Among the metaheuristic algorithms, population-based algorithms are an explorative search algorithm superior to the local search algorithm in terms of exploring the search space to find globally optimal solutions. However, the primary downside of such algorithms is their low exploitative capability, which prevents the expansion of the search space neighborhood for more optimal solutions. The firefly algorithm (FA) is a population-based algorithm that has been widely used in clustering problems. However, FA is limited in terms of its premature convergence when no neighborhood search strategies are employed to improve the quality of clustering solutions in the neighborhood region and exploring the global regions in the search space. On the

In this paper, an exact stiffness matrix and fixed-end load vector for nonprismatic beams having parabolic varying depth are derived. The principle of strain energy is used in the derivation of the stiffness matrix.
The effect of both shear deformation and the coupling between axial force and the bending moment are considered in the derivation of stiffness matrix. The fixed-end load vector for elements under uniformly distributed or concentrated loads is also derived. The correctness of the derived matrices is verified by numerical examples. It is found that the coupling effect between axial force and bending moment is significant for elements having axial end restraint. It was found that the decrease in bending moment was
in the

This study aimed to show the relationship between mental health and shyness for university students in Baghdad and Al – Mustansiria university which its subject was (200) students  ,          ( 100) males and  ( 100) females , Mental Health scale which is constructed by (Al – Janabi 1991) and developed by (Hassan 2006) was used for this aim  ,The scale of shyness was built according to a questioner to the students and according to previous publications and studies .

Multiple regulation analysis step - wise was used for data analysis in order to identify the possibility to find single or couple indications for the independent variable (mental

This paper addresses the use of adaptive sliding mode control for the servo actuator system with friction. The adaptive sliding mode control has several advantages over traditional sliding mode control method. Firstly, the magnitude of control effort is reduced to the minimal admissible level defined by the conditions for the sliding mode to exist. Secondly, the upper bounds of uncertainties are not required to be known in advance. Therefore, adaptive sliding mode control method can be effectively implemented. The numerical simulation via MATLAB 2014a for servo actuator system with friction is investigated to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed robust adaptive sliding mode control scheme. The results clarify, after

This research includes the study of dual data models with mixed random parameters, which contain two types of parameters, the first is random and the other is fixed. For the random parameter, it is obtained as a result of differences in the marginal tendencies of the cross sections, and for the fixed parameter, it is obtained as a result of differences in fixed limits, and random errors for each section. Accidental bearing the characteristic of heterogeneity of variance in addition to the presence of serial correlation of the first degree, and the main objective in this research is the use of efficient methods commensurate with the paired data in the case of small samples, and to achieve this goal, the feasible general least squa

Encryption of data is translating data to another shape or symbol which enables people only with an access to the secret key or a password that can read it. The data which are encrypted are generally referred to as cipher text, while data which are unencrypted are known plain text. Entropy can be used as a measure which gives the number of bits that are needed for coding the data of an image. As the values of pixel within an image are dispensed through further gray-levels, the entropy increases. The aim of this research is to compare between CAST-128 with proposed adaptive key and RSA encryption methods for video frames to determine the more accurate method with highest entropy. The first method is achieved by applying the "CAST-128" and