A biconical antenna has been developed for ultra-wideband sensing. A wide impedance bandwidth of around 115% at bandwidth 3.73-14 GHz is achieved which shows that the proposed antenna exhibits a fairly sensitive sensor for microwave medical imaging applications. The sensor and instrumentation is used together with an improved version of delay and sum image reconstruction algorithm on both fatty and glandular breast phantoms. The relatively new imaging set-up provides robust reconstruction of complex permittivity profiles especially in glandular phantoms, producing results that are well matched to the geometries and composition of the tissues. Respectively, the signal-to-clutter and the signal-to-mean ratios of the improved method are consis

The study presents the modification of the Broyden-Flecher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) update (H-Version) based on the determinant property of inverse of Hessian matrix (second derivative of the objective function), via updating of the vector s ( the difference between the next solution and the current solution), such that the determinant of the next inverse of Hessian matrix is equal to the determinant of the current inverse of Hessian matrix at every iteration. Moreover, the sequence of inverse of Hessian matrix generated by the method would never  approach a near-singular matrix, such that the program would never break before the minimum value of the objective function is obtained. Moreover, the new modification of BFGS update (H-vers

Abstract: Aluminum alloys grade 6061-T6 are characterized by their excellent properties and processing characteristics which make them ideal for varieties of industrial applications under cyclic loading, aluminum alloys show less fatigue life than steel alloys of similar strength. In the current study, a nanosecond fiber laser of maximum pulse energy up to 9.9 mJ was used to apply laser shock peening process (LSP) on aluminum thin sheets to introduce residual stresses in order to enhance fatigue life under cyclic loading Box-Behnken design (BBD) based on the design of experiments (DOE) was employed in this study for experimental design data analysis, model building and optimization The effect of working parameters spot size (ω), scannin

Albizia lebbeck biomass was used as an adsorbent material in the present study to remove methyl red dye from an aqueous solution. A central composite rotatable design model was used to predict the dye removal efficiency. The optimization was accomplished under a temperature and mixing control system (37?C) with different particle size of 300 and 600 ?m. Highest adsorption efficiencies were obtained at lower dye concentrations and lower weight of adsorbent. The adsorption time, more than 48 h, was found to have a negative effect on the removal efficiency due to secondary metabolites compounds. However, the adsorption time was found to have a positive effect at high dye concentrations and high adsorbent weight. The colour removal effi

Albizia lebbeck biomass was used as an adsorbent material in the present study to remove methyl red dye from an aqueous solution. A central composite rotatable design model was used to predict the dye removal efficiency. The optimization was accomplished under a temperature and mixing control system (37?C) with different particle size of 300 and 600 ?m. Highest adsorption efficiencies were obtained at lower dye concentrations and lower weight of adsorbent. The adsorption time, more than 48 h, was found to have a negative effect on the removal efficiency due to secondary metabolites compounds. However, the adsorption time was found to have a positive effect at high dye concentrations and high adsorbent weight. The colour removal effi

In this paper, a cognitive system based on a nonlinear neural controller and intelligent algorithm that will guide an autonomous mobile robot during continuous path-tracking and navigate over solid obstacles with avoidance was proposed. The goal of the proposed structure is to plan and track the reference path equation for the autonomous mobile robot in the mining environment to avoid the obstacles and reach to the target position by using intelligent optimization algorithms. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithms are used to finding the solutions of the mobile robot navigation problems in the mine by searching the optimal paths and finding the reference path equation of the optimal

Today, urban Stormwater management is one of the main concerns of municipalities and stakeholders. Drought and water scarcity made rainwater harvesting one of the main steps toward climate change adaptation. Due to the deterioration of the quality of urban runoff and the increase of impermeable urban land use, the treatment of urban runoff is essential. Best Management Practice (BMP) and Low Impact Development (LID) approaches are necessary to combat climate change consequences by improving the quantity and quality of water resources. The application of Bioswales along urban streets and roadways can reduce the stress on water resources, recharge groundwater and prevent groundwater pollution. While Sulaymaniyah City has a

The goal of this experimental study is to determine the effects of different parameters (Flow rate, cuttings density, cuttings size, and hole inclination degree) on hole cleaning efficiency. Freshwater was used as a drilling fluid in this experiment. The experiments were conducted by using flow loop consist of approximately 14 m (46 ft) long with transparent glass test section of 3m (9.84 ft.) long with 4 inches (101.6 mm) ID, the inner metal drill pipe with 2 inches (50.8 mm) OD settled with eccentric position positive 0.5. The results obtained from this study show that the hole cleanings efficiency become better with high flow rate (21 m3/hr) and it increase as the hole inclination angles increased from 60 to 90 degree due to dominated

The linear segment with parabolic blend (LSPB) trajectory deviates from the specified waypoints. It is restricted to that the acceleration must be sufficiently high. In this work, it is proposed to engage modified LSPB trajectory with particle swarm optimization (PSO) so as to create through points on the trajectory. The assumption of normal LSPB method that parabolic part is centered in time around waypoints is replaced by proposed coefficients for calculating the time duration of the linear part. These coefficients are functions of velocities between through points. The velocities are obtained by PSO so as to force the LSPB trajectory passing exactly through the specified path points. Also, relations for velocity correction and exact v