Genetic algorithms (GA) are a helpful instrument for planning and controlling the activities of a project. It is based on the technique of survival of the fittest and natural selection. GA has been used in different sectors of construction and building however that is rarely documented. This research aimed to examine the utilisation of genetic algorithms in construction project management. For this purpose, the research focused on the benefits and challenges of genetic algorithms, and the extent to which genetic algorithms is utilised in construction project management. Results showed that GA provides an ability of generating near optimal solutions which can be adopted to reduce complexity in project management and resolve difficult problem

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, in which the myelin sheaths got injured. The prevalence of MS is on grow, as well as, it affects the young ages. Females are most common to have MS compared to males. Oxidative stress is the situation of imbalance between oxidants (free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS)) and antioxidants in a living system, in which either the oxidants are elevated or antioxidants are reduced, or sometimes both. ROS and oxidative stress have been implicated in the progression of many degenerative diseases, which is important in cracking the unrevealed mysteries of MS. In this review article, some of the proposed mechanisms that link oxidative stres

Zainab M. Al-Bahrani Department of Oral Diagnosis, College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.Corresponding author: Zainab M. Al-Bahra...

Background: Pumpkin seeds are a valuable source of high-quality protein and can be utilized as functional food ingredients due to their properties, such as solubility, foam formation, and stability. This study aims to produce protein isolate and its enzymatic hydrolysates from local pumpkin seeds to study their properties. Methodology: Preparing defatted pumpkin seeds for protein extraction, followed by the enzymes’ hydrolysis using Trypsin and Pepsin enzymes separately and together in two methods. The determination of amino acids and the degree of hydrolysis was conducted; moreover, protein properties were studied, including solubility, emulsifying activity, stability index, foaming capacity, and stability. Results: A protein sample was

The effect of using grinded rocks of (quartzite and porcelanite) as powder of (10 and 20) % replacement by weight of cement for self-compacting concrete slabs was investigated in this study. Five slabs with 15 concrete cubes were tested experimentally at 28 days to study the compressive strength, ultimate load, ultimate deflection, ductility, crack load and steel strain. The test results show that, the compressive strength improvement when replacement of local rock powder reached to (7.3, 4.22) % for (10 and 20) % quartzite powder and (11.3, 16.1) % for (10 and 20) % porcelanite powder, respectively compared to the reference specimen. The ultimate load percentage increase for slabs with (10 and 20) % rep

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of feeding diets containing different levels of parsley on the blood biochemical characteristics of local Iraqi geese. A total of twenty-four local geese, one year old, were used in this experiment during the period from the beginning of October to the end of December. The birds were allocated for Four treatment groups consisted of six geese each. Treatment groups were as follows: Control diet (T1) (free from parsley), T2: Control diet + 80 g / d parsley, T3: Control diet + 160 g / d parsley; T4: Control diet + 240 g / d parsley. At the end of experiment, blood samples were obtained from all geese by venipuncture from brachial vein and blood plasma samples were prepared. Blood biochemical tr

In this paper, we establish the conditions of the occurrence of the local bifurcations, such as saddle node, transcritical and pitchfork, of all equilibrium points of an eco-epidemiological model consisting of a prey-predator model with SI (susceptible-infected) epidemic diseases in prey population only and a refuge-stage structure in the predators. It is observed that there is a transcritical bifurcation near the axial and free predator equilibrium points, near disease-free equilibrium point is a saddle-node bifurcation and near positive (coexistence) equilibrium point is a saddle-node bifurcation, a transcritical bifurcation and a pitchfork bifurcation. Further investigations for Hopf bifurcation near coexistence equilibrium point

The main aim of this study is to investigate the ability of four local entomopathogenic isolates Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) and Metarhizium anisopliae (Met.) to control the mosquito larvae in the lab. The results revealed that the isolate (MARD48) B .bassiana reduced the survival rate of the mosquito larvae to (80%) followed by the isolate M. anisopliae (MARD10) to (90%) in the first two days of treatment, and 60 and 66% respectively in the third day. The results also showed that the isolate B. bassiana (MARD48) killed 50% of the population (LC50) with the concentration 1×104 conidia/ml compared to 1×107 conidia/ml for the isolates B. bassiana (MARD14) and M. anisopliae (MARD10), and 1×108 conidia/ml for the isolate B .bassiana (MARD76).

     Hot-wire cutting is one of the important, non-traditional thermomechanical way to cut polymer, usually expanded foam and extruded foam, in low volume manufacturing. The study and analysis of Hot-Wire cutting parameters play an important role to enhance the quality and accuracy of the process and products. The effects on the surface have been investigated by using experimental tests designed according to the Taguchi orthogonal array (OA). In this study, four parameters with five levels for each parameter have been used: [temperature of wire (A) (100, 120, 130, 150, 160) °C], [diameter of wire (B) (0.3,0.4,0.5,0.7,0.8) mm], [velocity of cutting (C) (200, 300,400,500,600) mm/min], [and density of foam (D) (0.01,0.0

This work deals with preparation of zeolite 5A from Dewekhala kaolin clay in Al-Anbar region for drying and desulphurization of liquefied petroleum gas. The preparation of zeolite 5A includes treating kaolin clay with dilute hydrochloric acid 1N, treating metakaolin with NaOH solution to prepare 4A zeolite, ion exchange, and formation. For preparation of zeolite 4A, metakaolin treated at different temperatures (40, 60, 80, 90, and 100 °C) with different concentrations of sodium hydroxide solution (1, 2, 3, and 4 N) for 2 hours. The zeolite samples give the best relative crystallinity of zeolite prepared at 80 °C with NaOH concentration 3N (199%), and at 90 and 100°C with NaOH concentration solution 2N (184% and 189%, respectively). Ze