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 roadw

A cantilevered piezoelectric beam with a tip mass at its free end is a common energy harvester configuration. This paper introduces a new principle of designing such a harvester which increases the generated voltage without changing the natural frequency of the harvester: The attraction force between two permanent magnets is used to add stiffness to the system. This magnetic stiffening counters the effect of the tip mass on the natural frequency. Three setups incorporating piezoelectric bimorph cantilevers of the same type in different mechanical configurations are compared theoretically and experimentally to investigate the feasibility of this principle. Theoretical and experimental results show that magnetically stiffe

In this study, an analytical model depending on experimental results for InPInGaAs
avalanche photodiode at low bias was presented and the characteristics of
gain for this photodiode were determined directly by the impulse response. The
model have considered the most important mechanisms contributing the
photocurrent, they are trapping, photogeneration in the undepleted region and
charge-carriers velocity due to the built-in electrical field. Also, the bandwidth
was determined as a function to the total gain of photodiode and it was mainly
determined by diffusion and trapping processes at low gain regarding to the multilayer
structure considered in this study

The adsorption isotherms and kinetic uptakes of CO₂ were measured. Adsorption isotherms were measured at two temperatures 309 K and 333 K and over a pressure range of 1 to 7 bar. Experimental data of CO₂ adsorption isotherms were modeled using Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin. Based on coefficient of correlation it was found that Langmuir isotherm model was well suited with the experimental data of CO₂ adsorption isotherms.  In addition, Adsorption kinetic of CO₂ mixture with N₂ containing 10 % by volume CO₂ and 90 % by volume N₂ were determined in a temperature 36 °C and under the atmospheric pressure .When the flow rate was increased from

The development of technology used in computerized programs is considered on of the most important topics that is responsible for creating tools that can be used in the business environment, the audit profession is one of those professions that received this development. In order for this profession to be more effective, there must be a tool based on sound (correct) scientific basis that can be based upon to enhance the quality of auditing. The research also aims to propose a computerized program to plan the auditing process according to the methods appropriate to the working environment in the audit offices and companies in Iraq. The computerized program was applied to the research sample and the hypothesis of the research has been prov

The present investigation deals with experimental study of three-phase direct-contact heat exchanger, for water-Freon R11 system, where water is the continuous phase (liquid) and Freon R11 (liquid-gas) is the dispersed phase. The test section consisted of a cylindrical Perspex column with inner diameter 8cm and 1.2m long, in which, water was to be confined. Liquid Freon R11 drops were injected into the hot water filled column, through a special design of distributors at the bottom of the column. The liquid Freon R11 drops rose on their way up and evaporated into two-phase bubbles at atmospheric pressure. The study was devoted to express the effect of process variables such as c

Photonic Crystal Fiber Interferometers (PCFIs) are greatly used
for sensing applications. This work presents the fabrication and
characterization of a relative humidity sensor based on Mach-
Zehnder Interferometer (MZI), which operates in reflection mode.
The humidity sensor operation based on the adsorption and
desorption of water vapour at the silica-air interface within the PCF.
The fabrication of this sensor is simple, it only includes splicing and
cleaving the PCF with SMF.PCF (LMA-10) with a certain length
spliced to SMF (Corning-28).
The spectrum of PCFI exhibits good sensitivity to humidity
variations. The PCFI response is observed for a range of humidity
values from (27% RH to 85% RH), the positi

Artificial roughness applied to a Solar Air Heater (SAH) absorber plate is a popular technique for increasing its total thermal efficiency (ηt−th). In this paper, the influence of geometrical parameters of V-down ribs attached below the corrugated absorbing plate of a SAH on the ηt−th was examined. The impacts of key roughness parameters, including relative pitch p/e (6–12), relative height e/D (0.019–0.043), angles of attack α (30–75°), and Re (1000–20,000), were examined under real weather conditions. The SAH ηt−th roughened by V-down ribs was predicted using an in-house developed conjugate heat-transfer numerical model. The maximum SAH ηt−th was shown to be 78.8% as predicted under the steady-state condition

A review of the literature on intellectual capital development was conducted using systemic criteria for the inclusion of relevant studies. The concepts behind the ideas explored in the present study were discussed in respect to the subject matter. Examining the past state of the art in the intellectual capital sector for achieving high levels of innovation performance provided a multidimensional picture of intellectual capital, innovation performance, and dynamic capabilities. The present review was designed to illustrate the correlation between intellectual capital and innovation performance, as well as the role of dynamic capabilities in moderating the relationship between these constructs. Accordingly, we presented an extensive