bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multiple Regression and ANN ( MLP) Model for Predicting Swelling index of Ramadi Cohesive Soil
Authors: Abdulkareem Ahmed H , Aziz Dalal O
Published: March 2020

The response of expansive soils in the form of swelling and shrinkage due to changes in water content is frequently expressed as heaving and settling of lightly loaded structures such as roads, buildings, and canal linings. Compression and/or swelling indices are used for the calculation of the consolidation settlement of fine grained soils. They are conventionally determined by laboratory oedometer tests. Because of the time and expense involved in performing consolidation tests, it is often desirable to obtain approximate values of swelling index, Cs by using other soil properties which are more easily determined. A database consisting of 102 consolidation tests from different parts of Ramadi city were compiled, identified, and used to conduct and utilized a statistical study to estimate suitable relations to determine the swelling index. this study develops the artificial neural networks based multi-layer perceptron, ANN-MLP and multiple regression, MR models. Neural model offers significant improvements in prediction accuracy of the statistical models.
Properties of modified asphalt mixtures with additives of fillers materials
Authors: Joni Hasan H , Zghair Hussein H
Published: March 2020

In past, the use of by-product materials such as cement kiln dust and fly ash powders, especially in the field of highway pavements has received increasing attention. The aim of this research is to investigate the physical properties of the modified asphalt binder with additives of filler types such as cement kiln dust, fly ash, and metakaolin powder. Then, to assess the Marshall properties of modified asphalt mixtures. Three fillers containing 3%, 5%, and 7% by weight were used. The modified asphalt binder was mixed by a mechanical mixer having a revolution rate of (2000 rpm.), for mixing time (5 to 20) min. at a temperature of 140 °C. Results showed that the use the additives was beneficial in improving the physical characteristics of the asphalt cement. Overall, it was found that the penetration grade reduced and softening point values increased and the susceptibility of temperature was enhanced. Furthermore, the results of the tested specimens, the 5% of CKD, 5% of fly ash and 7% of MK were sufficient to improve the physical characteristics and Marshall properties of modified asphalt binder mixtures. In addition, the results obtained from the Marshall test show that the maximum stability for 7% of MK, 5% of CKD, 5% of fly ash, and control asphalt mixtures are (14.4, 13.6, 11.7 and 10.4) kN, respectively.
Characteristics of asphalt binder modified with waste vegetable oil and waste plastics
Authors: Joni Hasan H , Al-Rubaee Rasha H A , Al-zerkani Mahdi A
Published: March 2020

Asphalt binder, which is a by-product of petroleum distillation, is vastly consumed in pavement construction. However, petroleum is highly rare as a nonrenewable source resulting in the short-term supply of petroleum asphalt. The improper elimination of waste oils and plastics presents numerous environmental problems. This paper investigates the possibility of using waste vegetable oil (WVO) in combination with waste plastics; Low density polyethylene (LDPE) and Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), as enhancing additives for (40/50) asphalt cement in order to mitigate the illegal disposal of these wastes and modify asphalt binder properties as well as reduce the consumption of bitumen thereby reducing the cost. Three percentages (1%, 2% and 3%) of waste vegetable oil were firstly added to the control asphalt to prepare WVO-modified bitumen. Three percentages (1%, 3% and 5%) of LDPE and PVC were then added separately to WVO-modified binder. Physical properties of the original and modified asphalts were studied using several laboratory tests. The results indicated that bitumen modified with waste vegetable oil has better thermal cracking resistance and lower rutting resistance and it is more suitable to be used in moderate and cold regions, while the addition of plastic wastes in combination with waste vegetable oil could reverse these effects. As a final result, utilizing suitable amounts of waste vegetable oils and waste plastics as asphalt cement additives can give new binders that are suitable for both hot and cold regions. Finally, it can be concluded that the recycling of waste oils and plastics in hot mix asphalt industry is workable and can be seen as a convenient and valid method for eliminating these wastes.
Off-street parking characteristics in Al-Hilla City Center
Authors: Jony Hasan , Jawad Muhand , Al-Jameel Hamid Athab
Published: March 2020

Parking problems in an urban area are one of the serious problems everywhere, especially in Iraq. Therefore, this study has mainly focused on investigating parking characteristics in the city center of Al-Hilla. These parking characteristics include average turnover and efficiency for off-street parking. Sixteen off-street parking sites have been surveyed through this study. These facilities are within the CBD area in the city. The main results demonstrate a sharp lack of legal parking for off street and most of existing ones are illegal. The average turnover for off-street parking ranges from 1.9 to 2.6 which shows low utilization of each space with the city centre. The study has specific limitations to improve the parking activities with more sophisticated methods of managing off-street parking demand.
Investigations of the road pavement surface conditions using MATLAB image processing
Authors: Joni Hasan Hamodi , Alwan Imzahim Abdulkareem , Naji Ghazwan Adnan
Published: March 2020

In view of the increase in the number of vehicles, there has been a need to devise new ways to conduct rapid assessments of the pavement efficiency and thus, improve road performance. Road performance assessment can be carried out in a variety of ways and can predict the future deterioration of the pavement efficiency. Commonly, pavement condition can be estimated on four portions i.e. surface distress, riding quality, skid resistance in addition to structural capacity. In a pavement maintenance management system, the assessment of pavement surface failures is one of the significant duties for improving maintenance and rehabilitation strategies. Different image analysis and processing techniques using MATLAB programming language code have been sophisticated for discovering of distresses like patches, potholes, cracks etc. on the pavement surface, which is called Automatic Evaluation Of Pavement (AEOP). The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of application of the different image processing techniques for discovering and categories of pavement distresses. The code was trained on more than 360 images to increase the efficiency and accuracy of the diagnosis and was then examined on 40 images and gaving results with 77.5% accuracy.
Simulation of traffic flow in unsignalized roundabout using SIDRA software evaluation in Baghdad City
Authors: Yousif Maysam Ali , Ziboon Abdulrazzak T , Qasim Zaynab Ibrahim
Published: March 2020

For evaluating the urban roads as well as the express ways, the simulation software are considered to be of high importance. The experts of transportations are concentrating on dissemination and arrangement regarding roadways’ traffic jams. The main aim of this present work is to analyze the present situation of traffic in Wahran round-about Baghdad/Iraq/according to certain consistent traffic count using SIDRA software through calculating the level of service, delay time, travel time, and degree of situation. The author of his work recorded the number of vehicles passing Wahran Roundabout for two peak hours, morning peak hour from (7:30 to 8:30 a.m.), while the evening peak hour from (5:30 to 6:30 p.m.). The performance related to the present intersections has been assessed through the use of a simulation model. The results have indicated that the level of service (LOS) related to Wahran Round-about is F of (111.3 sec/veh) average delay and degree of saturation has been (1.737 v/c).
Analysis of traffic accident severity in Baghdad city using Binary Logistic Regression Model
Authors: Joni Hasan H , Al-Dahawi Ali M , Al-Tamimi Omar J
Published: March 2020

Severity of accident is an important issue to researchers in road safety since this work is interested not only with the prevention of accidents but also with the factors that enhance in reduction of their severity. One of the ways to achieve the latter is to determine the potential factors that influence the severity of accident. This research can be considered as one of the few studies in this approach in Iraq, especially in Baghdad City, where the analysis of accidents has not been carried out for many years since 2003, especially analysis of accidents’ severity. Therefore, it is essential to establish baseline information on accident severity. The data utilized in this research consists of a sample size of (268) observations and it was collected manually from traffic officers due to the deficiency in record system (as there is no specific archive system for registered accident reports). The results from binary logistic regression model indicate that there are three variables significantly associated with severity of accidents namely; site, vehicle body type, and cause of accident.
Traffic signs comprehension study
Authors: Abduljabbar Ahmed S. , Jaleel Zeena Tariq , Salman Nawal Dawood
Published: March 2020

Current research work investigates road user’s comprehension of different traffic control devices. Sample demographics were taken into consideration such as age, gender, and educational background. Twenty regulatory and warning signs were examined in this study. These signs vary from simple ‘No parking’ sign to more tricky ones such as ‘Divided highway’ sign. In addition, the questionnaire includes other questions related to road safety, condition of roads signs, and feeling of safety as a driver and as a pedestrian. These signs were selected based on their popularity among other road signs. The selected sample was over 100 people from different regions in Iraq (mainly southern provinces and the capital Baghdad). Only 16 % of selected sample answered with yes when asked about feeling safe as a driver, whereas 29% feels safe as a pedestrian. None of the respondents got all the 20 signs meaning correct, and the highest percent of correct sign meaning was associated with pedestrian crossing sign (98.2%). On the other hand, flagger man sign (work zone sign) had the lowest correct score of (19.8%). Overall Average of correct signs meaning was (68.5%). Approximately, 25% of traffic signs have scored less than 50%, and 75% of traffic signs scored more than 50% correctness score. A great work needs to be done to educate and spread adequate material that explains uses and meanings of different road signs.
Generalize new method to determine the location of the control setion in the box culvert under inlet control
Authors: Maatooq J S , Omran H A , Taha M M
Published: March 2020

The control section is a location at which a unique relationship between the flow rate and the water depth (critical depth) exists. When the culvert flows under inlet control, the location of the control section exists into the culvert barrel at some distance from the entrance. The exact location of the control section has not been investigated until now. The present study demonstrates the exact location of the control section experimentally based on the measured elevations along the barrel for each run undertaken. Then the correlation between the critical depth and its location is presented as proposed deterministic equations. Thus, the aim is to find the section at which the critical depth is achieved, measured from the beginning of the barrel by using the empirical equations. The application of the proposed equations is specified in terms of the geometric and hydraulic conditions that have been adopted in the present study.
Regional flood frequency analysis for flood index estimation in hydrologic regions with limited flood data
Authors: Younis Abdulwahab M.
Published: March 2020

The objective of this study is to establish a regional relationship between mean annual peak flood and the catchment area based on the annual peak flood frequency analysis. Annual peak flood time series for various gauging sites of six basins in north part of Iraq are used in analysis. The procedure of analysis is approached by scaling a regional flood frequency distribution (index-flood of catchment) which is defined here as the mean annual maximum flood discharge and estimated by linear regression using physiographic and climatic catchment properties. The index-flood method was found to have slightly better prediction accuracies over the direct-regression method. The coefficient of determination R2 between reference and estimated index-floods is relatively high in most cases for all the gauging stations. All regions give very high R
2 correlation and the best model is the model (2), which is also associated with minimum value of RMSE.
Occurrence of Residual Organophosphorus Pesticides in soil of some Asian countries, Australia and Nigeria
Authors: Pirsaheb M , Nouri M , Karimi Hazhir , Mustafa Yaseen T , Hossini Hooshyar , Naderi Zohreh
Published: March 2020

The aim of this systematic review study was to provide a precise estimation and awareness of the remaining organophosphorus pesticides in global soil and sediments. To do so, both international and national databases of PubMed, Scopus and the Institute for Scientific Information, Scientific Information Database, Iranmedex and Magiran scientific were searched/used to find studies published from 1968 to 2017. Next, the following keywords in English and Persian were used including: “organophosphorous” or “organo-phosphorous” or “organophosphate” with or without “pesticide” or “toxicity”; “soil” or “topsoil”. Based on our systematic search, a total number of 15 articles were chosen and used to analysis. Most studies have been conducted in Asian countries and some part of Africa and commonly used organophosphorous pesticides included chloroprifous, dichlorvos, diazinon, fenitrothion, malathion and profenofos. On the other hand, personal interviews showed that chloroprifous, dicrotophos and profenofos are more used widely in the world. Random effects model to estimate the overall amounts of the residue organophosphorus pesticides in global soil was used. Accordingly, the overall concentration of organophosphorus pesticides was estimated to be 131.05 mg/kg (95%CI, 130.98–131.12).
Equation of mixed land use that achieve sustainability
Authors: Alourafi Samir Nori , Khairy Alrawi Areaj
Published: March 2020

Our cities are far from achieving sustainability. This requires sustainable approaches and strategies when planning urban land use for our cities as the basis for the distribution of activities and services in the city and can be considered as the basis for the sustainability of the city. The mixed use strategy is one of the sustainability strategies. It has been adopted in our research and an equation Lum has been adopted in measuring the sustainability of the study area of the Holy City of Karbala. This equation is a measure of the extent to which uses compete with residential use, which is dominant in residential neighborhoods. This equation suggests five cases of sustainability (very unsustainable, unsustainable, low sustainability, sustainable, very sustainable). The important conclusion are 3% of the neighbourhoods are very unsustainable neighbourhood, 14% of the neighborhoods are unsustainable, 48% of the neighborhoods are Low sustainability, 34% of the neighborhoods are sustainable, 1.5% of the neighbourhoods are very sustainable. The main recommendations are to adopt a mixed use strategy in the future master plans in the planning of residential neighborhoods in the holy city of Karbala to reduce the time, distance and cost of trips by reducing the distance between uses to achieve the principles of sustainability in all its aspects (environmental, economic and social), relying on walking within neighborhoods for residents, reducing air pollution and noise by reducing the use of vehicles within neighborhoods.
Effect of porosity on thermal conductivity of porous materials
Authors: Humaish H H
Published: March 2020

The basic idea of porous materials has been used in different applications of engineering science especially regards to thermal insulation. In this study the effect of porosity on thermal conductivity has been investigated experimentally by using Cylindrical thermal probe (TP02® Hukseflux). During transmission the heat power in the probe, the temperature is variation as a function of the natural logarithm. The slope of the graph is representing the proportion inverse to the thermal conductivity. Different materials in terms of porosity have been selected to identify influence of porosity on thermal conductivity. At first fluid material (glycerol) with no porosity, and after that glass beads of different diameters to introduce the porosity and different types of glass wool as an example of insulation materials. Comsol Multiphysics® axisymmetric module 2-D has been used to validate the experimental results.
Dyes removal by use carbon nanotube and carbon nanotube functional group.
Authors: Abdulabbas Ahmed , Bhaa Zainab , Kamal Abdulkhaleq
Published: March 2020

Batch experiments were accomplished to remove methylene blue as a cationic dye onto multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and carbon Nano tube functional group (fMWCNTs). The results of predominant variables governing the efficiency of the manner which include, dye concentration, MWCNTs dosage, contact time, stirring speed and pH have been studied. Experimental effects have shown that, the quantity of dye adsorption elevated with elevating CNTs dosage and stirring velocity. in addition to its far lower with decreasing of the initial concentration of the dye. The dye elimination using 400 mg /L of MWCNTs changed into extra than 98%. The dosage (400 mg /L) is the optimum dosage of functionalized CNTs (fMWCNTs). to remove of methylene blue with removal more than 98%. The adsorption kinetic information was analysed the use of pseudo-2nd-order models. It has become determined that the pseudo-2d-order kinetic version became the most suitable version, describing the adsorption kinetics. Adsorption isotherm onto the (fMWCNTs) has become determined with 40 mg /L as methylene blue concentration. Equilibrium time turned into 80 min. Equilibrium statistics had been suited for the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and isotherm constants have been determined.
The prospect and challenges of renewable hydrogen production in Iraq
Authors: Alsaffar May Ali , Ayodele Bamidele Victor , Abdel Ghany Mohamed A. , Yousif Shnain Zainab , Mustapa Siti Indati
Published: March 2020

The energy demand in Iraq has increased in the past decade as a result of growth in population and industrialization. Although, most of the energy demand is being met using energy derived from fossil fuels, which are fast depleting and have the problem of emission of greenhouse gases when combusted. Recently, there have been an increasing awareness in the quest for alternative source of cleaner and sustainable energy production. One of such alternatives is hydrogen energy, which has been tagged as the energy of the future with zero-emission when combusted with oxygen. Moreover, hydrogen has wide applications in electrochemical cells for electricity production or as fuel in internal combustion engines for powering vehicles. The present study gives an overview of the prospect and challenges of renewable hydrogen production in Iraq. Moreover, the availability of the different feedstocks for the production of renewable hydrogen as well as the state-of-the-art in Iraqi context were examined. The prospect and challenges in the production of renewable hydrogen in Iraq were also presented.
The theoretical and practical dimension of sustainability in architecture: Analytical study of a number of architectural projects
Authors: Abood Oday Abbas , Ahad Enas Salim Abdl , Khamis Nawal Abdul Amir
Published: March 2020

In the challenges facing the world, contemporary architecture is oriented towards sustainability as a radical and comprehensive solution that reorients architecture and its currents on both sides of thought and practice. On the other hand, in the context of the technological architectural practice, there are a number of failures that raise many questions about sustainability and what it means and how to achieve it. In this context, this study aims to: Analyze the specificity of sustainable practice in architecture in its applied side compared to the theoretical aspect.

According to the aim of this study, a number of procedural steps were outlined that identified general aspects of sustainability, theoretically & practically. First of them was analyzing a number of selected studies with sustainability in architecture and extracting the most important aspects related to achieving sustainability as a theoretical framework. Through which to measure the achievement of sustainability or not, and then apply it on a number of architectural projects with a global classification of sustainability. To drive indicators and aspects resulting from application and to draw general and specific conclusions of the identification of aspects of sustainability in architectural practice, which emphasized the separation between practice and application, and the lack of inclusiveness of sustainable practice as compared to the theoretical frameworks of sustainability.
Optimization of oxytetracycline sorption onto iron modified montmorillonite
Authors: Barbooti Mahmood M , AlShuwaiki Najah M. , Su Haiyan
Published: March 2020

Aims: Iraqi montmorillonite was saturated with iron (III) to investigate the improvement in the adsorption efficiency towards the antibiotics represented by oxytetracycline

Methods

Design of Experiments was carried out to determine the effect of experimental conditions: initial oxytetracycline molarity concentration (0.1-1.0 mM), montmorillonite content (0.5 – 10 g/L) and the pH value of the solution (3-10) on the adsorption efficiency. Batch equilibration runs were also conducted to study the adsorption of OTC in aqueous solutions onto the modified clay mineral powder for 24 hours. The UV absorption of the residual material at 360 nm was employed to determine the remaining oxytetracycline after equilibration for 24 hours.

The iron introduction into montmorillonite resulted in enhancement of adsorption efficiency towards oxytetracycline which may be related to the possibility of stable complex with Fe(III) to make a 1:3 complex with it.

Results: On using the optimum conditions, a mathematical model simulating the operation for the treatment was obtained as follows:

Eff % =-0.467+0.160 m + 0.839Co +0.126 pH - 0.046 m.Co + 0.041 Co
2 - 0.071 Co.pH

Experimentally the OTC concentration could be decreased from 0.5 down to 0.03 mM in synthetic wastewater at a pH value of 5.5 by sorption onto 6.85g.L−1 clay (montmorillonite)/L.

Conclusion: The treatment with iron allows the use of lower clay material to perform the OTC removal.
Selection of Suitable Site for Solid Waste Landfill : a case study in Kirkuk City, Iraq
Authors: Omar Najat Q. , Shawkat Iman A. , Ali Sami H. , Abujayyab Sohaib K. M.
Published: March 2020

Selection of a landfill site for solid wastes is considered one of the challenges for local governments and municipalities’ directorates in particular all over the world, simply because every single city produces huge amount of solid wastes (garbage’s) each day that come from homes, hospitals, schools, industry, offices and centers of markets. In this study, Kirkuk city has been selected as a case study to figure out the solutions for trash, bad odors in most of the neighbourhoods, groundwater pollution, harmful toxic wastes, etc. So, proper criteria selection is very important as a starting point of landfills to preclude unwanted long-standing effects. Otherwise the traditional process of site selection process is difficult because its time consuming and costly. An integration of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Expert Choices Process (ECP) method is best combined technique to solve complex decision making and to select based on the study area condition. Six criteria have been used to select potential suitable site landfill in Kirkuk city. It turned out that the highest criteria is the built up area and the lowest one is bearing capacity of soil (BCS). Moreover, the final produced map shows the suitable area for landfill siting The work purports to present methodology of this inquiry and objective can make impressive solve in global environmental change and its regularly supplies an efficacious operation to select the suitable site to landfill the solid wastes.
Comparison between Saaty’s approach and Alonso and Lamata’s approach in site selection process
Authors: AL-Hameedawi Amjed Naser M
Published: March 2020

This paper illustrates comparisons between Saaty’s Approach and Alonso and Lamata’s Approach to deploying a set of indicators/criteria for prioritizing and selecting practice to Irrigation Project with the application of remote sensing techniques. Inaccuracy in checking the consistency of the site process leads to poor selection of irrigation projects location. Where the loss of appropriate plan and mistake in the choice of the most reasonable site for the irrigation project is one of the deficiencies that resulted in shortcoming in the building of the irrigation projects and this may prompt the fall of the farming. Data are gathered through expert’s questionnaires, group discussions, interviews and literature review. Based on all pre-mentioned tools, indicators/criteria were derived for use in the selection process evaluation. This paper paved the way for further research on the topic of accuracy in adopting consistency approaches that give the best results.
Geotechnical maps for Salah Al-Deen-Iraq
Authors: Mohammed Mohammed Sahib , Hasan Musaab Falih , Al-bayati Khaldoon Satea
Published: March 2020

The objective of the study is to produce a digital geotechnical map of Salah Al-Deen Governorate in Iraq through employing the capabilities of GIS and remote sensing techniques. Those maps can represent the distribution of different geotechnical properties in an accurate easy to use manner. This study is performed in many phases that began with get a space map and government boundaries of the investigation area that point gather the information required for the study from public school building projects. These points position determines using a GPS then analysis the data into the program (ArcGIS10.4). The total number of the boreholes used in this research (24) points each point consists of three test boreholes with depth up to (10m). The results producing geotechnical maps for the B.C. and soil properties in the Salah Al-Deen Governorate, these geotechnical maps can provide a description clear and simple access to the properties such as bearing capacity, Gypsum Content, and Organic percent. As well as showing the quality of groundwater.
The Error in Calculated Distance due to the propagation of Positions Error
Authors: Jassim Mohammed Anwer
Published: March 2020

It is known that distance can be measured directly using the instruments of distance measurement, or indirectly using the coordinates of two edge points using the popular Pythagorean formula. In most of the geomatics engineering studies, the error in distances is expressed by the uncertainty of the direct measured distances only, while there is not enough studies that highlight the error in a computed distance. This paper presents the error in distance in a novel formulated approach, which considers the planimetric position error in both edges of the computed distance, to determine the error in that distance. Furthermore, the research concludes that the size and direction of error ellipse at edge points and the azimuth of the distance, are the main factors that combine to define the value of error in those distances that are measured indirectly.
Revealing the potentials of 3D modelling techniques; a comparison study towards data fusion from hybrid sensors
Authors: Jaber Abbas S. , Abed Fanar M.
Published: March 2020

The vast advantages of 3D modelling industry have urged competitors to improve capturing techniques and processing pipelines towards minimizing labour requirements, saving time and reducing project risk. When it comes to digital 3D documentary and conserving projects, laser scanning and photogrammetry are compared to choose between the two. Since both techniques have pros and cons, this paper approaches the potential issues of individual techniques in terms of time, budget, accuracy, density, methodology and ease to use. Terrestrial laser scanner and close-range photogrammetry are tested to document a unique invaluable artefact (Lady of Hatra) located in Iraq for future data fusion scenario. Insight investigations of the factors affecting data processing and modelling in individual comparing techniques are discussed and analysed. Qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis was applied based on multiple criteria, such as level of automation (LOA), accuracy and point cloud integrity towards the adaption of data fusion approaches and co-registering frameworks for optimal deliverables.
Analysis of Error in Geodetic Networks using Different Observation Methods
Authors: Abid Mohammed A. , Husein Haifaa Nasser , Hamed Noor Hashim
Published: March 2020

Now a day, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is used in engineering surveying application, civil engineering construction and for correct object positioning, as in other fields (soil mapping characterization, military applications, and so on). As a result of the multipath error that increases when GPS signal is reflected by smooth surfaces around the antenna, the accuracy of positioning is reduced. For GPS signals this effect mainly appears in the neighbourhood of large buildings. In this research the faculty of engineering at University of Tikrit was chosen as a study area and the points were established at nearby building whose surface was able to reflect the incoming signals. The reflected signal takes more time to reach the receiver than the direct signal. The multipath effect is caused by reflection of satellite signals (radio waves) on objects. This paper shows the result of error obtained by (RTK and static observations) in different situations based on the GPS signals with different differential GPS receiver’s system that was caused by multipath error reflected.
The Compact city and urban image of the traditional city center
Authors: Abid E. H. , Alkinani A. S. , Abudlmunim S. A.
Published: March 2020

The traditional city suffers from the decline of the urban image due to urban development and homogeneity with the urban context of the city, and because of the lack of determinants governing the urban image, it is that the center of the city of traditional Kadhimiya suffers from a break in the urban image, Therefore, the research included how to build a distinctive urban image of the center of the traditional city of Kadhimiya and achieve the visual pleasure and comfort of the recipient and the urban image here means is an image not picture which are related to several aspects, including physical, social and psychological as well as the collective memory of individuals and their relationship with their environment and a sense of them and thus, interacting with it. The indicators of the research were drawn from the theoretical framework which is measured by the questionnaire to be applied to the study area. The research found that the compact city’s characteristics (high density, mixed-use, accessibility, proximity, public transportation directly influence the formation of the urban image through diversity, complexity, variability, and diversity of housing options and urban activities as a result of their impact on (identity, meaning, structure). The most important conclusions and recommendations were that the cognitive process of the urban image is linked to the collective memory, social and cultural values, customs, traditions, attention to the surrounding area of the shrine and its rehabilitation to fit the urban context and achieve visual enrichment and reinforce the sense of belonging to the city by building the urban image.
Architecture and urban of the Islamic Arabic city “Study in unlimited their properties”
Authors: Al-Ataabi Mahdi S.F. , Hameed Tuqa M.
Published: March 2020

This research relates to the concept of Arab Islamic cities’ characteristics as one of the most effective concepts in their planning, which are not limited in specific thoughts. The problem statement in this study is determined by crystallizing a comprehensive theoretical vision about the urban planning of Arab and Islamic cities. Moreover, the current research aims to clarifying the unlimited characteristics which are adopted in the planning of the Arab-Islamic cities. Accordingly, this study assumes that the indicators of these characteristics have a positive impact on the planning of Arab-Islamic cities. In order to address the issue and achieve the objectives, the work was to first build a knowledge framework. Furthermore, an integral theoretical framework of its characteristics which were extracted from the architectural proposals was studied. This is to be reflected in final form in four main indicators which include “engineering characteristics, environmental characteristics, aesthetic characteristics, and the social characteristics”. Subsequently, applying it to selected local Arab cities to clarify their impact in the planning the urban fabric of the Arab-Islamic city. Also, to reach conclusions which are clear and in control of the process of planning according to all indicators of extracted characteristics.
Spatial analysis of Private school sites in Al-Jihad neighborhood in Baghdad-Iraq by using geographic information systems
Authors: Abdul Jabbar S , Laffta S J
Published: March 2020

High rates of population growth of Al-Jihad neighborhood in Baghdad-Iraq, and the urban expansion accompanying this increase, as well as internal migration due to the recent circumstances in Iraq led to a great pressure on educational services and their ability to meet the needs of the growing population, all that led to the establishment of private schools and as a result, the number of private schools has increased significantly in the past years, The selection of the locations of these private schools was random and with no consideration of planning criteria. This paper examines the issue of selecting the sites of private schools without relying on the special planning criteria and determinants. The research methodology is based on the analysis of spatial sites of private secondary schools in Al Jihad neighborhood in Baghdad-Iraq to determine spatial distribution patterns of private secondary schools in the study area as well as the distance between secondary school sites in neighborhoods. Evaluate the application of planning and design standards to locate school sites. Clarify the adequacy of the location of private secondary schools with the population’s needs for educational services, analyze spatial distribution of schools and finally identify appropriate locations for these schools. by use of geographic information systems (GIS) in analyzing spatial distribution of the schools and determining the suitable locations for these schools, the research found that the private secondary schools within the study area are distributed randomly and are not subject to any planning criteria in their spatial signature. The research suggest a number of proposals and planning solutions to solve the problem of not appropriate spatial signature of private secondary schools in Al-Jihad neighborhood.
Preface
Authors: Solovev D B
Published: March 2020

International science and technology conference “FarEastСon-2019” (FarEastCon 2019) took place on October 1-4, 2019 in Vladivostok, Russian Federation.

The conference represents an informational platform for accumulation of expert opinion on projects and initiatives that are aimed at implementation of farsighted scientific research and development; it allows to present scientific and practical achievements to a wide circle of researchers.

Sections of the conference are of interest for the broad range of experts in the sphere of development of innovative solutions and organizing events that increase the efficiency of economic and innovative activities.

The international program committee has selected some papers for publishing in the IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering.

FarEastCon 2019 is a high-quality conference with a competitive submission process. For example, in 2019, FarEastCon 2019 only accepted 42% of submitted papers. FarEastCon 2019 has a rigorous reviewing process that is similar to the processes used by IEEE. Every submitted paper and poster is subjected to this process.

The main criterion is a judgment of the degree to which the submitted paper contributes substantial new research.

Reviewers rate the paper using a 10-point ranking scale, and provide a written evaluation. The written evaluation needs to support the reasoning behind the numeric ranking.

After the review period, there is a discussion period, where all reviewers can see the other reviews.

Organizing committee would like to express our sincere appreciation to everybody who has contributed to the conference. Heartfelt thanks are due to authors, reviewers, participants and to all the team of organizers for their support and enthusiasm which granted success to the conference.

Conference Char, Denis B. Solovev.
Anode ink formulation for a fully printed flexible fuel cell stack
Authors: Hakola Liisa , Parra Puerto Andres , Vaari Anu , Maaninen Tiina , Kucernak Anthony , Viik Saara , Smolander Maria
Published: March 2020

In fuel cells the underlying reactions take place at the catalyst layers composed of materials favoring the desired electrochemical reactions. This paper introduces a formulation process for a catalyst inkjet ink used as an anode for a fully printed flexible fuel cell stack. The optimal ink formulation was 2.5 wt% of carbon–platinum–ruthenium mixture with 0.5% Nafion concentration in a diacetone alcohol solvent vehicle. The best jetting performance was achieved when 1 wt% binder was included in the ink formulation. Anodes with resistivity of approximately 0.1 Ω cm were inkjet printed, which is close to the commercial anode resistivity of 0.05 Ω cm. The anodes were used in fuel cell stacks that were prepared by utilizing only printing methods. The best five-cell-air-breathing stack showed an open circuit potential under H2/air conditions of 3.4 V. The peak power of this stack was 120µW cm−2at 1.75 V, with a resistance obtained from potentiostatic impedance analysis of 295 Ohm cm2. The printed electrodes showed a performance suitable for low-performance solutions, such as powering single-use sensors.
Concomitance of superconducting spin–orbit scattering length and normal state spin diffusion length in W on (Bi,Sb)2Te3
Authors: Lau Yong-Chang , Akiyama Ryota , Hirose Hishiro T , Nakanishi Ryosuke , Terashima Taichi , Uji Shinya , Hasegawa Shuji , Hayashi Masamitsu
Published: March 2020

We report the observation of an anomalously large in-plane upper critical field, exceeding at least 2.5 times the Pauli paramagnetic limit, in a thin superconducting W film grown on a topological insulator (Bi,Sb)2Te3. This can be accounted for by setting the spin–orbit scattering length of superconducting W to a value ranging from 1 to 2 nm, which is comparable to the spin diffusion length of normal state W. The coupling between the topological surface states of (Bi,Sb)2Te3 and the wave functions of superconducting W may also contribute to the observed giant critical field. Our results suggest the universality of the spin–orbit scattering formalism for describing the transport involving the diffusive carriers as well as the Cooper pairs in systems with strong spin–orbit coupling.
Methods for comparing uncertainty quantifications for material property predictions
Authors: Tran Kevin , Neiswanger Willie , Yoon Junwoong , Zhang Qingyang , Xing Eric , Ulissi Zachary W
Published: March 2020

Data science and informatics tools have been proliferating recently within the computational materials science and catalysis fields. This proliferation has spurned the creation of various frameworks for automated materials screening, discovery, and design. Underpinning these frameworks are surrogate models with uncertainty estimates on their predictions. These uncertainty estimates are instrumental for determining which materials to screen next, but the computational catalysis field does not yet have a standard procedure for judging the quality of such uncertainty estimates. Here we present a suite of figures and performance metrics derived from the machine learning community that can be used to judge the quality of such uncertainty estimates. This suite probes the accuracy, calibration, and sharpness of a model quantitatively. We then show a case study where we judge various methods for predicting density-functional-theory-calculated adsorption energies. Of the methods studied here, we find that the best performer is a model where a convolutional neural network is used to supply features to a Gaussian process regressor, which then makes predictions of adsorption energies along with corresponding uncertainty estimates.
Computational recognition of lncRNA signature of tumor-infiltrating B lymphocytes with potential implications in prognosis and immunotherapy of bladder cancer
Authors: Zhou Meng , Zhang Zicheng , Bao Siqi , Hou Ping , Yan Congcong , Su Jianzhong , Sun Jie
Published: March 2020

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been associated with cancer immunity regulation and the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, functions of lncRNAs of tumor-infiltrating B lymphocytes (TIL-Bs) and their clinical significance have not yet been fully elucidated. In the present study, a machine learning-based computational framework is presented for the identification of lncRNA signature of TIL-Bs (named ‘TILBlncSig’) through integrative analysis of immune, lncRNA and clinical profiles. The TILBlncSig comprising eight lncRNAs (TNRC6C-AS1, WASIR2, GUSBP11, OGFRP1, AC090515.2, PART1, MAFG-DT and LINC01184) was identified from the list of 141 B-cell-specific lncRNAs. The TILBlncSig was capable of distinguishing worse compared with improved survival outcomes across different independent patient datasets and was also independent of other clinical covariates. Functional characterization of TILBlncSig revealed it to be an indicator of infiltration of mononuclear immune cells (i.e. natural killer cells, B-cells and mast cells), and it was associated with hallmarks of cancer, as well as immunosuppressive phenotype. Furthermore, the TILBlncSig revealed predictive value for the survival outcome and immunotherapy response of patients with anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) therapy and added significant predictive power to current immune checkpoint gene markers. The present study has highlighted the value of the TILBlncSig as an indicator of immune cell infiltration in the TME from a noncoding RNA perspective and strengthened the potential application of lncRNAs as predictive biomarkers of immunotherapy response, which warrants further investigation.
The Glycine Receptor Allosteric Ligands Library (GRALL)
Authors: Cerdan Adrien H , Sisquellas Marion , Pereira Gilberto , Barreto Gomes Diego E , Changeux Jean-Pierre , Cecchini Marco
Published: March 2020

Motivation

Glycine receptors (GlyRs) mediate fast inhibitory neurotransmission in the brain and have been recognized as key pharmacological targets for pain. A large number of chemically diverse compounds that are able to modulate GlyR function both positively and negatively have been reported, which provides useful information for the development of pharmacological strategies and models for the allosteric modulation of these ion channels.

Results

Based on existing literature, we have collected 218 unique chemical entities with documented modulatory activities at homomeric GlyR-α1 and -α3 and built a database named GRALL. This collection includes agonists, antagonists, positive and negative allosteric modulators and a number of experimentally inactive compounds. Most importantly, for a large fraction of them a structural annotation based on their putative binding site on the receptor is provided. This type of annotation, which is currently missing in other drug banks, along with the availability of cooperativity factors from radioligand displacement experiments are expected to improve the predictivity of in silico methodologies for allosteric drug discovery and boost the development of conformation-based pharmacological approaches.

Availability and implementation

The GRALL library is distributed as a web-accessible database at the following link: https://ifm.chimie.unistra.fr/grall. For each molecular entry, it provides information on the chemical structure, the ligand-binding site, the direction of modulation, the potency, the 3D molecular structure and quantum-mechanical charges as determined by our in-house pipeline.

Contact

mcecchini@unistra.fr

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Prospects for improved glomerular filtration rate estimation based on creatinine—results from a transnational multicentre study
Authors: Björk Jonas , Nyman Ulf , Courbebaisse Marie , Couzi Lionel , Dalton R Neil , Dubourg Laurence , Ebert Natalie , Eriksen Björn O , Gaillard Francois , Garrouste Cyril , Grubb Anders , Hansson Magnus , Jacquemont Lola , Jones Ian , Kamar Nassim , Lamb Edmund J , Legendre Christophe , Littmann Karin , Mariat Christophe , Melsom Toralf , Rostaing Lionel , Rule Andrew D , Schaeffner Elke , Sundin Per-Ola , Turner Stephen , Åkesson Anna , Delanaye Pierre , Pottel Hans
Published: March 2020

Background

The Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) creatinine equation is routinely used to assess renal function but exhibits varying accuracy depending on patient characteristics and clinical presentation. The overall aim of the present study was to assess if and to what extent glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimation based on creatinine can be improved.

Methods

In a cross-sectional analysis covering the years 2003–17, CKD-EPI was validated against measured GFR (mGFR; using various tracer methods) in patients with high likelihood of chronic kidney disease (CKD; five CKD cohorts, n = 8365) and in patients with low likelihood of CKD (six community cohorts, n = 6759). Comparisons were made with the Lund–Malmö revised equation (LMR) and the Full Age Spectrum equation.

Results

7In patients aged 18–39 years old, CKD-EPI overestimated GFR with 5.0–16 mL/min/1.73 m2 in median in both cohort types at mGFR levels <120 mL/min/1.73 m2. LMR had greater accuracy than CKD-EPI in the CKD cohorts (P30, the percentage of estimated GFR within 30% of mGFR, 83.5% versus 76.6%). CKD-EPI was generally the most accurate equation in the community cohorts, but all three equations reached P30 above the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative benchmark of 90%.

Conclusions

None of the evaluated equations made optimal use of available data. Prospects for improved GFR estimation procedures based on creatinine exist, particularly in young adults and in settings where patients with suspected or manifest CKD are investigated.