Urban land uses of all kinds are the constituent elements of the urban spatial structure. Because of the influence of economic and social factors, cities in general are characterized by the dynamic state of their elements over time. Urban functions occur in a certain way with different spatial patterns. Hence, urban planners and the relevant urban management teams should understand the future spatial pattern of these changes by resorting to quantitative models in spatial planning. This is to ensure that future predictions are made with a high level of accuracy so that appropriate strategies can be used to address the problems arising from such changes. The Markov chain method is one of the quantitative models used in spatial planning to analyze time series based on current values to predict the series values in the future without relying on the past or historical values of the studied series. The research questions in this study are formulated thus: What are the trends in the patterns of urban land use functions in Al-Najaf, Iraq, between 2005 to 2015? How can the values of the changes be predicted for the year 2025? The hypothesis is based on the increasing spatial functional change of land use patterns in the city during the study period due to various economic and social factors. Making accurate predictions of the size of spatial changes motivates this study as a guide to urban management towards developing possible solutions to address the effects of this change, as well as the need to understand its causes and future upward trends. The contribution of this article is the presented outlook for spatial functions for the next 10 years. The computations using the Markov chain model will enable management to understand future relations and develop appropriate policies to reduce the hazards of unplanned changes in the city. Results show that residential posts, slums, and commercial activities are getting worse, while change values for industrial functions and other things are going down.
In the present study, advanced oxidation treatment, the TiO2 /UV/H2O2 process was applied to decolorisation of the reactive yellow dyes in aqueous solution. The UV radiation was carried out with a 6 W low-pressure mercury lamp. The rate of color removal was studied by measuring the absorbency at a characteristic wavelength. The effects of H2O2 dosage, dye initial concentration and pH on decolorisation kinetics in the batch photoreactor were investigated. The highest decolorisation rates were observed (98.8) at pH range between 3 and 7. The optimal levels of H2O2 needed for the process were examined. It appears that high levels of H2O2 could reduce decolori
... Show MoreObjectives The strategies of tissue-engineering led to the development of living cell-based therapies to repair lost or damaged tissues, including periodontal ligament and to construct biohybrid implant. This work aimed to isolate human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) and implant them on fabricated polycaprolactone (PCL) for the regeneration of natural periodontal ligament (PDL) tissues. Methods hPDLSCs were harvested from extracted human premolars, cultured, and expanded to obtain PDL cells. A PDL-specific marker (periostin) was detected using an immunofluorescent assay. Electrospinning was applied to fabricate PCL at three concentrations (13%, 16%, and 20% weight/volume) in two forms, which were examined through field emission
... Show MoreAs one type of heating furnaces, the electric heating furnace (EHF) typically suffers from time delay, non-linearity, time-varying parameters, system uncertainties, and harsh en-vironment of the furnace, which significantly deteriorate the temperature control process of the EHF system. In order to achieve accurate and robust temperature tracking performance, an integration of robust state feedback control (RSFC) and a novel sliding mode-based disturbance observer (SMDO) is proposed in this paper, where modeling errors and external disturbances are lumped as a lumped disturbance. To describe the characteristics of the EHF, by using convection laws, an integrated dynamic model is established and identified as an uncertain nonlinear second ord
... Show MoreThis study concerns the removal of a trihydrate antibiotic (Amoxicillin) from synthetically contaminated water by adsorption on modified bentonite. The bentonite was modified using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB), which turned it from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic material. The effects of different parameters were studied in batch experiments. These parameters were contact time, solution pH, agitation speed, initial concentration (C0) of the contaminant, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum removal of amoxicillin (93 %) was achieved at contact time = 240 min, pH = 10, agitation speed = 200 rpm, initial concentration = 30 ppm, and adsorbent dosage = 3 g bentonite per 1L of pollutant solution. The characterization of the adsorbent, modi
... Show MoreIn the current research, an eco-biosynthesis method for synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is reported using thymus vulgaris leaves (T. vulgaris) extracts. The optical and structural properties of the nanoparticles is determined using UV-visible, x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). In addition, the synthesis factors such as the temperature, the molar ratio of silver nitride and thymus vulgaris leaves extract have been investigated. The XRD pattern presented higher intensity for the five characteristic peaks of silver. FESEM images for same samples indicated that the particle size was distributed between 24-56 nm. In addition, it’s observed the formation of some aggregated Ag particles
... Show MoreThe research involves preparing gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and studying the factors that influence the shape, sizes and distribution ratio of the prepared particles according to Turkevich method. These factors include (reaction temperature, initial heating, concentration of gold ions, concentration and quantity of added citrate, reaction time and order of reactant addition). Gold nanoparticles prepared were characterized by the following measurements: UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The average size of gold nanoparticles was formed in the range (20 -35) nm. The amount of added citrate was changed and studied. In addition, the concentration of added gold ions was changed and the calibration cur
... Show MoreSTAG3 is the meiotic component of cohesin and a member of the Cancer Testis Antigen (CTA) family. This gene has been found to be overexpressed in many types of cancer, and recently, its variants have been implicated in other disorders and many human diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the major variants of STAG3. Western blot (WB) and immunoprecipitation (IP) assays were performed using two different anti-STAG3 antibodies that targeted the relevant protein in MCF-7, T-47D, MDA-MB-468, and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with Jurkat and MCF-10A cells as positive and negative controls, respectively. In silico analyses were searched to study the major isoforms. WB and IP assays revealed two abundant polypeptides < 191 kDa and
... Show MoreA demonstration of the inverse kinematics is a very complex problem for redundant robot manipulator. This paper presents the solution of inverse kinematics for one of redundant robots manipulator (three link robot) by combing of two intelligent algorithms GA (Genetic Algorithm) and NN (Neural Network). The inputs are position and orientation of three link robot. These inputs are entering to Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN). The weights of BPNN are optimized using continuous GA. The (Mean Square Error) MSE is also computed between the estimated and desired outputs of joint angles. In this paper, the fitness function in GA is proposed. The sinwave and circular for three link robot end effecter and desired trajectories are simulated b
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