The shear strength of soil is one of the most important soil properties that should be identified before any foundation design. The presence of gypseous soil exacerbates foundation problems. In this research, an approach to forecasting shear strength parameters of gypseous soils based on basic soil properties was created using Artificial Neural Networks. Two models were built to forecast the cohesion and the angle of internal friction. Nine basic soil properties were used as inputs to both models for they were considered to have the most significant impact on soil shear strength, namely: depth, gypsum content, passing sieve no.200, liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, water content, dry unit weight, and initial voids ratio. Multi-layer perceptron training by the backpropagation algorithm was used in creating the network. It was found that both models can predict shear strength parameters for gypseous soils with good reliability. Sensitivity analysis of the first model indicated that dry unit weight and plasticity index have the most significant effect on the predicted cohesion. While in the second model, the results indicated that the gypsum content and plasticity index have the most significant effect on the predicted angle of internal friction.
Herein, we report designing a new Δ (delta‐shaped) proton sponge base of 4,12‐dihydrogen‐4,8,12‐triazatriangulene (compound
In this work, we have developed a model that describes the relationships between top predators (such as tigers, hyenas, and others), crop raiders (such as baboons, warthogs, and deer), and prey (such as deer) in the coffee forests of southwest Ethiopia. Various potential equilibrium points are identified. Additionally, the model's stability in the vicinity of these equilibrium points is examined. An investigation of the model's Hopf bifurcation is conducted concerning several significant parameters. It is found that prey species may be extinct due to a lower growth rate and consumption by top predators in the absence of human interference in the carrying capacity of prey. It is observed that top predators may be extinct due to human interfe
... Show MoreBackground: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's
... Show MoreThis study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From
... Show MoreThis study deals with the elimination of methyl orange (MO) from an aqueous solution by utilizing the 3D electroFenton process in a batch reactor with an anode of porous graphite and a cathode of copper foam in the presence of granular activated carbon (GAC) as a third pole, besides, employing response surface methodology (RSM) in combination with Box-Behnk Design (BBD) for studying the effects of operational conditions, such as current density (3–8 mA/cm2), electrolysis time (10–20 min), and the amount of GAC (1–3 g) on the removal efficiency beside to their interaction. The model was veiled since the value of R2 was high (>0.98) and the current density had the greatest influence on the response. The best removal efficiency (MO Re%)
... Show MoreIn this study, biodiesel was prepared from chicken fat via a transesterification reaction using Mussel shells as a catalyst. Pretreatment of chicken fat was carried out using non‐catalytic esterification to reduce the free fatty acid content from 36.28 to 0.96 mg KOH/g oil using an ethanol/ fat mole ratio equal to 115:1. In the transesterification reaction, the studied variables were methanol: oil mole ratio in the range of (6:1 ‐ 30:1), catalyst loading in the range of (9‐15) wt%, reaction temperature (55‐75 °C), and reaction time (1‐7) h. The heterogeneous alkaline catalyst was greenly synthesized from waste mussel shells throughout a calcin
A multistep synthesis was established for the preparation of a new vanillic acid-1, 2, 4-1triazole-3-thiol conjugate (
Pure and Fe-doped zinc oxide nanocrystalline films were prepared
via a sol–gel method using -
C for 2 h.
The thin films were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction
(XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning
electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and UV- visible spectroscopy. The
XRD results showed that ZnO has hexagonal wurtzite structure and
the Fe ions were well incorporated into the ZnO structure. As the Fe
level increased from 2 wt% to 8 wt%, the crystallite size reduced in
comparison with the pure ZnO. The transmittance spectra were then
recorded at wavelengths ranging from 300 nm to 1000 nm. The
optical band gap energy of spin-coated films also decreased as Fe
doping concentra