Flexible pavements are considered an essential element of transportation infrastructure. So, evaluations of flexible pavement performance are necessary for the proper management of transportation infrastructure. Pavement condition index (PCI) and international roughness index (IRI) are common indices applied to evaluate pavement surface conditions. However, the pavement condition surveys to calculate PCI are costly and time-consuming as compared to IRI. This article focuses on developing regression models that predict PCI from IRI. Eighty-three flexible pavement sections, with section length equal to 250 m, were selected in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq, to develop PCI-IRI relationships. In terms of the quantity and severity of eac

This paper proposes a neuro-fuzzy system to model β-glucosidase activity based on the reaction’s pH level and temperature. The developed fuzzy inference system includes two input variables (pH level and temperature) and one output (enzyme activity). The multi-input fuzzy inference system was developed in two stages: first, developing a single input-single output fuzzy inference system for each input variable (pH, temperature) separately, using the robust adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) approach. The neural network learning techniques were used to tune the membership functions based on previously published experimental data for β-glucosidase. Second, each input’s optimized membership functions from the ANF

In this research, porous silicon (PS) prepared by anodization etching on surface of single crystalline p-type Si wafer, then Gold nanoparticle (AuNPs) prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid. NPs deposited on PS layer by drop casting. The morphology of PS, AuNPs and AuNPs/PS samples were examined by AFM. The crystallization of this sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The electrical properties and sensitivity to CO2 gas were investigated to Al/AuNPs/PS/c-Si/Al, we found that AuNPs plays crucial role to enhance this properties.

Social media has become an essential educational tool nowadays. Most existing research on digital learning in EFL contexts has primarily focused on traditional classroom-based instruction and less attention has been paid to social media platforms. The present study aims to fill the gap by using social semiotics to analyze four Instagram posts: two from BBC Learning English (@bbclearningenglish) and the other two from Learn English with Emma (@englishwithemma). Instagram posts are classified as multimodal texts with participatory and representational elements. The study adopts Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2005) Social Semiotic Multimodal Framework to analyze four purposely selected posters by answering the following research questions

This work aimed to investigate the prevalence of pathogenic fungi and evaluate the antifungal activity of Trichoderma orientale FMR12486 crude extract against pathogenic fungi isolated from patients attending the National Center for Thoracic and Respiratory Diseases (having a history of tuberculosis) and consultant of Dermatology of Baghdad hospital, Iraq. A total of 80 clinical specimens were collected: 20 skin scrapings specimens and 60 sputum specimens. The results of direct examination by KOH 10% and culture showed that 11 (55%) cases from 20 skin specimens were positive for fungal infections, while in the sputum specimens, 28 (47%) cases from 60 were positive. Candida albicans represented the most common fungal infection isolat

This research presents a method of using MATLAB in analyzing a nonhomogeneous soil (Gibson-type) by
estimating the displacements and stresses under the strip footing during applied incremental loading
sequences. This paper presents a two-dimensional finite element method. In this method, the soil is divided into a number of triangle elements. A model soil (Gibson-type) with linearly increasing modulus of elasticity with depth is presented. The influences of modulus of elasticity, incremental loading, width of footing, and depth of footing are considered in this paper. The results are compared with authors' conclusions of previous studies.

The current study aimed to standardize the multi-position suicidal tendency scale MAST in the Saudi environment as well as to assess suicidal tendencies in adolescents. Moreover, the study aimed to test the psychometric characteristics of the scale among a sample of (490) high school and undergraduate students, in the adolescence who ranging in age from (16-21) years. The scale demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency in terms of validity and reliability tests. as the results showed of exploratory factor analysis to the four dimensions of suicidal tendencies loading on two factors that accommodate 74.60% of the overall variance of the scale (1) the attitude toward life,  and absorbs 43, 20% of the total variance of the scale,

In this paper, a new technique is offered for solving three types of linear integral equations of the 2^nd kind including Volterra-Fredholm integral equations (LVFIE) (as a general case), Volterra integral equations (LVIE) and Fredholm integral equations (LFIE) (as special cases). The new technique depends on approximating the solution to a polynomial of degree  and therefore reducing the problem to a linear programming problem(LPP), which will be solved to find the approximate solution of LVFIE. Moreover, quadrature methods including trapezoidal rule (TR), Simpson 1/3 rule (SR), Boole rule (BR), and Romberg integration formula (RI) are used to approximate the integrals that exist in LVFIE. Also, a comparison between those

Since more than a decade, human rights dialogue in the European Mediterranean Region has been marked by a number of tensions. Although a number of factors contribute to such disputes, the effect of human rights conditionality, which ties EU economic cooperation progression with partner countries human rights advancement, on the dialogue has not been studied. Understanding the aspects, impacts, and effects of conditionality on Euro-Med relations is crucial for furthering dialogue. Yet this variable has been almost entirely neglected in academic and policy research. The research concludes several direct and indirect impacts of conditionality on human rights dialogue using a mixed methodology approach. Direct effects are reflected in the wi