Fine aggregates used for concrete works in Sulaymaniyah city frequently fail to meet the standard requirements for gradation and fineness modulus in cement concrete. This paper aims to critically evaluate gradation, fineness modulus, and clay contents of various natural sands produced and used for concrete work in the region.  Sixteen field sand samples were collected from various sites in Darbandikhan (5 samples), Qalat Dizah (5 samples), Koysinjaq (5 samples), and Piramagroon (1 sample) confirming to ASTM D75. The field samples were parted into test specimens based on ASTM C702. Then, sieve analysis was carried out on the oven-dry test specimens in compliance with ASTM C136. The test results of fine aggregates wer

This work introduces the synthesis and the characterization of N-doped TiO2 and Co3O4 thin films prepared via DC reactive magnetron sputtering technique. N-doped TiO2 thin films was deposited on indium-tin oxide (ITO) conducting substrate at different nitrogen ratios, then the Co3O4 thin film was deposited onto the N-doped TiO2 layer to synthesize a double-layer TiO2-N/Co3O4 Photoelectrochromic device. Several techniques were used to characterize the produces which are x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The Photoelectrochromic device was characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy and the results show that the double-layer N-dope

The dynamic thermomechanical properties, sealing ability, and voids formation of an experimental obturation hydroxyapatite-reinforced polyethylene (HA/PE) composite/carrier system were investigated and compared with those of a commercial system [GuttaCore (GC)]. The HA/PE system was specifically designed using a melt-extrusion process. The viscoelastic properties of HA/PE were determined using a dynamic thermomechanical analyser. Human single-rooted teeth were endodontically instrumented and obturated using HA/PE or GC systems, and then sealing ability was assessed using a fluid filtration system. In addition, micro-computed tomography (μCT) was used to quantify apparent voids within the root-canal space. The data were statistically analys

This study employs evolutionary optimization and Artificial Intelligence algorithms to determine an individual’s age using a single-faced image as the basis for the identification process. Additionally, we used the WIKI dataset, widely considered the most comprehensive collection of facial images to date, including descriptions of age and gender attributes. However, estimating age from facial images is a recent topic of study, even though much research has been undertaken on establishing chronological age from facial photographs. Retrained artificial neural networks are used for classification after applying reprocessing and optimization techniques to achieve this goal. It is possible that the difficulty of determining age could be reduce

This paper focuses on developing a self-starting numerical approach that can be used for direct integration of higher-order initial value problems of Ordinary Differential Equations. The method is derived from power series approximation with the resulting equations discretized at the selected grid and off-grid points. The method is applied in a block-by-block approach as a numerical integrator of higher-order initial value problems. The basic properties of the block method are investigated to authenticate its performance and then implemented with some tested experiments to validate the accuracy and convergence of the method.

The complexity and variety of language included in policy and academic documents make the automatic classification of research papers based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) somewhat difficult. Using both pre-trained and contextual word embeddings to increase semantic understanding, this study presents a complete deep learning pipeline combining Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architectures which aims primarily to improve the comprehensibility and accuracy of SDG text classification, thereby enabling more effective policy monitoring and research evaluation. Successful document representation via Global Vector (GloVe), Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Tra

Image compression plays an important role in reducing the size and storage of data while increasing the speed of its transmission through the Internet significantly. Image compression is an important research topic for several decades and recently, with the great successes achieved by deep learning in many areas of image processing, especially image compression, and its use is increasing Gradually in the field of image compression. The deep learning neural network has also achieved great success in the field of processing and compressing various images of different sizes. In this paper, we present a structure for image compression based on the use of a Convolutional AutoEncoder (CAE) for deep learning, inspired by the diversity of human eye

The blade pitch angle (BPA) controller is key factor to improve the power generation of wind turbine (WT). Due to the aerodynamic structural behavior of the rotor blades, wind turbine system performance is influenced by pitch angle and environmental conditions such as wind speed, which fluctuate throughout the day. Therefore, to overcome the pitch angle control (PAC) problem, high wind speed conditions, and due to type-1 and type-2 fuzzy logic limitations for handling high levels of uncertainty, the newly proposed optimal hybrid type-3 fuzzy logic controller has been applied and compared since type-3 fuzzy controllers utilize three-dimensional membership functions, unlike type-2 and type-1 fuzzy logic controllers. In this paper six differen

Asphalt binder is a thermoplastic material that conducts as an elastic solid at lower service temperatures or throughout fast loading rate. At a high temperature or slow rate of loading, asphalt binder conducts as a different liquid. The classical duplication generates a required to assess the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete at the anticipated service temperature to reduce the stress cracking, which happens at lower temperatures, fatigue, and the plastic deformation at higher temperatures (rutting). In this study, an achievement was made to assess the effect of temperature on the mechanical characteristics of asphalt concrete mixes. A total of 132 asphalt concrete samples were attended utilizing two asphalt cement grades (40-50) a