Periodicals of Engineering and Natural Sciences (PEN - International University of Sarajevo)
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Facility management adoption in low-resource public hospitals: A systematic review and context-driven model for enhancing operational performance
Get PDFPublic hospitals in low-resource settings face continuous operational challenges that lead to poor-quality service delivery. Facility Management (FM) as a strategic discipline in well-developed countries enhances efficiency, safety, and sustainability. But in many Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), especially post-conflict countries such as Iraq, FM practices are fragmented, reactive, and no longer supported by an integrated administrative structure. Several pieces of evidence on FM decision-making and planning were examined to better understand the drivers, obstacles, and effects influencing FM operational performance during its adoption in public hospitals. A systematic search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed from 2018 to 2025, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) guidelines. The inclusion criteria used were considered in including thirty-three studies. The critical appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) were used to determine the quality of the methodology, and NVivo was used to assess the thematic synthesis. The findings prove that adoption of FM depends on nine overall practices that are proactive maintenance, digital technologies, sustainability practices, safety management, organizational culture and readiness, government initiatives, data management, digital integration, and outcomes of operational performance. It is on these determinants that the current study has offered a context-based FM model that is particularly tailored to the institutional context of Iraq and other post-conflict environment. This model is a novel and workable mechanism of enabling system-level improvement in poor health FM system
Implementing K-Means Clustering Algorithm in Collaborative Trip Advisory and Planning System
Get PDFFueled by the help of the Internet, more and more tourists nowadays tend to plan trips by themselves in order to have trip plans that meet their preferences and convenience perfectly. However, tourists may face some problems when they plan a trip by themselves, which makes the whole trip planning process challenging and tiring. These problems include extensive tourism information, manually constructing an itinerary for a trip and difficulty in satisfying the needs of all trip participants. Therefore, a web-based trip planning system is proposed in this project to solve all these problems in order to help tourists in planning their desired trips more effectively and efficiently. This system will help users to search for attractions and restaurants in Southeast Asian countries faster by providing filtering and prioritizing features. This system also facilitates the decision-making process of tourists when choosing places to visit and restaurants by utilizing the power of word-of-mouth (reviews). Besides, this system will aid tourists by reducing the need to manually construct the itinerary for a trip. The k-means clustering algorithm will be used to auto-arrange the trip itinerary to ensure places close to each other are arranged to be visited on the same day so that tourists can save on unnecessary transport costs and time. Lastly, this system promotes collaborative trip planning by providing a platform for all the participants in a trip to discuss and plan their trip together
Integrated model of stochastic dynamics for control of a socio-ecological-oriented innovation economy
Get PDFOn the basis of modern mathematical models, methods and information and technologies, for example, an integrated stochastic nonlinear model of man-made processes and objects, suitable for the conditions of systemic crises, were investigated and developed. Considered in this article are some aspects of integration of a lot of domains and sectors of operation of modern complex systems which are functioning and developing in the present-day conditions of instability, crises and nonlinearity. In order to predict the development of the state of an innovation economy, the nonlinear integrated stochastic model of growthing dynamic in the phase space has been investigated and developed. In the article, problem of the optimization of the management of the activity of modern complex systems that develop and function regarding current conditions of the instability are considered. The prospect of further research based on the developed models is to conduct computer experiments and their practical usisng. The development and study of criterias, methods and models for optimal management of man-made objects and the creation of making decision systems based on the proposed integral models in the state space are also promising
Architectural requirement of people with disability in the urban cities in Iraq
Get PDFAt the international level, attention is focused on the possibility of integrating people with special needs into their communities in a way that reduces their sense of disability by providing their public needs in the urban environment. The architectural and building codes in Arab societies have neglected the humanitarian considerations associated with this category for a long time, where people with disabilities in Arab societies, especially the Iraqi society, have many difficulties that lead to determining their movement in the urban environment of contemporary cities, which has a negative impact on how this group adapts within these societies and the difficulty of their integration, although the Iraqi government has sought to develop the constitution to support people with disabilities, However, these attempts were just theoretical but do not adopt a real binding application for urban development projects in the current reality of the cities in the twenty-first century , which calls for the introduction of real standards with well-studied dimensions and depends on multiple global standards to provide flexible solutions to transform the urban environment into an environment that can embrace the people with disabilities and provide sufficient flexibility in movement solutions which helps to develop their mental and physical abilities in a series and appropriate manner in the current Iraqi society, therefore the research study includes the following:-
Criteria and requirements of people with special needs in the urban environment to reach the appropriate architectural standards for them.
Experiences and legislation suitable for people with special needs in third world countries and Arab countries
At the international level, attention is focused on the possibility of integrating people with special needs into their communities in a way that reduces their sense of disability by providing their public needs in the urban environment. The architectural and building codes in Arab societies have neglected the humanitarian considerations associated with this category for a long time, where people with disabilities in Arab societies, especially the Iraqi society, have many difficulties that lead to determining their movement in the urban environment of contemporary cities, which has a negative impact on how this group adapts within these societies and the difficulty of their integration, although the Iraqi government has sought to develop the constitution to support people with disabilities, However, these attempts were just theoretical but do not adopt a real binding application for urban development projects in the current reality of the cities in the twenty-first century , which calls for the introduction of real standards with well-studied dimensions and depends on multiple global standards to provide flexible solutions to transform the urban environment into an environment that can embrace the people with disabilities and provide sufficient flexibility in movement solutions which helps to develop their mental and physical abilities in a series and appropriate manner in the current Iraqi society, therefore the research study includes the following:-
Criteria and requirements of people with special needs in the urban environment to reach the appropriate architectural standards for them.
Experiences and legislation suitable for people with special needs in third world countries and Arab countries.
Architectural foundations are suitable for people with special needs in the Iraqi cities
Effect of graphite particles on physical and mechanical properties of nickel matrix composite
Get PDFThe composite materials have effective properties and characteristics for use in most modern and important applications such as space and transportation applications, especially in internal combustion engines as well as applications and marine industries. In this study, Nickel – 5 vol.% Zirconium dioxide composites with 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 vol. % of graphite particles are prepared by powder metallurgy technique. The samples are pressed at 900 MPa for 1 min after mixing the hybrid composite powders for 15 min by using a mechanical mixer, followed by sintering at 1160 oC for 3 hours. The hybrid composites are characterized by using an optical microscope. The wear test under dry sliding conditions was performed under various loads of 5, 10, 15 and 20 Newton and at a fixed sliding distance of around 1810 m. It is found that increasing graphite content results decrease in bulk and apparent densities in contrast with total porosity, apparent porosity, and water absorption. Alternatively, the increasing volume fraction of graphite particles improves the micro-hardness, diametral compressive strength and wear resistance till an optimum value up to 4 %, then severely reduction is observed. Whereas the wear resistance decreased by increasing the applied loads for all reinforcement content. The results, in conclusion, reveal that the hybrid composites at 4 % graphite particles relatively have high mechanical and wear properties, and it could be considered a suitable because of high corrosion resistance in our daily life applications
Water desalination and purification using desalination units powered by solar panels
Get PDFOne of the problems of the south area in Iraq is the reduced of quantity and the lack of quality of the supplied water, especially in the remote areas. This problem is caused due to many reasons. One of these reasons is the decrease of supplied electricity, which reflected on the performance of water pumping and desalination stations. This paper presenting a project that presented to municipality of Al-Nasiriya city to overcome the problem of the lack in quantity and quality of the supplied water to some villages that remote from the center of the city, through the use of complex modules that consists of small renewable power station with desalination unit. The project goes through some stages starting from collecting the data that related to the aim of the project like; sun radiation level, wind speed, dust quantity, quality and quantity of the presented water, and the type of activity in the area. The collected data were analyzed and evaluated and then the decision comes to execute three complex modules in three locations, powered by small solar energy unit in each. The operation of these modules gives good results, where they offers an acceptable quality with sufficient quantity of water and this an encourage results to populate this experiment in remote areas
Texture features extraction based on GLCM for face retrieval system
Get PDFTexture features play an important role in most image retrieval techniques to obtain results of high accuracy. In this work, the face image retrieval method considering texture analysis and statistical features has been proposed. Textile features can also be extracted using the GLCM tool. In this research, the GLCM calculation method involves two phases, first: some of the previous image processing techniques work together to get the best results to determine the big object of the face image (center of face image) then, the gray level co-occurrence matrix GLCM is computed for gray face image and then some statistical texture features with second order are extracted. The second phase, the facial texture features are retrieved by finding the minimum distance between texture features of an unknown face image with the texture features of face images which are stored in the database system. The experimental results show that the proposed method is capable to achieve high accuracy degree in face image retrieval
Influence of school backpacks on spinal column load in primary school students
Get PDFBackground: The problem of heavy school bags is a global problem recognized in many countries in Europe and the world, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to poor posture habits, "sedentary lifestyles" and insufficient physical activity, school bags is one of the main causes of low back pain and deformity in pupils. The recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) is that the weight of the school bag should not exceed 10% of the student\u27s weight. However, in practice these limitations are far from reality with the obvious problems caused by too heavy bags. The aim of the paper is to identify and analyze the backbone load caused by the overweight school backpacks in real school work conditions and eliminate them by creating new solutions that are in line with ergonomic and biomechanical principles, as well as the recommendation given by WHO.
Methods: The research included first grade primary school students at the age of seven, including their parents. The research began by interviewing parents with relevant questions, as well as measuring the students’ height and weight and the weight of their school backpacks. The analysis was performed in CATIA v5 software package (Dassault Systèmes, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) using its advanced biomechanical modules. By knowing the anthropometric and work environment data with ergonomic design and analysis, the biomechanical analysis, rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) and carry analysis were performed.
Results: The conducted survey showed that 84% of students walk from home to school nineteen minutes on average and that 77% of them carry their school backpacks independently. Based on the measurements, it has been shown that, on average, the weight of the school backpacks is well above the WHO recommendation. A study conducted on a representative sample of students confirmed the relation between fatigue and spinal pain caused by carrying a heavy school bag. Computer analysis showed excessive loads on the spinal segment of L4/L5 that were outside the normal range of 3,400 N.
Conclusions: A simulated computer analysis using RULA and biomechanical analysis with calculations of maximum loads in the lumbar segment of students found that school backpacks carried by students were too heavy for their age and well beyond the normal limits and WHO recommendations. The analysis showed that it is necessary to reduce the weight of the bag by about 30%
Design and Implementation of SPC Systems in Defense Industry Manufacturing Process
Get PDFIn this paper Statistical Process Control (SPC) was proposed for manufacturing process of a defense product manufacturing company, with the aim of improvement product quality. The production process was monitored from material input to the final output. The processes were mapped and SPC system was proposed. The system was tested by collecting data at the collecting points and analyzed by appropriate SPC tool such as: and the p-chart. The results show that the processes in the some parts in production are in the under control, processes are capable, but not centered, also some sub-processes of production are not in the control but also not capable
SCSO: A novel sine-cosine based swarm optimization algorithm for numerical function optimization
Get PDFMany swarm optimization algorithms have been presented in the literature and these algorithms are generally nature-inspired algorithms. In this paper a novel sine-cosine based particle swarm optimization (SCSO) is presented. In SCSO, firstly particles are generated randomly in the search space. Personal best value and velocity of the particles are calculated and by using sine, cosine and difference valuee. Calculated velocity is used for updating particles. The proposed algorithm is basic algorithm and approximately 30 rows MATLAB codes are used to implement the proposed algorithm. This short code surprisingly has high optimization capability. In order to evaluate performance and prove success of this algorithm, 14 well known numerical functions was used and the results illustrate that the proposed algorithm is successful in numerical functions optimization