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The Weibull distribution is considered one of the Type-I Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution, and it plays a crucial role in modeling extreme events in various fields, such as hydrology, finance, and environmental sciences. Bayesian methods play a strong, decisive role in estimating the parameters of the GEV distribution due to their ability to incorporate prior knowledge and handle small sample sizes effectively. In this research, we compare several shrinkage Bayesian estimation methods based on the squared error and the linear exponential loss functions. They were adopted and compared by the Monte Carlo simulation method. The performance of these methods is assessed based on their accuracy and computational efficiency in estimating the scale parameter of the Weibull distribution. To evaluate their performance, we generate simulated datasets with different sample sizes and varying parameter values. A technique for pre-estimation shrinkage is suggested to enhance the precision of estimation. Simulation experiments proved that the Bayesian shrinkage estimator and shrinkage pre-estimation under the squared loss function method are better than the other methods because they give the least mean square error. Overall, our findings highlight the advantages of shrinkage Bayesian estimation methods for the proposed distribution. Researchers and practitioners in fields reliant on extreme value analysis can benefit from these findings when selecting appropriate Bayesian estimation techniques for modeling extreme events accurately and efficiently.

This research aimed to assess the effect of immersing heat-cured acrylic resin in tea tree oil solution as a long-term disinfectant. The effect of immersing heat-cured acrylic resin in tea tree oil denture cleanser 180 times on its hardness, UV absorption, water sorption, and solubility was investigated in this study. Ninety heat-cured acrylic resin specimens were prepared and divided into three sets, each consisting of 30 specimens. The specimens were placed in different solutions: distilled water, a solution containing 0.75% tea tree oil, and a solution containing 1% tea tree oil. Each group comprised 10 specimens, and each specimen was submerged for 10 min in accordance with its group. This process was repeated 180 times. After 180 times of immersion, tea tree oil solutions showed non-significant differences (P > 0.05) in surface hardness and statistically significant changes in UV absorption, water sorption, and solubility (P < 0.05). The heat-cured acrylic resin immersed 180 times showed that 0.75% tea tree oil concentration improved solubility and water absorption but not surface hardness and UV absorption. Moreover, 1% tea tree oil concentration enhanced water sorption and solubility. It also decreased UV absorption, but it did not influence hardness. Thus, a 0.75% tea tree oil disinfectant solution is intended to be a long-term denture cleanser.

Tribology is the science of studying friction, wear, and lubrication. Composite materials consist of two or more constituents (phases): the discontinuous phase represents the reinforcement and the continuous phase represents the matrix. Journal bearing is manufactured from various composite materials. This article reviews the literature on improving the tribological properties of journal bearings made of composite materials (polymer matrix composite materials and metal matrix composite materials) by dividing the previous studies into six primary sections depending on the kinds of composite materials. An efficient method was utilized to solve the problems of composite journal bearings in water lubrication such as wear resistance, reduced friction, and increased service life of journal bearings in various applications especially in ships. The impact of composite materials, which were added through thermoplastic such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyether-ether-ketone, POM, and PA66, thermoset such as epoxy, polyester, and phenolic reinforced with fibers, and thermoplastic with thermoset (PTFE/epoxy composite) to reduce wear rate and coefficient of friction, and also the addition of nanomaterials to composite journal bearing to enhance the tribological properties in various applications were examined. The last section used metal matrix composite reinforced to other metal or alloy to give the attractive mechanical properties used to improve wear resistance and friction coefficient of journal bearing. The novelty of this article lies in the comprehensive analysis of various composite materials and their effect on the tribological properties of journal bearings, providing future insights into bearing design and optimization to improve performance.

The transformation of shape-memory alloys to high-temperature shape-memory alloys can be achieved through either the addition of alloying elements or heat treatment. However, heat treatment is more effective in improving the properties of the alloys. This research paper explores the impact of annealing on the mechanical and shape memory properties of Cu–Al–Ni shape memory alloys. The alloys were first cast, homogenized, and then machined before being aged at temperatures of 250, 300, and 350°C, and finally air-cooled. The results showed an increase in transformation temperature and recovery strain, as well as shape memory effect, and a decrease in hardness. Moreover, there was an increase in yield stress and strain. In conclusion, aging was found to improve the shape memory properties and mechanical properties better than thermomechanical treatment and some alloying elements.

Defense mechanisms remain important and indispensable due to the different types of pistols and ordnance besides many guns. Hybrid composite sandwich panels are an attractive focus because of their ingrained characteristics, such as high stuffiness and high energy absorption. Hybrid composite sandwich panels are among the most important in armoring various structures. Despite the high density of these panels, they have significant qualities that qualify them to be the first selection for use in armored vehicles or body armor. Recently, there have been several types of structures, and selecting the appropriate structure as armor against the projectiles is very important. The study subjected three samples to the ballistic impact test using a 7.62 × 39 mm bullet. The first sample, S1, consists of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/epoxy, unfilled honeycomb core, Kevlar/epoxy, unfilled honeycomb core, Kevlar/epoxy, and UHMWPE/epoxy; the second sample, S2, comprises Kevlar/epoxy, unfilled honeycomb core, Kevlar/epoxy, unfilled honeycomb core, and UHMWPE/epoxy, and the third sample, S3, comprises Al2O3, Kevlar/epoxy, unfilled honeycomb core, carbon/epoxy, unfilled honeycomb core, and carbon/epoxy. ABAQUS software was used to evaluate the ballistic impact numerically, and after that, the study examined the same armor samples experimentally. The results manifested that only the armor S3 succeeded in stopping the bullet. This is attributed to the structure of the cores, which helps compress and accumulate the cells under the projectile. The speeds of the bullet after penetration (residual velocity; VR) were 748.5 and 715.3 m/s for S1 and S2 armors, respectively, where the back face signature for S3 was 1.5 mm, which is optimum and within the allowed range. The total energy absorption of these armors S1, S2, and S3 is 344.65, 539.04, and 2585.66 J. Furthermore, the highest deviation between numerical and experimental approaches is about 2.04% in the VR.

The current study focuses on utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to identify the optimal locations of production wells and types for achieving the production company’s primary objective, which is to increase oil production from the Sa’di carbonate reservoir of the Halfaya oil field in southeast Iraq, with the determination of the optimal scenario of various designs for production wells, which include vertical, horizontal, multi-horizontal, and fishbone lateral wells, for all reservoir production layers. Artificial neural network tool was used to identify the optimal locations for obtaining the highest production from the reservoir layers and the optimal well type. For layer SB1, the average daily production is 291.544 STB/D with the horizontal well, 441.82 STB/D with the multilateral well, and 1298.461 STB/D with the fishbone well type. Also, for the SB2 layer: 197.966, 336.9834, and 924.554 STB/D, and for the SB3 layer: 333.641, 546.6364, and 1187.159 STB/D for the same well type sequence. The cumulative production for each formation layer is 22.440 MMSTB from the horizontal well, 59.05 MMSTB from the multilateral well, and 84.895 MMSTB from the fishbone well types for the SB1 layer; 48.06, 70.1094, and 160.254 MMSTB for SB2; and 75.2764, 111.7325, and 213.1291 MMSTB for SB3 for the same well types.

An experimental investigation of three-dimensional steady state forced convection heat transfer through perforated rectangular fins with three different materials were carried out. The experimental procedure has been done in turbulent region with Reynolds number range of (6200 ≤ Re ≤ 18,700) and (Pr = 0.71) and constant inlet air temperature of (Tin≈17°C) with a constant power input of (20 W ≤ Q ≤ 70 W) step 10 W. The current study used a rectangular fin array with three materials (stainless steel 430, aluminum 2014-T6, yellow brass), with various perforation shapes and patterns which includes [Rectangular, Circular, and V-shape, all (Inline, staggered)]. It is found that the mean deviation of average Nusselt number taken for previously published results to the experimental result of all specimens have been found to be ∓ 8 %. A general correlation has been derived based on average Nusselt number with an error of ± 5 % which is described with the formula (Nu¯=βRe¯αδRAFPrRAF). It is concluded that the general correlation equation derived has reasonably acceptable degree of accuracy and it’s more general and considers many materials with a wide range of RAF compared with the other equations. The average error found between the general correlation and previously published result is ± 9.8 %.

Gradually, since the number of linked computer systems that use networks linked to the Internet is raised the information that is delivered through those systems becomes more vulnerable to cyber threats. This article presents proposed algorithms based on Machine Learning (ML) that ensure early detection of cyber threats that cause network breaking through the use of the Correlation Ranking Filter feature selection method. These proposed algorithms were applied to the Multi-Step Cyber-Attack Dataset (MSCAD) which consists of 66 features. The proposed strategy will apply machine learning algorithms like Adaptive Boosting-Deep Learning (AdaBoost-Deep Learning) or (ABDL), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), Bayesian Networks Model (BNM), and Random Forest (RF), the feature would be decreased to high valuable of 46 features were included with a threshold of 0.1 or higher. The accuracy would be increased when the no. of features decreased to 46 with a threshold of ≥ 0.1 with the ABDL algorithm producing an accuracy of 99.7076%. The obtained results showed that the proposed algorithm delivered a suitable accuracy of 99.6791% with the ABDL algorithm even with a higher number of features.

This study inspects the structural behavior of composite steel concrete beams connected together by Y-Rib shear connectors using recycled concrete. The main method involves using stud shear connectors with normal concrete. By comparing the structural performance of Y-Rib shear connectors with conventional stud shear connectors, the study aims to determine the benefit of using this type of connector with recycled concrete. Improved results in terms of maximum load-bearing capacity before failure and maintaining structural integrity until failure would indicate a viable solution to the sliding issue seen in traditional composite beams. Regardless of challenges in acquiring traditional shear connectors, the study also explores an alternative: 20mm diameter reinforcing bars. Although this falls outside the primary research scope, the main focus remains on the behavior of composite beams connected by Y-shaped shear connectors with recycled concrete. The investigation encompasses 18 shear connector types, divided into two groups: 9 models with normal coarse aggregate concrete (35.17 MPa) and 9 models with recycled coarse aggregate concrete (33.48 MPa) to determine the benefit of recycled aggregate concrete usage.

The phenomenon known as the Jeffrey-Hemal flow has become significantly important in diverse engineering and biological fields due to its use in the transportation of nanofluids across converging and diverging channels. The authors' current efforts are driven by the interdisciplinary development and study in this field. This research aims to examine the behavior of magnetized nanofluids as they flow through converging and diverging channels, taking into account the impact of a thermally balanced Darcy-Forchheimer permeable medium. The nanofluids are composed of copper oxide (CuO) and water. The second law of thermodynamics is used to formulate the concept of entropy generation. Channels are susceptible to the effects of Joule heating and solar radiation. The fundamental equations are converted from partial differential equations (PDEs) to ordinary differential equations (ODEs) by using suitable variables. The bvp4c scheming, an integrated MATLAB command, has been used for computational modeling. Graphical representations depict the impact of physical factors on velocity, entropy, and temperature. Furthermore, the influence of several factors on the Nusselt number is shown and analyzed. The findings demonstrate a positive correlation between temperature and greater Darcy and inertia values in converging/diverging channels, whereas the reverse trend is found in the case of divergent channels.

This study utilizes the freefall as a simple and useful tool for measuring end depth discharge EDD in triangular channels having stone beds. For this task, forty-five triangular channel models are constructed and examined all having 360 cm length and end drop fall of 20 cm. In these channel models, three channel side slopes z = 0.7, 1.0 and 1.3, five bed slopes St = 0.00, 0.0033, 0.005, 0.010 and 0.020 and three bed stone diameters ds = 5 mm, 10 mm and 15 mm are tested. The laboratory results demonstrated straight line relationships for the variation of end depth ye with critical depth yc and the variation of end depth with uniform normal depth yn for different values of z, St and ds tested in this study, while, the relation between ye/yc and bed slope St showed a quadratic expression. Moreover, the relationship for the dimensionless discharge with both channel bed slope St and the ratio of end water depth ye to bed stone diameter ds (ye/ds) has been presented by a simple empirical power equation with high determination coefficient which can be applied for subcritical and supercritical states of flow for the range of upstream Froude number Frn between 0.14 and 1.27.

This study investigates 2D bioconvection magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) flow and heat transfer of the non-Newtonian (Casson) nanofluid model. The phenomenon of Brownian motion and thermophoresis containing gyrotactic microorganisms over a nonlinear surface is demonstrated pictorially under the simultaneous impact of thermal radiation and velocity slip. Herein, the flow is electrically conducting where different cases and the effect of convergence parameters such as chemical reactions and heat generation/absorption are studied. The transformed ODEs are tackled numerically by employing the Bvp4c scheme. This method contains three-stage Lobatto IIIa collocation formula that provides continuous solutions up to fifth-order accuracy. The salient features of relevant flow parameters are illustrated through tables and graphs, and the current results are compared with the previous ones, which claim considerable agreement. The main finding reveals an increase in the thermophoresis parameter (Nt) and radiation (R) parameters, uprising the temperature profile which leads to enhancement in the thermal boundary layer. Also, the impact of the magnetic parameter (M) shows decrement in the velocity profile because there exists a Lorentz force that suppresses fluid motion. The friction factor and local Nusselt number decrease for higher values of the Casson parameter (β), whereas increment is illustrated for the suction parameter (S).

Owing to motivated applications of nanofluids in industrial and technological processes, many novel attempts have been reported by investigators in recent century. The interesting applications subject to the nanomaterials is noted in hybrid-powered engines, solar systems, thermal management, heat exchanger, energy generation, microelectronics etc. This framework presents a Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model for nonlinear convective transport of Walter-B nanofluid due to extending surface. The model is further supported with the non-uniform heat source and activation energy applications. The solutal thermal and mass flux constraints are utilized to inspect the thermal outcomes. The transformation of partial differential system to nonlinear ordinary differential system is carried out with proper conversions. The nonlinear system is analytically tackled with implementation of variational iteration method (VIM). The role of physical parameters appeared in the flow modelling are physical justified.

The Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm is the most popular algorithm to estimate the Angle of Arrival (AOA) of the received signals. The analysis of this algorithm (MUSIC) with typical array antenna element ( ) shows that there are two false direction indication in the plan aligned with the axis of the array. In this paper a suggested modification on array system is proposed by using two perpendiculars crossed dipole array antenna in spite of one array antenna. The suggested modification does not affect the AOA estimation algorithm. The simulation and results shows that the proposed solution overcomes the MUSIC problem without any effect on the performance of the system.

The main function of a power system is to supply the customer load demands as economically as possible. Risk criterion is the probability of not meeting the load. This paper presents a methodology to assess probabilistic risk criteria of Al-Qudus plant before and after expansion; as this plant consists of ten generating units presently and the Ministry Of Electricity (MOE) is intending to compact four units to it in order to improve the performance of Iraqi power system especially at Baghdad region. The assessment is calculated by a program using Matlab programming language; version 7.6. Results show that the planned risk is (0.003095) that is (35 times) less than that in the present plant risk; (0.1091); which represents respectable improvement. This probabilistic method can also be used to find the planned risk level of every plant to be compact in the Iraqi electrical network on the future; or any other power systems; and compare it with the present criterion which is very useful to determine the necessary generation capacity expansion.

Ultrasonic extraction is an inexpensive, simple and efficient alternative to conventional extraction techniques, as compared with other novel extraction techniques such as microwave-assisted extraction & supercritical fluid extraction techniques, the ultrasound apparatus is cheaper and its operation is easier. Ultrasound assisted extraction has risen rapidly in the latest decade, and for most applications it has proven to be effective compared to traditional extraction techniques. In this paper, a method of ultrasonic-assisted extraction was used to extract Inulin from tubers of Jerusalem artichoke, which have been reported to have several medicinal properties and uses. Inulin is a storage carbohydrate found in many plants especially in chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke and dahlia tuber. In this study, the effect of time, temperature, pH and solid to liquid ratio on Inulin extraction from Jerusalem artichoke tubers by using ultrasonic water bath. The highest yield of Inulin were investigated from Jerusalem artichoke tuber was (99.47%) at temperature of 70°C, pH=7, 60 min and ratio of solid to solvent was (10gm/100ml). Then, The UV detector by colorimetric method with vanillin–sulfuric acid was used for the quantification of Inulin.

Expansive soils are recognized by their swelling potential upon wetting due to the existence of some clay minerals such as montmorillonite. An effective solution was found to avoid the danger of such soils by using piles. A single pile embedded in an elasto-plastic expansive soil has been analyzed by using one of the available software which is ABAQUS to investigate the effect of applied loads on pile’s top and investigate the effect of swelling soils on load carrying capacity of the pile. The result shows that as the pile is axially loaded at its top, the axial force along the pile gradually changes from (tension) to (compression) and the pile tends to move downward. The applied load needed to initiate pile’s settlement depends on pile’s embedment depth and the depth of active zone. The ultimate carrying capacity of a single pile for no swelling conditions is greater than that of with swelling conditions.

Covid-19 impacted several sectors such as economic, political, social, sports and art activities etc. On the other hand, it influenced handwashing times, awareness, and risk levels for the hospital staff in Sulaimaniyah City. In this study, the effects of Covid-19 on awareness, risk level, and hand cleaning have been focused on by hospital staff in Sulaimaniyah City hospitals. A qualitative method using an electronic questionnaire was applied for data collection. The total number of participants was 404 hospital staff. The percentage ratio of female employees is higher than males in the health sector in the Sulaimaniyah Hospitals. Awareness by the hospital staff has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants aged more than 55 years were more at risk because of their age, and females more than 55 years had the most threat. Covid-19 impacted the increasing rate of washing hands by 38% and using materials for cleaning hands by 46% for the hospital staff in Sulaimaniyah City. The average grand total change percentage was 41%. Water consumption increased by 135% in the Sulaimaniyah Hospitals throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, fewer working hours in the hospitals led to a high-water consumption ratio among the employees in the hospitals.

Investigation of spectral (collocation or Galerkin) methods for the solution approximation of different classes of optimal control problems have had been increased in recent years. In this research work, we proposed and analyzed an applicable Legendre spectral collocation approach, based on an efficient space of fractional basis functions, to compute numerically the solution of fractional optimal control problems. We first introduce a fractional Lagrange interpolation and then approximate the unknown control and state by this new set of fractional interpolation functions. The problem is discretized in terms of shifted Legendre–Gauss collocation points and two approaches are suggested to calculate the exact fractional differentiation matrix. Also, we prove that the approximate solutions of the obtained discretized problem converge to the optimal solution of the main problem by assuming some mild conditions. The method is implemented for three numerical test problems to show the claimed efficiency and capability.

The differential protection of power transformers appears to be more difficult than any type of protection for any other part or element in a power system. Such difficulties arise from the existence of the magnetizing inrush phenomenon. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize between inrush current and the current arise from internal faults. In this paper, two approaches based on wavelet packet transform (WPT) and S-transform (ST) are applied to recognize different types of currents following in the transformer. In WPT approach, the selection of optimal mother wavelet and the optimal number of resolution is carried out using minimum description length (MDL) criteria before taking the decision for the extraction features from the WPT tree. In ST approach, the spectral energy index and the standard deviation (STD) are calculated from the S-matrix obtained by discrete S-transform. The two approaches are tested for generating a trip signal and disconnecting the transformer supply experimentally using 1KVA, 220/110V, 50Hz, ∆ / Y threephase transformer. The experimental results show that the trip signal is initiated faster in WPT approach while the transformer is disconnected from the supply after a delay of 10-15msec in the two approaches due to computer interface and the relay circuit used.

In this work, an inventive photovoltaic evaporative cooling (PV/EC) hybrid system was constructed and experimentally investigated. The PV/EC hybrid system has the prosperous advantage of producing electrical energy and cooling the PV panel besides providing cooled-humid air. Two cooling techniques were utilized: backside evaporative cooling (case #1) and combined backside evaporative cooling with a front-side water spray technique (case #2). The water spraying on the front side of the PV panel is intermittent to minimize water and power consumption depending on the PV panel temperature. In addition, two pad thicknesses of 5 cm and 10 cm were investigated at three different water flow rates of 1, 2, and 3 lpm. In Case #1, the evaporative cooling decreased the temperature of the PV panel by about 15 ℃ related to the uncooled PV panel for both pad thicknesses. While case #2 showed a more significant temperature drop for PV panel by about 27 ℃ and 29.7 ℃ for pad thicknesses of 5 cm and 10 cm, respectively. Compared to the uncooled PV panel, the cooled panel had a distinct enhancement in performance. The efficiency of the PV panel in case #1 was augmented by 5.7% with 50 mm pad thickness and 8.4% for 100 mm pad thickness. Case #2 revealed more improvement in the efficiency by 9% for 5 cm and up to 20% for 10 cm pad thickness. The PV panel electric power was augmented by 7.3% and 13.8% for 2 and 3 lpm water flow rates, respectively. Compared to the flow rate of 1 lpm. The open voltage circuit improved by 4.1% and 9.4% for cases #1 and #2, respectively. The higher air temperature drop was about 11.4 ℃ for case #2 at 10 cm pad thickness.

Seismic numerical modeling technique provide most suitable way for the simulation of wave propagation through subsurface rocks and play an essential role in seismic interpretation, seismic inversion and in evaluating and designing a seismic survey. In order to delineate subsurface more precisely, different approaches are proposed for numerical modeling in which the solutions of Biot’s poroelastic equation are given by using reflectivity, finite element and finite difference algorithms. In current study, a finite difference forward modeling method is proposed to quantify the variation in wave properties during its propagation in a poroelastic media exhibiting mesoscopic heterogeneity due to the existence of three phase fluids. The Biot’s poroelastic wave equations are resolved and a generalized finite difference technique in time domain (FDTD) is used to examine seismic responses in a poroelastic media saturated with three phase fluids. So that the ability to detect geo-fluids through forward modeling technique can be improved. The accuracy of the simulation will lay a good foundation for the follow up work and will enhance our understandings about wave propagation through multi-phase poroelastic media and will also assist in detection and discrimination between fluids of different nature. Also, the proposed approach is of great significance for imaging and prediction of subsurface structures and distribution of fluids.

This work describes the application of classical Rayleigh method (CRM), modified Rayleigh method (MRM), and ANSYS finite element method (FEM) to calculate the natural frequency of non-homogenous cantilever beam. Two-step cantilever stepped beam was investigated through six studied cases. Each step has different material properties and the same cross section area. Results showed that the combination of materials is useful in order to increase the natural frequencies and reduce the weight of the beam at the same time when the cantilever beam is fixed by the side of the stronger material. There is a good agreement between the CRM and FEM for the region with length larger than half length of beam, on the other hand, there is an excellent agreement between the MRM and FEM for the region with length smaller than half length of beam.

Natural antimicrobials are effective against both food-borne pathogens and spoilage bacteria. The current study aimed to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial activity of eight natural bioactive compounds (BACs) and one synthetic compound, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and to evaluate the effect of one selected BAC (AITC) on the safety and quality of minced chicken meat. Additionally, physicochemical (pH, color, water-holding capacity (WHC), chemical forms of myoglobin (deoxymyoglobin-DeoMb, oxymyoglobin-OxyMb, and metmyoglobin-MetMb), thiobarbituric-acid-reactive substances (TBARs)), and microbiological properties (in vitro antimicrobial activity and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)) were also evaluated through electronic-nose odor detection. Allyl-isothiocyanate (AITC), thymol, eugenol, and geraniol showed the broadest spectrum of in vitro antibacterial activity against one major meat spoilage bacterium and five pathogenic bacteria that were tested. Subsequently, AITC was selected to be applied to fresh minced chicken meat at different concentrations (at concentrations of the MIC (MIC-1), two times the MIC (MIC-2), and four times the MIC (MIC-4)). The chicken meat was then vacuum-packaged and kept for up to 14 days at 4 °C, and its quality properties were checked during storage. In this study, the addition of low concentrations of AITC (MIC-1) maintained the lightness (L*) and increased the WHC of the meat. High concentrations (MIC-2 and MIC-4) caused a significant increase in lightness (L*) and folded yellowness (b*) value, and they significantly reduced the redness (a*) and TBARS values compared to the control meat. The amounts of MetMb and DeoMb were reduced and the quantity of OxyMb was increased as a result of the addition of AITC to the chicken breast. Throughout storage, particularly at MIC-4, AITC showed the lowest numbers of aerobic mesophilic cells, as well as a reduction in Listeria monocytogenes cell numbers and a decrease in Salmonella Typhimurium counts. In addition, the meat containing MIC-4 did not exhibit growth of Pseudomonas lundensis after 10 days. During the storage period, an electronic-nose assay demonstrated a distinction in the odor buildup of AITC across the various meat groups, and meat treated with MIC-4 showed a trend that was clearly opposite to that of untreated meat. These encouraging results demonstrate the potential of AITC to improve the safety and shelf life of meat and meat products.

The government of Iraq states that despite the massive amounts invested in the power generating sector, the country has been plagued by power outages for more than three decades; One of the most common sources of the problem and significant impact on the waste of public funds in contractual processes. The Ministry of Planning issued the sectorial specialized standard bidding documents (SSBD) of Design, Supply, and Installation of the Electromechanical Works (DSIoEW), which is primarily designed to support the Ministry of Electricity (MoE) by developing economic projects to improve the contractual process that led to raisings Iraqi electricity generation field. The research evaluates the impact of applying the SSBD-DSIoEW for governmental power generation plants and investigates the challenges and obstacles of SSBD-DSIoEW applications in Iraq by conducting preliminary interviews with procurement experts and distributing 120 questionnaires to MoE's contractual staff. The results show a lack of experience in applying the evaluation and qualification criteria under SSBD-DSIoEW, and inadequate bid evaluations, resulting in an ineffective procurement system. In the study's conclusion and based on the results, the authors developed a unified bids evaluation model. They structured it in a computerized application program to support bids' evaluation committees

nowadays, image encryption is an interesting research area due to the rapid growth of communication technologies and the increasing demands for safeguarding the privacy of the transmitted images as unencrypted images are vulnerable to interception. Partial encryption is used to overcome the challenge of encryption the large size of digital images, due to the large computational overhead and long processing time needed. In this research, one level Discrete Wavelet Transform is applied to a colored image to divide the image to four sub-bands; then a texture segmentation using a Gabor filter and K-means clustering is applied to lowest frequency band. To achieve that, the texture segmentation is used as a new method for scrambling the image based on the features of another image. Finally, the scrambled segments of the image are encrypted using interchanged AES and RC4 Algorithms. Each one of the image pixels is then XORed using one of the two algorithms and the key of the other algorithm. The proposed work is evaluated using several security and performance analysis tests. The results show that the proposed work is resistant agents many kinds of attack and promising in real-time image transmission and encryption.

The present study deals with the hydraulic behavior of smooth triangular channels with free overfall in order to obtain useful relationships for the estimation of end depth discharge (EDD) in terms of brink depth (yb), channel side slopes (m) and channel bed slope (So). For this purpose, twelve triangular channel models have been built and tested having 3.6 m length and 19 cm drop at brink with different values of side slopes (m = 0.75, 1.0 and 1.25) and different channel bed slopes (So = 0.0, 0.0033, 0.0067 and 0.02). Experimental results of all models showed straight line relationships for the end depth ratio (EDR) for different values of (So) and (m) with high determination coefficients and low values of root mean square error. A quadratic equation is obtained for the variation of EDR with (So). An empirical expression is obtained for a dimensionless discharge in terms of (So) for all channel models tested for both subcritical and supercritical flow conditions with the range of Froude number in the approach channel between 0.64 and 4.15. Two methods (direct and indirect) are proposed for the estimation of EDD in which the outcome results compared quite well with the available data of previous studies.

Prunus mahaleb L., also known as white mahaleb, and native to the Kurdistan region of Iraq, has significant nutraceutical and therapeutic ingredients. The seeds are rich in conjugated fatty acids with small quantities of cyanogenic glycosides, coumarin derivatives, and flavonoids. The contents of the seeds were extracted with the Soxhlet apparatus using n-hexane and petroleum ether solvents, separately. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to recognize the chemical composition of the compounds. The radical scavenging activity was performed for the total extracts from n-hexane and petroleum ether solvents using 2,2-diphenyl-1 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and compared with quercetin as a positive control. Furthermore, molecular docking was performed for the identified compounds against five enzymes that have main roles in intracellular oxidation. Afterwards, drug-like properties and bioactivity predictions were applied for all compounds using Molinspiration software. The results showed four phthalate derivatives, six saturated fatty acids (SFAs), five monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and three polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). The n-hexane extract showed competitive antioxidant activity with quercetin and the in-silico studies suggested a notable antioxidant activity of the seed oil contents with apparent drug-likeness properties. Further studies are required to separate the extracts, then perform in vitro antioxidant activity on the compounds.

Total ankle replacement (TAR) is the replacement of a damaged arthritic ankle joint with a prosthetic implant to eliminate the source of resultant pain and swelling. Historically, however, the ankle joint has been one of the most difficult joints to analyze and replicate for successful replacement due to its complex anatomy and multiplanar motion. Ankle fusion, the standard of care for end stage ankle arthritis, has excellent functional outcomes but results in loss of motion at the joint. TAR was first attempted in the 1970s and by the early 1990s, prosthesis designs more closely mirrored the natural anatomy of the ankle and TAR was no longer considered an experimental procedure. Although the outcomes of TAR have significantly improved over this short period of time, there are still many areas that warrant further investigation including (1) optimal patient selection, (2) number of prosthesis components, (3) bearing type, (4) revision rates and causes and (5) comprehensive finite element models (FEM) of the ankle. The main goal of this paper is to present a literature review on the background and evolution of TAR, the current state of practice and prosthesis types and challenges and directions for future improvement.

During recent years, remarkable progress has been made in the development of new materials [...]

An experimental study of a tunable 60 GHz multiwavelength Brillouin erbium fiber laser is presented in this paper. Two unidirectional ring laser cavities and two pre-amplification laser cavities are used. In the first three cavities, a Brillouin gain medium is presented with a dispersion compensation fiber (DCF) spool, and a single-mode fiber (SMF) spool is used as a Brillouin gain medium in the fourth cavity. Three erbium amplifiers are utilized to supply enough gain to the generated Brillouin Stokes signal and to suppress cavity losses. For these three amplifiers, up to 450 mW (150 mW for each) of a 1480 nm pump power is used. In our proposed configuration, four sextuple Brillouin Stokes signals with a high power of 10 dBm and more than 55 dB as an optical signal-to-noise ratio are achieved. The obtained Brillouin Stokes signals can be tuned over 30 nm (1560–1590 nm) and can be easily used in dense wavelength division multiplexing in optics communication systems.

The conceptual cost estimation is a critical indicator of the future of the project\\\’s success at the initial process before submitting the project design. Pre-Design cost measuring is recognized as the very important procedure which affects the future of constructing proposed projects of roads. Pre-design cost is a preliminary cost measuring and is considered the prediction of the cost of a project during the planning and design phase. This evaluating and measure provides a great foundation for the process of financial support decisions and cost control. The aim of this study is to create pre-design cost measuring model for constructing road projects by utilizing linear regression technique. The research methodology consists of the data collected from public sectors which are the actual cost of the constructed road projects in Erbil governorate, then models have been developed by applying SPSS software, then the models summarized and selected. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) has been calculated using Excel program to calculate degree of the accuracy for the produced models. The accuracy was between -29% and +51%. As a result of the study regression models are useful and has a big advantage in predicting project cost in pre-design process and the planning stage of the project, by using either simplex computer scheme or any measuring tools.

Energy harvesting from piezoelectric materials is quite common and has been studied for the past few decades. But recently, there have been a lot of new advancements in harnessing energy via piezoelectric materials. In this regard, several studies were carried out in analytical chemistry. This paper provides a detailed review of different piezoelectric materials, their structures, their fabrication processes, and their applications in analytical chemistry. Detection of the various gases percentage in ambient air is a valuable analytical chemistry technique. Additionally, the benefits of using piezoelectric materials, i.e., crystal for gas and liquid chromatography, virus detection including COVID-19 virus detection, water determination, trace metal analysis and the ability to measure micro weights with quartz crystal with some other applications are also described in this review. Energy harvesting is incredibly important and must be implemented on a large scale. So, developing self-powering devices can resolve the problems, and piezoelectric materials are gaining interest day by day because these materials help in energy generation.

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Düzlemsel Çift Tabakalı Uzay Kafes Sistemlerde, yaygın geometrik kusurlardan biri olan başlangıç eğrilik kusurunun mevcut olması durumunda, bu kusurun sistemin yük taşıma kapasitesine etkisini incelemektir. Yapı modellerinin simülasyonu için genel amaçlı sonlu elemanlar analiz programı olan ABAQUS programı kullanılmıştır. Elemanların tasarım hesabı ise “Yük ve Dayanım Katsayıları ile Tasarım (YDKT)” ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Ayrıca bu çalışmada elemanların malzeme ve geometri bakımından doğrusal olmayan davranışları göz önünde bulundurulmuş ve elemanlardaki başlangıç eğrilik kusurlarının sola çarpık olasılık dağılımına sahip olduğu kabul edilmiştir. Düzlemsel Çift Tabakalı Uzay Kafes Sistemlerde, başlangıç eğrilik kusurlarının sistemlerin yük taşıma kapasitesine önemli ölçüde etkisinin olduğu görülmüştür. Bu etkinin kusur dağılımı ile değişkenlik gösterdiği ortaya konmuştur.

Intelligent and resilient infrastructure and smart cities make up a rapidly emerging field that is redefining the future of urban development and ways of preserving the existing infrastructure against natural hazards...

Hysteresis is a non−unique phenomenon known as a multi−valued mapping in different fields of science and engineering. Accurate identification of the hysteretic systems is a crucial step in hysteresis compensation and control. This study proposes a novel approach for simulating hysteresis with various features that combines the extreme learning machine (ELM) and least−squares support vector machine (LS−SVM). First, the hysteresis is converted into a single−valued mapping by deteriorating stop operators, a combination of stop and play hysteresis operators. Then, the converted mapping is learned by a LS−SVM model. This approach facilitates the training steps and provides more accurate results in contrast to the previous experimental studies. The proposed model is evaluated for several hystereses with various properties. These properties include rate−independent or rate−dependent, congruent or non-congruent, and symmetric or asymmetric problems. The results indicate the efficiency of the newly developed technique in terms of accuracy, computational cost, and convergence rate.

Over the last two decades, several experimental and numerical studies have been performed in order to investigate the acoustic behavior of different muffler materials. However, there is a problem in which it is necessary to perform large, important, time-consuming calculations particularly if the muffler was made from advanced materials such as composite materials. Therefore, this work focused on developing the concept of the indirect dual-chamber muffler made from a basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) laminated composite, which is a monitoring system that uses a deep learning algorithm to predict the acoustic behavior of the muffler material in order to save effort and time on muffler design optimization. Two types of deep neural networks (DNNs) architectures are developed in Python. The first DNN is called a recurrent neural network with long short-term memory blocks (RNN-LSTM), where the other is called a convolutional neural network (CNN). First, a dual-chamber laminated composite muffler (DCLCM) model is developed in MATLAB to provide the acoustic behavior datasets of mufflers such as acoustic transmission loss (TL) and the power transmission coefficient (PTC). The model training parameters are optimized by using Bayesian genetic algorithms (BGA) optimization. The acoustic results from the proposed method are compared with available experimental results in literature, thus validating the accuracy and reliability of the proposed technique. The results indicate that the present approach is efficient and significantly reduced the time and effort to select the muffler material and optimal design, where both models CNN and RNN-LSTM achieved accuracy above 90% on the test and validation dataset. This work will reinforce the mufflers’ industrials, and its design may one day be equipped with deep learning based algorithms.

The phenomenon of hysteresis in engineering systems has been with us for ages and has been attracting the attention of many investigators for a long time [...]

A restoring-force model is a versatile mathematical model that can describe the relationship between the restoring force and the deformation obtained from a large number of experiments. Over the past few decades, a large body of work on the development of restoring-force models has been reported in the literature. Under high intensity cyclic loadings or seismic excitations, reinforced concrete (RC) structures undergo a wide range of hysteretic deteriorations such as strength, stiffness and pinching degradations. These characteristic behaviors can be described by the multi-parameter Bouc-Wen-Baber-Noori (BWBN) model, which offers a wide range of applicability. This model has been applied for the response prediction and modeling restoring-force behavior in structural and mechanical engineering systems, by adjusting the distribution range of this model’s parameters. However, a major difficulty in utilizing the multi-parameter BWBN model is the parameters’ identification. In this paper, a deep neural network model is used to estimate the hysteresis parameters of the BWBN model. This model is one of the most versatile and widely used general hysteresis models that can describe the hysteretic behavior of RC columns. The experimental data of the RC columns used in this paper are collected from the database of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER). Firstly, the hysteretic loop obtained from a physical experiment is described by the BWBN model, and the parameters of the BWBN model are identified via a genetic optimization algorithm. Then a neural network is established by a backpropagation (BP) algorithm for associating the identified BWBN model parameters with physical parameters of the RC column. Finally, the regression analysis of the identified parameters is carried out to obtain the regression characteristics of the RC columns. The trained neural network model can directly identify the parameters of BWBN model based on the physical parameters of RC columns, and is effective and computationally efficient for multi-parameter BWBN model identification. The proposed approach overcomes the difficult problem of identifying the parameters of BWBN model and provides a promising approach for a wider application of this multi-parameter hysteresis model.

In Iraq, the infrastructures are developing rapidly, so it is necessary to consider the hydrology of the developed catchment before constructing any drainage facilities such as culvert to prevent traffic disruption during rain. In this study, sizing of box culvert for highways in Iraq is proposed using rational method for determination of peak runoff from small catchment (less than 3 km2). However, soil conservation service curve number (SCS-CN) was used in the estimation of peak runoff from catchment with size ranging from 3 to less than 30 km2. HY-8 computer software was used for sizing square and circular sections. The appropriate sizes for square sections in large basins are 3 m to 4 m and 2 m to 2.9 m for more than 114 m3/s and 32 m3/s, but for circular sections, diameters were 4.1m, from 3 m to 3.8 m and from 2.5 m to 2.9 m under flow rates more than 160 m3/s, 68 m3/s and 25 m3/s in sequence. However, for small basins, square sections sizes were 3m to 3.1m and 2 m to 2.7 m for flow rates more than 23 m3/s and 8 m3/s in sequence. Diameters for circular sections were 3 m to 3.2 m and 2 m to 2.9 m under flow rates 23 m3/ s and 8 m3/s in sequence.

Pisha sandstone is a special kind of soft rock in the semiarid region along the up and middle reaches of Yellow River and Loess Plateau and is severely eroded by wind, rainfall and gravity force. Pisha sandstone region is called “the most severe water loss and soil erosion in the world” and referred to as the “Earth Cancer” by local residents and experts both at home and abroad. The plan for the control of Pisha sandstone started in the 1950s. Since then a series of projects have been implemented, both engineering and vegetation measures have been developed and widely used to protect Pisha sandstone from erosion. Since seabuckthorn was introduced as a viable approach for soil erosion protection and its implementation resulted in a breakthrough to control Loess Plateau, it was considered as an important and efficient measure. Then the seabuckthorn flexible dam was proposed for coarse sediment retention and fine sediment deposition. And then a new comprehensive control model using consolidation materials combined with vegetation was proposed and promising results were achieved both in laboratory and field demonstrations. In the future, the complex erosion mechanism and ecological carrying capacity should be studied further and more efficient and practical comprehensive measures shall be developed. Moreover, monitoring systems shall be used to predict and detect the changes in the Pisha sandstone slope and structure. Keywords: Water loss and soil erosion, Land degradation, Ecological restoration, Seabuckthorn, Comprehensive measure

Nuclear technologies have the potential to play a unique role in delivering low carbon energy for a future net-zero society. However, for long-term success, nuclear technologies will need to deliver innovative solutions as proposed in iMAGINE. One of the key challenges for the envisaged highly integrated nuclear energy system is the need for a demand-driven salt clean-up system. The work described provides an insight into the interplay between a potential salt clean-up system and the reactor operation in a dynamic approach. The results provided will help to optimise the parameters for the salt clean-up process by delivering a dynamically calculated priority list, identifying the elements with great influence on reactor operation. The integrated model is used to investigate the ideal time for the initiation of the clean-up as well as the effect of different throughputs through the clean-up system on criticality as well as on the concentration of the elements in the reactor salt. Finally, a staggered approach is proposed with the idea to phase in the chemical clean-up processes step by step to keep the reactor critical. The results provide an essential step for the progress of iMAGINE as well as a basis for the interdisciplinary work required to bring iMAGINE into real operation.

Soft clays are generally characterized by low shear strength, low permeability and high compressibility. An effective method to accelerate consolidation of such soils is to use vertical drains along with vacuum preloading to encourage radial flow of water. In this research numerical modeling of prefabricated vertical drains with vacuum pressure was done to investigate the effect of using vertical drains together with vacuum pressure on the degree of saturation of fully and saturated-unsaturated soft soils. Laboratory experiments were conducted by using a specially-designed large consolidometer cell where a central drain was installed and vacuum pressure was applied. All tests were conducted with a vacuum pressure of 40 kPa applied for a period of 30 days where a degree of soil consolidation of 90% was attained. At the end of the test period fifteen samples were taken from different locations distributed along the depth and radially to measure the water content. Consolidation settlements were recorded with time for all tests. The results showed that using vacuum pressure with vertical drains is a very effective method to accelerate consolidation of soils. As the thickness of unsaturated top layer increases, the settlement of soil surface decreases. The water content decreased after 30 days of application of the vacuum pressure.

Variation order plays an important role in calculating the final cost and time. The paper aims to determine the causes of variation orders in projects performed between 2007-2014 in Erbil governorate projects. Data was collected from contract documents. Performed in the Erbil governorate projects from 2007-2014. The study seeks to identify the most significant causes of delays by assessing the common causes of delays in terms of frequency, severity and important indices of owners, consultants and contractors related to the implementation of public construction projects in Erbil Governorate. The data acquired from the questionnaire given to the engineers involved in executing of these projects and 73 forms were returned. The results showed that the ranking of overall causes of variation order from highest to lowest was "Contractor's financial difficulties", " Change of plans or scope by owner", "The required labor skill are not available", "Differing site conditions", "Owner's financial problems", "Design change originated by owner", "Errors and omissions in design", " The required equipment and tools are not available", Inadequate working drawing details", and " Change in design by the engineer or consultant". The source of "Errors and omissions in design", "Inadequate working drawing details”, and Change in design by the engineer or consultant" is consultant.

Variation orders are an on-going phenomenon in construction and industry projects worldwide, particularly in the province of Sulaimani, where the project's damage from cost and schedule overrun because of variation orders. However, the effect on project costs and time overrun of variation order has yet to be identified. This study evaluates the impact of variation orders on the cost and time off in the Sulaimani governorate. Two hundred twenty-eight projects from various construction sectors built between 2007-2012 were adopted to calculate the contract cost and schedule overruns due to variation orders. Data analysis was applied in the study were descriptive statistics. One-way ANOVA was also applied to determine whether the overrun of project cost and schedule significantly varied depending on project type, size, duration, location, and awarded years. The findings indicated that cost overruns are very common due to variation orders. 95.6% of the projects were studied being impacted, and overrun in project cost are also huge, with 16%. Time also overruns more common than cost overruns due to the variation orders. 98.7% of the projects were studied in Sulaimani were affected by time overrun with an average of 46.3% of initial duration observed. Findings also indicated that two out of five parameters measured in the analysis had a significant correlation with project cost overruns. Three out of five considered variables correlated with construction time overruns.

Nuclear fission technologies have the potential to play a significant role in the energy mix of a net-zero and sustainable society. However, to achieve the sustainability goal two significant challenges remain: efficient and sustainable fuel usage and the minimization of long-term nuclear waste. Civil nuclear molten salt systems and technologies offer the opportunity to address both, delivering future reactors at scale for efficient and effective power production and nuclear waste burnup. Potentially, both objectives could be fulfilled in one reactor system, which could significantly improve sustainability indices. The key to this innovation is demand driven development of a significantly reduced fuel cycle with enhanced proliferation resistance which offers further potential for improvement. To achieve these goals, a transformative approach for salt clean-up during molten salt reactor operation is proposed, by concentrating on the detection and removal of key neutron poisoning elements which prevent the reactor from long-term operation. To enable this highly innovative development work, a novel analysis of the evolving elementary fuel composition, their concentrations, and their criticality influence is now provided in this work. This, combined with consideration of the oxidation states of each of these elements then provides the basis for the selection of these key poisons and the development of advanced separation processes and process monitoring. This work also discusses the importance of the effective integration of physics and chemistry when systems modelling in achieving these system development goals.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state bonding technique. There are many direct and indirect factors affecting the mechanical and microstructural properties of the FSW joints. Tool offset, tilt angle, and plunge depth are determinative tool positioning in the FSW process. Investigating the effect of these factors simultaneously with other parameters such as process speeds (rotational speed and translational speed) and tool geometry leads to a poor understanding of the impact of these factors on the FSW process. Because the three mentioned parameters have the same origin, they should be studied separately from other process parameters. This paper investigates the effects of tilt angle, plunge depth, and tool offset on Ultimate Tensile Stress (UTS) of joints between AA6061-T6 and AA7075-T6. To design the experiments, optimization, and statistical analysis, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has been used. Experimental tests were carried out to find the maximum achievable UTS of the joint. The optimum values were determined based on the optimization procedure as 0.7 mm of tool offset, 2.7 degrees of tilt angle, and 0.1 mm of plunge depth. These values resulted in a UTS of 281 MPa. Compared to the UTS of base metals, the joint efficiency of the optimized welded sample was nearly 90 percent.

The conceptual cost estimation is a critical indicator of the future of the project's success at the initial process before submitting the project design. Pre-Design cost measuring is recognized as the very important procedure which affects the future of constructing proposed projects of roads. Pre-design cost is a preliminary cost measuring and is considered the prediction of the cost of a project during the planning and design phase. This evaluating and measure provides a great foundation for the process of financial support decisions and cost control. The aim of this study is to create pre-design cost measuring model for constructing road projects by utilizing linear regression technique. The research methodology consists of the data collected from public sectors which are the actual cost of the constructed road projects in Erbil governorate, then models have been developed by applying SPSS software, then the models summarized and selected. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) has been calculated using Excel program to calculate degree of the accuracy for the produced models. The accuracy was between -29% and +51%. As a result of the study regression models are useful and has a big advantage in predicting project cost in pre-design process and the planning stage of the project, by using either simplex computer scheme or any measuring tools.

Damage detection of civil and mechanical structures based on measured modal parameters using model updating schemes has received increasing attention in recent years. In this study, for uncertainty-oriented damage identification, a non-probabilistic structural damage identification (NSDI) technique based on an optimization algorithm and interval mathematics is proposed. In order to take into account the uncertainty quantification, the elastic modulus is described as unknown-but-bounded interval values and the proposed new scheme determines the upper and lower bounds of the damage index. In this method, the interval bounds can provide supports for structural health diagnosis under uncertain conditions by considering the uncertainties in the variables of optimization algorithm. The model updating scheme is subsequently used to predict the interval-bound of the Elemental Stiffness Parameter (ESP). The slime mold algorithm (SMA) is used as the main algorithm for model updating. In addition, in this study, an enhanced variant of SMA (ESMA) is developed, which removes unchanged variables after a defined number of iterations. The method is implemented on three well-known numerical examples in the domain of structural health monitoring under single damage and multi-damage scenarios with different degrees of uncertainty. The results show that the proposed NSDI methodology has reduced computation time, by at least 30%, in comparison with the probabilistic methods. Furthermore, ESMA has the capability to detect damaged elements with higher certainty and lower computation cost in comparison with the original SMA.