A systematic approach is presented to achieve the stable grasping of objects through a two-finger robotic hand, in which each finger cavity was filled with granular media. The compaction of the latter, controlled by vacuum pressure, was used to adjust the structural and contact stiffness of the finger. The grasping stability was studied under the concurrent effect of an external torque and applied vacuum pressure. Stable grasping was defined as the no slippage condition between the grasped object and the two fingers. Three control schemes were adopted and applied experimentally to ensure the effectiveness of the grasping process. The results showed that stable and unstable grasping regions exist for each combination of applied torque and vacuum pressure. The two-finger robotic hands can be further improved for applications that require high load-carrying capabilities.
Aqueous Two Phase System (ATPS) or liquid-liquid extraction is used in biotechnology to recover valuable compounds from raw sources. In Aqueous Two-Phase Systems, many factors influence the Partition coefficient, K, (which is the ratio of protein concentration in the top phase to that in the bottom phase) and the Recovery percentage (Rec%). In this research, two systems of ATPS were used: first, polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000/Sodium citrate (SC), and the second, PEG8000/ Sodium phosphate (SPH), for the extraction of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA). The behavior of Rec% and K of pure (BSA) in ATPS has been investigated throughout the study by the effects of five parameters: temperature, concentration of polyethylene glycol (P
... Show MoreThis work focuses on the use of biologically produced activated carbon for improving the physi-co-chemical properties of water samples obtained from the Tigris River. An eco-friendly and low-cost activated carbon was prepared from the Alhagi plant using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an impregnation agent. The prepared activated carbon was characterised using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to determine the functional groups that exist on the raw material (Alhagi plant) and Alhagi activated carbon (AAC). Scanning electron microscope–energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope was also used to investigate the surface shape and the elements that compose the powder. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis was used to evaluate the spe
... Show MoreSolid waste generation and composition in Baghdad is typically affected by population growth, urbanization, improved economic conditions, changes in lifestyles and social and cultural habits.
A burning chamber was installed to burn cellulosic waste only. It was found that combustion reduced the original volume and weight of cellulosic waste by 97.4% and 85% respectively.
A batch composting study was performed to evaluate the feasibility of co-composting organic food waste with the cellulosic bottom ash in three different weight ratios (w/w) [95/5, 75/25, 50/50].
The composters were kept in controlled aerobic conditions for 7 days. Temperature, moisture, and pH were measured hourly as process succe
... Show MoreIt sheds light on the cultural dimension in the decentralized administration experience in Iraq as evaluation tool by adding a new dimension in studying decentralization in addition to the administrative, political and legal dimensions .The proposal of study is that without the civil political culture ,the administrative decentralization in Iraq which remains weak and it may be imposed to a set of problems. - The study includes an introduction, conclusion and a set of political and cultural issues , its components and it may have the political analysis of this culture and its role in determining the movement of the administrative decentralized movement in Iraq post 2003.
This paper presents a fully computerized method to backup the router configuration file. The method consists of a friendly graphical interface programmed by Java programming language.
The proposed method is compared with the two existing methods, namely: TFTP server method and Copy/Paste method. The comparison reveals that the proposed method has many advantages over the existing ones. The proposed method has been implemented on Cisco routers (series 2500, 2600 and 2800).
In this paper, a new hybrid algorithm for linear programming model based on Aggregate production planning problems is proposed. The new hybrid algorithm of a simulated annealing (SA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms. PSO algorithm employed for a good balance between exploration and exploitation in SA in order to be effective and efficient (speed and quality) for solving linear programming model. Finding results show that the proposed approach is achieving within a reasonable computational time comparing with PSO and SA algorithms.
The density functional B3LYP is used to investigate the effect of decorating the silver (Ag) atom on the sensing capability of an AlN nanotube (AlN-NT) in detecting thiophosgene (TP). There is a weak interaction between the pristine AlN-NT and TP with the sensing response (SR) of approximately 9.4. Decoration of the Ag atom into the structure of AlN-NT causes the adsorption energy of TP to decrease from − 6.2 to − 22.5 kcal/mol. Also, the corresponding SR increases significantly to 100.5. Moreover, the recovery time when TP is desorbed from the surface of the Ag-decorated AlN-NT (Ag@AlN-NT) is short, i.e., 24.9 s. The results show that Ag@AlN-NT can selectively detect TP among other gases, such as N2, O2, CO2, CO, and H2O.
A case–control study (80 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection and 96 controls) was performed to evaluate the association of an IL12A gene variant (rs582537 A/C/G) with HBV infection. Allele G showed a signifcantly lower frequency in patients compared to controls (31.2 vs. 46.9%; probability [p]=0.009; corrected p [pc]=0.027) and was associated with a lower risk of HBV infection (odds ratio [OR]=0.49; 95% confdence interval [CI]=0.29–0.83). A similar lower risk was associated with genotypes CG (17.5 vs. 29.2; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.08–0.81; p=0.02) and GG (10.0 vs. 16.7; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.07–0.91; p=0.036), but the pc value was not signifcant (0.12 and 0.126, respec‑ tively). Serum IL35 levels showed signifcant difere
... Show MoreThe current study introduces a novel technique to handle electrochemical localized corrosion in certain limited regions rather than applying comprehensive cathodic protection (CP) treatment. An impressed current cathodic protection cell (ICCPC) was fabricated and firmly installed on the middle of a steel structure surface to deter localized corrosion in fixed or mobile steel structures. The designed ICCPC comprises three essential parts: an anode, a cathode, and an artificial electrolyte. The latter was developed to mimic the function of the natural electrolyte in CP. A proportional-integrated-derivative (PID) controller was designed to stabilize this potential below the ICCPC at a cathodic potential of −850 mV, which is crucial for prote
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