Construction projects are complicated in nature and require many considerations in contractor selection. One of the complicated interactions is that between performance with the project size, and contractor financial status, and size of projects contracted. At the prequalification stage, the financial ‎requirements restrict the ‎contractors to meet minimum limits in financial criteria such as net worth, working capital and ‎annual turnover, etc. In construction projects, however, there are cases when contractors meet these requirements but show low performance in practice. The model used in the study predicts the performance by training of a neural network. The data used in the study are 72 of the most recent roadw

In this paper, an Anti-Disturbance Compensator is suggested for the stabilization of a 6-DoF quadrotor Unmanned Aerial vehicle (UAV) system, namely, the Improved Active Disturbance Rejection Control (IADRC). The proposed Control Scheme rejects the disturbances subjected to this system and eliminates the effect of the uncertainties that the quadrotor system exhibits. The complete nonlinear mathematical model of the 6-DoF quadrotor UAV system has been used to design the four ADRCs units for the attitude and altitude stabilization. Stability analysis has been demonstrated for the Linear Extended State Observer (LESO) of each IADRC unit and the overall closed-loop system using Hurwitz stability criterion. A minimization to a

This study is due to insufficient development of the issues of initial training in tennis at youthful (student) age. Objective: development of a methodological and scientific-methodological base of students' tennis with current trends in tennis. Summing up the best practices of modern tennis, we came to the conclusion that the formation of the art of reflection backhands in teaching beginner students of sports specialization to achieve future success. In modern conditions in the development of Russian tennis student opens the possibility of using new technologies and programs. Using these approaches, we have developed a training program and tested students' tennis in the pedagogical experiment, which resulted in its effectiveness.

The present paper deals with experimental investigation of the performance of air cooled split air conditioner, with evaporative water mist pre cooling to increase the cooling capacity and reduce the consumption power under hot and dry climate. This investigation considers how the performance can be enhanced by using water mist to pre-cool ambient air entering the condensers by adiabatic cooling process which depends on the ambient air wet bulb temperature; as well the condensing temperature and condensing pressure will be decreased accordingly. So the cooling capacity would be increased and consumption power would be decreased, consequently the energy ratio, EER would be improved. The performance of air cooled air conditioner with water

Permanent deformation (Rutting) of asphalt  pavements which appears in many roads in Iraq, have caused a major impact on pavement performance by reducing the useful service life of pavement and creating services hazards for highway users. The main objective of this research is investigating the effect of some contributory factors related to permanent deformation of asphalt concrete mixture. To meet the objectives of this research, available local materials are used including asphalt binder, aggregates, mineral filler and modified asphalt binder. The Superpave mix design system was adopted with varying volumetric compositions. The Superpave Gyratory Compactor was used to compact 24 asphalt concrete cylindrical specimens. To collect t

This study includes the preparation of the ferrite nanoparticles Cu_xCe_0.3-XNi_0.7Fe₂O₄ (where: x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3) using the sol-gel (auto combustion) method, and citric acid was used as a fuel for combustion. The results of the tests conducted by X-ray diffraction (XRD), emitting-field scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX), and Vibration Sample Magnetic Device (VSM) showed that the compound has a face-centered cubic structure, and the lattice constant is increased with increasing Cu ion. On the other hand, the compound has apparent porosity and spherical particles, and t

An experimental study was conducted to determine the performance of a solar electric refrigeration system. The system contained flat photovoltaic solar panel which absorbs the solar energy and convert it to electrical energy, used to run the refrigeration cycle. Two refrigeration cycles with electrical solar panel were used over a period of 12 months, the first one with classical parts known in refrigeration cycle, while the second one introduced heat exchanger which improves the coefficient of performance by saving the consumed energy. The coefficient of performance of these refrigeration cycles with compressor efficiency 85% are 2.102 and 2.57 respectively. The overall efficiency of the two systems are 18.9% and 23.13%.

    This study carry’s out the correlation and the effect of two main variables, these variables are Job Satisfaction included six sub: wages - salaries and justice and yield, working  conditions    and services, pattern of supervision and the relationship with the manger, Relationship with colleagues, the content of the work and the variety of tasks, development and  promotion  opportunities available  to  an individual,   and Organizational Performance included  two sub variables:  Efficiency, Effectiveness.  This research was conducted using a questioner as a main tool, This questioner was distributed randomly to a research community composed of

The  thermal  and  electrical  performance  of  different  designs  of  air  based  hybrid photovoltaic/thermal collectors is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The circulating air is used to cool PV panels and to collect the absorbed energy to improve their performance. Four different collectors have been designed, manufactured and instrumented namely; double PV panels without cooling (model I), single duct double pass collector (model II), double duct single pass (model III), and single duct single pass (model IV) . Each collector consists of: channel duct, glass cover, axial fan to circulate air and two PV panel in parallel connection. The temperature of the upper and

Two different polyvinyl alcohol/polyvinyl chloride (PVA/PVC) hollow fiber composite nanofiltration membranes were prepared after PVC hollow fiber membranes were coated using dip-coating method with PVA aqueous solution, which was composed of PVA, fatty alcohol polyoxyethylene ether (AEO9), and water [PVA/AEO9/water (4:0.5:95.5) wt%]. Effect of two different PVC hollow fiber immersion times in coating solution were studied. Cross-section, internal and external surfaces of the PVC hollow fibers and PVA/PVC composite nanofiltration membranes structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pure water permeation flux and solutes rejection. It was found that, the coating layer thickness on the outer surface of the 19 wt% P