Bacteria strain H8, which produces high amount of exopolysaccharide (EPS), was isolated from soil, and identified as strain of Azotobacter chrococcum by its biochemical /physiological characteristics, EPS was extracted, partially purified and used as bioflocculant. The biochemical analysis of the partially purified EPS revealed that it was an alginate. analysis of EPS by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) show that the -OH groups present in bioflocculant are clearly seen at 3433.06 cm-1, the peaks attributed to the -CH3 groups present at 2916.17 cm-1 , and some distinct peaks such as carboxyl group showed strong absorption bands at 1604.66 cm-1, 1411.80 cm-1 and 1303.79 cm-1 indicate the chemical structure of alginate. The effects of various salts, temperature, bioflocculant dosage and pH on the flocculation activity (turbidity removal) were evaluated. When various salts, were used as cation, results showed that CaCl2 and ZnSO4.7H2O enhanced flocculation activity 57.3% and 55.3% respectively compared with CuSO4 and MnCl2 which was 37.5% and 10 % respectively. The bioflocculant had strong thermal stability within the range of 20-100 °C, and the flocculating activity was over 50 %, the maximum flocculation activity was observed at an optimum bioflocculant dosage of 0.25 mL /10 mL (60.8%)., the bioflocculant had highest flocculating activity at alkaline condition pH 10 (77.7 %). After optimization of flocculation conditions, bioflocculant produced was applied to deal with river water and the flocculating activity (turbidity removal) increased to 81%.
The process of controlling a Flexible Joint Robot Manipulator (FJRM) requires additional sensors for measuring the state variables of flexible joints. Therefore, taking the elasticity into account adds a lot of complexity as all the additional sensors must be taken into account during the control process. This paper proposes a nonlinear observer that controls FJRM, without requiring equipment sensors for measuring the states. The nonlinear state equations are derived in detail for the FJRM where nonlinearity, of order three, is considered. The Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy Model (T-SFM) technique is applied to linearize the FJRM system. The Luenberger observer is designed to estimate the unmeasured states using error correction. The develop
... Show MoreThe political situation experienced by Iraq before the events of 2003 that led to the collapse of infrastructure. rebuilding costs were estimated after 2003 by187(million USD) according to the estimates of the basic needs as stated in Five-Year Plan 2010-2014. The difficult in financing projects and the continuous demands for maintenance and operating cost, and working by contemporary styles in different countries, the strategic option is to adopt the government entering the private sector as a partner in the development process. Since public _private partnership (PPP's) is at a germinating stage of development in Iraq, it has been studied the critical success factors(CSF's) in the experiences of countries that have implemented the style
... Show MoreThe global food supply heavily depends on utilizing fertilizers to meet production goals. The adverse impacts of traditional fertilization practices on the environment have necessitated the exploration of new alternatives in the form of smart fertilizer technologies (SFTs). This review seeks to categorize SFTs, which are slow and controlled-release Fertilizers (SCRFs), nano fertilizers, and biological fertilizers, and describes their operational principles. It examines the environmental implications of conventional fertilizers and outlines the attributes of SFTs that effectively address these concerns. The findings demonstrate a pronounced environmental advantage of SFTs, including enhanced crop yields, minimized nutrient loss, improved nut
... Show MoreThis study successfully synthesized high-performance photodetectors based on Ag-WO3 core–shell heterostructures using a simple and economical two-step pulsed laser ablation in water method and has investigated the electrical characteristics of the Ag@WO3 nanocomposite heterojunction. The Hall effect tests indicate that the synthesized Ag@WO3 exhibits n-type conduction with a Hall mobility of 1.25 × 103 cm2V-1S-1. Dark current–voltage properties indicated that the created heterojunctions displayed rectification capabilities, with the highest rectification factor of around 1.71 seen at a 5 V bias. A photodetector’s responsivity reveals the existence of two response peaks, which are situated in the ultraviolet and visible region. The ph
... Show MorePosition control of servo motor systems is a challenging task because of inevitable factors such as uncertainties, nonlinearities, parametric variations, and external perturbations. In this article, to alleviate the above issues, a practical adaptive fast terminal sliding mode control (PAFTSMC) is proposed for better tracking performance of the servo motor system by using a state observer and bidirectional adaptive law. First, a smooth-tangent-hyperbolic-function-based practical fast terminal sliding mode control (PFTSM) surface is designed to ensure not only fast finite time tracking error convergence but also chattering reduction. Second, the PAFTSMC is proposed for the servo motor, in which a two-way adaptive law is designed to further s
... Show MoreUltraviolet photodetectors have been widely utilized in several applications, such as advanced communication, ozone sensing, air purification, flame detection, etc. Gallium nitride and its compound semiconductors have been promising candidates in photodetection applications. Unlike polar gallium nitride-based optoelectronics, non-polar gallium nitride-based optoelectronics have gained huge attention due to the piezoelectric and spontaneous polarization effect–induced quantum confined-stark effect being eliminated. In turn, non-polar gallium nitride-based photodetectors portray higher efficiency and faster response compared to the polar growth direction. To date, however, a systematic literature review of non-polar gallium nitride-
... Show MoreAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive disorder that affects cognitive brain functions and starts many years before its clinical manifestations. A biomarker that provides a quantitative measure of changes in the brain due to AD in the early stages would be useful for early diagnosis of AD, but this would involve dealing with large numbers of people because up to 50% of dementia sufferers do not receive formal diagnosis. Thus, there is a need for accurate, low-cost, and easy to use biomarkers that could be used to detect AD in its early stages. Potentially, electroencephalogram (EEG) based biomarkers can play a vital role in early diagnosis of AD as they can fulfill these needs. This is a cross-sectional study that aims to demon
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