Spatial data observed on a group of areal units is common in scientific applications. The usual hierarchical approach for modeling this kind of dataset is to introduce a spatial random effect with an autoregressive prior. However, the usual Markov chain Monte Carlo scheme for this hierarchical framework requires the spatial effects to be sampled from their full conditional posteriors one-by-one resulting in poor mixing. More importantly, it makes the model computationally inefficient for datasets with large number of units. In this article, we propose a Bayesian approach that uses the spectral structure of the adjacency to construct a low-rank expansion for modeling spatial dependence. We propose a pair of computationally efficient estimati

To obtain the approximate solution to Riccati matrix differential equations, a new variational iteration approach was ‎proposed, which is suggested to improve the accuracy and increase the convergence rate of the approximate solutons to the ‎exact solution. This technique was found to give very accurate results in a few number of iterations. In this paper, the ‎modified approaches were derived to give modified solutions of proposed and used and the convergence analysis to the exact ‎solution of the derived sequence of approximate solutions is also stated and proved. Two examples were also solved, which ‎shows the reliability and applicability of the proposed approach. ‎

This paper focused on the stone matrix asphalt (SMA) technology that was developed essentially to guard against rutting distress. For this procedure, fibers play a racy role in stabilizing and preventing the drain down problem caused by the necessity of high binder content coupled with their strengthening effect. A set of specimens with cylindrical and slab shapes were fabricated by inclusions jute, polyester, and carbon fibers. For each type, three contents of 0.25%, 0.5%, and 0.75% by weight of mixture were added by lengths of 5, 7.5, and 10 mm. The prepared mixtures were tested to gain the essential pertained parameters discriminated by the values of drain down, Marshall quotient, rut depth, and dynamic stability. It

This paper aims to find new analytical closed-forms to the  solutions of the nonhomogeneous functional differential equations of the n^th order with finite and constants delays and various initial delay conditions in terms of elementary functions using Laplace transform method. As well as, the definition of dynamical systems for ordinary differential equations is used to introduce the definition of dynamical systems for delay differential equations which contain multiple delays with a discussion of their dynamical properties: The exponential stability and strong stability

In this study the effect of fiber volume fraction of the glass fiber on the thermal conductivity of the polymer composite material was studied. Different fiber volume fraction of glass fibers were used (3%, 6%, 9%, 12%, and 15%). Specimens were made from polyester which reinforced with glass fibers .The fibers had two arrangements according to the direction of the thermal flow. In the first arrangement the fibers were parallel to the direction of the thermal flow, while the second arrangement was perpendicular; Lee's disk method was used for testing the specimens. The experimental results proved that the values of the thermal conductivity of the specimens was higher when the fibers arranged in parallel direction than that when the fibers

The High Power Amplifiers (HPAs), which are used in wireless communication, are distinctly characterized by nonlinear properties. The linearity of the HPA can be accomplished by retreating an HPA to put it in a linear region on account of power performance loss. Meanwhile the Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex signal is very rough. Therefore, it will be required a large undo to the linear action area that leads to a vital loss in power efficiency. Thereby, back-off is not a positive solution. A Simplicial Canonical Piecewise-Linear (SCPWL) model based digital predistorters are widely employed to compensating the nonlinear distortion that introduced by a HPA component in OFDM technology. In this paper, the genetic al

The immune infertility caused by anti-sperm antibodies (ASAs) represented about 10–20% of infertility among the couples. The ASAs interfere with sperm parameters such as sperm motility and sperm ability to penetrate cervical mucus, sperm-oocyte binding, and fertilization and embryo development. Objectives: The present study designed to assess semen analysis, presence of ASAs and DNA fragmentation index as well as correlation within these parameters in normzoospermic Iraqi subjects Patients, Materials, and Methods: A total number of Iraqi subjects (116) with range of age (20-51) years and their mean duration of infertility (4.70 ± 2.77). Seminal fluid for macroscopic and microscopic assessments done according to WHO 2010 criteria. The

            Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic parasite in immune-compromised persons. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in psoriasis patients is investigated. In addition, the treatment effect on psoriasis patients infected with toxoplasmosis through evaluating Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) cytokine levels is studied. Blood samples were collected from 130 individuals who involved 60 control samples and 70 samples with psoriasis. They attended Medical City Hospital in Baghdad province from October 2017 - February 2018. Then, the anti- T. gondii antibodies (IgM and IgG) and TNF- α in the sera were determined via the enzyme linked immune-sorbent assay. The highe