Optimization is essentially the art, science and mathematics of choosing the best among a given set of finite or infinite alternatives. Though currently optimization is an interdisciplinary subject cutting through the boundaries of mathematics, economics, engineering, natural sciences, and many other fields of human Endeavour it had its root in antiquity. In modern day language the problem mathematically is as follows - Among all closed curves of a given length find the one that closes maximum area. This is called the Isoperimetric problem. This problem is now mentioned in a regular fashion in any course in the Calculus of Variations. However, most problems of antiquity came from geometry and since there were no general methods to solve suc

Shallow foundations are usually used for structures with light to moderate loads where the soil underneath can carry them. In some cases, soil strength and/or other properties are not adequate and require improvement using one of the ground improvement techniques. Stone column is one of the common improvement techniques in which a column of stone is installed vertically in clayey soils. Stone columns are usually used to increase soil strength and to accelerate soil consolidation by acting as vertical drains. Many researches have been done to estimate the behavior of the improved soil. However, none of them considered the effect of stone column geometry on the behavior of the circular footing. In this research, finite ele

This paper describes a microcontroller-based function generator system. By the function generator sine wave, square wave, quasi-square wave, saw-tooth and triangular waveforms are generated over a wide frequency range according to user requirements. By utilizing processing capabilities of the microcontroller the hardware is minimized exceedingly. The output waveform shapes are digitally-controlled to achieve the required wave shape. The single chip microcomputer of waveform generation equipment offers the possibility of improvements in manufacture reliability, maintenance and servicing and increased control flexibility. The system is built and tested. The results of test were satisfactory and appreciated by test engineers at different ce

This paper deals with defining Burr-XII, and how to obtain its p.d.f., and CDF, since this distribution is one of failure distribution which is compound distribution from two failure models which are Gamma model and weibull model. Some equipment may have many important parts and the probability distributions representing which may be of different types, so found that Burr by its different compound formulas is the best model to be studied, and estimated its parameter to compute the mean time to failure rate. Here Burr-XII rather than other models is consider  because it is used to model a wide variety of phenomena including crop prices, household income, option market price distributions, risk and travel time. It has two shape-parame

This paper focuses on Load distribution factors for horizontally curved composite concrete-steel girder bridges. The finite-element analysis software“SAP2000” is used to examine the key parameters that can influence the distribution factors for horizontally curved composite steel
girders. A parametric study is conducted to study the load distribution characteristics of such bridge system due to dead loading and AASHTO truck loading using finite elements method. The key parameters considered in this study are: span-to-radius of curvature ratio, span length, number of girders, girders spacing, number of lanes, and truck loading conditions. The results have shown that the curvature is the most critical factor which plays an important

Background Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is widely used in the cancer therapy field. This type of plasma is very close to room temperature. This paper illustrates the effects of CAP on breast cancer tissues both in vivo and in vitro. Methods The mouse mammary adenocarcinoma cell line AN3 was used for the in vivo study, and the MCF7, AMJ13, AMN3, and HBL cell lines were used for the in vitro study. A floating electrode-dielectric barrier discharge (FE-DBD) system was used. The cold plasma produced by the device was tested against breast cancer cells. Results The induced cytotoxicity percentages were 61.7%, 68% and 58.07% for the MCF7, AMN3, and AMJ13 cell lines, respectively, whereas the normal breast tissue HBL cell line exhibited very li