This paper deals with the modeling of a preventive maintenance strategy applied to a single-unit system subject to random failures.

According to this policy, the system is subjected to imperfect periodic preventive maintenance restoring it to ‘as good as new’ with probability

p and leaving it at state ‘as bad as old’ with probability q. Imperfect repairs are performed following failures occurring between consecutive

preventive maintenance actions, i.e the times between failures follow a decreasing quasi-renewal process with parameter a. Considering the

average durations of the preventive and corrective maintenance actions a

The last few years witnessed great and increasing use in the field of medical image analysis. These tools helped the Radiologists and Doctors to consult while making a particular diagnosis. In this study, we used the relationship between statistical measurements, computer vision, and medical images, along with a logistic regression model to extract breast cancer imaging features. These features were used to tell the difference between the shape of a mass (Fibroid vs. Fatty) by looking at the regions of interest (ROI) of the mass. The final fit of the logistic regression model showed that the most important variables that clearly affect breast cancer shape images are Skewness, Kurtosis, Center of mass, and Angle, with an AUCROC of

Background: A review of articles of method in treating compound phalangeal fractures by using mini-external fixator, elaborating the anatomy, mechanics, modalities of treatment, and complications of these types of fractures. Also, it compares between different studies regarding the functional results and final outcome. External fixation of phalangeal fractures is a good method for osteo synthesis in certain situations. The simplicity of the surgical procedure and the minimal disruption of the normal bone architecture also make it appealing.Objectives: Evaluating the functional results of the use of mini-external fixator for the treatment of compound fractures of phalangeal bones of the hand.Method: Our study consists of 15 patients, 12 w

An atomic force microscope (AFM) technique is utilized to investigate the polystyrene (PS) impact upon the morphological properties of the outer as well as inner surface of poly vinyl chloride (PVC) porous fibers. Noticeable a new shape of the nodules at the outer and inner surfaces, namely "Crater nodules", has been observed. The fibers surface images have seen to be regular nodular texture at the skin of the inner and outer surfaces at low PS content. At PS content of 6 wt.%, the nodules structure was varied from Crater shape to stripe. While with increasing of PS content, the pore density reduces as a result of increasing the size of the pore at the fiber surface. Moreover, the test of 3D-AFM images shows that the roughness of both su

The present work aimed to study the efficiency of nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) process for treatment of heavy metals wastewater contains zinc. In this research, the salt of heavy metals were zinc chloride (ZnCl2) used as feed solution.Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes are made from polyamide as spiral wound module. The parameters studied were: operating time (0 – 70 min), feed concentrations for zinc ions (10 – 300 mg/l), operating pressure (1 – 4 bar).The theoretical results showed, flux of water through membrane decline from 19 to 10.85 LMH with time. Flux decrease from 25.84 to 10.88 LMH with the increment of feed concentration. The raise of pressure, the flux increase for NF and RO membranes.The maximum

Background: The ideal force-delivery system must: provide optimal tooth moving forces that elicit the desired effects, be comfortable and hygienic for the patient, require minimal operator manipulation and patient cooperation and provide rapid tooth movement with minimal mobility during orthodontic therapy, the elastomeric chains have the greatest potential to fulfill these requirements. Materials and Methods: This in vitro study was designed to determine the effect of three different mechanisms for canine retraction : (6-3 , 6-5-3 and chain loop ) on the load relaxation behavior of three types of elastomeric chains : (maximum clear , maximum silver and extreme silver) from the same company (Ortho Technology company) with two different bran

In this work, yttrium oxide particles (powder) reinforced AL-Si matrix composites (Y2O3/Al-Si) and Chromium oxide particles reinforced AL-Si matrix composites (Cr2O3/AL-Si) were prepared by direct squeeze casting. The volume percentages of yttrium oxide used are (4, 8.1, 12.1, 16.1 vol %) and the volume percentages of the chromium oxide particles used are (3.1, 6.3, 9.4, 12.5 vol. %). The parameters affecting the preparation of Y2O3/Al-Si and Cr2O3/AL-Si composites by direct squeeze casting process were studied. The molten Al-Si alloy with yttrium oxide particles or with chromium oxide particles was stirred again using an electrical stirrer at speed 500 rpm  and the molten alloy was  poured  into the squeeze die cavity. Th

Sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop. Wilt disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. capsici is a specific pathogen that affects the pepper. Four isolates of F. oxysporum f. sp. capsici Fo3, Fo6, Fo7 and Fo8 were obtained from diseased pepper plants that were collected from different pepper fields in Baghdad. Fo6 isolate that has high pathogenicity to pepper seeds, Trichoderma harzianum (Th) was tested in vitro against F. oxysporum f. sp. capsici showed a high inhibition rate for the isolate Fo6, the concentration of chelated iron Fe-EDDHA 0.5% reduced the radial growth of Fo6 whi

Human resources have been regarded as the most important asset for any organization because of its essential part in achieving the sustainable competitive advantage and survival. Managing human resources is very challenging and requires an effective bundle of practices that contribute to attaining the organizational goals. This study tries to confirm the importance of HRM practices in small businesses which came to play a vital role in the economies of the world, through clarifying the influence of HRM practices on the organizational performance, using a mediating variable (employees’ outcomes). Also the study attempts to highlight the key role of governmental support from view point of small businesses, through verifying the significant

The ground state properties including the density distributions of the neutrons, protons and matter as well as the corresponding root mean square (rms) radii of proton-rich halo candidates 8B, 12N, 23Al and 27P have been studied by the single particle Bear– Hodgson (BH) wave functions with the two-body model of (core+p). It is found that the rms radii of these proton-rich nuclei are reproduced well by this model and the radial wave functions describe the long tail of the proton and matter density distributions. These results indicate that this model achieves a suitable description of the possible halo structure. The plane wave Born approximation (PWBA) has been used to compute the elastic charge form factors.