The purpose of this study is to avoid delays and cost changes that occur in emergency reconstruction projects especially in post disaster circumstances. This study is aimed to identify the factors that affect the real construction period and the real cost of a project against the estimated period of construction and the estimated cost of the project. The case study is related to the construction projects in Iraq. Thirty projects in different areas of construction in Iraq were selected as a sample for this study. Project participants from the projects authorities provided data about the projects through a data collection distributed survey made by the authors. Mathematical data analysis was used to construct a model to predict change in time and cost of the projects before the start of the construction. The artificial neural networks analysis was selected as a mathematical approach. The most important factors identified leading to schedule delays and cost increase were contractor failure, redesigning of designs/plans and change orders, security issues, selection of low-price bids, weather factors, and owner failures. The use of the ANN model for such a problem is expected to be an effective method for modeling this complicated phenomenon.
Background: Intense pulsed light (IPL) devices produce polychromatic incoherent high-intensity pulsed light with a specified wavelength spectrum, fluence, and pulse duration through the use of flashlamps and bandpass filters. Similar to lasers, IPL devices operate on the selective photothermolysis principle, with melanin acting as the chromophore. Despite this similarity, they are constructed differently and produce different amounts of light Aim of the study: To investigate the efficacy of IPL home-use device in hair reduction technique for women with unwanted facial hair. Subjects and methods: The study was conducted in Baghdad on forty-five female subjects with Fitzpatrick skin phototype (II to IV) and black, brown hair in a period of ei
... Show MoreOrthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is one of recent years multicarrier modulation used in order to combat the Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) introduced by frequency selective mobile radio channel. The circular extension of the data symbol, commonly referred to as cyclic prefix is one of the key elements in an OFDM transmission scheme. This paper study The influence of the cyclic prefix duration on the BER performance of an OFDM-VCPL (Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing - Variable Cyclic Prefix Length) system and the conventional OFDM system with frame 64-QAM modulation is evaluated by means of computer simulation in a multipath fading channel. The adaptation of CP is done with respect to the delay spread estimation
... Show MoreCiprofloxacin is a broad spectrum fluoroquinolone, effective in the treatment of a wide range of infections, including genitourinary tract infections.In this study, bioadhesive vaginal tablets of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride were prepared by direct compression method using a combination of bioadhesivepolymers carbopol 934P(Cp), carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and sodium alginate (SA) in different ratios.The prepared tablet formulations were characterized by measuring their swelling capacity, surface pH, bioadhesive properties, and in-vitro drug dissolution. It was found that the bioadhesive force was directly proportional to carbopol 934P content in different formulae and was further enhanced by the inclusion of carboxymethylcellulose.
... Show MoreThe anatomic characteristics of the leaves of 22 taxa of Stachys L. representing seven of the currently recognized sections distributed in northern Iraq, were examined. The study did not found any variations in the characteristics of the stomata system of the leaves.Therewere variations with a good taxonomic value in other anatomic characteristics.Thevariations in characters of the mesophyll tissue in S.kurdica var.brevidens Bom ex Bhattacharjeewas bifacial but in S.kurdica var.kurdica Boiss. & Hohen.was unifacial .The study also found that the taxa S.benthamiana Bioss., S.lanigera (Bornm.) Rech.f. andS.kotscyi Bioss. with 3 vascular bundles in the middle vein while the taxa S.ballotiformis Vatke., S.megalodonta Hausskn. &Bo
... Show MoreBackground: left ventricular hypertrophy is independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The presence of diabetic complications such as autonomic neuropathy and retinopathy may predict cardiac structural changes in diabetic patients. Objective: To explore the chance of occurrence of left ventricular hypertrophy in diabetic patients and whether it is related to the presence of other diabetic complications. Methods: ninty seven (97) normotensive diabetic patients (57) type II with mean duration of diabetes of (12±6 y) and forty (40) type I with mean duration of (8±6 y) were studied by echocardiography and compared with 41 patients as control. Results: The LVMI was significantly higher in type II diabetics compared
... Show MoreIntroduction: The current study investigated the use of acid-treated rice husks to remove heavy metals and organic pollutants from water containing heavy metals (R2C and Cd2) and organic pollutants (phenol and atrazine). Methods: The adsorption effect of acid-treated rice husks was compared with other adsorbents such as activated carbon, chitosan, and bentonite clay. Result: both acid-treated rice husks and activated carbon were highly efficient materials, and thus, rice husks were established as a cost-effective alternative. It was revealed that acid treatment of rice husks enhanced adsorption capacity by half, and lead removal was nearly doubled. The most effective pH value for optimizing organic pollutants and heavy metals while
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