Frequently, load associated mode of failure, rutting and fatigue, are the main failure types found in some newly constructed roads within Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, and some suburban areas. The use of excessive amount of natural sand in asphalt concrete mixes which is attractive to local contractors could be one of the possible causes to the lack of strength properties of the mixes resulting in frustration in the pavement performance. In this study, the performance properties of asphalt concrete mixes with two natural sand types, desert and river sands, were evaluated. Moreover, five replacement rates of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% by weight of the fine aggregate finer than 4.75 were used. The performance properties including moisture susceptibility, resilient modulus, permanent deformation, and fatigue characteristics were evaluated using indirect tensile strength, uniaxial repeated loading and repeated flexural beam tests. Also, as a part of the research objective, the laboratory tests result were used to predict the performance using VESYS computer software. Results showed that mixes with high natural sand content (NSC) are more susceptible to moisture damage and rutting, lower resilient modulus and some improvement in fatigue resistance. Based on the obtained results, the necessity has rise to revise the current local specification for asphalt concrete which specifies the limits of natural sand content in the mixes of wearing and binder courses with 25% whereas for base course mixes no limit exist yet.
Researchers need to understand the differences between parametric and nonparametric regression models and how they work with available information about the relationship between response and explanatory variables and the distribution of random errors. This paper proposes a new nonparametric regression function for the kernel and employs it with the Nadaraya-Watson kernel estimator method and the Gaussian kernel function. The proposed kernel function (AMS) is then compared to the Gaussian kernel and the traditional parametric method, the ordinary least squares method (OLS). The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of nonparametric regression and identify the best-performing model when employing the Nadaraya-Watson
... Show MoreTwo field experimسents were conducted in one of the fields of the Agriculture Division of Ain Al-Tamr /Holy Karbala Governorate at two sites of different textures during the agricultural season 2020/2021. The first site has sandy loam texture (gypsum soils). The second site has loamy sand texture (calcareous soils). The factors of the study included: The first factor included two types of soil, gypsum and calcareous soil. The second factor is the tillage systems (no-tillage, spring spike harrows, disc harrows, and mold board plow). The experiment was designed in the two study sites according to the RCBD with three replications. The Valley type center pivot irrigation system was evaluated before planting, three speeds, 30, 50 and 100% of th
... Show MoreThis study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From
... Show MoreThis study expands the state of the art in studies that assess torsional retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) multi-cell box girders with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips. The torsional behavior of non-damaged and pre-damaged RC multi-cell box girder specimens externally retrofitted by CFRP strips was investigated through a series of laboratory experiments. It was found that retrofitting the pre-damaged specimens with CFRP strips increased the ultimate torsional capacity by more than 50% as compared to the un-damaged specimens subjected to equivalent retrofitting. This indicated that the retrofit has been less effective for the girder specimen that did not develop distortion beforehand as a result of pre-loading. From
... Show MoreA mathematical model has been formulated to predict the influence of high outdoor air temperature on the performance of small scale air - conditioning system using R22 and alternative refrigerants R290, R407C, R410A. All refrigerants were investigated in the cooling mode operation. The mathematical model results have been validated with experimental data extracted from split type air conditioner of 2 TR capacity. This entailed the construction of an experimental test rig which consists of four main parts. They are, the refrigeration system, psychrometric test facility, measuring instrumentation, and auxiliary systems. The conditioned air was maintained at 25 0C dry bulb and 19 0C wet bulb for all tests. The outdoor ambient air temperatur
... Show MoreSome of the main challenges in developing an effective network-based intrusion detection system (IDS) include analyzing large network traffic volumes and realizing the decision boundaries between normal and abnormal behaviors. Deploying feature selection together with efficient classifiers in the detection system can overcome these problems. Feature selection finds the most relevant features, thus reduces the dimensionality and complexity to analyze the network traffic. Moreover, using the most relevant features to build the predictive model, reduces the complexity of the developed model, thus reducing the building classifier model time and consequently improves the detection performance. In this study, two different sets of select
... Show MoreThis research dealt with the process of reducing costs through some strategic methods of management accounting targeted cost analysis unassembled and Alkeisen, where he focused this research through his theory on a review of some administrative accounting strategic technologies, while the second practical side through the application of targeted cost analysis unassembled and Alkeisen, acquired Search importance of focusing on the decisions to cut costs, through the use of some administrative accounting strategic methods and this we can unassembled analysis, continuous improvement, and the cost of quality) when applied quality, "in light of this has been reached to a set of conclusions that the most important of the company's relian
... Show MoreObjectives: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of staff nurses at primary health care centers in Baghdad city and to compare them with their demographic characteristics of age, gender and education.
Methodology: A descriptive design was carried out at Baghdad City’s primary health care centers from January 2nd 2019 to May 1st 2020. An instrument was developed for the purpose of the study. A non-probability, multi-stage purposive sample of (52) staff nurses was recruited from nurses working at primary health care centers in Baghdad City. The instrument is used to evaluate staff nurses’ performance which includes (62) items. These items are divided to (13) main domains related to evaluation of work quantity, work quality,