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.
The purpose of this work is to concurrently estimate the UVvisible spectra of binary combinations of piroxicam and mefenamic acid using the chemometric approach. To create the model, spectral data from 73 samples (with wavelengths between 200 and 400 nm) were employed. A two-layer artificial neural network model was created, with two neurons in the output layer and fourteen neurons in the hidden layer. The model was trained to simulate the concentrations and spectra of piroxicam and mefenamic acid. For piroxicam and mefenamic acid, respectively, the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm with feed-forward back-propagation learning produced root mean square errors of prediction of 0.1679 μg/mL and 0.1154 μg/mL, with coefficients of determination of
... Show MoreIn this study, the upgrading of Iraqi heavy crude oil was achieved utilizing the solvent deasphalting approach (SDA) and enhanced solvent deasphalting (e-SDA) by adding Nanosilica (NS). The NS was synthesized from local sand. The XRD result, referred to as the amorphous phase, has a wide peak at 2Θ= (22 - 23º) The inclusion of hydrogen-bonded silanol groups (Si–O–H) and siloxane groups (Si–O–Si) in the FTIR spectra. The SDA process was handled using n-pentane solvent at various solvent to oil ratios (SOR) (4-16/1ml/g), room and reflux temperature, and 0.5 h mixing time. In the e-SDA process, various fractions of the NS (1–7 wt.%) have been utilized with 61 nm particle size and 560.86 m²/g surface area in the presence of 12 m
... Show MoreDue to the great evolution in digital commercial cameras, several studies have addressed the using of such cameras in different civil and close-range applications such as 3D models generation. However, previous studies have not discussed a precise relationship between a camera resolution and the accuracy of the models generated based on images of this camera. Therefore the current study aims to evaluate the accuracy of the derived 3D buildings models captured by different resolution cameras. The digital photogrammetric methods were devoted to derive 3D models using the data of various resolution cameras and analyze their accuracies. This investigation involves selecting three different resolution cameras (low, medium and
... Show MoreThis study examined >140 relevant publications from the last few years (2018–2021). In this study, classification was reviewed depending on the operation's progress. Electrocoagulation (EC), electrooxidation (EO), electroflotation (EF), electrodialysis (ED), and electro-Fenton (EFN) processes have received considerable attention. The type of action (individual or hybrid) for each electrochemical procedure was evaluated, and statistical analysis was performed to compare them as a new manner of reviewing cited papers providing a massive amount of information efficiently to the readers. Individual or hybrid operation progress of the electrochemical techniques is critical issues. Their design, operation, and maintenance costs vary depending o
... Show MoreObjective: Econazole nitrate (ECZ) is one of the triazole antifungal drugs with poor aqueous solubility and dissolution rate; there is a need for enhancement of solubility. Therefore; inclusion complexation with β cyclodextrin (βCD) was performed. Methods: In this study kneading method and co-evaporation method of preparation of inclusion complex between βCD and ECZ using two molar ratios of βCD. The solubility of these complexes in isotonic saline solution and distilled water was studied. Complexes prepared by kneading method were used for the preparation of different ophthalmic gel formulas using carbomer (CB) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (sod CMC) as a gelling agent. The release profile and the rheological behaviour of the gel w
... Show MoreThis study investigates the elimination of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from an Iraqi petroleum refinery effluent through a combined electro‐Fenton and adsorption process (EF+AC). Response surface methodology (RSM) with a Box–Behnken design (BBD) was employed to investigate the effects of FeSO 4 concentration, current density, and electrolysis time on the reduction of COD using the EF technique. According to the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the EF technique, FeSO 4 concentrations, with a contribution of 40.06%, and cur
Flexible joint robot (FJR) manipulators can offer many attractive features over rigid manipulators, including light weight, safe operation, and high power efficiency. However, the tracking control of the FJR is challenging due to its inherent problems, such as underactuation, coupling, nonlinearities, uncertainties, and unknown external disturbances. In this article, a terminal sliding mode control (TSMC) is proposed for the FJR system to guarantee the finite-time convergence of the systems output, and to achieve the total robustness against the lumped disturbance and estimation error. By using two coordinate transformations, the FJR dynamics is turned into a canonical form. A cascaded finite-time sliding mode observer (CFTSMO) is construct
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