Variation orders are an on-going phenomenon in construction and industry projects worldwide, particularly in the province of Sulaimani, where the project's damage from cost and schedule overrun because of variation orders. However, the effect on project costs and time overrun of variation order has yet to be identified. This study evaluates the impact of variation orders on the cost and time off in the Sulaimani governorate. Two hundred twenty-eight projects from various construction sectors built between 2007-2012 were adopted to calculate the contract cost and schedule overruns due to variation orders. Data analysis was applied in the study were descriptive statistics. One-way ANOVA was also applied to determine whether the overrun of project cost and schedule significantly varied depending on project type, size, duration, location, and awarded years. The findings indicated that cost overruns are very common due to variation orders. 95.6% of the projects were studied being impacted, and overrun in project cost are also huge, with 16%. Time also overruns more common than cost overruns due to the variation orders. 98.7% of the projects were studied in Sulaimani were affected by time overrun with an average of 46.3% of initial duration observed. Findings also indicated that two out of five parameters measured in the analysis had a significant correlation with project cost overruns. Three out of five considered variables correlated with construction time overruns.
This study concerns the removal of a trihydrate antibiotic (Amoxicillin) from synthetically contaminated water by adsorption on modified bentonite. The bentonite was modified using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTAB), which turned it from a hydrophilic to a hydrophobic material. The effects of different parameters were studied in batch experiments. These parameters were contact time, solution pH, agitation speed, initial concentration (C0) of the contaminant, and adsorbent dosage. Maximum removal of amoxicillin (93 %) was achieved at contact time = 240 min, pH = 10, agitation speed = 200 rpm, initial concentration = 30 ppm, and adsorbent dosage = 3 g bentonite per 1L of pollutant solution. The characterization of the adsorbent, modi
... Show MoreIn general, path-planning problem is one of most important task in the field of robotics. This paper describes the path-planning problem of mobile robot based on various metaheuristic algorithms. The suitable collision free path of a robot must satisfies certain optimization criteria such as feasibility, minimum path length, safety and smoothness and so on. In this research, various three approaches namely, PSO, Firefly and proposed hybrid FFCPSO are applied in static, known environment to solve the global path-planning problem in three cases. The first case used single mobile robot, the second case used three independent mobile robots and the third case applied three follow up mobile robot. Simulation results, whi
... Show MoreConstruction of artificial higher order protein complexes allows sampling of structural architectures and functional features not accessible by classical monomeric proteins. Here, we combine in silico modelling with expanded genetic code facilitated strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition to construct artificial complexes that are structurally integrated protein dimers and demonstrate functional synergy. Using fluorescent proteins sfGFP and Venus as models, homodimers and heterodimers are constructed that switched ON once assembled and display enhanced spectral properties. Symmetrical crosslinks are found to be important for functional enhancement. The determined molecular structure of one artific
In this work, new Schiff bases of quinazolinone derivatives (Q1-Q5) were synthesized from methyl anthranilate. The synthesis involved three steps. In the first step, methyl anthranilate was reacted with isothiocyanatobenzene, producing the thiourea derivative K1. The second step entailed reacting K1 with hydrazine hydrate, synthesizing 3-amino-2-(phenylamino) quinazolin-4(3H)-one (K2). The third step involved reaction of K2 with various aromatic aldehydes, yielding the Schiff bases derivatives Q1-Q5. The chemical structures of these compounds were identified by FT-IR,1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The newly synthesized derivatives (Q1-Q5) were subjected to rigorous evaluation to assess their efficacy as corrosion inhibitors for ca
... Show MoreThe ongoing research to improve the clinical outcome of titanium implants has resulted in the implementation of multiple approaches to deliver osteogenic growth factors accelerating and sustaining osseointegration. Here we show the presentation of human bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP-7) adsorbed to titanium discs coated with poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA). We have previously shown that PEA promotes fibronectin organization into nanonetworks exposing integrin- and growth-factor-binding domains, allowing a synergistic interaction at the integrin/growth factor receptor level. Here, titanium discs were coated with PEA and fibronectin and then decorated with ng/mL doses of BMP-7. Human mesenchymal stem cells were used to investigate cellular resp
... Show MoreObjective: To compare the radiological and functional outcomes of patients of Comminuted intraarticular distal radius fractures treated with or without bone marrow injection along with external fixator ligamentotaxis. Methodology: This prospective comparative study on 41 patients with comminuted intra-articular lower end radius fractures distributed patients randomly into two groups depending on whether an aspirate of bone marrow was injected at the fracture site two weeks after fracture management with external fixation ligamentotaxis. Results: The mean age was 35.8 years, with male predominance. The radiological parameters (radial height, radial inclination, and volar tilt) at the 6th month follow up were lower in the group who did not re
... Show MoreNew metal ion complexes were synthesized with the general formula; K[PtLCl4], [ReLCl4] and K[ML(Cl)2] where M = Pd(II), Cd(II), Zn(II) and Hg(II), from the Azo ligand (HL) [2-Hydroxy-3-((5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)diazenyl)-1-naphth aldehyde] (HL) the ligand was synthesized from (2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde) and (5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiol). The ligand and its metal complexes are characterized by phisco- chemical spectroscopic techniques (FT.IR, UV-Vis and Mass spectra, elemental analysis, molar conductivity, Atomic Absorption, Chloride contain and magnetic susceptibility). The spectral data suggest that the (HL) behaves as a bidentate ligand in all complexes. These studies revealed tetrahedral geometries for all metal complexes
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to identify the trends of Saudi society towards visiting art galleries and museums in light of economic and social transformations after the implementation of the 2030 vision plans. The importance of the research is to track the reasons behind the reluctance of members of society to visit such cultural institutions, and to plan proposals and recommendations for how to attract members of society and motivate them. This research followed the descriptive approach, and the study sample reached 103 members of the Saudi community. several research tools were used in this research such as questionnaire, personal interviews in addition to the researcher notes. The results concluded that the art galleries attract the ap
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