Results showed that the optimum conditions for production of inulunase from isolate Kluyveromyces marxianus AY2 by submerged culture could be achieved by using inulin as carbon source at a concentration of 2% with mixture of yeast extract and ammonium sulphate in a ratio of 1:1 in a concentration of 1% at initial pH 5.5 after incubation for 42 hours at 30ºC.

Heat transfer process and fluid flow in a solar chimney used for natural ventilation are investigated numerically in the present work. Solar chimney was tested by selecting different positions of absorber namely: at the back side, front side, and at the middle of the air gap. CFD analysis based on finite volume method is used to predict the thermal performance, and air flow in two dimensional solar chimney under unsteady state condition, to identify the effect of different parameters such as solar radiation. Results show that a solar chimney with absorber at the middle of the air gap gives better ventilation performance. A comparison between the numerical and previous experimental results shows fair agreement.

Titanium-dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles suspended in water, and ethanol based fluids have been prepared using one step method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–visible spectrophotometer. The TiO₂ nanoparticles were added to base fluids with different volume concentrations from 0.1% to1.5% by dispersing the synthesized nanoparticles in deionized water and ethanol solutions. The effective thermal conductivity, viscosity and pH of prepared nanofluids at different temperatures from 15 to 30 ^oC were carried out and investigated. It was observed that the thermal conductivity, pH, and viscosity of nanofluids increases with the increase in TiO₂ nanoparticle volume fraction

The performance and durability of the asphalt pavement structure mainly depend on the strength of the bonding between the layers. Such a bond is achieved through the use of an adhesive material (tack coat) to bond the asphalt layers. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of moisture in conjunction with repeated traffic loads on the strength of the bonding between asphalt layers using two types of tack coats with different application rates. Using the nominal maximum size of aggregate (NMAS), the layers were graded (25/19) and (19/9.5) mm. The slabs of multilayer asphalt concrete were prepared using a roller compactor using two types of tack coats to bond between layers, namely rapid curing cut back a

Thin films Tin sulfide SnS pure and doped with different ratios of Cu (X=0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) were prepared using thermal evaporation with a vacuum of 4*10^-6mbar on two types of substrates n-type Si and glass with (500) nm thickness for solar cell application. X-ray diffraction and AFM analysis were carried out to explain the influence of Cu ratio dopant on structural and morphological properties respectively. SnS phase appeared forming orthorhombic structure with preferred orientation (111), increase the crystallinity degree and surface roughness with increase Cu ratio. UV/Visible measurement revealed the decrease in energy gap from 1.9eV for pure SnS to 1.5 for SnS: Cu (0.05) making these samples suitable f

In 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

The objective of this study was to investigate and compare among five different methods of contraception including combined oral contraceptive pills (COC), Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), copper Intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD), vaginal spermicides and male condom used in Hawler City through estimate of their effect, relative failure rate, percentage of use, adherence and compliance and adverse effects of each contraceptive method. In order to reach to these aims, a retrospective study was conducted in Hawler City in Azadi Health Care Center over a period of 6 months from 22^th November, 2010 to 15^th May, 2011 during which data collection and subjects follow up for 3 months had been achieved. A conv