A bolted–welded hybrid demountable shear connector for use in deconstructable steel–concrete composite buildings and bridges was proposed. The hybrid connector consisted of a partially threaded stud, which was welded on the flange of a steel section, and a machined steel tube with compatible geometry, which was bolted on the stud. Four standard pushout tests according to Eurocode 4 were carried out to assess the shear performance of the hybrid connector. The experimental results show that the initial stiffness, shear resistance, and slip capacity of the proposed connector were higher than those of traditional welded studs. The hybrid connector was a ductile connector, according to Eurocode 4, with slip capacity higher than 6 mm. A nonli

This paper presents a meta-heuristic swarm based optimization technique for solving robot path planning. The natural activities of actual ants inspire which named Ant Colony Optimization. (ACO) has been proposed in this work to find the shortest and safest path for a mobile robot in different static environments with different complexities. A nonzero size for the mobile robot has been considered in the project by taking a tolerance around the obstacle to account for the actual size of the mobile robot. A new concept was added to standard Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) for further modifications. Simulations results, which carried out using MATLAB 2015(a) environment, prove that the suggested algorithm outperforms the standard version of AC

Background: A case-control study design revealeda relationship between the present of fluoride, and the reduction of dental caries and the increase prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis .The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and severity of dental caries in relation to dental fluorosis among school children in Al-Muthana'a Governorate. Materials and methods: It was conducted among primary school students aged 12 years old, the age was taken according to the criteria of World Health Organization (1997) (1).The number of students was selected in each sector of control group according to number of schools in that sector .Sectors of control group which depend on water of river as source of drinking water. Case group which inc

Background: Congenital heart disease is one of the most common developmental anomalies in children. These patients commonly have poor oral health that increase caries risk. Dental management of children with congenital heart disease requires special attention, because of their heightened susceptibility to infectious endocarditis. The aims of this study were to assess the severity of dental caries of primary and permanent teeth and treatment needs in relation to nutritional indicator (Body Mass Index) among children with congenital heart disease. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, case group consisted of 399 patients aged between 6-12 years old with congenital heart disease were examined for dental status in Ibn Al-Bitar spec

Document source identification in printer forensics involves determining the origin of a printed document based on characteristics such as the printer model, serial number, defects, or unique printing artifacts. This process is crucial in forensic investigations, particularly in cases involving counterfeit documents or unauthorized printing. However, consistent pattern identification across various printer types remains challenging, especially when efforts are made to alter printer-generated artifacts. Machine learning models are often used in these tasks, but selecting discriminative features while minimizing noise is essential. Traditional KNN classifiers require a careful selection of distance metrics to capture relevant printing