Construction projects are complicated in nature and require many considerations in contractor selection. One of the complicated interactions is that between performance with the project size, and contractor financial status, and size of projects contracted. At the prequalification stage, the financial requirements restrict the contractors to meet minimum limits in financial criteria such as net worth, working capital and annual turnover, etc. In construction projects, however, there are cases when contractors meet these requirements but show low performance in practice. The model used in the study predicts the performance by training of a neural network. The data used in the study are 72 of the most recent roadwork projects in Bahrain. The results are shown in terms of the sensitivity of changing one variable on the performance of all the 72 projects. These results can reflect on the methods currently used on contractors’ assessments in the tendering stage and support decision-makers in assessing contractors and selecting the best bidders.
The present study focused mainly on the buckling behavior of composite laminated plates subjected to mechanical loads. Mechanical loads are analyzed by experimental analysis, analytical analysis (for laminates without cutouts) and numerical analysis by finite element method (for laminates with and without cutouts) for different type of loads which could be uniform or non-uniform, uniaxial or biaxial. In addition to many design parameters of the laminates such as aspect ratio, thickness ratio, and lamination angle or the parameters of the cutout such as shape, size, position, direction, and radii rounding) which are changed to studytheir effects on the buckling characteristics with various boundary conditions. Levy method of classical lam
... Show MoreThis paper is attempt to study the nonlinear second order delay multi-value problems. We want to say that the properties of such kind of problems are the same as the properties of those with out delay just more technically involved. Our results discuss several known properties, introduce some notations and definitions. We also give an approximate solution to the coined problems using the Galerkin's method.
This study proposes a mathematical approach and numerical experiment for a simple solution of cardiac blood flow to the heart's blood vessels. A mathematical model of human blood flow through arterial branches was studied and calculated using the Navier-Stokes partial differential equation with finite element analysis (FEA) approach. Furthermore, FEA is applied to the steady flow of two-dimensional viscous liquids through different geometries. The validity of the computational method is determined by comparing numerical experiments with the results of the analysis of different functions. Numerical analysis showed that the highest blood flow velocity of 1.22 cm/s occurred in the center of the vessel which tends to be laminar and is influe
... Show MoreAfamin, which is a human plasma glycoprotein, a putative multifunctional transporter of hydrophobic molecules and a marker for metabolic syndrome. Afamin concentration have been proposed to have a significant role as a predictor of metabolic disorders. Since NAFLD is associated with metabolic risk factors, e.g., dyslipidemia, insulin resistance and visceral obesity, it is considered as the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study is to determine Afamin levels in hypothyroid patients with and without fatty liver disease and compare the results with controls. Also to study the relationship of Afamin level with the Anthropometric and Clinical Features (Age, Gender, BMI and Duration of Hypothyroidism) , Serum
... Show MoreThe service system has become a necessity of life in modern cities to be the most basic necessities of modern humans, they constitute a major base, which is based on the sustainability of life in the city and a standard measured through the degree of well-being and progress of civilized peoples and their interaction with the surrounding environment, making the services sector as a need not be an option, whenever the cities widened in population and space whenever provision of services and upgrading the quality and quantity more pressing, which made the subject of the services takes the biggest area of the trends and thinking of urban planners and those who in charge of drawing the cities policies. Consideri
... Show MoreFor businesses that provide delivery services, the efficiency of the delivery process in terms of punctuality is very important. In addition to increasing customer trust, efficient route management, and selection are required to reduce vehicle fuel costs and expedite delivery. Some small and medium businesses still use conventional methods to manage delivery routes. Decisions to manage delivery schedules and routes do not use any specific methods to expedite the delivery settlement process. This process is inefficient, takes a long time, increases costs and is prone to errors. Therefore, the Dijkstra algorithm has been used to improve the delivery management process. A delivery management system was developed to help managers and drivers
... Show MoreRegarding to the computer system security, the intrusion detection systems are fundamental components for discriminating attacks at the early stage. They monitor and analyze network traffics, looking for abnormal behaviors or attack signatures to detect intrusions in early time. However, many challenges arise while developing flexible and efficient network intrusion detection system (NIDS) for unforeseen attacks with high detection rate. In this paper, deep neural network (DNN) approach was proposed for anomaly detection NIDS. Dropout is the regularized technique used with DNN model to reduce the overfitting. The experimental results applied on NSL_KDD dataset. SoftMax output layer has been used with cross entropy loss funct
... Show MoreThe gas sensing properties of undoped Co3O4 and doped with Y2O3 nanostructures were investigated. The films were synthesized using the hydrothermal method on a seeded layer. The XRD, SEM analysis and gas sensing properties were investigated for the prepared thin films. XRD analysis showed that all films were polycrystalline, of a cubic structure with crystallite size of (12.6) nm for cobalt oxide and (12.3) nm for the Co3O4:6% Y2O3. The SEM analysis of thin films indicated that all films undoped Co3O4 and doped possessed a nanosphere-like structure.
The sensi
... Show MoreIn this study, pure Co3O4 nano structure and doping with 4 %, and
6 % of Yttrium is successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method.
The XRD examination, optical, electrical and photo sensing
properties have been studied for pure and doped Co3O4 thin films.
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that all films are
polycrystalline in nature, having cubic structure.
The optical properties indication that the optical energy gap follows
allowed direct electronic transition calculated using Tauc equation
and it increases for doped Co3O4. The photo sensing properties of
thin films are studied as a function of time at different wavelengths to
find the sensitivity for these lights.
High photo sensitivity dope
This work introduces a new electrode geometry for making holes with high aspect ratios on AISI 304 using an electrical discharge drilling (EDD) process. In addition to commercially available cylindrical hollow electrodes, an elliptical electrode geometry has been designed, manufactured, and implemented. The principal aim was to improve the removal of debris formed during the erosion process that adversely affects the aspect ratio, dimensional accuracy, and surface integrity. The results were compared and discussed to evaluate the effectiveness of electrode geometry on the machining performance of EDD process with respect to the material removal rate (MRR,) the electrode wear rate (EWR), and the tool wear ratio (TWR). Dimensional features an
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