Flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (FAAS) was used in this study to determine the concentrations of heavy metals such as Ca, Fe, Mn, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn in some food additives of Iraq. The order of metal contents in food additives was found to be Ca ˃ Mn ˃ Fe ˃ Cu ˃ Zn ˃ Pb ˃ Cr ˃ Ni ˃ Co ˃ Cd. The concentration level of each metal was compared with that recommended by food agriculture organisation (FAO) and world health organisation (WHO). Calibration curves were linear for all standard solutions of heavy metals in the range starting from 0.02-0.4 mg/kg for Cd to 11-100 mg/kg for Ca. The correlation coefficients values (R2) of calibrations were investigated and ranged from 0.9971 for Cr to 0.9999 for Ca. Th

 Water is an essential aspect of life and important in evolution. Recently the potable water quality topic has received much attention. The study aims to determine drinking water quality in Al-Najaf City by collecting samples throughout Al-Najaf city and comparing the results with the Iraqi guidelines (IQS 417) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, as well as to calculate the WQI. Samples were tested in the laboratory between December 2021 and June 2022. The results showed that multiple parameters exceeded the allowable limits during both testing periods; during winter months, the results of TDS and turbidity exceeded the upper limits in multiple locations. Total hardness values also

Several previous investigations and studies utilized silica fume (SF) or (micro silica) particles as supplementary cementitious material added as a substitute to cement-based mortars and their effect on the overall properties, especially on physical properties, strength properties, and mechanical properties. This study investigated the impact of the inclusion of silica fume (SF) particles on the residual compressive strengths and microstructure properties of cement-based mortars exposed to severe conditions of elevated temperatures. The prepared specimens were tested and subjected to 25, 250, 450, 600, and 900 °C. Their residual compressive strengths and microstructure were evaluated and compared with control samples (C

This paper presents a new design of a nonlinear multi-input multi-output PID neural controller of the active brake steering force and the active front steering angle for a 2-DOF vehicle model based on modified Elman recurrent neural. The goal of this work is to achieve the stability and to improve the vehicle dynamic’s performance through achieving the desired yaw rate and reducing the lateral velocity of the vehicle in a minimum time period for preventing the vehicle from slipping out the road curvature by using two active control actions: the front steering angle and the brake steering force. Bacterial forging optimization algorithm is used to adjust the parameters weights of the proposed controller. Simulation resul

Fear, harvesting, hunting cooperation, and antipredator behavior are all important subjects in ecology. As a result, a modified Leslie-Gower prey-predator model containing these biological aspects is mathematically constructed, when the predation processes are described using the Beddington-DeAngelis type of functional response. The solution's positivity and boundedness are studied. The qualitative characteristics of the model are explored, including stability, persistence, and bifurcation analysis. To verify the gained theoretical findings and comprehend the consequences of modifying the system's parameters on their dynamical behavior, a detailed numerical investigation is carried out using MATLAB and Mathematica. It is discovered that the

This paper deals with testing defected model piles in the soil in order to study their behavior. In this respect, the results of model pile tests are discussed either geotechnically or structurally according to the type of failure.   Two parameters were studied in order to evaluate the general behavior of defective piles. These parameters include the defect location and the defect type for floating and end bearing pile. The results of the experimental work indicated that the critical case for floating pile is seen to be when the defect of (5%) at the first third of the pile length at which the decrease in the bearing capacity is about (21%), while the decrease in the bearing capacity is found to be (14%) and (10%), when

The structural behavior of Segmental Precast Post-tensioned Reinforced Concrete (SPPRC) beams largely depends on the behavior of the joints that connect between the segments. In this research, series of static tests were carried out to investigate the behavior of full-scale SPPRC beams with different types of epoxy-glued joint configurations; multi-key joint, single key, and plain key joint. The reference specimen was monolithically casted beam and the other specimens were segmental beams with five segments for each one. The general theme from the experimental results reflects an approximate similarity in the behavior of the four beams with slight differences. Due to the high tensile strength of the used epoxy in comparison to concr

This paper deals with testing defected model piles in the soil in order to study their behavior. In this respect, the results of model pile tests are discussed either geotechnically or structurally according to the type of failure.

Two parameters were studied in order to evaluate the general behavior of defective piles. These parameters include the defect location and the defect type for floating and end bearing pile. The results of the experimental work indicated that the critical case for floating pile is seen to be when the defect of (5%) at the first third of the pile length at which the decrease in the bearing capacity is about (21%), while the decrease in the bearing capacity is found to be (

   In the oil industry, the processing of vacuum residue has an important economic and environmental benefit. This work aims to produce industrial petroleum coke with light fuel fractions (gasoline, kerosene , gas oil) as the main product and de asphalted oil (DAO) as a side production from treatment secondary product matter of vacuum residue. Vacuum residue was produced from the bottom of vacuum distillation unit of the crude oil. Experimentally, the study investigated the effect of the thermal conversion process on (vacuum residue) as a raw material at temperature reaches to 500 °C, pressure 20 atm. and residence time for about 3 hours. The first step of this treatment is constructing a carbon steel batch re