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.
Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of aromatic compounds that contain at least two rings. These compounds are found naturally in petroleum products and are considered the most prevalent pollutants in the environment. The lack of microorganism capable of degrading some PAHs led to their accumulation in the environment which usually causes major health problems as many of these compounds are known carcinogens. Xanthene is one of the small PAHs which has three rings. Many xanthene derivatives are useful dyes that are used for dyeing wood and cosmetic articles. However, several studies have illustrated that these compounds have toxic and carcinogenic effects. The first step of the bacterial degradation of xanthene is conducted by d
... Show MoreDeep learning (DL) plays a significant role in several tasks, especially classification and prediction. Classification tasks can be efficiently achieved via convolutional neural networks (CNN) with a huge dataset, while recurrent neural networks (RNN) can perform prediction tasks due to their ability to remember time series data. In this paper, three models have been proposed to certify the evaluation track for classification and prediction tasks associated with four datasets (two for each task). These models are CNN and RNN, which include two models (Long Short Term Memory (LSTM)) and GRU (Gated Recurrent Unit). Each model is employed to work consequently over the two mentioned tasks to draw a road map of deep learning mod
... Show MoreLED is an ultra-lightweight block cipher that is mainly used in devices with limited resources. Currently, the software and hardware structure of this cipher utilize a complex logic operation to generate a sequence of random numbers called round constant and this causes the algorithm to slow down and record low throughput. To improve the speed and throughput of the original algorithm, the Fast Lightweight Encryption Device (FLED) has been proposed in this paper. The key size of the currently existing LED algorithm is in 64-bit & 128-bit but this article focused mainly on the 64-bit key (block size=64-bit). In the proposed FLED design, complex operations have been replaced by LFSR left feedback technology to make the algorithm perform more e
... Show MoreBackground: Although underdeveloped in Iraq, telehealth was one tool used to continue health service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aim: To assess women’s experiences and satisfaction with gynaecological and obstetric telehealth services in Iraq during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Free telehealth services were provided by 4 obstetrician-gynaecologists associated with private clinics in 2020–2021. All patients who accessed the services between June 2020 and February 2021 were invited to complete a postconsultation survey on their experience and satisfaction with services. Results were analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression conducted using SPSS version 25. Results: A total of 151 (30.2%) women re
... Show MoreA system was used to detect injuries in plant leaves by combining machine learning and the principles of image processing. A small agricultural robot was implemented for fine spraying by identifying infected leaves using image processing technology with four different forward speeds (35, 46, 63 and 80 cm/s). The results revealed that increasing the speed of the agricultural robot led to a decrease in the mount of supplements spraying and a detection percentage of infected plants. They also revealed a decrease in the percentage of supplements spraying by 46.89, 52.94, 63.07 and 76% with different forward speeds compared to the traditional method.
The prostheses sockets use normally composite materials which means that their applications may be related with the human body. Therefore, it was very necessary to improve the mechanical properties of these materials. The prosthetic sockets are subjected to varying stresses in gait cycle scenario which may cause a fatigue damage. Therefore, it is necessary or this work to modify the fatigue behavior of the materials used for manufacturing the prostheses sockets. In this work, different Nano particle materials are used to modify the mechanical properties of the composite materials, and increase the fatigue strength. By using an experimental technique, the effect of using different volu
3D models delivered from digital photogrammetric techniques have massively increased and developed to meet the requirements of many applications. The reliability of these models is basically dependent on the data processing cycle and the adopted tool solution in addition to data quality. Agisoft PhotoScan is a professional image-based 3D modelling software, which seeks to create orderly, precise n 3D content from fixed images. It works with arbitrary images those qualified in both controlled and uncontrolled conditions. Following the recommendations of many users all around the globe, Agisoft PhotoScan, has become an important source to generate precise 3D data for different applications. How reliable is this data for accurate 3D mo
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