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Go to Editorial ManagerIn the last two decades Modern architecture of the 20th century has become a primary focus for numerous global organizations, researchers, and academics who aim to preserve and sustain it. The leading parties in this endeavor are UNESCO and the International DOCOMOMO. They recognize modern heritage as tangible, authentic, carrying exceptional features and modern characteristics that reflect values, shifts, and norms of its era. Therefore, Docomomo has identified key Modernist Merits as criteria to assess the authenticity of this heritage, while UNESCO has listed many modern buildings and sites on the World Heritage List. In this respect many Iraqi modernist buildings suffer from mishandling and poor interest. Numerous have been distorted, demolished, or are on the verge of disappearing. This reflects a lack of understanding their exceptional modernist values which are worthy of preservation, and thus inefficiency in managing this heritage. Given that Intervention in modernist heritage involves adhering to guidelines set by international organization, the vague connection between criteria of DOCOMOMO and those of UNESCO clouds the process. Therefore, this article focuses on addressing the relationship between the two organizations' sets of criteria and clarifying their connection. The authors also aimed to address the national Iraqi context by assessing selected cases of modernist heritage buildings by one of Iraq’s modernism pioneers, architect Qahtan Al-Madfai, against DOCOMOMO’s criteria for modernist merits, highlighting the originality of Iraqi modernist heritage.Using a descriptive analytical approach, the theoretical sections of the paper begin by exploring the principles and characteristics of modern architecture, followed by identifying the exceptional values of modernist buildings, defined by DOCOMOMO as Modernist Merits and linking them to UNESCO's criteria. The practical part includes an experts’ survey to assess the Modernist Merits of the selected sample of Al- Madfaies’ buildings.The research results showed that Qahtaan Al-Madfai’s architecture was distinguished by a high evaluation of two Merits (exceptional features): the technological feature and the artistic aesthetic feature. While the first was fairly preserved, the second feature was affected in some buildings as a result of the mismanagement of these buildings and the lack of awareness of their values.
Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Massive Multiple Input Multiple Out (MIMO) system is a key technology for future wireless transmission. The system's architecture can differ based on the type of Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) used at the receiver, whether they are all low-resolution or a mix of different resolutions (Mixed-ADCs). Mixed-ADCs is a promising solution to achieve better performance than low-resolution ADC-only architectures by leveraging high-resolution ADCs to capture critical signal components while maintaining energy efficiency through low-resolution ADCs. In this paper, the problem of channel estimation for this system architecture is taken into consideration. A novel compressive-sensing based algorithm, that is called Approximate Conjugate Gradient Pursuit (ACGP), is proposed to estimate the channel coefficients. The performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated under varying system parameters, including different Signal-to-Noise Ratios (SNR), Radio Frequency (RF) chains, ADC resolutions, and numbers of observation frames. Matlab software was used to perform numerical simulations. The results demonstrated that mixed-ADCs architecture outperforms low resolutions only in performance. It was found that ACGP achieves lower Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) compared to Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and Least Square (LS), particularly in low SNR conditions showcasing its robustness and efficiency in signal reconstruction, achieving an average enhancement of 30% to 50% at moderate SNR levels. While OMP exhibited faster computation times under various number of observation frames, ACGP maintained stable computational performance, with a slight increase in computation time. For applications where accurate channel estimation is required under noisy environment, the proposed algorithm is an effective choice to meet such requirements.
After long eras of socialism, wars and economic embargo when Iraqi people were severely exhausted, Iraq finally adopts free market economy. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased rapidly.The fortune was to flow in a proper frame of legislations to Iraqis.Since wealth needs time to grow for a person, and housing commodity is of high costs, then legislation were to be issued to organize flow of the national wealth to support private sector in housing finance.In respond, the Law of Iraqi Housing Bank (IHB) No. 32 was issued in 2011.This research is to solve the conflicts of the (IHB) Law and to support Iraqi legislators regarding this aspect. This research claims that this law should be revised by the Iraq Parliament. The research comes to help in this mission. The law of (IHB) should not conflict with The Iraqi Constitution.The range of this research is the “Status-in-force” Iraqi legislations only.It discusses the housing finance relations in various Iraqi legislations.
This study focused on the urban transformations resulting from the removal processes taking place in the urban fabric of sacred city centers, under the pretext of increasing urban capacity due to the density of use, which leads to the removal of important parts of the traditional urban fabric and adding them to the public urban space. To determine the amount of usage densities that the area can accommodate represented by the case study, which is the center of the holy city of Najaf: the study was based on using a quantitative measurement approach to test the hypothesis using a multivariable density measurement tool. A space matrix capable of measuring densities, accessibility, and diversity in the fabric during three time periods, a historical period 1900, 1990, and the current time 2024, to know the amount of changes that have occurred in the fabric. A qualitative measurement tool, which is a random sample questionnaire, was used to measure perceived density to find out which fabrics within the city center are more accommodating of congestion. The research has found that high and advanced accessibility through an integrated fabric with high connectivity that makes the city spaces work as one space leads to an increase in flows. It works to reduce the momentum in the city center and thus preserve the traditional urban fabric that must be emptied for pedestrians, as it represents the only fabric with The human scale at the level of the city as a whole (i.e. a fabric that is comfortable for pedestrians) also represents the identity of the area, and to accommodate the densities, the percentage of building density must be increased outside the traditional fabric.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most common children's neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) with an estimated global incidence of 1% to 2%. There are two aims for this research, first, to propose a data mining architecture that combines behavioural and clinical characteristics with demographic data. Second, to provide a quick, acceptable and easy way to support the ASD diagnosis. this can be performed by conducting a comparison study to determine the efficacy of four possible classifiers: logistic regression (LR), sequential minimum optimization (SMO), naïve Bayes, and instance-based technique based on k-neighbors (IBK). These classifiers have been performed with Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) tools to distinguish autistic adults from healthy, normal subjects. The results showed that, with 99.71%, SMO classification accuracy was 99.71, which exceeded the accuracy of other classifiers. The proposed architecture allows for early detection of ASD, distinguishing between ASD and healthy control subjects. This study could help doctors and clinicians by giving them a better idea of what the future holds for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and by improving therapy programs, allowing people with ASD to live a long and happy life.
Heritage buildings are part of the connection between the past and the present. By paying attention to their occupancy, we keep the present and future generations in touch with what our ancestors achieved, hence sustaining them being part of the living heritage. Restoration and renovation procedures must be carried out to make them capable of meeting contemporary needs, However, it is essential to recognize the architectural characteristics that resonate with long term occupants. This research focuses on the effect of design characteristics on the psychological relationship between heritage buildings and their occupants, through case studies of two heritage buildings in Baghdad. The first is the previous Theological college building of Al al-Bayt University of the 1920s, now the College of education for girls, and the second is the 19th century Ottoman Al-Qishla building. The study relies on conducting a questionnaire for the occupants about their response to design characteristics of each building. The questionnaire concluded that the design characteristics of the heritage building have a significant impact on the psychological response of its occupants. The majority of respondents indicated that characteristics such as clarity of function, clarity of elements, sense of security, privacy, and flexibility, were satisfactory. The majority of respondents expressed appreciation for heritage buildings, as well as positive evaluations and appreciation for the reflection of the past in these buildings, indicating that “architectural characteristics of the heritage building” has a significant impact on the psychological connection felt by the occupants of the heritage building.
The paper focuses on the role of participatory design and its various methods—such as awareness methods, social interaction methods, as well as indirect and open methods— that involve all citizens in the process of design, implementation, and future development process. The architect's role in this process is to transform the desires and visions of the participants into a practical reality, ensuring that their needs are met to create vibrant spaces. This involves achieving specific indicators that generate vitality in these spaces, including diversity, communication opportunities, strong identity, concentrated density, accessibility, and safety, all of which enhance social interaction. The paper referred to a number of international examples in Norway and Denmark, and Arab examples in Jordan that proved the effectiveness of the participatory approach in achieving vital environments. Hence, the research problem is represented by the following questions: How does participatory design contribute to enhancing the vitality of the space? To what extent is the participatory design methodology applied to enhance vitality and help achieve a sense of belonging within the space? The paper findings emphasized the importance of participatory design in meeting the needs of the local community and in creating a vital, safe, and inclusive environment characterized by social cohesion, cooperation, ownership, belonging, and equality. This highlights the importance of encouraging the entire community to engage in the design process, which can lead to creative ideas and empower citizens. The paper recommends adopting the participatory design approach to improve the quality of life and enhance the vitality of urban spaces.
Three decades of empirical research have proven that well-being in humans is stimulated by designs that link people to natural elements and landscapes. Environmental psychology research also revealed that these characteristics can lower stress and anxiety while having a positive impact on human productivity. therefore, there were more recent interest from theorists and architects to discover approaches to re-connect the constructed environment with the natural components. One of the most current theories of re-communication and its use in architecture is called "biophilia.". Therefore, the research problem is the lack of knowledge of biophilic architecture and what are the most prominent features affecting the user. the research aims to shed light on the basics of this design theory as well as testing its design patters in the educational environment to find out which attributes are most effective for users in improving productivity and well-being By adopting the quantitative descriptive approach and based on a questionnaire for the purpose of adopting it in design and to aid in the practical application of the Biophilia idea by designers and architects. The research concluded that there are design features that are more important than others for educational buildings, such as (day light, water, air, plants, landscapes, mobility, integrating the parts to create the whole).
Children of hyperactivity are like any other children, but they are unable to integrate with society and the environment, because hyperactivity is a developmental disorder that makes the child uncontrollable, difficult to understand, learn and socialize and is placed in the centres of disease control as a serious public health problem. Here, the role of architecture is in its active contribution to improving social interaction and addressing part of the problems of this group of children. This treatment has a significant impact on improving the quality of children's environment in general and children of hyperactivity in particular, thus facilitating interaction and learning with their peers by working to create a healthy environment that meets their needs inside and outside the building. Due to the lack of interest or thorough studies on children with hyper-active, distracted children and the impact of their surrounding environment, whether internal or external, especially within Iraq, despite their considerable and multiple creative potential (physical or mental). Therefore, the aim of the research was to determine the extent of the effect of green on the elite or hyperactivity symptoms of children suffering from hyperactivity syndrome, and to contribute to their positive, sensory and collective appearance.
Contemporary urban discourse is paying increasing attention to the issue of urban resilience, due to the stresses, disasters and disturbances (natural and human) that the cities of the world are experiencing and facing, which confirms the need to be familiar with the concept of urban resilience, its dimensions, practices, and characteristics at different levels; In order to reach the aspects of developing the urban energy sector in them, and in a way that supports the preparedness of cities to face potential expected and unexpected disturbances in the future, as cities are usually formed from many main and sub-systems that are dynamically intertwined with each other, such as: the social and economic system, infrastructure systems, land use, and media Various transports, which have a high level of direct interactions with the natural environment; ; It is therefore necessary to understand how the city deals with the odds of threats and challenges in an integrated manner; To overcome its weaknesses and enhance its resilience of use, which aims to make cities more secure, resilient and sustainable in the future, as well as that requires rethinking the field of expanding the use of renewable energies and the general urban landscape. To become a search problem “Failure to exploit the potential of natural energies on the possibility of exploiting renewable natural energies with their components (active and passive) in the production of resilience urban formations in cities.” The aim of the research is to try to "extract an integrated theoretical framework on the characteristics of urban energy resilience from international and Arab experiences, and to diagnose its most important planning and design pillars and indicators, which can be adopted to evaluate the reality of urban energy resilience in local cities." The research hypothesized that “the exploitation of energy systems produced from renewable natural resources, for the purposes of environmental treatments for resilient cities, especially in the buildings of housing projects and their urban surroundings, reduces the consumption of fossil energies for the city, frees its sites from linking to depleted energy transmission networks, and reduces potential environmental pollution problems, which contributes to in the production of flexible energy systems and helps in the generation of flexible cities." The descriptive analysis method was adopted.
Construction joints are separations between successive concrete pours. They are critical in the building of large concrete structures, since these structures cannot be cast in a single pour. Self-consolidation concrete is a relatively new kind of concrete that is considered suitable for a wide range of construction applications, especially those needing a high early resistance. Certain findings from earlier experimental tests were adopted and analyzed using finite element analysis. ANSYS program was used to analyze the impact of utilizing high strength concrete (fc') and the secondary reinforcement ratio (ρv) on the behavior of reinforced self-consolidating concrete beams having a horizontal construction joint. Nine beams analyzed in this study have the same dimensions (150×180×1200) mm (width× height ×length). Between the two supports, the clear span was 1100 mm. Two-point loads were applied to the simply supported beams during testing. One of the beams acts as a control beam (without a construction joint) and the remaining beams were with horizontal construction joint in the tension zone. The ultimate loads obtained analytically vary by between 3.1% and 7.8 % from those found experimentally. The presence of the horizontal construction joints made the beam less stiff. Utilizing a 70 MPa high strength concrete resulted in a 47.4 % in ultimate load over the experimental value for regular strength concrete (28 MPa). Increasing the ratio of secondary reinforcement (0.01229 to 0.049) resulted in a 10.3% increase in ultimate load magnitude, while decreasing the ratio of secondary reinforcement (0.01229 to 0.0025) with spanning the spacing between stirrups led to a reduction in ultimate load magnitude by 55.8%.
Poly(vinyl chloride) photodecomposition films that contains melamine Schiff base (0.5% by weight) as photostabilizers upon preservation with an ultraviolet light (UV) was investigated. The photodecomposition rate constant was reduced significantly in existence of melamine Schiff base compared to PVC (blank). The Schiff base 1 was found to most effective additive in PVC photostabilization films. Photodecomposition rate content for PVC films containing Schiff base 1 was found to be 5 × 10-3 sec-1 compared to 8.7 × 10-3 sec-1 for blank film. Ultraviolet radiation aging behaviors of PVC films were studied through leaching test by measuring the degree of migration. The surface morphology of PVC films was inspected by scanning electron microscope.
In this work, environmentally friendly zinc oxide nanoparticles was produced using sustainable green technology. With several loading amounts, such as 5%, 10%, 50%, and 100%, the banana peel extract was utilized as a capping agent. This was followed by calcinations at 400 ºC for 3 h in a muffle furnace. To evaluate the physical and chemical change of the synthesized nanoparticles, XRD, FTIR, UV-VIS and SEM/EDAX was used. The characterization results reveald that the all the green synthesized ZnO NPs samples strongly supports the well-crystallinity with high phase purity. The average crystallite size of the prepared samples was calculated using Debye-Scherer's formula and the results shows that with an increase in extract amount, the average crystallite size was shrinking. The FTIR result verified the successful chemical reaction between zinc salt and banana peel extract. The UV-VIS results showed the effect of size quantisization phenomena at 100% extract adding. Finally, the SEM images for all the prepared samples confirm the spherical shape.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that severely impacts cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and reasoning, ultimately affecting daily life. Early and accurate detection is crucial for timely intervention and management. Traditional diagnostic methods, including neuroimaging and cognitive assessments, can be expensive and time-consuming, necessitating more accessible and efficient alternatives. This study aims to develop an automated and efficient deep learning-based detection system that uses Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals to accurately classify AD and healthy individuals. A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) model was designed to extract meaningful features from preprocessed EEG data. The architecture consists of convolutional layers with max pooling, dropout regularization, and fully connected layers to improve classification accuracy. The model was trained and evaluated on a comprehensive EEG dataset, using key performance metrics such as accuracy, recall, precision, and F1-score. The proposed CNN model achieved a high classification accuracy of 94.56%, a low loss of 0.2162, and an AUC value of 0.93828, demonstrating superior classification capability. The results indicate that the model effectively distinguishes between AD and healthy individuals, outperforming several state-of-the-art approaches. The findings highlight the potential of deep learning-based EEG analysis for AD detection, providing an accessible and cost-effective tool for early diagnosis. The high accuracy of the proposed CNN model suggests that it can assist medical professionals in making well-informed decisions, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
The fifth generation (5G) and beyond mobile networks support increasing number of users with increasing bit rate per users. This has encouraged researchers to propose coherent digital subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) point-to-multipoint (P2MP) architectures to reduce the cost and complexity of optical transport networks, particularly in the metro aggregation scenario. However, coherent optical receiver is relatively costly and complexity compared with a direct-detection (DD) counterpart due to the use of a synchronized local laser. This paper addresses design issues and performance investigation of intensity modulation/direct-detection (IM/DD) P2MP optical networks. P2MP architectures are designed using digital RF multisubcarrier (MSC) waveform embedded on the intensity of continuous-wave (CW) laser beside direct-detection scheme. The design covers C- and O-band operation using a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) architecture. Further single- and double-polarization (SP and DP) versions are reported for each type of the networks. All the architectures are built in Optisystem version 15 environment and simulated for different network parameters, under the assumption of 25 Gbps per subcarrier data rate. The main performance measures are maximum route reach and bit rate-distance product (BDP). The simulation results indicate that DD networks can replaced the coherent counterpart when number of subcarriers per optical channel is 4. Further, the O-band P2MP networks offer high values of maximum reach and BDP than C-band counterparts.