Total dissolved solids are at the top of the parameters list of water quality that requires investigations for planning and management, especially for irrigation and drinking purposes. If the quality of water is sufficiently predictable, then appropriate management is possible. In the current study, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were used as indicators of water quality and for the prediction of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) along the Tigris River, in Baghdad city. To build these models five water parameters were selected from the intakes of four water treatment plants on the Tigris River, for the period between 2013 and 2017. The selected water parameters were Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Hardness (TH), Electrical Conductivity (EC), sulfate (SO4), and Total Solids (TS). The results showed that the Tigris river water quality was appropriate for drinking according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Iraqi standard specifications for drinking water, the performances of the ANN and MLR models were evaluated by utilizing the coefficient of determination (R2). The results showed that the computed values of R2 for MLR and ANN were 0.797, 0.813, respectively; and the sensitivity analysis indicated that TS and TH had the high effects for predicting TDS.
To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of three minimally invasive (MI) techniques in removing deep dentin carious lesions. Forty extracted carious molars were treated by conventional rotary excavation (control), chemomechanical caries removal agent (Brix 3000), ultrasonic abrasion (WOODPECKER, GUILIN, China); and Er, Cr: YSGG laser ablation (BIOLASE San Clemente, CA, USA). The assessments include; the excavation time, DIAGNOdent pen, Raman spectroscopy, Vickers microhardness, and scanning electron microscope combined with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDX). The rotary method recorded the shortest excavation time (p < 0.001), Brix 3000 gel was the slowest. DIAGNOdent pen va
Borrowing in linguistics refers to the process whereby a group of speakers incorporates certain foreign linguistic components into their home language via a process known as linguistic borrowing. The process by which these foreign linguistic elements, known as loanwords, go through phonological, morphological, or semantic changes in order for them to fit the grammar of the recipient language is referred to as loanword adaptation. Loanwords go through these changes in order for them to become compatible with the grammar of the recipient language. One of the most divisive topics in loanword phonology is whether adaptations occur at the phonemic or phonetic levels, and current literature distinguishes three primary viewpoints: nativiza
... Show MoreA metal-assisted chemical etching process employing p-type silicon wafers with varied etching durations is used to produce silicon nanowires. Silver nanoparticles prepared by chemical deposition are utilized as a catalyst in the formation of silicon nanowires. Images from field emission scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the diameter of SiNWs grows when the etching duration is increased. The photoelectrochemical cell's characteristics were investigated using p-type silicon nanowires as working electrodes. Linear sweep voltammetry (J-V) measurements on p-SiNWs confirmed that photocurrent density rose from 0.20 mA cm-2 to 0.92 mA cm-2 as the etching duration of prepared SiNWs increased from 15 to 30 min. The
... Show MoreThe region-based association analysis has been proposed to capture the collective behavior of sets of variants by testing the association of each set instead of individual variants with the disease. Such an analysis typically involves a list of unphased multiple-locus genotypes with potentially sparse frequencies in cases and controls. To tackle the problem of the sparse distribution, a two-stage approach was proposed in literature: In the first stage, haplotypes are computationally inferred from genotypes, followed by a haplotype coclassification. In the second stage, the association analysis is performed on the inferred haplotype groups. If a haplotype is unevenly distributed between the case and control samples, this haplotype is labeled
... Show MoreIn this research, some robust non-parametric methods were used to estimate the semi-parametric regression model, and then these methods were compared using the MSE comparison criterion, different sample sizes, levels of variance, pollution rates, and three different models were used. These methods are S-LLS S-Estimation -local smoothing, (M-LLS)M- Estimation -local smoothing, (S-NW) S-Estimation-NadaryaWatson Smoothing, and (M-NW) M-Estimation-Nadarya-Watson Smoothing.
The results in the first model proved that the (S-LLS) method was the best in the case of large sample sizes, and small sample sizes showed that the
... Show MoreThe survival analysis is one of the modern methods of analysis that is based on the fact that the dependent variable represents time until the event concerned in the study. There are many survival models that deal with the impact of explanatory factors on the likelihood of survival, including the models proposed by the world, David Cox, one of the most important and common models of survival, where it consists of two functions, one of which is a parametric function that does not depend on the survival time and the other a nonparametric function that depends on times of survival, which the Cox model is defined as a semi parametric model, The set of parametric models that depend on the time-to-event distribution parameters such as
... Show MoreFlexible pavements are considered an essential element of transportation infrastructure. So, evaluations of flexible pavement performance are necessary for the proper management of transportation infrastructure. Pavement condition index (PCI) and international roughness index (IRI) are common indices applied to evaluate pavement surface conditions. However, the pavement condition surveys to calculate PCI are costly and time-consuming as compared to IRI. This article focuses on developing regression models that predict PCI from IRI. Eighty-three flexible pavement sections, with section length equal to 250 m, were selected in Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq, to develop PCI-IRI relationships. In terms of the quantity and severity of eac
... Show MoreGroundwater quality investigation has been carried out in the western part of Iraq (west longitude '40°40). The physicochemical analyses of 64 groundwater samples collected from seven aquifers were used in the determination of groundwater characterization and assessment. The concept of spatial hydrochemical bi-model was prepared for quantitative and qualitative interpretation. Hydrogeochemical data referred that the groundwater is of meteoric origin and has processes responsible for observed brackishness. The geochemical facies of the groundwater reveal that none of the anions and cations pairs exceed 50% and there are practically mixtures of multi-water types (such as Ca–Mg–Cl–HCO3 and Na+K–SO4–Cl water type) as do
... Show MoreRadiation treatment has long been the conventional approach for treating nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) tumors due to its anatomic features, biological characteristics, and radiosensitivity. The most common treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma is radiotherapy. This study aimed to assess the better quality of radiotherapy treatment techniques using intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT). The VMAT and IMRT are comparative techniques. Forty patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and forwarded for radiotherapy were treated with both advanced techniques, IMRT and VMAT, using eclipse software from Varian. The x-ray energy was set at 6 MV. The total prescribed dose was 70 Gy. The results show that the
... Show MoreDue to the easily access to the satellite images, Google Earth (GE) images have become more popular than other online virtual globes. However, the popularity of GE is not an indication of its accuracy. A considerable amount of literature has been published on evaluating the positional accuracy of GE data; however there are few studies which have investigated the subject of improving the GE accuracy. In this paper, a practical method for enhancing the horizontal positional accuracy of GE is suggested by establishing ten reference points, in University of Baghdad main campus, using different Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observation techniques: Rapid Static, Post-Processing Kinematic, and Network. Then, the GE image for the study
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