This study was set out to investigate factors affecting labor productivity on construction in the north of Iraq (Kurdistan) and to rank all the factors based on engineers, contractors, and designer’s opinions. 76 factors were analyzed based on previous literature and a pilot study. Next, by using online Google Form, a questionnaire form was created and sent to people who have experience in the construction industry. Afterward, the questionnaire form was sent to targeted people by email and social media apps. Factors were divided into nine groups “Management, Technical and Technology, Human and Workforce, Leadership, Motivation, Safety, Time, Material and Equipment, and External”. However, 202 respondents participated in this study,

Seepage through earth dams is one of the most popular causes for earth dam collapse due to internal granule movement and seepage transfer. In earthen dams, the core plays a vital function in decreasing seepage through the dam body and lowering the phreatic line. In this research, an alternative soil to the clay soil used in the dam core has been proposed by conducting multiple experiments to test the permeability of silty and sandy soil with different additives materials. Then the selected sandy soil model was used to represent the dam experimentally, employing a permeability device to measure the amount of water that seeps through the dam's body and to represent the seepage line. A numerical model was adopted using Geo-Studio software i

Aortic valve replacement (AVR) is the gold standard method for management of severe aortic stenosis (AS), with transcatheter balloon valvoplasty (BAV) increasingly used as palliative option for calcified valve in experienced hand. In the AVR era, BAV was not considered a long-term definitive treatment for severe calcific AS due to a high restenosis rate and short durability of gradient improvement. However, it continues to have an important role as a bridge-to-decision or bridge-to-intervention in cases where definitive therapy must be delayed due to clinical instability, imaging uncertainty or failed trial of surgical valve replacement. We report a case of heavily calcified AS in an adolescent female, in which the calcification in

Statistical studies are reported in this article for an active galactic nuclei sample of different type of active galaxies Seyferts 1, Seyferts 2, and Quasars. These sources have been selected from a Catalogue for bright X-ray galaxies. The name of this index is ROSAT Bright Source Catalogue (RBSC) and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS). In this research, multi-wavelength observational bands Radio at 1.4 GHz, Optical at 4400 A0, and X-ray at energy 0.1-2.4 KeV have been adopted in this study. The behavior of flux density ratios has been studied ,  with respect to the absolute magnitude . Furthermore, the Seyfert1 and Seyfert 2 objects are combined in one group and the QSOs are collectest in another group. Also, it has been found that t

This research is carried out to investigate the externally post-tensioning technique for strengthening RC beams. In this research, four T-section  RC beams having the same dimensions and material properties were casted and tested up to failure by applying two mid-third concentrated loads. Three of these beams are strengthened by using external tendons, while the remaining beam is kept without strengthening as a control beam. Two external strands of 12 mm diameter were fixed at each side of the web of the strengthened beams and located at depth of 200 mm from top fiber of the section (d_ps). So that the depth of strands to overall depth of the section ratio (d_ps

The study aimed to determine the effect of the flipped learning model in improving the acquisition of the overhand serve skill in volleyball among second-year students at the College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Baghdad, for the academic year 2024/2025. The study used an experimental design with a control group and pre-post testing, on a purposive sample consisting of 12 students. The model relied on watching short videos before class via the SGS application, and practical application in class at a rate of three sessions per week. The results showed a significant improvement in performance, as the calculated value (t = 5.356) exceeded the tabulated value (2.042) at a significance level of 0.05. The percentage of s

Tensile strength is a critical property of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) pavements and is closely related to distresses such as fatigue cracking. This study aims to evaluate methods for assessing fatigue cracking in Asphalt Concrete (AC) mixes. In order to achieve optimum density at different binder contents, the mixes were compressed using a gyratory compactor. Tensile strength was assessed using the Indirect Tensile (IDT) and Semi-Circular Bend (SCB) tests. The results showed that the tensile strength measured by the SCB test was consistently higher than that measured by the IDT test at 25 °C. In addition, the SCB test showed a stronger correlation between increasing binder content and tensile strength. For binder contents ranging from 4

Echocardiography is a widely used imaging technique to examine various cardiac functions, especially to detect the left ventricular wall motion abnormality. Unfortunately the quality of echocardiograph images and complexities of underlying motion captured, makes it difficult for an in-experienced physicians/ radiologist to describe the motion abnormalities in a crisp way, leading to possible errors in diagnosis. In this study, we present a method to analyze left ventricular wall motion, by using optical flow to estimate velocities of the left ventricular wall segments and find relation between these segments motion. The proposed method will be able to present real clinical help to verify the left ventricular wall motion diagnosis.