Construction projects are complicated in nature and require many considerations in contractor selection. One of the complicated interactions is that between performance with the project size, and contractor financial status, and size of projects contracted. At the prequalification stage, the financial ‎requirements restrict the ‎contractors to meet minimum limits in financial criteria such as net worth, working capital and ‎annual turnover, etc. In construction projects, however, there are cases when contractors meet these requirements but show low performance in practice. The model used in the study predicts the performance by training of a neural network. The data used in the study are 72 of the most recent roadw

Selective recovery of atropine from Datura innoxia seeds was studied. Applying pertraction in a rotating film contactor (RFC) the alkaloid was successfully recovered from native aqueous extracts obtained from the plant seeds. Decane as a liquid membrane and sulfuric acid as a stripping agent were used. Pertraction from native liquid extracts provided also a good atropine refinement, since the most of co-extracted from the plant species remained in the feed or membrane solution. Solid–liquid extraction of atropine from Datura innoxia seeds was coupled with RF-pertraction in order to purify simultaneously the extract obtained from the plant. Applying the integrated process, proposed in this study, a product containing 92.6% atropine was

This paper aims to validate a proposed finite element model to be adopted in predicting displacement and soil stresses of a piled-raft foundation. The proposed model adopts the solid element to simulate the raft, piles, and soil mass. An explicit integration scheme has been used to simulate nonlinear static aspects of the piled-raft foundation and to avoid the computational difficulties associated with the implicit finite element analysis.

The validation process is based on comparing the results of the proposed finite element model with those of a scaled-down experimental work achieved by other researchers. Centrifuge apparatus has been used in the experimental work to generate the required stresses to simulate t

The importance of operational risks increases with the increase in technological development, the development of banking operations, the extent of banking compliance, and the attempt of many banks to achieve quality in banking services. And the extent of the position occupied by Iraqi banks for banking compliance and reducing operational risks. The Basel Committee (2) paid its attention to operational risks and the interest of international banks to follow policies that work to ensure banking compliance and cover operational risks, because of its role in reducing losses due to increased costs and achieving an increase in profits. Realizing and working to confront the best possible and traditional methods, that some risks Operational problem

Recently, important efforts have been made in an attempt to search for the cheapest and ecofriendly alternatives adsorbents. In the present work, waste molasses from Iraqi date palm (Zahdi) had been used as a provenance to produce charcoal for the removal of methylene blue (MB) dye from water. The optimum prepared charcoal was obtained at 150 C, by increasing temperature to 175 C, the charcoal had almost converted to ash. The obtained charcoal have been inspected for properties using scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), porosity and surface area. Adsorption data were optimized to Langmuir and Freundlich and adsorption parameters have been evaluated. The thermodynamic parameters like a change

This study was designed to evaluate the ability of bioemulsifier to inhibit the growth of some pathogenic microorganisms. Fourteen isolates belonged to Serratia sp. were collected and tested for their ability to produce bioemulsifier. Results showed that Serratia marcescens S10 (isolated from the gut of the American cockroach) had the highest ability to produce bioemulsifier, among 14 isolates belong to Serratia spp. and it had the ability to inhibit the growth of some microorganisms. The production of bioemulsifier was detected by determination of emulsification index (E24%), qualitative drop-collapse test, emulsification activity (E.A) and measuring the surface tension (S.T). The results of bioemulsifier produced by Serratia marcescens S1

In this work, CdS/TiO2 nanotubes composite nanofilms were successfully synthesized via electrodeposition technique. TiO2 titania nanotube arrays (NTAs) are commonly used in photoelectrochemical cells as the photoelectrode due to their high surface area, excellent charge transfer between interfaces and fewer interfacial grain boundaries. The anodization technique of titanium foil was used to prepare TiO2 NTAs photoelectrode. The concentration of CdCl2 played an important role in the formation of CdS nanoparticles. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) shows that the CdS nanoparticles were well deposited onto the outer and inner of nanotube at 40 mM of CdCl2. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses wer

The ability of microorganisms to attach to living and non-living surfaces and create a biofilm is the cause of numerous long-lasting illnesses, as well as their strong resistance to drugs. Bacterial biofilms consist of intricate assemblies of immobile bacteria. These are located in an extracellular matrix and adhere to various surfaces for a long period. The present study evaluated the antibacterial effectiveness of Plantago major extract against Staphylococcus aureus biofilm. The specimens analyzed in this investigation were skin infections of clinical origin. The current study was not previously studied, particularly in terms of S. aureus biofilm breakdown and inhibition. The disc diffusion method was used to test the antimicrobial activi