Water supply projects (WSP) requires high plan information, specialized capabilities, capable human resources, and high administrative capacity. However, in the developing countries, particularly in Iraq, these projects experience a lack of a large number of these necessities, which shows the need to identify the critical success factors (CSFs). Accordingly, the objectives of this research are to investigate the CSFs for WSP and their significance among the construction (public and private) and education sectors. To achieve this, first we have carried out a comprehensive literature review of the CSFs for WSP. Second, we administrated a questionnaire survey to 260 construction experts working in the construction and education sectors. It was found that the top five important success factors for water supply projects in Iraq were a stable political environment; sustainable construction legislation and regulation; effective risk management practices; well-organized and committed project teams; and government decisions through the project life cycle. The survey results did not indicate major differences in the perception of the experts. The findings are focused to assist construction practitioners’ gain better understanding on the important areas to achieve project set objectives.
In this work, mesoporous silica SBA-15 was prepared and functionalized with amine groups (i.e., NH2) to form NH2/SBA-15. The curcumin (CUR) was encapsulated into the surface and pore of NH2/SBA-15 to create CUR@NH2/SBA-15 as an efficient carrier in drug delivery systems (DDSs). The three samples (i.e., SBA-15, NH2/SBA-15, and CUR@NH2/SBA-15) were characterized. The study investigated the effect of the carrier dose, initial CUR concentration, pH, and contact time on the CUR loading efficiency (DLE%) via adsorption. The best DLE% for the SBA-15 and NH2/SBA-15 were found to be 45% and 89.7%, respectively. The Langmuir isotherm had a greater correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.998 for SBA-15. A pseudo-secondorder kinetic model seemed to fit well
... Show MoreThis study conducted an analytical investigation on the behavior of concrete beams with openings reinforced by glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. In this study, five proposed beams reinforced by GFRP bars as flexural and shear reinforcement with openings were numerically examined. The variables were the opening orientation (vertical and horizontal) and the number of openings. These openings were located within the flexural zone of the proposed beams. The result shows that the vertical openings had a significant effect over the horizontal openings on reducing the ultimate load and increasing the mid-span deflection compared with the control beam. Moreover, the results showed t
Emulsion Liquid Membrane (ELM) is an emerging technology that removes contaminants from water and industrial wastewater. This study investigated the stability and extraction efficiency of ELM for the removal of Chlorpyrifos Pesticide (CP) from wastewater. The stability was studied in terms of emulsion breakage. The proposed ELM included n-hexane as a diluent, span-80 as a surfactant, and hydrochloric acid (HCl) as a stripping agent. Parameters such as mixing speed, aqueous feed solution pH, internal-to-organic membrane volume ratio, and external-to-emulsion volume ratio were investigated. A minimum emulsion breakage of 0.66% coupled with a maximum chlorpyrifos extraction and stripping efficiency were achieved at 96.1% and 95.7% at b
... Show Moresix specimens of the Hg0.5Pb0.5Ba2Ca2Cu3-y
It is often needed to have circuits that can display the decimal representation of a binary number and specifically in this paper on a 7-segment display. In this paper a circuit that can display the decimal equivalent of an n-bit binary number is designed and it’s behavior is described using Verilog Hardware Descriptive Language (HDL). This HDL program is then used to configure an FPGA to implement the designed circuit.
A Stereomicroscopic Evaluation of Four Endodontic Sealers Penetration into Artificial Lateral Canals Using Gutta-Percha Single Cone Obturation Technique, Omar Jihad Banawi*, Raghad
Background Obstructing dentinal tubules is a valuable approach for managing dentin hypersensitivity. Although various agents promote dentin remineralization, direct comparisons between theobromine, bioactive glass (BAG), and nano-hydroxyapatite (Nano-HAP) under simulated oral conditions remain limited. To fill this gap, this in vitro study aimed to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of these three treatments on exposed cervical dentin. The assessment focused on their chemical, morphological, and mechanical effects on dentin. Materials and methods Forty-eight human dentin slabs were obtained from the cervical portions of twelve sound premolar teeth. Baseline Raman spectroscopy and VMH tests were done to exclude outliers. All specimens we
... Show MoreIn this work, solid random gain media were fabricated from laser dye solutions containing nanoparticles as scattering centers. Two different rhodamine dyes (123 and 6G) were used to host the highly-pure titanium dioxide nanoparticles to form the random gain media. The spectroscopic characteristics (mainly fluorescence) of these media were determined and studied. These random gain media showed laser emission in the visible region of electromagnetic spectrum. Fluorescence characteristics can be controlled to few nanometers by adjusting the characteristics of the host and nanoparticles as well as the preparation conditions of the samples. Emission of narrow linewidth (3nm) and high intensity in the visible region (533-537nm) was obtained.