The physical and social structure of urban residential areas is affected by public open spaces in positive and negative ways. Public spaces serve as the basis for the growth of urban life that promotes physical activities and social relations. The research addressed the problem of lack of knowledge about the mechanisms that contribute to achieving healthy and lively public places according to spatial characteristics. It aimed to develop and improve public places through a more comprehensive knowledge of the effective spatial characteristics that contribute to enhancing the value of public places. The research assumed the existence of a correlation between vital spatial characteristics and healthy environments. For the pu

In this paper, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is applied to predict the soil stress within a soil mass for a variety of depths and displacements under applied loading. The neural network model is created and applied for two cases, point load, and Uniform rectangular load.
Theses two cases were selected among many other cases of loading as a representation of the capabilities of ANN in finding proper solutions. The first case needs one input to get one output, where in the second case we need two inputs, to get one output only.
Results revealed that function approximation using neural network can be applied easily and can give accurate results by choosing the appropriate learning algorithm, number of layers, and number of neuron

One way to synthesis texture in a fast and easy way is image quilting proposed by Efros and Freeman in
2001. This research brings the adaptive search power of genetic algorithm and combines it with the
concept of image quilting to propose new texture synthesis algorithm. The proposed GA is ran on many
different images from standard texture sets. Visual comparison of our proposed GA with image quilting
algorithm is considered. The texture results generated by the proposed GA are roughly comparable in
quality to those generated from Efros and Freeman algorithm.

Storage of rainwater within the root depth zone is one of the modern ways to increase plant production. Subsurface water retention technology was applied to assess improving values of crop yield and crop water use efficiency, applying a membrane made of low-density polyethylene trough installed below the crop root zone. The goal of this paper is to assess that the retention of rainwater above the membrane can improve the crop yield and crop water use efficiency values for winter wheat. The experiment was conducted in open field, within Joeybeh Township, located in east of the Ramadi City, in Anbar Province, in winter growing season 2018-2019. Two plots T1 (with membrane trough) and T2 (without membrane) were used for the

Glass Ionomer Cement (GIC) is one of the important dental temporary filing materials. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of adding 3, 5 and 7 wt. % of TiO₂ microparticles to conventional GIC powder (Riva Self Cure) on mechanical properties and its effect on absorption and solubility processes. TiO₂ particles additives improved compressive strength and biaxial flexural strength, where the compressive strength increased with increasing in the added ratio, while the highest value of the biaxial flexural strength was at 3 wt.%. The addition of TiO₂ particles improved the surface Vickers microhardness values, with highest value at 5 wt. %. On other hand TiO₂ addition im

The rheological and fusion behavior of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds plays a dominant role in
the processing operations and in the development of physical properties in the processed material. A
comprehensive study was made in this work to evaluate the effect of shear and thermal history on stability, mechanical and rheological properties of rigid PVC compounds. Different samples of Rigid Poly vinyl chloride including dry blend powder, granules, and bottles molded from both were examined. A study was also made on recycled RPVC where 25% of reclaimed material was continuously blended with fresh dry blend and processed for 15 cycles. Results showed that compaction of the PVC material took place in the brabender plastograph at co

Since its invention by the Ancient Romans and later developed during the mid-18th century, the concrete structure and finish, has been considered as the most powerful, practical, economic and constructional material that meets the building’s architectural and aesthetical requirements. By creating unique architectural forms, the pioneer architects used concrete widely to shape up their innovative designs and buildings.

The pre-mixed ultra-high performance concrete which manufactured by Lafarge.

The transparent concrete and cement that allow the light beams to pass through them, introduces remarkable well-lit architectural spaces within the same structural criteria. This product is a recyclable, sustainab

This paper includes an experimental study of hydrogen mass flow rate and inlet hydrogen pressure effect on the fuel cell performance. Depending on the experimental results, a model of fuel cell based on artificial neural networks is proposed. A back propagation learning rule with the log-sigmoid activation function is adopted to construct neural networks model. Experimental data resulting from 36 fuel cell tests are used as a learning data. The hydrogen mass flow rate, applied load and inlet hydrogen pressure are inputs to fuel cell model, while the current and voltage are outputs. Proposed model could successfully predict the fuel cell performance in good agreement with actual data. This work is extended to developed fuel cell feedback

In this paper, the effect of wear in the fluid film journal bearings on the dynamic stability of rotor bearing system has been studied depending on the development of new analytical equations for motion, instability threshold speed and steady state harmonic response for rotor with offset disc supported by worn journal bearings. Finite element method had been used for modeling the rotor bearing system. The analytical model is verified by comparing its results with that obtained numerically for a rotor supported on the short bearings. The analytical and numerical results showed good agreement with about 8.5% percentage error in the value of critical speed and about 3.5% percentage error in the value of harmonic response. T

In this work, the design and implementation of a smart energy metering system has been developed. This system consists of two parts: billing center and a set of distributed smart energy meters. The function of smart energy meter is measuring and calculating the cost of consumed energy according to a multi-tariff scheme. This can be effectively solving the problem of stressing the electrical grid and rising consumer awareness. Moreover, smart energy meter decreases technical losses by improving power factor. The function of the billing center is to issue a consumer bill and contributes in locating the irregularities on the electrical grid (non-technical losses). Moreover, it sends the switch off command in case of the consumer bill is not

In this paper, the effects of subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) on crop coefficient (k_c) and crop evapotranspiration (ET_c) of eggplant were investigated in sandy loam soil. For this purpose, two treatments plot (with SWRT and without using SWRT) were adopted during 93 days of cultivation. The study was conducted in open field within Al-Fahamah Township, Baghdad, Iraq during summer growing season 2017. The accumulated ET_c of eggplant was 403.3 and 515.2 mm for SWRT treatment and control plot, respectively by reduction percentage 21.7 %. The average values of ET_c during the growing season were 4.3 and 5.5 mm/day, respectively. The crop coefficients value during the gro

The present study reports the effect of temperature and liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) on the cumene cracking reaction rate and selectivity by using a laboratory continuous flow unit with fixed bed reactor operating at atmospheric pressure. The prepared HX zeolite was made from Iraqi kaolin with good crystallinity .The activity and selectivity of prepared HX-zeolite was compared with standard HY zeolite and HX zeolite catalysts in the temperature range of 673-823K and LHSV of 0.7-2.5 h-1. It was found that the cumene conversion increases with increasing temperature and decreasing LHSV at 823K and LHSV of 0.7 h-1 the conversions 65.32, 42.88 and 59.42 mol% for HY, HX and prepared HX catalysts respectively and at LHSV of 2.5 h-1 and t

In the present work a general dynamic behavior of non return valves subjected to jet flow is presented. The differential equations of valve motion and discharge were developed in a non-dimensional from, in terms of suitable dimensionless variables and parameters of the valve system.
The derived equations are coupled nonlinear differential equations. Thus, a computer program was developed using a package called (MatLab) to solve these equations. The study shows that there are three types of the valve responses depending on the overall hydrostatic pressure difference and it is found that the valve vibrating at a constant limit cycle, which is leading to the failure of the system. It is also shown that the limit cycle frequency decreases

An attempt was made to evaluate the PV performance of one-axis daily tracking and fixed system for Baghdad, Iraq. Two experimental simulations were conducted on a PV module for that purpose. Measurements included incident solar radiation, load voltage and load current. The first experiment was carried out for six months of winter half of year to simulate the one-axis daily tracking. The azimuth angle was due south while the tilt angle was being set to optimum according to each day of simulation. The second experiment was done at one day to simulate the PV module of fixed angles. It is found that there is a significant power gain of 29.6% for the tracking system in respect to the fixed one. The one-axis daily tracking was much more effect

Research in Iraq has expanded in the field of material technology involving the properties of the lightweight concrete using natural aggregate. The use of the porcelinate aggregate in the production of structural light concrete has a wide objective
and requires a lot of research to become suitable for practical application. In this work metakaolin was used to improve compressive strength of lightweight porcelinate concrete which usually have a low compressive strength about 17 MPa . The effect of metakaolin on compressive, splitting tensile, flexure strengths and modulus of elasticity of lightweight porcelinate concrete have been investigated. Many experiments were carried out by replacing cement with different percentages of
met

To damp the low-frequency oscillations which occurred due to the disturbances in the electrical power system, the generators are equipped with Power System Stabilizer (PSS) that provide supplementary feedback stabilizing signals. The low-frequency oscillations in power system are classified as local mode oscillations, intra-area mode oscillation, and interarea mode oscillations. A suitable PSS model was selected considering the low frequencies oscillation in the inter-area mode based on conventional PSS and Fuzzy Logic Controller. Two types of (FIS) Mamdani and suggeno were considered in this paper. The software of the methods was executed using MATLAB R2015a package.

The primary components of successful engineering projects are time, cost, and quality. The use of the ring footing ensures the presence of these elements. This investigation aims to find the optimum number of geogrid reinforcement layers under ring footing subjected to inclined loading. For this purpose, experimental models were used. The parameters were studied to find the optimum geogrid layers number, including the optimum geogrid layers spacing and the optimum geogrid layers number. The optimum geogrid layers spacing value is 0.5B. And as the load inclination angle increased, the tilting and the tilting improvement percent for the load inclination angles (5°,10°,15°) are (40%,28%, and 5%) respectively. The reduction percent of the

Experimental work was carried out to investigate the effect of fire flame (high temperature) on specimens of one way slabs using Self Compacted Concrete (SCC). By using furnace manufactured for this purpose, twenty one reinforced concrete slab specimens were exposed to direct fire flame. All of specimens have the same dimensions. The slab specimens were cooled in two types, gradually by left them in the air and suddenly by using water. After that the specimens were tested under two point loads, to study, the effect of
different: temperature levels (300ºC, 500ºC and 700ºC), and cooling rate (gradually and sudden cooling conditions) on the concrete compressive strength, modulus of rupture, flexural strength and the behavior of reinf

In the city, building space could transform to be as place, because architecture does not include only traditional values such as housing, human protection, stability, etc, but could carry other dimensions beyond the housing or building occupancy or develop urban design. Rivers had vision in motion as a way to show dynamic processes in its flowing slowly, which are simply measured in time and the life of citizens. The research consider the river path in traditional cities as Alley connecting the spaces of the city ... old Baghdad was characterized by this property and it is look like Venice in the past, while traditional European cities were able to preserve this property till now, and capable to take transformation of the city with deve

The aim of this study was to investigate antibiotic amoxicillin removal from syn­thetic pharmaceutical wastewater. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was used in photocatalysis treatment method under natural solar irradiation in a tubular reactor. The photocatalytic removal efficiency was evaluated by the reduction in amoxicillin concentration. The effects of antibiotics concentration, TiO₂ dose, irradiation time and the effect of pH were studied. The optimum conditions were found to be irradiation time 5 hr, catalyst dosage 0.6 g/L, flow rate 1 L/min and pH 5. The photocatalytic treatment was able to destruct the amoxicillin in 5 hr and induced an amoxicillin reduction of about 10% with 141.8 kJ/L accumulate

A comparative study was done on the adsorption of methyl orange dye (MO) using non-activated and activated corn leaves with hydrochloric acid as an adsorbent material. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were utilized to specify the properties of adsorbent material. The effect of several variables (pH, initial dye concentration, temperature, amount of adsorbent and contact time) on the removal efficiency was studied and the results indicated that the adsorption efficiency increases with the increase in the concentration of dye, adsorbent dosage and contact time, while inversely proportional to the increase in pH and temperature for both the treated and untreated corn leav

The need for quick airborne transportation is critical, especially in emergencies. Drones with suspended payloads might be used to accomplish quick airborne transportation. Due to the environment or the drone's motion, the slung load may oscillate and lead the drone to fall. The altitude and attitude controls are the backbones of the drone's stability, and they must be adequately designed. Because of their symmetrical and simple structure, quadrotor helicopters are one of the most popular drone classes. In this work, a genetic algorithm with two weighted terms fitness function is used to adjust a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller to compensate for the altitude and attitude controllers in a quadrotor drone

In this paper, a design of the broadband thin metamaterial absorber (MMA) is presented. Compared with the previously reported metamaterial absorbers, the proposed structure provides a wide bandwidth with a compatible overall size. The designed absorber consists of a combination of octagon disk and split octagon resonator to provide a wide bandwidth over the Ku and K bands' frequency range. Cheap FR-4 material is chosen to be a substate of the proposed absorber with 1.6 thicknesses and 6.5×6.5 overall unit cell size. CST Studio Suite was used for the simulation of the proposed absorber. The proposed absorber provides a wide absorption bandwidth of 14.4 GHz over a frequency range of 12.8-27.5 GHz with more than %90 absorp

The purpose of this paper is to depict the effect of adding a hydraulic accumulator to a hydraulic system. The experimental work includes using measuring devices with interface to measure the pressure and the vibration of the system directly by computer so as to show the effect of accumulator graphically for real conditions, also the effects of hydraulic accumulator for different applications
have been tested. A simulation analysis of the hydraulic control system using MATLAB.R2010b to study was made to study the stability of the system depending on the transfer function, to estimate the effect of adding the accumulator on stability of the system. A physical simulation test was made for the hydraulic system using MATLAB to show the ef

Wastewater recycling for non-potable uses has gained significant attention to mitigate the high pressure on freshwater resources. This requires using a sustainable technique to treat natural municipal wastewater as an alternative to conventional methods, especially in arid and semi-arid rural areas. One of the promising techniques applied to satisfy the objective of wastewater reuse is the constructed wetlands (CWs) which have been used extensively in most countries worldwide through the last decades. The present study introduces a significant review of the definition, classification, and components of CWs, identifying the mechanisms controlling the removal process within such units. Vertical, horizontal, and hybrid CWs

In this paper, thermal performance of a zig-zig solar air heater (ZZSAH) with and without using steel wire mesh on the absorber plate of the collector is experimentally investigated. The experimental work includes four inclination angles of the collector 20^o, 30^o, 45^o, and 60^o and four air mass flow rates of 0.03, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08 kg/s under varieties of operating conditions of a geographic location of  Baghdad. New correlation equations of Nusselt number are obtained from experimental results for both types of collectors where the effect of varying of the inclination angle of collector taken into consideration in the experiment. The correlations show good agreement wi

Cloud computing (CC) is a fast-growing technology that offers computers, networking, and storage services that can be accessed and used over the internet. Cloud services save users money because they are pay-per-use, and they save time because they are on-demand and elastic, a unique aspect of cloud computing. However, several security issues must be addressed before users store data in the cloud. Because the user will have no direct control over the data that has been outsourced to the cloud, particularly personal and sensitive data (health, finance, military, etc.), and will not know where the data is stored, the user must ensure that the cloud stores and maintains the outsourced data appropriately. The study's primary goals are to mak

Substantial research has been performed on Building Information Modeling (BIM) in various topics, for instance, the use and benefit of BIM in design, construction, sustainable environment building, and Facility assets over the past several years. Although there are various studies on these topics, Building Information Modeling (BIM) awareness through facilities management is still relatively poor. The researcher's interest is increased in BIM study is based heavily upon the perception that it can facilitate the exchange and reuse of information during various project phases. This property and others can be used in the Iraqi Construction industry to motivate the government to eliminate the change resistance to use innovat

Many useful softwares in projects management are available now. Ms Project and Primavera are some
examples of these softwares. Those programs need to be fed by information by the user. The users
usually collect this information from the project and design documents. This collection process needs
considerable time and efforts, and usually accompanied of some errors in data transfer process.
In order to reduce the required time and efforts and to eliminate individual errors in data transfer
process, an Integrated System is needed. This Integrated System can extract the graphical information
from an AutoCAD drawing and transfer it to a digital form suitable for processing in the project
management softwares such as Exce

Computations of the relative permeability curves were made through their representation by two functions for wetting and nonwetting phases. Each function contains one parameter that controls the shape of the relative permeability curves. The values of these parameters are chosen to minimize an objective function, that is represented as a weighted sum of the squared differences between experimentally measured data and the corresponding data calculated by a mathematical model simulating the experiment. These data comprise the pressure drop across core samples and the recovery response of the displacing phase. Two mathematical models are constructed in this study to simulate incompressible, one-dimensional, two-phase flow. The first model d