The duration of sunshine is one of the important indicators and one of the variables for measuring the amount of solar radiation collected in a particular area. Duration of solar brightness has been used to study atmospheric energy balance, sustainable development, ecosystem evolution and climate change. Predicting the average values of sunshine duration (SD) for Duhok city, Iraq on a daily basis using the approach of artificial neural network (ANN) is the focus of this paper. Many different ANN models with different input variables were used in the prediction processes. The daily average of the month, average temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, cloud level and atmospheric pressure were used as input parameters in order to obtain the daily average of sunshine duration (SD) as the output. The eight-year data were divided into two categories. The first category covers whole years (annually) and the second category is seasonal. To recognize and assess the influence of different input parameters on sunshine duration, six models of ANN have been evolved. The findings showed that in the annual models, the outcomes of RMSE, MAE and R for the model with input parameters (Month, Cloud Level and Average Temperature) were the best results 1.82, 1.175 and 0.89, respectively. As for the season models, the outcomes of RMSE, MAE and R for the autumn season were the best results 1.450, 1.009 and 0.94, respectively. Accordingly, the performance of the artificial neural network is considerably effective in predicting the sunshine duration.
This paper presents a computer simulation model of a thermally activated roof (TAR) to cool a room using cool water from a wet cooling tower. Modeling was achieved using a simplified 1-D resistance-capacitance thermal network (RC model) for an infinite slab. Heat transfer from the cooling pipe network was treated as 2-D heat flow. Only a limited number of nodes were required to obtain reliable results. The use of 6th order RC-thermal model produced a set of ordinary differential equations that were solved using MATLAB - R2012a. The computer program was written to cover all possible initial conditions, material properties, TAR system geometry and hourly solar radiation. The cool water supply was considered time
... Show MoreSemiconductor-based photocatalytic processes are widely applied as ecofriendly technology for degrading organic pollutants. Establishing photocatalytic heterojunctions with Z-type photocarriers transfer pathways is projected to be a superb strategy to enhance photocatalytic behavior. In this paper, novel and stable (0D/2D) heterojunctions of CoS-embedded boron-doped g-C3N4 (CoS/BCN) with a high rate of charges transfer/separation were assembled for degradation of malachite green dye (MG). The CoS/BCN photocatalyst achieves a photodegradation efficiency of 96.9 % within 1 h of LED illumination, which is 2.5 and 1.4-fold enhancement compared with bare g-C3N4 and BCN, respectively. Besides, the results of species-trapping trials exhibited that
... Show MoreBackground: Obesity and dental caries are multifactorial diseases related to poor eating habits and show a close relationship with the sociodemographic characteristics of individuals presenting these diseases. This research aimed to investigate the severity of dental caries among group of obese boys aged 12 year in relation to salivary interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) of unstimulated whole saliva in comparison with normal weighted boys of the same age. Materials and Methods: The study group included 40 obese boys, with an age of 12 year. The control group included 40 normal weighted boys of the same age. The total sample involved for nutritional status assessment using Body Mass Index specific for age and gender according t
... Show MoreThis study focused on a fundamental issue which was represented by ability of Iraqi central bank in facing the difficulty of determining the optimal ratio of liquidity in the Iraqi banks in terms of the balancing between its obligations to the depositors and borrowers, and liquidate their funds on one hand and the risks on the other hand.the search aimed for achieving the goals which represented by identifying the possibility of Iraqi banks to apply the regulations rules and instructions issued by central bank of Iraq in determining ratio of liquidity and its appropriate with Iraqi banks action to implement a reasonable profit to&
... Show MoreIt highlights the importance of research through its focus on the assessment of tax for settling accounts Mmakhr medicines and annual statement controls and its role in determining the taxable income of the real tax Mmakhr drugs and achieve tax equity through tax settling accounts. The tax authority relies annual controls laid down by the tax settling accounts for Mmakhr medicines despite their inclusion bookkeeping business No. 2 system for the year 1985 average .ually this basis formulated hypothesis (that the adoption of the tax authority on annual controls in the tax settling accounts for Mmakhr medicine does not contribute in determining income taxable real tax for this Almmakr). the resulting search for a number of conclusions and
... Show MoreBackground: Complete seal of the root canal system following its chemo-mechanical debridement plays a pivotal role for achieving successful endodontic treatment. This can be established by reducing the gaps between the core filling material and root canal wall. Aim: To assess and compare the dislocation resistance of root canals obturated with GuttaFusion® and TotalFill BC sealer versus single cone obturation technique and TotalFill BC sealer after instrumentation of the canals with WaveOne, ProTaper Next and ProTaper Universal system. Material and Method: Sixty extracted human permanent mandibular premolars were conducted in the current study. The teeth were decorated and left the root with 15mm length; the roots were divided randomly i
... Show MoreThe Vulnerable Indian Roofed Turtle Pangshura tecta (Gray, 1831) (Testudines: Geoemydidae) occurs in the Sub-Himalayan lowlands of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Little is known about its natural history, no studies have been conducted revealing its natural predators. In this study, a group of Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827 (Passeriformes: Corvidae) was observed hunting and predating on an Indian Roofed Turtle carcass in the bank of river Kuakhai, Bhubaneswar, India. The first record of this predation behaviour is reported and substantiated by photographic evidence.