A model using the artificial neural networks and genetic algorithm technique is developed for obtaining optimum dimensions of the foundation length and protections of small hydraulic structures. The procedure involves optimizing an objective function comprising a weighted summation of the state variables. The decision variables considered in the optimization are the upstream and downstream cutoffs lengths and their angles of inclination, the foundation length, and the length of the downstream soil protection. These were obtained for a given maximum difference in head, depth of impervious layer and degree of anisotropy. The optimization carried out is subjected to constraints that ensure a safe structure aga

Some microorganisms, including fungi, are characterized by their removal efficiency and reducing the concentrations of heavy metals such as Pb and Cr from industrial water. The present study aims to estimate the efficiency of Penicillium digitatum (Pers.) Sacc. as a low-cost biosorbent in reducing Pb and Cr from industrial water with optimum biosorption conditions (acidity of 1.5 , 4, and 5; temperature of 30 °C). The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis was also used for determining the roles of the functional groups in this biosorbent. The results indicated that the highest P. digitatum efficiency values for reducing the levels of Pb and Cr were 84% and 70% , respectively, at pH of 5 after 24 h.

One of the serious problems in any wireless communication system using multi carrier modulation technique like Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is its Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR).It limits the transmission power due to the limitation of dynamic range of Analog to Digital Converter and Digital to Analog Converter (ADC/DAC) and power amplifiers at the transmitter, which in turn sets the limit over maximum achievable rate.

        This issue is especially important for mobile terminals to sustain longer battery life time. Therefore reducing PAPR can be regarded as an important issue to realize efficient and affordable mobile communication services.

The increasing drinking water demand in many countries leads to an increase in the use of desalination plants, which are considered a great solution for water treatment processes. Reverse osmosis (RO) and electro-dialysis (ED) systems are the most popular membrane processes used to desalinate water at high salinity. Both systems work by separating the ionic contaminates and disposing of them as a brine solution, but ED uses electrical current as a driving force while RO uses osmotic pressure. A direct comparison of reverse osmosis and electro-dialysis systems is needed to highlight process development similarities and variances. This work aims to provide an overview of previous studies on reverse osmosis and electro-dial

One of the most important virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is biofilm formation, as it works as a barrier for entering antibiotics into the bacterial cell. Different environmental and nutritional conditions were used to optimize biofilm formation using microtitre plate assay by P. aeruginosa. The low nutrient level of the medium represented by tryptic soy broth (TSB) was better in biofilm formation than the high nutrient level of the medium with Luria Broth (LB). The optimized condition for biofilm production at room temperature (25 °C) is better than at host temperature (37 °C). Moreover, the staining with 0.1% crystal violet and reading the biofilm with wavelength 360 are considered essential factors in

Background: Helicobacter pylori are important gastrointestinal pathogen associated with gastritis, peptic ulcers, and an increased risk of gastric carcinoma. There are several popular methods for detection of H. pylori (invasive and non-invasive methods) each having its own advantages, disadvantages, and limitations, and by using PCR technique the ability to detect H. pylori in saliva samples offers a potential for an alternative test for detection of this microorganism. Materials and methods: The study sample consists of fifty participants of both genders, who undergo Oesophageo-gastrodudenoscopy at the Gastroenterology Department of Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital Baghdad/ Iraq, during five months period from January 2014 to May 2014. They we

Phosphorus is usually the limiting nutrient for eutrophication in inland receiving waters; therefore, phosphorus concentrations must be controlled. In the present study, a series of jar test was conducted to evaluate the optimum pH, dosage and performance parameters for coagulants alum and calcium chloride. Phosphorus removal by alum was found to be highly pH dependent with an optimum pH of 5.7-6. At this pH an alum dosage of 80 mg/l removed 83 % of the total phosphorus. Better removal was achieved when the solution was buffered at pH = 6. Phosphorus removal was not affected by varying the slow mixing period; this is due to the fact that the reaction is relatively fast.
The dosage of calcium chloride and pH of solution play an importa

In this paper, we investigate some methods to solve one of the multi-criteria machine scheduling problems. The discussed problem is the total completion time and the total earliness jobs  To solve this problem, some heuristic methods are proposed which provided good results. The Branch and Bound (BAB) method is applied with new suggested upper and lower bounds to solve the discussed problem, which produced exact results for  in a reasonable time.

This research aims to study the mechanism of application of international specification requirements (ISO 9001: 2015) at the Iraqi Center- Korean Vocational Training return to vocational training department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for the purpose of preparing and creating the center to get a certificate of conformity with the requirements of the standard (ISO 9001: 2015) that would elevate the level of performance and services provided in the respondent Center after it is identified and the study of the reality of the quality management system by identifying strengths and weaknesses in the system to diagnose the gap and find ways to address that gap, and adopted the researchers the case study method to conduc