Artificial pancreas is simulated to handle Type I diabetic patients under intensive care by automatically controlling the insulin infusion rate. A Backstepping technique is used to apply the effect of PID controller to blood glucose level since there is no direct relation between insulin infusion (the manipulated variable) and glucose level in Bergman’s system model subjected to an oral glucose tolerance test by applying a meal translated into a disturbance. Backstepping technique is usually recommended to stabilize and control the states of Bergman's class of nonlinear systems. The results showed a very satisfactory behavior of glucose deviation to a sudden rise represented by the meal that increase the blood glucose

This research examines the use of vibratory treatments to reduce residual stresses in small welded parts. In this experimental investigation, a post weld vibration treatment was applied to T- A106 steel pipe fitting specimens to study the effect of the treatment on the residual stress and the hardness of the material. The vibratory stress relief treatment was carried out at different vibration frequency. The results have demonstrated that post-weld vibratory stress relief of small size fittings is possible and residual stress may be relieved, and the treatment may be an alternative method for heat treatment especially when unchange in dimensions and material stability are required.

In past years, structural pavement solution has been combined with destructive testing; these destructive methods are being replaced by non-destructive testing methods (NDT). Because the destructive test causes damage due to coring conducted for testing and also the difficulty of adequately repairing the core position in the field. Ultrasonic pulse velocity was used to evaluate the strength and volumetric properties of asphalt concrete, of binder course. The impact of moisture damage and testing temperature on pulse velocity has also been studied. Data were analyzed and modeled. It was found that using non-destructive testing represented by pulse velocity could be useful to predict the quality of asphalt c

The optimal combination of aluminum quality, sufficient strength, high stress to weight ratio and clean finish make it a good choice in driveshafts fabrication. This study has been devoted to experimentally investigate the effect of applying laser shock peening (LSP) on the fatigue performance for 6061-T6 aluminum alloy rotary shafts. Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser was used with operating parameters of 500 mJ and 600 mJ pulse energies, 12 ns pulse duration and 10 Hz pulse repetition rate. The LSP is applied at the waist of the prepared samples for the cyclic fatigue test. The results show that applying 500 mJ pulse energy yields a noticeable effect on enhancing the fatigue strength by increasing the required number of cycles to fracture the

Compaction curves are widely used in civil engineering especially for road constructions, embankments, etc. Obtaining the precise amount of Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) that gives the Maximum Dry Unit weight g_dmax. is very important, where the desired soil strength can be achieved in addition to economic aspects.

In this paper, three peak functions were used to obtain the OMC and g_dmax. through curve fitting for the values obtained from Standard Proctor Test. Another surface fitting was also used to model the Ohio’s compaction curves that represent the very large variation of compacted soil types.

The results showed very good correlation between the values obtained from some publ

Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) is a technology characterized mainly by the use of rollers for compaction; this technology achieves significant time and cost savings in the construction of dams and roads. The primary scope of this research is to study the durability and performance of roller compacted concrete that was constructed in the laboratory using roller compactor manufactured in local market. A total of (60) slab specimen of (38×38×10) cm was constructed using the roller device, cured for 28 days, then 180 sawed cubes and 180 beams are obtained from RCC slab. Then, the specimens are subjected to 60 cycles of freezing and thawing, sulfate attack test and wetting and drying. The degree of effect of the type of coarse aggregate (c

Cancer is in general not a result of an abnormality of a single gene but a consequence of changes in many genes, it is therefore of great importance to understand the roles of different oncogenic and tumor suppressor pathways in tumorigenesis. In recent years, there have been many computational models developed to study the genetic alterations of different pathways in the evolutionary process of cancer. However, most of the methods are knowledge-based enrichment analyses and inflexible to analyze user-defined pathways or gene sets. In this paper, we develop a nonparametric and data-driven approach to testing for the dynamic changes of pathways over the cancer progression. Our method is based on an expansion and refinement of the pathway bei

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of hydrated lime addition methods as filler replacement on fatigue performance of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). Three types of addition methods of hydrated lime were introduced namely dry HL on dry aggregate and saturated surface aggregate above 3% and slurry HL on dry aggregate, ordinary Lime stone powder was reduced by three HL percentage (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 %). The effect of different methods were investigated on the fatigue properties of HMA using, third-point flexural fatigue bending Test. Pneumatic Repeated Load System (PRLS) was carried out to establish the effect of hydrated lime on the fatigue failure criteria and to select the proper hydrated lime application methods on fatigue behavior o

This study investigates the influence of five nanomaterials nano-alumina (NA), nano-silica (NS), nano-titanium (NT), nano-zinc oxide (NZ), and carbon nanotubes (CNT)on enhancing the fatigue resistance of asphalt binders. NA, NS, and NT were incorporated at dosages of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%, while NZ and CNT were added at 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%. A series of physical, rheological, and performance-based tests were conducted, including penetration, softening point, ductility, and rotational viscosity. Based on the outcomes of the overall desirability evaluation, the first three dosages of each nanomaterial were selected for further testing due to their superior workability and binder flexibility. Subsequent investigations included the high-tem

Abstract     Asthma is a complex disease defined by chronic airway inflammation and airflow limitation causing variable respiratory symptoms which include shortness of breath (SOB), wheezing, chest tightness and cough. Asthma guidelines advocate adding a second long acting bronchodilator to medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) rather using high doses of ICS alone to control moderate to severe persistent asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of three medication regimens indicated for Iraqi patients suffering from persistent asthma.      This study was interventional randomized clinical study conducted on a sample of adult Iraqi asthmatic patients in Baghdad City. The study com