In the field of construction project management, time and cost are the most important factors to be considered in planning every project, and their relationship is complex. The total cost for each project is the sum of the direct and indirect cost. Direct cost commonly represents labor, materials, equipment, etc.
Indirect cost generally represents overhead cost such as supervision, administration, consultants, and interests. Direct cost grows at an increasing rate as the project time is reduced from its original planned time. However, indirect cost continues for the life of the project and any reduction in project time means a reduction in indirect cost. Therefore, there is a trade-off between the time and cost for completing construction activities.
In this research, modeling of time-cost optimization, generating global optimum solution for time and cost problem, and lowering construction time and cost using ant colony optimization algorithm
The study was aimed to evaluate the marketing efficiency of dry Onion crop in Salah al-Deen, as estimate the impact of some quality and quantity factors in the efficiency of marketing process of crop using Tobit regression model. The average marketing efficiency of the research sample was 71.3686%. The marketing margins differed according to the marketing channel followed in marketing the crop. The qualitative and quantitative variables in the model are productivity, family size, distance from the market, educational level. The estimated model revealed that a variable productivity is the most important and influential in marketing efficiency, followed by the variable of the distance between the farm and the market, then the variable
... Show MoreThis investigation aims to explore the potential of waterworks sludge (WS), low-cost byproduct of water treatment processes, as a sorbent for removing Congo Red (CR) dyes. This will be achieved by precipitating nano-sized (MgAl-LDH)-layered double hydroxide onto the surface of the sludge. The efficiency of utilizing MgAl-LDH to modify waterworks sludge (MWS) for use in permeable reactive barrier technology was confirmed through analysis with Fourier transform infrared and X-ray diffraction. The isotherm model was employed to elucidate the adsorption mechanisms involved in the process. Furthermore, the COMSOL model was utilized to establish a continuous testing model for the analysis of contaminant transport under diverse conditions. A st
... Show MoreA method is developed for the determination of iron (III) in pharmaceutical preparations by coupling cloud point extraction (CPE) and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The method is based on the reaction of Fe(III) with excess drug ciprofloxacin (CIPRO) in dilute H2SO4, forming a hydrophobic Fe(III)- CIPRO complex which can be extracted into a non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114, and iron ions are determined spectrophotometrically at absorption maximum of 437 nm. Several variables which impact on the extraction and determination of Fe (III) are optimized in order to maximize the extraction efficiency and improve the sensitivity of the method. The interferences study is also considered to check the accuracy of the procedure. The results hav
... Show MoreA paraffin wax and copper foam matrix were used as a thermal energy storage material in the double passes air solar chimney (SC) collector to get ventilation effect through daytime and after sunset. Air SC collector was installed in the south wall of an insulated test room and tested with different working angles (30o, 45o and 60o). Different SC types were used; single pass, double passes flat plate collector and double pass thermal energy storage box collector (TESB). A computational model based on the finite volume method for transient tw dimensional domains was carried out to describe the heat transfer and storage in the thermal energy storage material of collector. Also, equivalent specific heat metho
... Show MoreIn this study, the aqueous extract of (Typha domingensis Pers.) pollen grain (qurraid) to know its ability to manufacture silver nanoparticles. Qurraid is a semi-solid yellow food substance, sold in Basra markets and eaten by the local population. It is made from the pollen of the T. domingensis Pers. plant after being pressed and treated with water vapor. The Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) reaction was done to identify the active compounds of qurraid aqueous extract. The ability of the aqueous extract of qurraid to manufacture silver nanoparticles was tested, and the construction of silver nanoparticles was inferred by the reaction mixture's color, which ranged from yellow to dark brown. The synthesi
... Show MoreIn this study, Zizphus spina-christi leaf powder was applied for the adsorption of methyl orange. The effect of different operating parameters on the Batch Process adsorption was investigated such as solution pH (2-12), effect of contact time (0-60 min.), initial dye concentration (2-20 mg/L), effect of adsorbent dosage (0-4.5 g) and effect of temperature (20-50ᵒC). The results show a maximum removal rate and adsorption capacity (%R= 23.146, qe = 2.778 mg/g) at pH = 2 and equilibrium was reached at 40 min. The pseudo- second-order kinetics were found to be best fit for the removal process (R2 = 0.997). Different isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubini-Radushkevich,Temkin) were applied in this stud
... Show MoreThe performance of a vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS)-based residential air conditioner operating in a high-ambient temperature (HAT) country was investigated using six zero-ODP (ozone depletion potential) refrigerants as replacements to R22. The non-flammable alternative refrigerants considered in the present research were R134a, R404A, R407C, R410A, R448A, and R507A. Using the basic conservation laws, the VCRS was modeled during steady-state operation and solved using engineering equation solver (EES) software. Coefficient of performance (COP), pressures and temperatures at compressor suction and discharge, Global Warming Potential (GWP), critical pressure and temperature, compressor
In this study, SnO2 nanoparticles were prepared from cost-low tin chloride (SnCl2.2H2O) and ethanol by adding ammonia solution by the sol-gel method, which is one of the lowest-cost and simplest techniques. The SnO2 nanoparticles were dried in a drying oven at a temperature of 70°C for 7 hours. After that, it burned in an oven at a temperature of 200°C for 24 hours. The structure, material, morphological, and optical properties of the synthesized SnO2 in nanoparticle sizes are studied utilizing X-ray diffraction. The Scherrer expression was used to compute nanoparticle sizes according to X-ray diffraction, and the results needed to be scrutinized more closely. The micro-strain indicates the broadening of diffraction peaks for nano
... Show MoreThe use of real-time machine learning to optimize passport control procedures at airports can greatly improve both the efficiency and security of the processes. To automate and optimize these procedures, AI algorithms such as character recognition, facial recognition, predictive algorithms and automatic data processing can be implemented. The proposed method is to use the R-CNN object detection model to detect passport objects in real-time images collected by passport control cameras. This paper describes the step-by-step process of the proposed approach, which includes pre-processing, training and testing the R-CNN model, integrating it into the passport control system, and evaluating its accuracy and speed for efficient passenger flow
... Show MoreIn recent years, various methods have been developed to enhance the characteristics of asphalt pavement in order to face the continuous challenges of increasing traffic loads and changing climate conditions. One of the most popular and successful methods is modifying the asphalt mixtures or asphalt binder with the addition of polymers. Therefore, two types of Polyethylene (PE) polymer, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density PE (LDPE), are used in this research. Two methods were applied to prepare PE-modified asphalt mixtures: Semi-Wet Method (S-WM) and Dry Method (DM). The findings of the investigation indicated that the addition of PE polymer can reduce the wear loss of aggregate. In general, the experimental results revealed that asphalt
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