A bolted–welded hybrid demountable shear connector for use in deconstructable steel–concrete composite buildings and bridges was proposed. The hybrid connector consisted of a partially threaded stud, which was welded on the flange of a steel section, and a machined steel tube with compatible geometry, which was bolted on the stud. Four standard pushout tests according to Eurocode 4 were carried out to assess the shear performance of the hybrid connector. The experimental results show that the initial stiffness, shear resistance, and slip capacity of the proposed connector were higher than those of traditional welded studs. The hybrid connector was a ductile connector, according to Eurocode 4, with slip capacity higher than 6 mm. A nonli

            An image retrieval system is a computer system for browsing, looking and recovering pictures from a huge database of advanced pictures. The objective of Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) methods is essentially to extract, from large (image) databases, a specified number of images similar in visual and semantic content to a so-called query image. The researchers were developing a new mechanism to retrieval systems which is mainly based on two procedures. The first procedure relies on extract the statistical feature of both original, traditional image by using the histogram and statistical characteristics (mean, standard deviation). The second procedure relies on the T-

Bootstrap is one of an important re-sampling technique which has given the attention of  researches recently. The presence of outliers in the original data set may cause serious problem to the classical bootstrap when the percentage of outliers are higher than the original one. Many methods are proposed to overcome this problem such  Dynamic Robust Bootstrap for LTS (DRBLTS) and Weighted Bootstrap with Probability (WBP). This paper try to show the accuracy of parameters estimation by comparison the results of both methods. The bias , MSE and RMSE are considered. The criterion of the accuracy is based on the RMSE value since the method that provide us RMSE value smaller than other is con

Kidney damage in workers within environments of highly expected exposure to toxin, including heavy metals, could be a primary marker to expect hazards in population exposed to low levels of many environmental pollutants. The present study was designed to evaluate the possible effect of environmental exposure to cadmium and zinc on renal function among painters in Sulaimani city. Cross sectional study was performed on 37 male painting workers in Sulaimani city. Each worker was interviewed using structured questionnaire. Twenty five non-exposed healthy subjects were included as control group. Venous blood samples (10 ml) were obtained by vein puncture from both subjects and utilized for estimation of serum urea, creatinine levels, serum le

The aim of this paper is to propose an efficient three steps iterative method for finding the zeros of the nonlinear equation f(x)=0 . Starting with a suitably chosen , the method generates a sequence of iterates converging to the root. The convergence analysis is proved to establish its five order of convergence. Several examples are given to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed new method and its comparison with other methods.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is an important measure of the size of the economy's production. Economists use this term to determine the extent of decline and growth in the economies of countries. It is also used to determine the order of countries and compare them to each other. The research aims at describing and analyzing the GDP during the period from 1980 to 2015 and for the public and private sectors and then forecasting GDP in subsequent years until 2025. To achieve this goal, two methods were used: linear and nonlinear regression. The second method in the time series analysis of the Box-Jenkins models and the using of statistical package (Minitab17), (GRETLW32)) to extract the results, and then comparing the two methods, T

Moisture damage is a primary mode of distress occurring in hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements in Iraq. Because of the loss of bond, or stripping, caused by the presence of moisture between the asphalt and aggregate, which is a problem in some areas and can be severe in some cases, it is requires to evaluate the design asphalt mixture to moisture susceptibility. Many factors such as aggregate characteristics, asphalt characteristics, environment, traffic, construction practices and drainage can contribute to stripping. Asphalt concrete mixes were prepared at their optimum asphalt content by superpave system and then tested to evaluate their engineering properties, which include tensile strength, resilient modulus, and perman

As the bit rate of fiber optic transmission systems is increased to more than , the system will suffer from an important random phenomena, which is called polarization mode dispersion. This phenomenon contributes effectively to: increasing pulse width, power decreasing, time jittering, and shape distortion. The time jittering means that the pulse center will shift to left or right. So that, time jittering leads to interference between neighboring pulses. On the other hand, increasing bit period will prevent the possibility of sending high rates. In this paper, an accurate mathematical analysis to increase the rates of transmission, which contain all physical random variables that contribute to determine the transmission rates, is presen

Background: Nutritional condition was reported as one of the factors affecting the oral health status, particularly among underprivileged groups. Orphans are one of the known high-risk groups. The aims of this study were to assess the nutritional status of orphans, and its impact on the oral health status. Materials and Methods: Five-hundred children aged 6-12 years old, 254 males and 246 females: institutionalized, non-institutionalized orphans and controls were participated in this study. Nutritional status assessed according to body mass index (BMI). Ramfjord index teeth were examined to assess oral cleanliness and gingival condition. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results this study revealed the institutionalized orphans

Resin-modified glass ionomer cement tends to shrink due to polymerization of the resin component. Additionally, they are more prone to syneresis and imbibition during the setting process. This in vitro study evaluates the impact of chitosan, a biopolymer that is, both biomaterial and biocompatible, on the strength of dentin bonding and compares it with ACTIVA Bio-ACTIVE Restorative. The present study was aimed to assess the impact of including chitosan into Fuji II on the shear bond strength between. the restoration material and tooth dentin,