Many cloud providers offer very high precision services to exploit Optical Character Recognition (OCR). However, there is no provider offers Tifinagh Optical Character Recognition (OCR) as Web Services. Several works have been proposed to build powerful Tifinagh OCR. Unfortunately, there is no one developed as a Web Service. In this paper, we present a new architecture of Tifinagh Handwriting Recognition as a web service based on a deep learning model via Google Colab. For the implementation of our proposal, we used the new version of the TensorFlow library and a very large database of Tifinagh characters composed of 60,000 images from the Mohammed Vth University in Rabat. Experimental results show that the TensorFlow library based on a Tensor processing unit constitutes a very promising framework for developing fast and very precise Tifinagh OCR web services. The results show that our method based on convolutional neural network outperforms existing methods based on support vector machines and extreme learning machine.

In this paper, numerous experimental tests were carried out to study the behavior of concrete containing glass fibers and confined with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP). Concrete specimens containing different fiber percentages ( 0.3 wt.%, 0.6 wt.%, 0.9 wt.% or 1.2 wt.%) and with different strengths of concrete (8.5 MPa, 16 MPa and 25 MPa) and different confinement levels (two, four and six layers of GFRP) were used as research parameters. The samples were tested to failure under pure axial compression. The results imply that the confinement effect with GFRP is relatively higher for concrete samples containing glass fiber (GFCC) with a percentage equal to 0.6 wt.%. The theoretical of stress ratios (fcc/fco) estimated by using existing ultimate strength models are found to be close to the experimental results for high strength of GFCC, but not close to the experimental results for low strength of GFCC.

During the last two decades, the attention of researchers has been focused on repairing and retrofitting concrete frames to make them more earthquake-resistant. Two methods have been developed to increase the seismic resistance of previously undamaged structures before they are subjected to an earthquake. The first is through the addition of new structural members, such as steel braces and the second is by selectively strengthening structural elements, for instance through steel caging. Seismic response analysis results have been utilized in multi-story RC frames that were designed without seismic design criteria. This study aims to determine whether the retrofitting technique is effective based on comparisons between steel braces, steel cages, and their combinations. The seismic performance is defined by the seismic code for Algeria RPA 2003 according to the latest recommendations. Static nonlinear analysis was used to compare seismic responses of existing non-ductile reinforced concrete RC frames under a variety of retrofit schemes. The results show that retrofitting with steel caging gives excellent performance in terms of ductility and low shear capacity. The retrofitting with steel bracing increased the shear capacity but led to a severe ductility deficiency. The retrofitting structure combined with steel bracing and steel caging shows good performance in shear capacity and ductility. Using the Zipper system (steel bracing) and V system in combination with steel caging gives similar results to the RPA model.

Sebkha soils are defined as problem soils located in arid, semi-arid, and coastal areas. Generally, they are fine soil, composed of silt, sand, and clay, which are cemented by different salts (e.g., halite, gypsum, and calcite). In nature, sebkha saline soils are exposed to different drying and wetting (D-W) cycles. However, these cycles have a significant effect on the mechanical behavior of these soils. This study aims to characterize the chemical, mineralogical, and geotechnical properties of sebkha soil using an experimental approach. We focus on the effects of D-W cycles on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and salinity of sebkha soils from Ain M’Lila, Algeria. In addition, these D-W cycles were applied to the samples dried in the open air to achieve the targeted water content (water content values of 7%, 11.4%, and 13%). The results obtained show that the UCS increases with decrease in water content and decreases with an increase in the number of D-W cycles. In addition, these cycles affect the salinity of the sebkha soil. Indeed, a significant decrease in soil salinity was recorded with an increase in the number of D-W cycles. Finally, a relationship was found between the salinity of the soil and UCS. The latter decreases with a decrease in soil salinity; this relationship becomes very significant for low water content values of 7% or less.

External confinement by the GFRP composites offers an actual process for retrofitting glass fibre reinforced concrete columns (GFRC) subject to static or seismic loads. This paper presents an experimental investigation and analytical modelling of the axial compression of confined circular concrete columns of different strengths (8.5, 16, and 25 MPa). Furthermore, the columns contain different percentages of glass fibres (0.3 to 1.2 %), and their confinement is given by GFRP composites of various thicknesses (0.8 to 2.4 mm). The uniaxial compression test on these specimens reveals that the glass fibre percentage and the thickness of the GFRP play a vital role in improving the load-deformation behaviour and crack propagation. Whatever the concrete strength, the ultimate axial strain and stress predicted using the suggested confinement model almost agrees with the available experimental results.

The study of the collapse of soils under the effect of flooding is a major problem in soil mechanics. Most of the work done on the treatment of these soils has been devoted to the use of binders of hydraulic or organic types. However, little work has been devoted to the use of salt calcium chloride in collapsible soil treatments. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect salt calcium chloride on a reconstituted collapsible soil in the laboratory, at different levels of water content, compaction energy and concentration of the saline solution. The results obtained showed a significant reduction in the potential for soil deformation and an illustration and a noticeable interaction between the soil particles and the saline solution resulting in a denser material.

Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBFs) have been widely used in the last decades and proved their efficiency to resist strong earthquake intensities by providing suitable ductility and lateral stiffness. Using the PBPD method for the design, EBFs can fulfill the target performance objectives under major earthquakes. The most commonly used configurations are the K-shaped and the recent Y-shaped EBFs, which have the advantage that the links are independent of the beam and can be easily replaced after an earthquake without serious damage to the beam and slab. This study focused on the lateral reliability of both systems under seismic loading. Nonlinear static pushover and Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) were performed on 5-story and 10-story K- and Y-shaped EBFs. A series of 14 near- and 7 far-field seismic records were considered to analyze and compare the inter-story drifts of both systems using the Seismostruct software. Moreover, Peak Ground Accelerations (PGA) and the different performance levels were also examined.

Seismic fragility curves are considered an effective tool for the evaluation of the behavior of interaction of the soil-pile-structure (ISPS) subjected to earthquake loading. In this research, in order to better understand the ISPS effect, a nonlinear static analysis is applied with a variation of the vertical load, the diameter of pile, and finally the longitudinal steel ratio of the pile in different types of sand (loose, medium, dense) to obtain the capacity curves of each parameter for elaborating the curves of fragility. After a comparison of fragility curves of these parameters, it appears that the effect of the ISPS system is advantageous with respect to the vertical axial load and the diameter of pile, while the longitudinal ratio of the pile depending on the ductility and the lateral resistance of the ISPS system. The proposed equation is intended to help engineers in the design and performance of the soil-pile-structure interaction. The results of this equation provided a convergence with the results of the fragility curves.

The main function of a pavement is to distribute the traffic-induced load over its different layers. While the flexible pavement design methods are based on a linear elastic calculation, the real behavior of the different layers is highly nonlinear and elastic. They can also, in some cases, be plastic and viscous. This research aims to develop a three-dimensional numerical model that is closely similar to the test FWTT conditions. The model will have a real geometry wheel footprint (rather than a rectangular shape). As a substitute for incremental loading, the wheel movement during its passage over the specimen will be simulated by a horizontal displacement. These important characteristics of the model represent the novelty and the major difference between the current research and previous studies. The current model, which is based on the finite elements method, uses Abaqus software and a viscoelastic constitutive model. The materials’ viscoelastic properties have been described by the Prony series, also called the relaxation modulus, which is a function of time. This parameter can be defined in most computer-aided engineering (CAE) software. The procedure for calculating the Prony series from experimental data is explained. The results obtained agree with the stress signal amplitude, the stress rotation principal, and the total displacement rotation when the load approaches the node considered and located in the middle of the specimen.

Sedimentation of dam reservoirs is a complex problem with several dimensions, including filling rates and characteristics of accumulated sediments. Sediment supply from river basins is particularly high in this region because of its semi-arid climate and especially because of poor vegetation protection. The amount of silt accumulated annually since the construction of this dam is estimated at 330000 m3. This silt accumulation strongly limits its storage capacity and consequently its operating duration. The consequences of this serious problem have been catastrophic, including a considerable reduction of 43–84% of the storage capacity of the dams and a clear degradation of water quality that can cause the degradation of the ecosystem functioning and can lead to irreversible changes. The silt present in abundance in the Algerian dams can, thus, constitute a potential resource to be judiciously exploited towards the increase of the performances of the construction materials. The extraction of sediments accumulated in the dam reservoir is, therefore, imperative. These sediments have a great geotechnical value. The objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of the recovery of mud by studying the knowledge of the sediments of the dam of Koudiat Medouar. The results of the tests carried out in laboratory allowed us to identify the various sediments from a physical and geotechnical point of view. These materials must of course meet certain rigorous criteria in terms of mechanical strength and durability and environmental impact. The experimental approach that we adopted allowed us to determine the characteristics of the materials necessary for the realization of compressed earth bricks (BTC) in conformity with the recommendations of the technical guides of construction.

Designing and manufacturing replacement cancellous bone structures by lattice structures and Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques is an effective method to create lightweight orthopedic implants while ensuring that they are mechanically compatible and their osseointegration ability with the host bone. In this article, we suggest a new design based on three lattice structures from triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) with a different volume porosity to replace cancellous bone based on predicting the mechanical stiffness. To predict the mechanical stiffness, the relationship between the effective modulus of elasticity and different porosity ratios of the lattice structures was determined by using three methods: i) finite element modeling (FEM) simulation, ii) Gibson and Ashby method and iii) a uniaxial compression test after manufacturing the lattice structures by using Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) Technology. To demonstrate the efficiency of our approach, the comparison of both numerical and experimental results showed that the effect of structure difference and porosity ratio of lattice structures on the mechanical stiffness values effectively match the cancellous bone in terms of elastic modulus and porosity ratio.

The relative scarcity of water resources in Algeria and their unequal distribution induce a rational use of available resources. The Zana-Gada{\"ıne plain appears as an exemplary case study, where the difficulties posed by the problem of crop water needs versus the availability of water resources appear. This article, based on field surveys and in-situ measurements, aims to identify the pressure of irrigation on water resources and the optimization of their use in an agricultural area, where irrigated agriculture represents 85% of the water consumption of the Zana-Gada{\"ıne plain. The piezometric study in correlation with hydrogeological data reveals that groundwater resources are limited, aggravated by wastage resulting in a consequent drawdown of 24 meters over 11 years. The analysis of interannual climate variability has enabled us to draw rainfall maps characteristic of the evolution of rainfall over the past decades where we observe a net deficit in precipitation. We calculated the evapotranspiration and the requirements in irrigation water for each crop in order to compare them with the available hydric resources and the establishment of irrigation schedules for the principal irrigated crops. The analysis of interannual climate variability has enabled us to draw rainfall maps characteristic of the evolution of rainfall over the past decades where we observe a net deficit in precipitation. We calculated the evapotranspiration and the requirements in irrigation water for each crop in order to compare them with the available hydric resources and the establishment of irrigation schedules for the principal irrigated crops.

The security is so important for both storing and transmitting the digital data, the choice of parameters is critical for a security system, that is, a weak parameter will make the scheme very vulnerable to attacks, for example the use of supersingular curves or anomalous curves leads to weaknesses in elliptic curve cryptosystems, for RSA cryptosystem there are some attacks for low public exponent or small private exponent. In certain circumstances the secret sharing scheme is required to decentralize the risk. In the context of the security of secret sharing schemes, it is known that for the scheme of Shamir, an unqualified set of shares cannot leak any information about the secret. This paper aims to show that the well-known Shamir’s secret sharing is not always perfect and that the uniform randomization before sharing is insufficient to obtain a secure scheme. The second purpose of this paper is to give an explicit construction of weak polynomials for which the Shamir’s (k, n) threshold scheme is insecure in the sense that there exist a fewer than k shares which can reconstruct the secret. Particular attention is given to the scheme whose threshold is less than or equal to 6. It also showed that for certain threshold k, the secret can be calculated by a pair of shares with the probability of 1/2. Finally, in order to address the mentioned vulnerabilities, several classes of polynomials should be avoided.

Graph matching is a comparison process of two objects represented as graphs through finding a correspondence between vertices and edges. This process allows defining a similarity degree (or dissimilarity) between the graphs. Generally, graph matching is used for extracting, finding and retrieving any information or sub-information that can be represented by graphs. In this paper, a new consistency rule is proposed to tackle with various problems of graph matching. After, using the proposed rule as a necessary and sufficient condition for the graph isomorphism, we generalize it for subgraph isomorphism, homomorphism and for an example of inexact graph matching. To determine whether there is a matching or not, a backtracking algorithm called CRGI2 is presented who checks the consistency rule by exploring the overall search space. The tree-search is consolidated with a tree pruning technique that eliminates the unfruitful branches as early as possible. Experimental results show that our algorithm is efficient and applicable for a real case application in the information retrieval field. On the efficiency side, due to the ability of the proposed rule to eliminate as early as possible the incorrect solutions, our algorithm outperforms the existing algorithms in the literature. For the application side, the algorithm has been successfully tested for querying a real dataset that contains a large set of e-mail messages.

This paper introduces a new approach of hybrid meta-heuristics based optimization technique for decreasing the computation time of the shortest paths algorithm. The problem of finding the shortest paths is a combinatorial optimization problem which has been well studied from various fields. The number of vehicles on the road has increased incredibly. Therefore, traffic management has become a major problem. We study the traffic network in large scale routing problems as a field of application. The meta-heuristic we propose introduces new hybrid genetic algorithm named IOGA. The problem consists of finding the k optimal paths that minimizes a metric such as distance, time, etc. Testing was performed using an exact algorithm and meta-heuristic algorithm on random generated network instances. Experimental analyses demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed approach in terms of runtime and quality of the result. Empirical results obtained show that the proposed algorithm outperforms some of the existing technique in term of the optimal solution in every generation.

Skin detection is very challenging because of the differences in illumination, cameras characteristics, the range of skin colours due to different ethnicities and many other variations. New effective and accurate methodologies are developed for skin colour detection to easily identify human’s skin colour threw databases which are specifically designed to assist research in the area of face recognition. One of these is the recently built SFA database that showed high accuracy for segmentation of face images. The approach described in this paper exploits skin and non-skin samples provided by SFA for skin segmentation on the basis of the well-known Euclidean and Manhattan distance metrics. Most importantly, the scheme proposed tries to segment facial colour images inside or outside SFA by means of skin samples belonging to SFA. Simulation results in both SFA and UTD colour face databases indicate that detection rates higher than 95% can be achieved with either measure.

The quasiparticle band structures and optical properties of ACdTS kesterite are investigated here on the basis of first-principles calculations, including the many-body effects theory, by using the GW plus Bethe-Salpeter equation. There were significant GW-quasiparticle corrections, over 0.9 eV, to the GGA-Kohn-Sham band gap. Our calculations also show that ACdTS kesterite had a small binding energy, exhibited optical absorption in the visible region, high minority carrier mobility, and large diffusion in length, rendering this material a promising candidate for solar cells. Based on these findings, we designed and implemented an ACdTS absorber in a thin-film solar cell (TFSC) structure. The new kesterite solar cell has a high efficiency of 11.6% with a low deficit in the output voltage. Moreover, a strategic combination between the particle swarm optimization approach and the ACdTS TFSC decorated with periodic nanowires is proposed to obtain significantly improved photovoltaic characteristics. The optimized design identifies a new pathway for a high conversion efficiency of 14%, far surpassing that provided by the conventional TFSC kesterite.

In this paper, a new high-performance tunable band-selective (UV-Visible) photodetector (PD) based on RF sputtered a-SiC active layer is demonstrated. SiC thin-films were deposited on glass substrate by RF magnetron sputtering method at different sputter power values ranging from 60 W to 120 W. The samples morphological, structural, optical and photodetection properties were investigated by carrying out XRD, SEM, EDS, UV-Vis spectroscopy and photoresponse measurements. It was revealed that the sputtering power could modulate the optical behavior of a-SiC alloy, tuning favorable visible absorbance at high sputter power. This phenomenon is correlated with the influence of the RF power on the SiC film structural properties and compositions. Interestingly, measurements showed that a-SiC PD elaborated at 60 W of RF power can detect UV radiation with a high responsivity of 138 mA/W, low noise effects, superior detectivity of 7.8 × 1012 Jones, while maintaining the visible blindness property. On the other hand, the prepared device at high sputtering power exhibits extended photoresponse characteristics, yielding 426 mA/W and 77 mA/W of responsivity values over UV and visible ranges, respectively. Therefore, the present investigation can provide a new strategy for the design and fabrication of photodetector devices based on SiC platform with broadband and solar-blind adjustable sensing purposes according to the desired application.

In this work, an inverted PTB7:PC70BM bulk heterojunction solar cells with the configuration of ITO/ZnO/ PTB7:PC70BM / HTMs/Ag for various inorganic materials as a hole transport layer (ZnO, MoO3, NiO, PEDOT: PSS, V2O5 and Cu2O) are simulated by using the GPVDM software which is a free general-purpose tool for the simulation of opto-electronic devices. The influence of the thickness of both PTB7:PC70BM and HTMs layers on the performance of the solar cell are investigated. The obtained results indicated that on regardless on the type of the inorganic material constituted the Hole Transport Material (HTM), the solar cell parameters can be improved by reducing the HTM thickness while the active layer optimum thickness is around 90 nm. The performance of the device with all inorganic materials used as HTM reaches the same levels as the PEDOT/PSS for the lower thickness (10 nm). As the thickness is increased, the electrical parameters are significantly enhanced by inserting cuprous oxide (Cu2O) compared to the conventional PEDOT: PSS.