The esterification reaction of ethyl alcohol and acetic acid catalyzed by the ion exchange resin, Amberlyst 15, was investigated. The experimental study was implemented in an isothermal batch reactor. Catalyst loading, initial molar ratio, mixing time and temperature as being the most effective parameters, were extensively studied and discussed. A maximum final conversion of 75% was obtained at 70°C, acid to ethyl alcohol mole ratio of 1/2 and 10 g catalyst loading. Kinetic of the reaction was correlated with Langmuir-Hanshelwood model (LHM). The total rate constant and the adsorption equilibrium of water as a function of the temperature was calculated. The activation energies were found to be as 113876.9 and -49474.95 KJ per Kmol of ac

This article proposes a new strategy based on a hybrid method that combines the gravitational search algorithm (GSA) with the bat algorithm (BAT) to solve a single-objective optimization problem. It first runs GSA, followed by BAT as the second step. The proposed approach relies on a parameter between 0 and 1 to address the problem of falling into local research because the lack of a local search mechanism increases intensity search, whereas diversity remains high and easily falls into the local optimum. The improvement is equivalent to the speed of the original BAT. Access speed is increased for the best solution. All solutions in the population are updated before the end of the operation of the proposed algorithm. The diversification f

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy affecting women, at reproductive age. PCOS is a chronic hyperandrogenic state that has many significant short-term and long-term implications for patients such as oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea, infertility, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, increased risk of endometrial cancer, and hirsutism. Objectives: To evaluate the obesity and glycemic criteria among women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Method: A case control designed study was carried out at the National Diabetes Center (NDC) / Al-Mustansiryia University; on 50 participants formed the PCOS group and 50 healthy control participants. Data collected about age, age at menarche and BMI. Also, blood sam

    Identification of complex communities in biological networks is a critical and ongoing challenge since lots of network-related problems correspond to the subgraph isomorphism problem known in the literature as NP-hard. Several optimization algorithms have been dedicated and applied to solve this problem. The main challenge regarding the application of optimization algorithms, specifically to handle large-scale complex networks, is their relatively long execution time. Thus, this paper proposes a parallel extension of the PSO algorithm to detect communities in complex biological networks. The main contribution of this study is summarized in three- fold; Firstly, a modified PSO algorithm with a local search operator is proposed to d

This study was aimed to develop an optimized Dy determination method using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). The Plackett-Burman (PB) experimental design was used to select significant factors that affect the electrical current response, which were further optimized using the response surface method-central composite design (RSM-CCD). The type of electrolyte solution and amplitude modulation were found as two most significant factors, among the nine factors tested, which enhance the current response based on PB design. Further optimization using RSM-CCD shows that the optimum values for the tw

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

    The ion-pair formation method has been applied for the spectrophotometric determination of Cimetidine and Erythromycin ethylsuccinate, in bulk samples and in dosage form. The methods are accurate, simple, rapid, inexpensive and sensitive depending on the extraction of the formed ion-pair with brompthymol blue (BTB) as a chromogenic reagent in chloroform, use phthalate buffer of pH 5.5 and 4.0 for Cimetidine and Erythromycin ethylsuccinate respectively.  The formed complexes show absorbance maxima at 427.5 nm and 414.5 nm for Cimetidine and Erythromycin ethylsuccinate respectively against reagent blank. The calibration graphs are linear in the ranges of 0.5-15 µg.mL-1 with detection limit of 0.222 µg.mL-1 for

The flat-headed borer, Capnodis tenebrionis  (Linnaeus, 1760) , dispersed extensively in various geographical regions; it is extremely harmful and a dire threat to most stone fruit cultivars, and once the larva enters under the host tree crown, the infested host tree will gradually dry and eventually die. In this study, specimens were collected from several sites in Erbil province, Kurdistan Region- Iraq; then the fully grown larvae were selected for morphological study. In addition, clarification of morphological consequential and implication for most diagnostic characters were studied in all dissected parts. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to further analyze the hidden features of the selected characteristics;

Nowadays, information systems constitute a crucial part of organizations; by losing security, these organizations will lose plenty of competitive advantages as well. The core point of information security (InfoSecu) is risk management. There are a great deal of research works and standards in security risk management (ISRM) including NIST 800-30 and ISO/IEC 27005. However, only few works of research focus on InfoSecu risk reduction, while the standards explain general principles and guidelines. They do not provide any implementation details regarding ISRM; as such reducing the InfoSecu risks in uncertain environments is painstaking. Thus, this paper applied a genetic algorithm (GA) for InfoSecu risk reduction in uncertainty. Finally, the ef