artificial Neural Networks ANN integrated with a distance relay DR. In addition, the simulation model consists of Boolean algebra circuits, and timers are utilised to build Auto-reclosure of a circuit breaker in each phase. The ANN is here trained to recognize angle values of actual impedances (in the positive sequence only) in which it can classify which phase exactly is line to ground fault. The simulation results show the ability of this combination to distinguish among various fault types and giving multi pulses-shot of tripping and reclosing for the specific circuit breaker with a successful mechanism. In this paper, a realistic system with real parameters was represented by the important transmission line (Mosul Dam-East Mosul), which currently is only the main and alone line that connects the northern Iraq network with a national grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to test the effect of add a vermicompost, seaweed extracts, and Urea to the soil on the total number of fungi during flowering and complete maturity. Throughout the 2019-2020 fall season, an experiment was conducted on one of the farms in the Nouriya area of Iraq's Al-Diwaniyah governorate. The experiment, which followed a global trend, used three replications and a fully randomized sector design. The initial factor was the addition of vermicompost fertilizer in three stages (0, 2 and 4 tons h-1), the second factor was the addition of seaweed extract in two levels (0 and 40 kg h−1) denoted by S0 and S1, and the third factor was the addition of urea in three stages (0, 120 and 240 kg N h−1) denoted by U0, U1 and U2, respectively. In maturity of the analyzed descriptions, the tages of vermicompost varied considerably, with level V2 getting the greatest results for the quantity of fungi in the blossoming and complete maturation levels (32.61 103 and 27.40 103 CFU gm−1 dry soil, respectively). The addition of seaweed extracts S1 had a substantial effect on total fungus populations in the blossoming stage (30.66 103 CFU gm−1 dry soil), but not in the complete maturation levels. When U1 Urea was added, the amount of fungus in the blooming stage (26.62 103 CFU gm-1 dry soil) increased dramatically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity is one of the most important energy resources used for human comfort. Its generation is very expensive, so it must be carefully managed. Energy management is a key to well-used electrical grid, especially in developing countries, including Iraq, which face significant challenges such as frequent outages. The grid's main feature is good management with integration of renewable energies. Photovoltaic (PV) energy systems are widely used in variety of applications. It provides an alternative solution for energy self-sufficiency, and it is also possible to share the surplus with the grid. However, the PV system is temperature and solar radiation dependent, which is regarded as a disadvantage due to weather changes. At demand response (DR), the energy produced by the PV system may have a surplus or a shortfall of electric power resulting in either loss or no energy use or service interruptions. This problem of intermittency is overcome by hybridization. Thus, if the primary source is unable to meet the entire DR, the secondary source will take over the re-possibility of supporting. In this paper, a PV-Battery-Grid system is designed, tested and modelled by MATLAB program to integrate solar energy, bank of batteries, loads and grid. The proposed system pro-vides and manages generated energy by sharing it to loads and grid. Furthermore, the total harmonics distortion values of output inverter current, ac load current, and grid current were 2.16%, 0.18%, and 0.89% respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exponential smoothing models are used to smooth time series data and treat the impact of Trend or Seasonal in the time series. There are several models including of smoothing: Simple Exponential Smoothing, Double Smoothing and Holt-Winters smoothing. Robust statistical methods in time series models or in linear models (Regression, Experiment Design) they are a suitable to treat the problem of outlier values in data in order to obtain more reliable forecast results. In this paper, we applied the Robust Exponential smoothing method Compared with some anther exponential as :(Double smoothing, Holt-Winters Additive/Multiplicative smoothing, EST method) for estimation model parameters and forecasting are presented. and application of all these methods in Data of corona Pandemic (COVID-19) from Iraq in period (Mar. 2020 – Mar 2022), the robust exponential method is presented that applies the standard technique to preclean data from the outlier values in time series.We depended on R-packages functions as [ses(),EST, robiest(), hw(),...],it use to obtain smoothing parameters are robust. In this research we found Robust method have a good forecast performance for time series with an outlier values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constant change in the components and variables of the economic environment is one of the most important phenomena that characterize this environment at present, and these changes have made the goal of survival in the market a priority due to the prevalence of financial distress in companies. The main purpose of this paper is to test the impact and effectiveness of the model of artificial neural networks and Naive Bayes technology and to see how accurate they are and their ability to classify companies. In this paper, the information of the companies listed on the Iraq stock exchange for 2017, which represents 36 companies with high financial distress, 20 companies with medium financial distress, in addition to 43 non-distressed companies for a group of 99 companies. According to the experimental results, the model of artificial neural networks gives the highest rating accuracy of 96.97% and an error rate compared to Naive Bayes, which gave a rating accuracy of 74.74%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus diseases 2021 (COVID-19) on going situation in Iraq is characterized in this paper. The pandemic handling by the government and the difficulties of public health measures enforcement in Iraq. Estimation of the COVID-19 data set was performed. Iraq is endangered to the pandemic, like the rest of the world besides sharing borders with hotspot neighbouring country Iran. The government of Iraq launched proactive measures in an attempt to prevent the viral spread. Nevertheless, reports of new cases keep escalating leaving the public health officials racing to take more firm constriction to face the pandemic. The paper bring forth the current COVID-19 scenario in Iraq, the government measures towards the public health challenges, and the future potential health risks that may emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a powerful technique used for measuring and monitoring surface deformation due to natural hazards. It combines Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with interferometry and is used to detect small changes in surface deformation over time, regardless of weather or time of day. InSAR is extensively used to monitor and measure earthquakes, volcanoes, and land subsidence. This paper reviews the application of InSAR in earthquake monitoring and deformation analysis. The reviewed studies demonstrate the effectiveness of InSAR in detecting and monitoring ground deformation caused by earthquakes. The use of advanced remote sensing technology and data processing techniques have enabled the detection of deformation at increasingly high spatial and temporal resolutions. Additionally, the paper provides a case study of a 6.3 Mw earthquake event in 2018, discussing the fault type and displacement map generated through InSAR technology. In conclusion, InSAR is a valuable tool in natural hazard monitoring and has wide-ranging applications from structural engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premature birth (PTB) is the most common public health issue in gynecology and obstetrics. It has a variety of consequences, ranging from increased infant mortality to chronic disease and disability throughout one's life. Many PTB prediction studies have been published in recent years to improve the accuracy of PTB prediction. However, no single study has addressed the issue of premature birth using a data set from the Iraqi community. There are many research from different countries that have been collected regarding premature birth, where the pregnant woman differs from one region to another in terms of lifestyle as well as the diagnostic methods used, where in Iraq only manual methods are adopted in the diagnosis. The aim of this paper is to provide and improve the prediction accuracy of premature births using real data from Iraqi hospitals. Additionally, provide a validation of the results in terms of reliability and accuracy. The novel approach is used to identify the best maternal characteristics (those associated with PTB) from an obstetric dataset. The following classifiers (Decision Tree, Random Forest, Logistic Regression, K-Neighbor Nearest, Naive Bayes Classifier, Neural Networks, Support Vector Machine) were used in this study to classify all birth cases into term normal birth and preterm birth. As a result, the Random Forest classifier outperformed all other classifiers with a 98% percent accuracy. Its worth noting that the classifiers' performance is quantified in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, Specificity, Precision, Recall and F1 score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment of the possible reuse of asphalt concrete waste available in the city of Mosul-Iraq in road construction alone or with cement addition. Compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and California bearing ratio (CBR) tests were conducted on the Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) with silty sand soil mixture (SM) used to improve grading to meet the grading A of general specifications for roads and bridges (SCRB) of (RAP/Soil of 92/8) %. Results show that the optimum moisture content (OMC), maximum dry density (MDD), UCS of RAP, and CBR will generally increase with the addition of cement. Longer curing periods will yield a higher strength. The OMC increases from 5 to 7.4%, and MDD increases from 1.972 to 2.13 g/cm3 when using 7% cement. The UCS of RAP stabilized with (1, 3, 5, and 7) % of cement for 7days are (11.25, 43.7, 70, and 73.57) kg/cm2 respectively and the CBR increases from 34% to (190, 260, 1150, and 2120) % when using (1, 3, 5, and 7) % of cement respectively. The obtained results confirm the possibility of using asphalt concrete waste in a sub-base layer after improving grading. Also, the possibility of using it in the base layer of roads after 2% cement addition, according to SCRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to propose a decision tool that helps estimate the risk probability in the petroleum sector in Iraq, which has many benefits for identifying the most important factor. This model was developed by using the relative importance index (RII) method incorporated into fuzzy Logic. An extensive literature review was conducted, and a questionnaire was distributed to the private and government sectors to scan all possible risks in the petroleum sector. As a result, forty–eight risks in the petroleum sector were identified and categorized into four groups: operational risks, financial and administrative risks, economic and political risks, and potential risks. Also, the questionnaire results were analyzed using the relative importance index. The ranking of the groups and factors was demonstrated according to their level of effect on risk. Finally, a fuzzy assessment model was constructed and tested being appropriate to identify the probability of risk in the Iraqi petroleum sector to assess and estimate risk. Oil exploration company, one of the associations of the ministry of oil in Iraq, has been taken as a case study of this research to determine the risks and validate the model. This aim was accomplished by using the semi-quantitative risk assessment method and by introducing the concept of risk degree according to the assessment of risk and vulnerability. After summarizing the pandemic impact information on the oil projects from the Iraqi ministry of oil, a risk assessing index system was established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was conducted to identify and evaluate the relative importance of the risk factors in equipment highway project in Iraq. Usually, construction projects are affected by risk factors throughout the project life cycle, without identification and allocation categorization of these risks factors the project cannot be succeed, in this paper the open and closed questionnaire used to identify the important risk factors in equipment highway project in Iraq. The research aims to identify the factors that influence the success of equipment highway project in Iraq, to determine the correct response to the risk's factors in this study, (IBM, SPSS, V23) program was used to analyze the main group of risk factors by Mean Score Technique (MS) and ranking from top to bottom. The risk factors of tendering phase analysis by Relative Importance Index (RII) technique then ranking from top to bottom based on their values. The results of this study have conducted that the technical criteria are the most efficient criteria finally, a management criterion with all risk factors that showed in this research will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geotechnical issues, including thermal impacts, and understanding the thermo-mechanical behavior of saturated fine-grained soils are critical. Heat treatment is one of the methods used to improve the geotechnical properties of fine loess soils. This method is limited due to the high cost of the heating source. However, in Iraq, the heating source (gas), a product of oil extraction, is very cheap. This paper provides an overview of recent advancements in heating technology, including ground improvement approaches. It represents various heating techniques to treat fine soils. The previous studies indicated that high temperature significantly affects the soil composition, temperature affects the clay and water combinations, and flocculation or dispersion may occur depending on the type of ion exchange and clay mineral. At temperatures above dehydration, clays lose water adsorption and hydration as the temperature rises over the point where de-hydroxylation begins. Thermal gradients affect liquid and plastic limitations as a function of alterations in viscosity due to thermal treatment. Heating the fine soil increases the bearing capacity and decreases the settlement close to the distance from heating sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design of geotechnical structures requires an investigation of the soil properties which considers a challenge because of the spatial variability of soil properties and also because the data of the in-situ tests are often limited in number. In this paper, Kriging interpolation method was used for predicting Cone Penetration Test (CPT) data at boreholes locations in the study site located in Nasiriyah city, Iraq. The predictions were based on the data of four nearby CPT points which were performed at different locations on the site. To examine the reliability of Kriging method, the results were utilized for soil classification at the boreholes using Robertson chart 2010 and compared with the soil classification results of the laboratory test and it was found that the Kriging method gave good estimations. Hence, Kriging method can be considered a suitable method to estimate the soil properties at untested locations for geotechnical engineering practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Iraq, Babil Stream is used for irrigation and as a source for water supply systems along its length extending from its head regulator at Shatt Al Hillah River for about 36 km. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the current and modified conditions of the flow along this Stream by implementing a Babil Stream steady 1D, Utilizing HEC-RAS Version 5.0.7 Software. The results showed that the sum of the provided discharge of irrigation outlets and water treatment stations equals 16.74 m3/s which is higher than the current capacity of the Babil Stream of 10.5 m3/s. The Babil Stream can accommodate the design discharge of 10.5 m3/s and the discharge that meets the actual water demand of 16.74 m3/s. Moreover, to reduce the large number of outlets along the Stream when preparing the Stream of the HEC-RAS model, the outlets at each 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 km. When combining the outlets as a single outlet at each 2.5 km along the Stream, the water levels are close to that when using the actual outlet's locations. The number of outlets can be reduced from 181 outlets to just 14 outlets. Sensitivity analysis to Manning n for Babil Stream showed the water level at the head regulator increased by just 0.06 m and 0.07 m when applying the discharges of 10.5 m3/s and 16.74 m3/s, respectively. This increase does not significantly affect the Stream's capacity, and the used value of 0.03 represents the mean of these values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shortages of water resources and climate change have direct effects on the marshes area in Iraq, which is the most abundant ecological diverse communities. In this paper, a satellite-based indices model and, the digital elevation model (DEM) of the east part of Al-Hammar Marsh were used to investigate the degradation of the land cover of this marsh for the spring, as a wet period, and summer, as a dry period for the period 2013-2021. The NDVI and MNDWI spectral indices and their predefining threshold criteria were adopted to develop the land cover classification model. To perform the search, the Landsat 8 (OLI) satellite images, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and Digital Elevation Models (DEM)) and weather data were used to perform this investigation. The results showed that the marsh is facing degradation in the vegetation cover with a general decreasing trend of 6% and, 3% in the spring and summer seasons respectively. Also, there is no presence of high density vegetation cover for all study period. The maximum and minimum surface water area was 91% and 22% in 2019 and 2015 respectively. In addition, there is no increase in average rainfall while the average temperature with a general increase of 3% during the study period. Fuerthermore, the water that supplied to the marsh is not sufficient for the immersion process or restoration of vegetation cover, as the water settles in the low areas of the marsh, while the high areas remain dry most of the study periods and, the areas with medium elevation in which the vegetation cover fluctuates between the two types, medium and low density vegetation cover, depending on the increase or decrease in water that supplied to the marsh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al-Dbbouni Water Conveyance Project (DWCP), in the Wasit Governorate, Iraq, aims to convey a discharge of 1.35 m3/sec through a pipeline of 17.5 km length. In such projects, pumps shutdown may occur due to different reasons. Therefore, transient state analysis for the potential water hammer is essential to design a safe water conveyance system. This paper aims to analysis the potential cases of water hammer occurrence and specify the proper mitigation method. According to the characteristics of water network elements and potential failure cases, the considered cases were the normal operation, pumps sudden shutdown and examine different mitigation methods and selecting the best solution of water hammer risk. The implemented analysis, by using the Bentley HAMMER V8i software, showed that the computed maximum (987 kPa) and minimum (125 kPa) pressure in the conveyance system is less than the maximum allowable pressure of the pipes (1500 kPa). Therefore, the conveyance system is safe and satisfies the normal operation conditions. However, for the case of pumps sudden shutdown, the transient analysis indicated moderate water hammer in the pipe system of highly fluctuation in pressure from a minimum of -99 kPa after 64 sec of shutdown to a maximum of 1288 after 154 sec. Thus, spatiotemporal analysis of water hammer using different mitigation methods showed that, in the DWCP, using circular simple hydropneumatic tank is the best solution for the water hammer risk. However, there is no typical mitigation method and/or devices can be used for different water conveyance systems, where each case should individually analyzed to specify the suitable solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of slope on the settlement of a single pile subjected to seismic loads in the soil layer. The finite element program (Plaxis 3D 2022) was used to represent the behavior of the piles located in slope-layered soils in Iraq. The results showed a remarkable fluctuation between the earthquakes, where the four earthquakes (Halabjah, El Centrand, Kobe, and Tohokuo) showed different settlement resultss, The highest values were recorded by a Tohokuo earthquake (A=2.72g). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most famous type of swelling soil is montmorillonite. The main source of swollen soil formation is the dissolution of aluminum silicate minerals. The Wasit Governorate in Iraq was chosen as a study area. It was considered clay soil because the proportion of clay in it was 36%. The size of this soil increases when it absorbs water because it contains active minerals that have a strong desire to absorb water. This paper evaluates the use of PVC waste to eliminate undesirable properties of the swelling soil and create new useful soil. PVC is used to modify engineering properties. PVC is one of the most famous types of polymers, the most important, and the most widely used. In the present study, three percentages of PVC were used, which are 5, 10, and 15%. Liquid limit, plastic limit, compaction characteristics, swell, and CBR tests have been conducted on the prepared and modified soils. 15% of PVC was the best percentage due to the decrease in the liquid limit from 66% to 33%, the plastic limit from 34% to 22%, and the increase in the dry density of the soil from 1.48 to 1.74 g/cm3. While 10% PVC was the best percentage for CBR, the CBR for swollen soil was 2%, and at 10% PVC, it became 4.5%. These results were obtained after placing the samples in water for 94 hours, proving that PVC can be considered a successful material for improving soil properties. The best proportion of PVC based on the best CBR test result was 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban morphology has been the center of interest of numerous studies for several decades. The objectives of these studies vary from the simple understanding of the urban form to more elaborate endeavors aiming to create an analytical model that can be tested against sociological, economic, and/or demographic aspects of urban settlements. Some recent approaches integrate the analysis of urban morphology into the generative design process. Yet, a simple comprehensive analytical model that can be exploited readily in an urban generative methodology is missing. This paper presents part of a suggested method for analyzing the traditional (organic) urban fabric within a study aiming to arrive at a simplified generic model of the traditional urban form. That aimed generic model would be a starting point in a generative design process that simulates the morphological characteristics of the urban tissue under study. The hypothesis behind this work is that the study of local morphological factors – the typology of road nodes – can lead to an understanding of the global morphology of the urban tissue. The proposed analytical method includes two main axes. The first is to study the typology of road nodes within the traditional fabric. The second axis concerns how these nodes relate to each other to form the urban fabric. This paper focuses on the first axis related to the study of the typology of road nodes within the urban fabric. The typological classification of nodes in the urban fabric is simply based on the number of connected roads and the continuity or discontinuity of these roads through the node. The question of continuity is treated using the (Visual Step) concept. Coupled with a global analysis of the relation among the nodes, and based on the idea of (Urban Layering), a simple but informative generic model for the morphology of the urban tissue can be generated. The selected context for the case study is the Old City of Mosul in Iraq, which is now listed on the tentative list of the UNESCO world heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal drinking water supplies are under tremendous pressure worldwide, and one way to mitigate the problems is to reuse wastewater in various places, including reuse of greywater. In this paper, the calculation of the amount of gray water from production, demand, and water supply in government buildings was studied based on the British code for non-potable and reusable purposes WC Flushing and according to the characteristics of the building in terms of installation units, several employees and working hours. The Department of Public Works and Maintenance in the Ministry of Construction, Housing, and Municipalities in Baghdad - Iraq has been selected as a study area because the site of the building is located in an area. Many government departments are affiliated with the same ministry, which leads to an increase in the amount of greywater on the sewage network. This paper aimed to calculate the amount of building gray water required for treatment, which can be predicted before treatment. The amount of greywater production, which is exiting from the hand basin and reused for females and males, is 4.8 and 3.2 L/d/employee, respectively. The amount of greywater demand from Wc flushing for females and males is 12 and 6 L/d/employee, respectively, as it was found that females use more than males because of the frequency-time. This study showed that there is potential to reduce the total demand for drinking water by saving 44% by considering the reuse of greywater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the emerging coronavirus pandemic spreads worldwide, countries continue to find new ways to combat and control the spread of "Covid-19." As part of the virus-fighting efforts, information on diagnostic procedures, infection and symptoms, and the most recent therapy and vaccine research have been updated. The main objective of this paper is to reduce the enormous load on the healthcare system by providing the best way to diagnose patients and predict the infection of COV-19 effectively. As a result of the scientific development in computers and their applications, this science has treated many medical problems. However, clinical trials and human skills are still required despite the undeniable contributions of artificial intelligence (AI) and data research responsible for fighting the pandemic. They are a global and open-source tool capable of assisting in this health emergency. However, due to the severity of the threat of this virus to global health and its rapid development, these solutions remain insufficient to combat it. This research paper uses data mining based on algorithms of AI and machine learning (ML) to detect and diagnose COVID-19 infection based on clinical diagnostic tests prepared previously in the Iraqi Ministry of Health. The model was provided with a dataset of the COVID-19 virus using the Python programming language. To create the model where the model predicts whether this person is infected or not infected with the virus, and if it is proven that he is in the danger zone (reaching death), can he bypass the virus and be cured. The current study results showed that the model was developed using the Random Forest Classifier algorithm more efficiently to predict infection with the Coronavirus. This represents the best model developed among other models that used various algorithms, such as Gaussian Naive Bayes, k-nearest neighbors, Support vector machine, Logistic Regression, Random Forest, Gradient boosting, Multi-layer Perceptron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper has been achieved to desalinate the brackish groundwater for several districts located in Baghdad the capital of Iraq which are Amiriya, Shurta 5 ,and New Baghdad by using reverse osmosis (RO) Unit. ULP 1812-50 RO type has been used for desalination in this paper. The system has accomplished the percentage of water recovery that ranged between (18.18 - 33.33)% and the percentage of salt rejection that ranged between (97.07 - 99.29)%. As well as the high efficiencies of removal for the physio-chemical parameters of the raw groundwater which are Electrical conductivity, EC (95-99)%, Turbidity(100)%, Total Hardness (100)%, Ca (95-100)%, Mg (84-93)%, Cl (70-96)%, SO4 (85-100)% and NO3 (73-93)%. These results have showed us that the RO technique is suitable to produce freshwater from brackish water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crime was the number one problem in terms of the highest priority concerned with both the individual, society, and government. With the increasing growth in crime rates all over the world, an urgent need to analyze crime data to reduce it, it has become necessary to create a database of crimes and criminals and develop a good tool to analyze crime and identify crime patterns quickly and efficiently. Data mining techniques work on analyzing data from different sources and changing it into an organized structure for additional use. The major aim of this paper is to find out certain prevalent patterns in the actual data of the Criminal Statistics Directorate / Police Affairs Agency / Iraqi Ministry of Interior for the period from 2010 to 2020 The basic stages to create a system include raw data processing, data visualization, and models building. using the Random Forest algorithm and the Gradient Boosting algorithm to classify governorates according to crimes occurred. The Random Forest classifier gave accuracy 82.2% better than the Gradient Boosting algorithm that gave accuracy 71.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have noted economic expansion and advancement in the construction industry, and the key prerequisite to realizing its current potential is the construction of taller and deeper structures. On the other hand, the development of millions of tons of construction waste per year is an issue that is growing at a similar rate. This volume of construction trash contributes to numerous environmental issues around the world. The tremendous rise of Iraq's building industry during the last few decades has been witnessed. This rapid growth is resulting in a massive amount of construction and demolition debris. This paper proposes a theoretical method for calculating the trash generation rate of building and demolition projects using accessible data, and it is offered as a less complex and more generally applicable alternative to hand sorting and weighing debris on site. In a case study in Iraq, the method is used for ten projects. The trash generation rate was determined in this study, with a waste generation rate of 26.91546 (t 100 m-2) for standard construction methods and (t 100 m-2). Although it is difficult to predict the exact amount of construction and demolition waste generated in the future, the results show that the amount of waste generated in the year 2032 will be 16795179 (ton/year), indicating the need to develop a prior plan to properly manage construction and demolition waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For almost half a century, Iraq was ravaged by wars and the ongoing political instability where Iraq was connected to the military coups, neighborhood war, and clashes that generated violent conflicts. The number of orphans produced is incalculable. More than 5% of the world's orphans became orphans in Iraq. Orphans from the most neglected and ignored community in society. Because of the orphan's material and emotional deprivation, caring for orphans should be given higher attention. The purpose of this paper is to create and implement a computerized online registration system that is controlled electronically, It is used to acquire, process, manipulate, organize, and provide timely, accurate, and regular orphan data, with the goal of include as many orphans of various categories as possible, who are typically unregistered. The system model was created using the use case diagram, sequence diagram, an entity-relationship diagram. This system was established in an attempt to include, register, and reach as many orphans as possible, based on the notion that information technology has become crucial for promoting effective jobs. The developed database not only considers the sequence of the tasks performed but also the relationships among the control objects. Paperwork administration will be eliminated, record handling will be minimized, data synchronization, as the orphans' data can be recorded regularly and accurately, through which, material and humanitarian assistance can be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deal with the improvement of cooling load in office buildings in Semi-Arid Climates. Generally, the building in North Iraq consumes a lot of energy to satisfy cooling need due to the climate in northern Iraq is a hot atmosphere, as well as lack of sufficient construction techniques, materials, and operations without providing satisfactory comfort and health levels for the occupants, that lead to using a mechanical device (split unit) to achieve thermal comfort. Therefore, this paper aims to test some applying passive cooling strategies to reduce energy consumption and improve thermal performance in office buildings. Design builder and Energy plus are used to present the dynamic role of the simulation tool in architecture. This study proposed a conventional office to be baseline module for simulation and selected one room from each orientation to simulate the current situation and then with various passive cooing variables to improve the office space cooling load. The study concluded that Window shading by the overhang, low solar transmittance, and decreasing window-to-wall ratio scored the best results for minimizing cooling loads by 17% -40% compared to the base case. The primary objective, which has been achieved through this article, emphasizes the importance of using Building Performance Simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the application of horizontal drilling in an oilfield of Kurdistan region of Iraq. The most important developments in Petroleum industry were through drilling technology by producing more horizontal wells in the worlds since eighties. Horizontal drilling is considered as a cost-effective method for developing reserves because of continues breakthrough of hardware equipment in oil fields. The technology of Horizontal wells remains to be a remarkable enthusiasm of oil industry since they can give an attractive way to enhancing both production rate and oil recovery factor. The practice of drilling a horizontal oil well in Kurdistan region of Iraq will be highlighted in this paper. In the previous few years horizontal drilling in this region has given an exciting experience for petroleum engineers. A horizontal well will be drilled in the oil fields of Taq Taq and one of the important applications of this well is to recover production rate in thin/tight reservoir and saving in total growth cost. The aim of this paper is to show the structure and parts of horizontal well. Well plan viewpoints incorporate choice of bit and casing sizes, casing setting depths and penetrating mud density, casing, and hydraulics, technique for boring and well profile. An Iraqi oil field (Taq Taq field) is selected for designing horizontal well to increase the productivity and long rich position. Short to Medium radius horizontal well profile is suggested for the developing the field. This paper employs instructions learned and results obtained while applying a rotary drilling of an offset nearby well with liner system on conventional horizontal rig, during the designing and drilling operation arrangement. The main goal of this work is to show the impact of horizontal drilling application on the performance improvement of that oil field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technology of Cloud computing is considered as a hugely advantageous application particularly for higher education institutions (HEIs) taking into consideration its privileges like longstanding expenses saving, smooth accessibility to data at any moment and efficiently. The aim of the present study is to describe the significant factors which affect the adopting cloud computing by higher educational institutions (HEIs) in Iraq. This research paper follows quantitative research method. The researcher uses a questionnaire of 160 participants from the administrative level as well as the staff members who are responsible for computer and IT specialization in Mosul University in Iraq. In this paper the model of technology- organization-environment (TOE) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) are utilized to investigate the significant factors that influencing the adoption of cloud computing.As a result it has been found that the factors of relative advantage, security concerns, top management support, IT experience, external support, and facilitating condition carry positive effects in the adopting cloud computing by HEIs in Iraq.Meanwhile, competitive pressure are not significant factors the adoption of cloud computing by HEIs in Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technology is recently grabbing the worldwide attention due to reduce the heat required to decrease the viscosity of bitumen and increase the workability of asphalt mixtures. This technology also reduces the temperature of mixing and paving process comparing to the temperature required for the traditional hot mix asphalt, as well as increase the haul span distance. Reducing the mixing and laying temperatures leads to several benefits including: less green house gas emissions, energy savings cost, and longer construction season. Despite the promising benefits of this technology, there are some concerns regarding the durability and long-term performance. Much research and development have been carried out around the world into warm-mix technology. These approach have the same basic goal but in differing ways. To date, HMA is commonly used in road construction in Iraq, while the use of WMA is totally new. Accordingly, there is a persistent need to study the potential application of WMA to manufacture a more eco-friendly products. However, before carrying out testing works, a desktop survey should be completed to explore the wide variety of WMA's available to attempt to narrow down the possible products of WMA that could be applicable with reference to Iraq's climate. Iraq has a hot and dry climate differs from most of the countries where this technology has been originally developed. This paper investigates the potential use of this technology in the context of Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among types of renewable energy resources, wind energy is considered the fastest developing and most competitive. Counter-rotating turbines (CD-RWT) were adopted in order to enhance the efficiency of the system and overcome the difficulty of large-scale wind turbine installation and maintenance. This paper is devoted for design and predicting the actual performance of a counter-rotating multi-rotor horizontal axis wind turbine. The wind turbine rotor is initially designed by Q blade software based on the modified blade element momentum theory and is used to assess and analyze the design and performance as well. The wind turbine blades have been manufactured for both rotors with a radius of front rotor and rear rotor of 0.61 m and 1.17 m respectively and fixed to a single 600W PMSG generator. Results showed that the power coefficient at low wind speed is very satisfactory and put within the acceptable range. The most important improvement was fixing the aerodynamic deficit at the root of back-rotor blades and therefore improving the self-starting characteristics. The constructed wind turbine start-up has been rated from 2 m/s to 4.5 m/s as the maximum speed, which is consistent with the wind characteristics of Iraq. The coefficient of performance (cp) was found 0.46,0.41 for single wind rotors and 0.50 for twin-rotors experimentally. While cp was found-for single rotors wind turbine 0.49,0.43 and for twin rotor 0.54 theoretically. A comparison between theoretical and experimental results was conducted and its revealed good closeness to the overall outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In fact, gypseous soil is one of the most common types of collapsible soil. It has the ability to resist high stress and settlement in a dry state, but it loses these properties quickly when exposed to water, causing a relatively large decrease in soil volume. It occupies more than 30% of the total surface area of Iraq. The use of piles has frequently appeared in such soils because they penetrate the collapsible soil layer to reach a harder layer or rock. This paper aims to study the influence of pile spacing on penetration resistance of displacement pile as well as their impact on soil dilatation. A pile group can be modeled by a group of four piles. Close end piles with a diameter of 1.5 mm, a cone tip angle of 60°, and a length to diameter (L/D) ratio of 20 were used. The test was carried out under an axial load in a dry state in medium-dense soil having a gypsum content of 30%. The effect of parameters, such as the pile-to-pile spacing ratio (2D (D: diameter of pile), 4D, and 6D), the penetration resistance of the pile group and soil heave has been investigated. The results showed that the last pile driven in-group had a penetration resistance of (55%, 38%, 25%) of (2D, 4D, and 6D) pile spacing, respectively, more than that for a single pile. Consequently, decreasing pile spacing and increasing pile depth and number of piles increased the penetration resistance of group piles. Additionally, the soil heave increased with decreasing pile spacing to a maximum value of (36%, 33%, and 30%) of pile diameter at (2D, 4D, and 6D) pile spacing, respectively, at a distance of 2D from the pile axis. Finally, inserting a group pile into a 2D pile diameter experiences extremely high penetration resistance, making it neither recommended nor practical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of highways' maintenance is to preserve the network of roads by retaining their performance in a way that enhances the transport needs and provides an environmentally positive contribution to the service standards. This target is performed by many activities which are presented in the state-of-the-art form to illustrate the approaches and techniques that are used for maintenance performance measurement and which maintenance techniques are optimal for evaluating maintenance strategies. The lack of structure and maintenance records have been discussed and took into consideration as a major step in performing accurate highway maintenance. This lack of records shows the gap between academic research and industrial application in maintenance policies. The paper is intended to provide multiple maintenance strategies and suggest the suitable ones that can fit highway conditions in Iraq by giving useful references for highway agency and academic research in this field. A case study including evaluating the performance of some streets and determining the priority of maintenance in one of Iraqi southern cities (Al-Shamiyah town) was presented and discussed. 10 sections of highways being studied. It is shown from the results of investigation that majority of highways lay in the range of good-to-poor condition (given 3-6) as categorised by AASHTO tables. This could result from many reasons such as poor shoulder work, improper compaction and drainage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel Time estimation and reliability measurement are important issues for improving operational efficiency and safety of traffic road networks; therefore, an effective and dependable transportation infrastructure that provides accessibility and promotes the safe and efficient movement of people and commodities is critical to a nation's or region's economy. This paper aims to compute travel time reliability for a part of (Abi Talep) urban arterial street in Baghdad city of Iraq capital starting from (Al-Shaab bridge intersection) to (Al – Nidaa intersection) is considered one of the busiest and most important links of this arterial to provide a database for estimating travel time and actual travel time for drivers and passengers using this arterial street. Buffer time index harms reliability. Link (2) from Army Canal intersection to Al-Seelaikh intersection had a buffer index of about 74.5 percent, link (4) from Qahira intersection to Al-Nidaa intersection had a 66.6 percent buffer index, but Link (1) from Al-Shaab bridge intersection to Army Canal intersection had a buffer index of about 62 percent. Finally, link (3) from the Al-Seelaikh intersection to the Qahira intersection had a 60.7 percent buffer index. During the peak period, the reliability of links (2), (4), (1), and (3), respectively, deteriorates. In terms of 95 percent percentile travel time, an extra delay detects on links (1), (2), (3), and (4), which are (299, 75, 168, and 733) sec. correspondingly. For link, a higher result for 95 percent travel time is obtained (4). The travel time index (TTI) for links 1, 2, 3, and 4 is 11.5 percent, 2.92 percent, 2.1 percent, and 6.32 percent, respectively. For links 1, 2, 3, and 4, the values of (PTI) planning time index is 18.6 %, 5.1 %, 3.3 %, and 10.5 %, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Old Najaf is considered one of Iraq's most important historical centers and faces many challenges of changes that significantly impacted its architecture and traditional urban fabrics. The city is a destination of millions of pilgrims who annually visit this core at fixed periods, conducting their periodic rituals and practices. Many of these changes, which relied on the economic agenda of the developers who often targeted central areas and traditional fabrics, have adopted modern planning practices, models, and norms. Today, as a result of that change, landmarks, rich historic facades, and traditional fabrics have been radically impacted and removed; instead, they should preserve because they reflect the culture and the in/tangible heritage of the city and individuals. This paper suggests an integration between the bottom-up and top-down urban strategies to protect to address this problem. The remaining tangible heritage, and then preserve the legacy of the existing historic center of Najaf City by enacting new planning policies, rules, regulations, and raising public awareness for their heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The basis of interaction in urban vitality is the communicating language, which is the symbolic function expressing the processes of interaction understood through the experiences of different groups with the context of their actions. Therefore, the individual's acquisition of knowledge for any group in the symbolic system is the base of the ability for urban interaction. The castle of Kirkuk city is a vital metaphorical example and has passed through many different civilizations. Thus, this has caused a problem represented by the lack of a clear impact vision of archaeological sites on the privacy of Kirkuk city. For instance, symbols and meanings that reflect the civilizational idea borrowed and reflected by the language play an essential role in imparting specific purposes to external topics in which it is the means of self and spatial social interaction in getting to know the world. To accomplish this, the relationship between symbols and meanings strengthens in this paper. As a result, the spatial and social interaction found in this study and achieved 87%, 88%, and 90% can represent indicators of civilization in Kirkuk Castle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling asphalt pavement (RAP) materials have emerged as a feasible option for road maintenance and rehabilitation. Reusing pavement materials has a number of advantages, including resource conservation, environmental preservation, and the preservation of current roadway geometrics. In Iraq, the reuse of reclaimed asphalt pavement could be economically appealing because new roadways are needed as the population grows. Furthermore, road network restoration would be a great resource to consider in the construction of highways. This paper describes RAP and RAP-virgin aggregates blends that were tested in the laboratory as road base and materials. On the following virgin/RAP aggregate blends, physical, compaction, and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were performed: 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 100 percent RAP. If the RAP material is combined with virgin aggregate, preliminary findings indicated that RAP might be expected to replace virgin aggregate in the pavement subbase construction with satisfactory outcomes. The higher virgin aggregate blends produced the best outcomes. With the exception of the 75/25 blend, which has the highest possible dry density, increasing the virgin aggregate content resulted in dry density and CBR values being greater. The RAP material has been stabilized appears to work as well as a conventional subbase material when compared to standard paving materials used in Iraqi roadways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work focuses on how permissive left-turn movements at malty types of intersections and maneuvers effect on the behavior of gap acceptance of driver. The gap length, the driver is on his way time in figuring about a gap that is acceptable, and necessary Travel time is required to resolve the conflict were all used to describe the effect of some independent variables on traffic modeling that represent a useful tool for evaluating suggested traffic-improvement alternatives before implementing them in real-world settings. To improve traffic safety, humps in the road were recently installed in Iraq prior to combining locations and parts of U-turns. Statistical analysis is a useful tool for weighing the pros and cons of various options to improve traffic situation before applying them in real locations. The previous studies showed with increasing traffic volume and speeds at highways, the time spent values increase. Gap acceptance behavior analysis of traffic facilities is primarily based on gap and lag availability and frequency. Furthermore, estimation of critical gap constitutes the first step in the process. Current Several strategies for estimating the crucial gap are discussed in this work. At different highway facilities. Most of the methods gave the mean critical gap values. Some of these methods are computationally simpler, while other can be solved only by the use of a computer. Statistical analysis aimed to use as quantify accuracy of a vital void estimated by various methods. In view point of the consistency and accuracy in prediction, this paper suggests trying statistical approaches for the assessment of major gaps and gap acceptance. According to prior literatures in face and available tools on other faces, the study seeks to establish an appropriate methodology for figuring out a model for gap accepting behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crises, by their environment, are inclined to have an undesirable influence on markets and financial activities. The emergence of COVID-19 has widely affected the global demand for crude oil. Prices continued to fall in January and February 2020, as China demand - the world main crude oil trader and Iraq main customer - ended up shutting down. This pressure increased to turn into the biggest price drop in March 2020. At that time, Iraq goes through the two crises of the Corona virus and the collapse of oil prices. Iraq's commitment to OPEC announcement to reduce its oil production was an issue, and Iraq did not only obtain a smaller amount of the crude oil it produces, as the second largest producer in OPEC, but also decided not to pump the same amount of it. This decision has a crucial impact on oil prices in Iraq using daily information of the crises. The results indicate that both COVID-19 and oil prices are inversely proportional. In addition, this crise has exhausted the Iraqi economy. Iraq was not prepared for such circumstances, logistically or morally. When reviewing oil prices before the emergence of COVID-19, it is impossible to reject the oil market recovery hypothesis. In other words, the results agree with the evidence of market performance before the crisis, and the opposite is completely true, as oil prices collapsed after the emergence of the virus at the end of 2019. The question here is whether or not we will be ready or prepared for such circumstances. This paper will summarize what Iraq has gone through concerning the oil markets, aspiring to benefit from this crisis. Although oil prices are recovering somewhat, this does not mean that the Covid-19 shock will be transient and may have long-term belongings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been recognized that Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) would be gathered at many sites along with the processes of oil/gas exploration and production. Apparatuses, for instance, separation gears, pumps, and other treating equipment may be contaminated with the NORM, and it can accrue as waste sludge, produced water, scrapings, scale, and other produced waste. This may generate a possible radiation risk to oil industry workers, the public and the environment if convinced regulations are not taken. Current guidelines and procedures for handling polluted waste are motivated by constituents attained from drilling fluid, heavy metals and aromatic hydrocarbons. This paper considers to emphasizes the threats accompanying NORM and its likely influence on the workers in the oil industry and its environmental impact. Further information about NORM would aid to update the requirement for upgrading approaches by both controllers and operators for active management and handling procedures for oil production wastes. Additionally, the support here is that oil produced wastes would no longer be picked up, moved from one location to another and released to the environment without performing suitable NORM assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock porosity represents the main property that controls the fluid distribution and hydrocarbon extraction from the reservoir rock. In this study, information from five wells was integrated with post stack seismic data acquired from a 3D seismic survey of the northern part of Rumaila Oil Field to perform seismic inversion to derive porosity. The used well log data includes gamma ray, resistivity, density, acoustic impendence (from compressional velocity and density) logs, check shot, and VSP surveys, in addition to the tops of formations (which are converted to time-based logs) after performing check shot correction and generating a synthetic seismogram. Seismic inversion analysis is an attempt to correlate seismic attributes like acoustic impedance (A.I) to rock properties (porosity). The inversion analysis is used in this paper to predict the porosity distribution. 3D seismic surveys (migrated post-stack) of the northern part of Rumaila oil field and well data used for this study. Information from five wells integrated with post-stack seismic data to perform seismic inversion through the area surveyed seismically. Four horizons picked within the seismic 3D volume that Shaw maximum crest at the northern part in the field and guide initial model for low frequency in addition to using it in the extraction of slices through converted 3D A.I. and calculated porosity data, the porosity slice guided by the picked target Shaw enhancing porosity with upward direction. The zones with low A.I. in the slices extracted through A.I. volume indicate high porosity zones. Integration of well and seismic data show a more accurate distribution of reservoir property than using well data alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most widely used solar collectors is a vacuum tube solar collector. Nanofluids were used to improve the heat transfer performance of these collectors because they are characterized by high thermal conductivity. This paper studied the effect of (ZrO2/DW) nanoparticles on the thermal performance of an evacuated solar collector. The ZrO2 nanoparticles used were 60 nm in diameter with three different volume fractions of 1,3 and 5% vol nanoparticles examined at various flow rates of 46, 67, and 93 L/min. Experiments were carried out in Baghdad city of Iraq, at a longitude of 44° 14 ′ E and latitude of 33° 33 ′ N. The results showed that the volume fraction of nanoparticles 5%vol at a flow rate of 93 L/min attain the maximum useful heat gain. The values denoted that adding more nanoparticles enhanced the thermal efficiency of the evacuated solar tube. The thermal enhancement result of ETSC efficiency at a flow rate of 93 L/min is raised to 5.69% for the nanoparticles volume fraction of 5% vol, while the enhancement rate of distilled water was 4.03% for the same flow rate. Findings dedicated that temperature difference and absorbed energy increased when nanoparticles are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arabian Gulf is regarded as a worldwide oil industry center. Iraq's oil ports are one of the major oil transportation hubs in the Arabian Gulf, and any spills might pollute the marine environment. A GNOME model, a physical model that illustrates the motions of oil spills in seawater and probable danger zones, is used to simulate the oil spill trajectory to have a better understanding of the spill's destiny. Oil spill trajectory modeling provides a prediction in advance of the direction of movement of the oil slick and the time it will take to reach the coast. The form requires the input of data on the time of the release of the spill, the duration of the release, the amount of the spill, and the speed and direction of both currents and winds. In this paper, different oil spill trajectory scenarios are simulated From Single point mooring (SPM1) in quantities of 100 and 50 barrels and Basra oil port in quantities of 100 and 50 barrels of medium crude oil In the north of the Arabian Gulf. The model's findings aid competent authorities in developing their emergency management strategies for responding to possible dangerous regions and Rapid treatment of oil spills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between weather patterns at 500 hPa geopotential height and surface low pressure is discussed in this paper. Rainfall in the mid-latitudes is heavily tied to the synoptic pattern at the upper levels. Surface low pressure is enhanced by upper-level weather patterns, resulting in heavy rainfall events. We study heavy rainfall events between 2010 and 2020, the weather patterns at the upper level that cause heavy rainfall over Iraq are (cut off low and trough), which can be observed clearly on 500 hPa maps. The decrease of the value of geopotential height compared to the location at the same latitude indicates unsettled weather over the location with a lower value of geopotential height. two case studies were conducted in 2013 where a heavy rainfall event occurred across Iraq, the weather pattern at the upper boosted low pressure at the surface which advects moist, warm air, resulting in higher instability and heavy rainfall over Iraq. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soils classification based on CPT data is depending on soil behavior in site which is very important for geotechnical engineers. Soil behavior is complicated since it related to the variation of the geological processes, therefore uncertainty in identifying soil stratigraphy is expected. In this paper, seven soil classification methods based on CPT data have been used for classifying the soil of the study site located in Nasiriyah city, south of Iraq. These methods have been presented with a description for each method. Four CPT soundings were tested and six boreholes were drilled at different locations next to CPT sounding locations at a depth (15-20) m. The results have been evaluated by comparing it with the results of (USCS) classification system after converting the results of SBT charts to USCS soil types groups. It has been found that Robertson chart 2010 and Eslami and Fellenius chart 1997 gave the best agreement with the results of the laboratory test with prediction ratios equal to (56, 88, 86 and 78) % for Robertson chart 2010 and (67, 75, 85 and 67) % for Eslami and Fellenius chart 1997 for CPT1, CPT2, CPT3, CPT4 respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dwelling as a shelter has been an excellent location from the dawn of humanity; each socio-culture and race has grown up within this shelter. A residence has always been a synthesis of living practices, environmental circumstances, and sociocultural barriers. A house is rarely built unless there is a blend of comfort, satisfaction, and belongingness to the living environment. As for safety and tranquility, privacy is one variable that influences home types. Iraqi architecture has traditionally emphasized the relationship between the buildings and their users. Cultural and religious beliefs have influenced the Iraqi user's need for a proper abode. This paper presents an investigation into the householder perception of the issues of privacy and visual penetration in house design, taking into consideration issues such as design, style, and form from both the past and the current periods and its effect on sustainability and other lifestyle aspects. An online survey (150 respondents) was conducted across Iraq to determine their opinion on the knowledge and awareness of the issues of privacy and visual penetration in house design. It is intended that the findings and suggestions of this study be included in the current state of research of the house's design. They can be used as a for architects, engineers, and researchers who are concerned about the issue of privacy in the home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an investigation into the householder perception of low-energy dwellings. Iraq has an infamous reputation of being a country with an abnormal consumption and emission of carbon dioxide. Therefore, an online survey (398 respondents) was conducted across Iraq to determine their opinion on the knowledge and awareness of sustainability and low energy dwellings. It considers the manners and the characteristics of the current dwellers in terms of energy usage and their understanding of what constitutes sustainable and low-energy dwellings. The results highlight how a lack of householder's knowledge and awareness of low-emission and sustainable energy sources and entrance restrictions have restricted the conversion of current residential stock to contemporary environmentally friendly dwellings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This recent paper is focused on the effect of multiple matric suctions (90, 50, 20, 10, 7, 2, and 0 kPa) on gypseous sand in the short-term on the deformation of the Oedometer cell specimen under net stresses of 100, 200 and 400 kPa. The specimen was prepared from disturbed samples according to a degree of compaction of 90%. This percentage of density (90%) was relied upon to compare the results with a previous study, which was conducted on the same type of soil with the same density, but without the influence of external stresses. The soil samples were represented the Al-Jameah district in Al-Najaf city, Iraq. The results illustrate an increase in the deformation within a decreasing of the matric suction (wetting) under different normal stresses. The final settlement of the specimen is related to the initial load-settlement value before wetting. The deformation rate is clear and greatest when the stress is ≥200 kPa with similar rates. Low collapse potentials are revealed due to wetting progress, and this may be attributed to the short-term process (a few hours). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The speed characteristics are country-based due to variations in demographics, driver habits, attitudes, etc. Thereby, it is necessary to study the main parameters that affect the driving attitude to choose the safe speed. This paper provides an in-depth examination of the differences between two age groups, two weather conditions, three types of vehicle licences, whether the driver using their cell phones during driving, and real speed. The radar speed gun was used to measure infield spot speed in a divided 2-way, 4-lane arterial in Baghdad city, Iraq. Currently, no comparable data set exists in Iraq. The outputs of the study provide database for safety requirements to identify the drivers' response time to avoid certain crashes. The results revealed that drivers are different in terms of speed, age, vehicle licenses, under different weather conditions. For instance: the mean speed for young drivers is higher than that of elderly drivers. The mean speed of the truck drivers is lowest by approximately 25% as compared with private-cars and taxi drivers. The mean speed under sunny weather conditions is higher than on rainy days by approximately 8.5%. The distracted driver with cellphone drives at 24% lower speed as compared to non-distracted drivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]