The aim of the research was a comprehensive evaluation of concrete using the EIPI method. In the evaluation the compressive strength of concrete and its durability properties represented by sorptivity and air permeability were taken into account. Since copper slag waste with increased natural radioactivity was used in the assessed concrete, additional evaluation was carried out taking into account the influence of natural radioactivity within the performance index. Also the reference concrete, which was made without the use of copper slag waste, was evaluated for comparative purposes. In order to make the evaluation as comprehensive as possible, the concrete made with the use of three types of cement was subjected to the assessment: CEM I, CEM II and CEM III. The results show that in both approaches the best result was achieved by concrete with CEM III cement. If natural radioactivity is not taken into account in the evaluation, the best result is obtained by concrete made with copper slag waste, and if radioactivity is considered, the best result is obtained with concrete without addition of the waste. It follows from the above that although natural radioactivity has a significant impact on the EIPI evaluation result, the decisive factor is still the type of cement.

One method of creating a brass coating is through electrodeposition, which is most often completed in cyanide galvanic baths. Because of the toxicity of cyanides, many are working on the development of cyanide-free baths, which are promising but not satisfactory to replace the classic methods. The purpose of the study was to explore a new generation of non-aqueous cyanide-free baths based on 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ionic liquids. The study involved the formation of copper, zinc, and brass coatings. The influence of the bath composition, cathodic current density, and temperature was determined. The obtained coatings were characterized by their morphology, chemical composition, roughness, and corrosion resistance. It was found that the structure of the obtained coatings is strongly dependent on the process parameters. The three main structures observed were fine-grained, porous, and olive-like. To the best knowledge of the authors, it is the first time the olive-like structure was observed in the case of an electrodeposited coating. The Cu-Zn coatings consisted of 19–96 at.% copper and exhibited relatively strong corrosion resistance. High improvement of corrosion properties was found in the case of copper and brass coatings with an olive-like structure.

The distributed fiber optic strain measurement based on Rayleigh scattering has recently become increasingly popular in automotive or mechanical engineering for strain monitoring and in the construction industry, especially structural health monitoring. This technology enables the monitoring of strain along the entire fiber length. This article addresses integrating optical fibers of different coatings into the concrete matrix to measure the shrinkage deformations. However, previous studies do not give a clear statement about the strain transfer losses of fiber optic sensors in this application. In this context, three different coating types were investigated regarding their strain transfer. The fibers were integrated into fine-grained concrete prisms, and the shrinkage strain was compared with a precise dial gauge. The analysis shows a high correlation between the reference method and the fiber measurement, especially with the Ormocer coating. The used acrylate coating is also consistent in the middle area of the specimen but requires a certain strain introduction length to indicate the actual strain. The main result of this study is a recommendation for fiber coatings for shrinkage measurement in fine-grain concretes using the distributed fiber optic strain measurement. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the measurement method are presented.

To examine the role of RNA silencing in defense against viroid, a Dicer-like 2 and 4 (DCL2&4)—double knockdown transgenic tomato line 72E was created. The expression of endogenous DCL2 and DCL4 in line 72E decreased to about a half of the empty cassette line EC. When challenged with potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), 72E allowed significantly higher level of PSTVd accumulation early in infection and showed lethal systemic necrosis. The size distribution of PSTVd-derived small RNA was significantly changed: the numbers of 21 and 22 nucleotides (nt) species in line 72E was approximately 66.7% and 5% of those in line EC, respectively. Conversely, the numbers of 24-nt species increased by 1100%. Furthermore, expression of miR398a-3p and miR398 increased 770–868% in the PSTVd-infected 72E, compared to the PSTVd-infected EC. In parallel, superoxide dismutase (SOD1) in PSTVd-infected 72E showed higher expression levels. In concert with miR398a-3p, SOD1 controls detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in cells. Since high levels of ROS production and its scavenging activity were observed in PSTVd-infected 72E, the lack of full-activity of DCLs was thought to have made the plant incapable to control excessive ROS production and thus resulted in to develop lethal systemic necrosis.

We present the mathematical model of cooperative functioning of unconscious and consciousness. The model is based on the theory of open quantum systems. Unconscious and consciousness are treated as bio-information systems. The latter plays the role a measurement apparatus for the former. States of both systems are represented in Hilbert spaces. Consciousness performs measurements on the states which are generated in unconscious. This process of unconscious-conscious interaction is described by the scheme of indirect measurements. This scheme is widely used in quantum information theory and it leads to the theory of quantum instruments (Davis-Lewis-Ozawa). Our approach is known as quantum-like modeling. It should be sharply distinguished from modeling of genuine quantum physical processes in biosystems, in particular, in the brain. In the quantum-like framework, the brain is a black box processing information in the accordance with the laws of quantum theory. During the last 10-15 years this framework has been actively used in cognition, psychology, decision making, social and political sciences. The quantum-like scheme of unconscious-consciousness functioning has already been explored for sensation-perception modeling.

There is a confusion in the original design concept for the tensioning of longitudinally connected reinforcement of CRTSII slab ballastless track. In order to clarify the effect of tension value of longitudinal reinforcement on mechanical characteristics of ballastless track, a three dimensional finite element model considering the nonlinear interaction between the track slab and CA mortar of CRTSII slab ballastless track was established. The mechanical characteristics of the track structure under longitudinal tension load and temperature gradient load of the longitudinal joint were calculated. A method of applying pre-stress to post-pouring concrete was proposed according to the concept of pre-stress loss of pretensioning pre-stressed concrete, reasonable tensile force value was proposed after the crack width and the reinforcement stress of the ballastless track in the operation stage were checked and calculated according to the concrete design principle. When the tension force is greater than 300 kN, it’s harmful to the bonding between the slab and mortar layer, which is prone to interlayer damage. In order to adding pre-stress to concrete of wide joints to ensure the longitudinal stability of ballastless track and the reinforcement stress and crack width to meet the design requirements. It is suggested that the tension force value should be 230 kN, and the temperature difference between reinforcement and concrete should be 30 °C before the initial curdle of wide joint concrete.

The determination of the parameters that characterise the air-void system in hardened concrete elements becomes crucial for structures under freezing and thawing cycles. The ASTM C457 standard describes some procedures to accomplish this task, but they are not easy to apply, require specialised equipment such as a stereoscopic microscope and result in highly tedious tasks to be performed. This paper describes an alternative procedure to the modified point-count method described in the Standard that makes use of macro photography. This alternative procedure is successfully applied to a large set of samples and presents some advantages over the traditional method, since the required equipment is less expensive and provides a more comfortable and less tedious procedure for the operator.

Optical fiber sensors have become a widely-used tool to perform life-long monitoring of large structures. Different set-ups of sensors can be used to obtain information at different scopes. In this paper, the application of a portable Brillouin optical time domain analysis sensor applied to reinforced concrete beams is presented. The sensor is made up of a single-mode optical fiber applied to the structure that enables the measurement of tensile and compressive axial strain along the beams. The fiber is embedded into a concrete casting and fixed along the reinforcement bars so that a complete correlation can be obtained regarding strain and displacements in linear and non-linear flexural response. The use of four sensing fibers positioned along the beam's length at different vertical positions makes it possible to read the strain variation within the cross-section. In accordance with Bernoulli’s hypothesis, this allows curvature diagrams to be obtained across the structure. The measured curvature is used to set up the moment–curvature relationship, which highlights the possibility of the sensor monitoring structures continuously in space and time.

In the field of pavement engineering, the determination of the mechanical characteristics is one of the essential process for reliable material design and highway sustainability. Early determination of mechanical characteristics of pavement is highly essential for road and highway construction and maintenance. Tensile strength (TS), compressive strength (CS) and flexural strength (FS) of roller compacted concrete pavement (RCCP) are very crucial characteristics as they are necessitated for many data from mixture proportions as input variables. In this research, the classification-based regression models named Random Forest (RF), M5rule model tree (M5rule), M5prime model tree (M5p) and Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) are developed for simulation of the mechanical characteristics of RCCP. A comprehensive and reliable dataset comprising 621, 326 and 290 data records for CS, TS and FS experimental cases extracted from several open sources over the literature. The mechanical properties are developed based on influential inputs combination that processed using Principle Component Analysis (PCA). The applied PCA method as feature selection is specified that volumetric/weighted content forms of experimental variables (e.g., coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, supplementary cementitious materials, water and binder) and specimens’ age are the most effective inputs to generate the better performances. Several statistical metrics are measured to evaluate proposed classification-based regression models. RF model revealed an optimistic classification capacity of the CS, TS and FS prediction of the RCCP in comparison with the CHAID, M5rule, and M5p models. The research is extended for the results verification using Monte-carlo model for the uncertainty and sensitivity of variables importance analysis. Overall, the proposed methodology indicated a reliable soft computing model that can be implemented for the material engineering construction and design.

The Canal of Aragon and Catalonia (CAC) is 134 km long and irrigates 105,000 ha (131 irrigation user communities) and it is own by the River Ebro’s Water Agency. The aqueducts are located between km 67 and 71 of the canal and were designed by the Civil Engineer Félix de los Ríos Martín in 1907. The cross-section of both aqueducts, Coll de Foix and Capedevila, was extended within the framework of the project by Fernando Hué Herrero in 1962 in order to reach design flows of 26.1 m3/s and 25.7 m3/s, respectively. The structural performance of the aqueducts has been satisfactory, nevertheless the hydraulic capacity has reduced over the years. As a result, the irrigation user communities have expressed the need to extend the cross-section of the aqueducts to meet the irrigation demands. Given the age of the structure and the different design considerations at the time, it is paramount to verify the structural reliability of the aqueducts in the new load configuration. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to present the structural safety analysis conducted and describe the new extended cross-section for both aqueducts (maintaining the original structural typology).

The study presents a comparative approach between response surface methodology (RSM) and hybridized, genetic algorithm artificial neural network (GA-ANN) in predicting the water absorption, compressive strength, flexural strength split tensile strength and slump for steel fiber reinforced concrete. The effect of process variables such as aspect ratio, water cement ratio and cement content were investigated using the central composite design of response surface methodology. This same experimental design was used in training the hybrid-training approach of artificial neural network. The predicting ability of both methodologies were compared using the root mean sqaured error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), model predictive error (MPE) and absolute average deviation (AAD). The RSM model was found more accurate in prediction compared to hybrid GA-ANN.

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) represents 1/3 of the weight of all-waste produced. Increasing their recycling and reutilization with recycled aggregates (RA) means closing the life cycle of construction materials. Research has been carried out on artificial aggregates from the exclusive crushing of structural concrete waste in selective demolitions (CDWRConc). This study analyses the use of recycled concrete as graded aggregate (GARConc) and in cement soil (CSRConc). The material complies with the requirements as a road base, although due to the low values of resistance to fragmentation these materials are adequate for use in sensitive road systems and other places such as urban roads and car parks. The sensitive road systems are infrastructures in places of great natural wealth and low traffic intensity, with an annual average of heavy vehicle traffic (AADTh) below 50 vhp/d. As soluble salt contents have been detected, additional waterproofing or drainage measures must be adopted to prevent water infiltration into the layers made up of CDWRHorm. Finally, the high initial values of UCS allow the temporary passage of light vehicles over CSRConc after 3 days.

Bufadienolides-like chemicals, which mostly composed the active ingredient of Chansu, had been widely discovered to possess anti-inflammatory, tumor-suppressing and antipain activity, but the mechanisms of action were not clearly illuminated. In this research, in order to explore the potential mechanism of bufadienolides-like chemicals on breast cancer, a serious of bioinformatics analysis, included (1) differentially expressed genes identification combined with gene set variation analysis, (2) tissue specific co-expression network construction, (3) differentially regulated sub-networks detection with disease phenome, (4) hub gene selection and it’s relation to survival probability, and (5) similar small molecule detection were performed with gene expression profiles of bufadienolides-like chemicals. Results indicated bufadienolides-like chemicals had the most same target with valproic, estradiol and etc, could disturbed the pathways in RNA splicing, apoptotic process, cell migration, extracellular matrix organization, adherens junction organization, synaptic transmission, Wnt signaling, AK-STAT signaling, BMP signaling pathway and unfolded protein response, and had the potential ability to be used as anticancer, hormones and vasoprotectives agents.

Polydopamine (PDA) deposition, obtained from the oxidation of dopamine and other catecholamines is an universal way to coat all known materials with a conformal coating which can subsequently be functionalyzed at will. The structural analogies between polydopamine and eumelanin, the black-brown pigment of the skin, incited to produce stable polydopamine nanoparticles in solution instead of amorphous precipitates obtained from the oxidation of dopamine. Herein, we demonstrate that size controlled and colloidally stable PDA based nanoparticles can be obtained in acidic conditions, where spontaneous auto-oxidation of dopamine is suppressed, using sodium periodate as the oxidant and a protein like alkaline phosphatase as a templating agent. The size of the PDA@Alp nanoparticles depends on the dopamine/enzyme ratio and the obtained particles display the enzymatic activity of alkaline phosphatase with an activity extending up to two weeks after particle synthesis. The PDA@ alkaline phosphatase (Alp) nanoparticles can be engineered in polyelectrolyte multilayered films to potentially design model biosensors.

Research results of the relationships between air-volume in air-entrained cement paste, mortar and concrete, all designed according to PN-EN 480-1 guidelines are presented in the paper. The cement paste, mortar and concrete, with w/c=0,5 ratio, were prepared using innovative air-entraining cement CEM II/B-V. The air-entraining cement CEM II/B-V was produced using two methods: mixed together with natural or synthetic aerated admixture. The air volume test of the volumetric method was carried out in case of fresh cement paste, mortar and concrete mix. Fresh concretes were evaluated in terms of stability of air entrainment and consistency for 5, 20 and 40 min. The porosity structure parameters, like summarized air-content, specific surface of air voids, air-voids spacing factor and micropores content of hardened concrete, were estimated using computed tomography with a resolution of 2-5 μm. The aim of the research was to determine the dependence between air-content of cement paste, mortar and concrete on the measurement of air-entrainment of cement paste or mortar with the same w/c ratio and type of cement, all designed according to PN-EN 480-1 guidelines. Test results proved that there is a good correlation between the measured air-content of the cement paste, mortar and concrete. Therefore, it is possible to predict the aeration of concrete on the air-entrainment of the mortar.

The extrusion-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology allows the fabrication of permanent formwork with intricate shapes, into which fresh concrete is cast to build structural members with complex geometry. This significantly enhances the geometric freedom of concrete structures without the use of expensive temporary formwork. In addition, with proper material choice for the permanent formwork, the load-bearing capacity and durability of the resulting structure can be improved. This paper investigates 3DCP of permanent formwork for reinforced concrete (RC) beam construction. A 3D-printable engineered geopolymer composite (3DP-EGC, or strain-hardening geopolymer composite, 3DP-SHGC) recently developed by the authors was used for fabrication of the permanent formwork. The 3DP-EGC exhibits strain-hardening behaviour under direct tension. Two different printing patterns were used for the soffit of the permanent formwork to investigate the effect of this parameter on the flexural performance of RC beams. A conventionally mould-cast RC beam was also prepared as the control beam for comparison purposes. The results showed that the RC beams constructed using the 3DP-EGC permanent formwork exhibited superior flexural performance to the control beam. Such beams yielded significantly higher cracking load (up to 43%), deflection at ultimate load (up to 60%), ductility index (50%) and absorbed energy (up to 107%) than those of the control beam. The ultimate load was comparable with or slightly higher than that of the control beam. Furthermore, the printing pattern at the soffit of the permanent formwork was found to have a significant influence on the flexural performance of the RC beams.

Rett syndrome (RTT), a neurodevelopmental disorder, is mainly caused by mutations in methyl CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2), which alter the functions of domains to either bind to methylated DNA or interact with a transcriptional co-repressor complex. It has been established that alterations in cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 (CDKL5) or forkhead box protein G1 (FOXG1) correspond to distinct neurodevelopmental disorders, given that a series of studies have indicated that RTT is also caused by alterations in either one of these genes. We tried to elucidate RTT through evolution and structure assessment of MeCP2, CDKL5, and FOXG1, by focusing on their binding partners and disordered structures. Here, we provide insight into the similarities of the FOXG1 and MECP2 binding partners evolution and function. On the other hand, we suggest that CDKL5 could be a potential candidate for a classical RTT treatment, particularly based on its disordered structure that spans after the catalytic domain to the C-terminus, which shows abundant linear motifs that can bind to molecules with divergent structures of similar affinity. Additionally, we provide insight into the relationship between disordered structure and disease.

In the past decades, Fiber Reinforced Concrete has been gaining more attention in the concrete research development. There are many advantages of the inclusion of fiber into reinforced concrete structures. It was found that the inclusion of fibers in concrete, be it synthetic or natural, resulted in the improvement of the thermal properties of concrete, as well as its strength to some extent. However, the inclusion of fibers in concrete does affects its thermo-mechanical properties. The objective of this study is to identify the potential of the addition Polypropylene and Kenaf fibers in cement mortar at different compositions (0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%). Eight mixes were analyzed for this purpose. Upon investigating the flow ability, compressive strength, tensile strength, and thermal conductivity of the mortar samples, it was found that the incorporation of PP and Kenaf fibers reduced the flow ability. Cement mortar samples containing 0.1% addition of PP and Kenaf fibers show the highest compressive strength compared to other percentages, while samples containing 0.3% addition of PP and Kenaf fibers show the highest tensile strength compared to other percentages. The thermal conductivity of mortar samples shows reduction when high percentages of both fibers were used.

The expansion of concrete subjected to extreme elevated temperature is linked with intricate micro-structural variations, such as the transformation of the constituent phases. This study proposes a model to predict the thermal expansion of cement paste and concrete considering micro-structural changes under elevated temperatures ranging from 20°C to 800°C. The model presented can consider characteristics of various aggregates in the calculation of thermal expansion for concrete. The model is a combination of a multi-scale stoichiometric model and a multi-scale composite model. At the cement paste level, the model satisfactorily predicted a test result. At concrete level, upper bounds from the model were matched relatively well with test results by previous researcher. If the mechanical properties, such as elastic modulus (E), Poisson’s ratio (ν), and thermal deformation, of the aggregates used in concrete are given, it is likely that the model will reasonably predict experimental results.

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a highly prevalent disorder, characterized by the development of menopause before age of 40. Most cases are idiopathic; however, in some women the cause of this condition (e.g. anticancer treatment, genetic disorders, and enzymatic defects) may be identified. Although hormone replacement therapy, the principal therapeutic approach for POI, helps to alleviate the related symptoms, this does not effectively solve the issue of fertility. Assisted reproductive techniques also lack efficacy in these women. Thus, the effective approach to manage the patients with POI is highly warranted. Several mechanisms, associated with POI, have been identified, including lack of FSH receptor functioning, alterations in the apoptosis control, mutations in Sal-like 4 genes, thymulin or basonuclin-1 deficiency etc. The above-mentioned may be good targets for gene therapy in order to correct defects, leading to POI. The goal of this review is to summarize the current experience on the POI studies, that employed gene therapy, and to discuss the possible future directions in this field.

Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is one of the most lethal transmissible infections characterized by a high fatality rate, and caused by members of the Filoviridae family. The recent large outbreak of EVD in West Africa (2013-2016), highlighted the worldwide danger of this disease and its impact on global public health and economy. The development of highly needed anti-Filoviridae antivirals has been so far hampered by the shortage of tools to study their life cycle in vitro, and therefore screen for potential active compounds outside a biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) containment. Importantly, the development of surrogate models to in vitro study of Filoviridae entry in a BSL-2 setting, such as viral pseudotypes and Ebola virus like particles, tremendously boosted both our knowledge on viral life cycle and the identification of promising anti-Filoviridae compounds interfering with viral entry. In this context, the combination of such surrogate systems with large-scale small molecule compounds and haploid genetic screenings, as well as rational drug design and drug repurposing approaches will prove priceless in our quest for the development of a treatment for EVD.

The musculoskeletal system consisting of bones and muscles have been recognized as endocrine organs secreting hormones that are involved in regulating metabolic and inflammatory pathways. Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are associated with several musculoskeletal system complications. We hypothesized that an interaction exists between adipomyokines namely, irisin and METRNL, and various bone markers in individuals with obesity and T2D. A total of 228 individuals were enrolled in this study, including 124 non-diabetic and 104 T2D. A Multiplex assay was used to assess the level of various bone markers namely Osteoactivin, Syndecan, osteoprotegerin (OPG) and osteonectin/SPARC. Our data shows elevated levels of Osteoactivin, Syndecan, OPG and SPARC in T2D as compared to non-T2D individuals (p ≤ 0.05). Using Spearman’s correlation, irisin was positively correlated only with Osteoactivin and OPG (p < 0.05). Similarly, a positive association was observed between METRNL and Osteoactivin (p < 0.05). The strong positive association shown in our study between irisin, METRNL and various bone markers emphasises the strong interaction between these organs. This suggests that a dysregulation in the functional interaction between these molecules could play a possible role in the development of bone and muscle related complications that are associated with obesity and T2D.

With increasing interest in the use of additive manufacturing techniques in the construction industry, static rheological properties of fresh concrete have necessarily come into focus. In particular, the knowledge and control of static yield stress (SYS) and its development over time are crucial for mastering formwork-free construction, e.g. by means of layered extrusion. Furthermore, solid understanding of the influences of various concrete constituents on the initial SYS of the mixture and the structural build-up rate is required for purposeful material design. This contribution is concentrated on the effect of aggregates on these rheological parameters. The volume fraction of aggregates was varied in the range of 35 to 55 % by volume under condition of constant total surface area of the particles. The total surface area per unit volume of cement paste was equal to 5.00, 7.25 and 10.00 m²/l, conditioned on the constant volume fraction of aggregates. Both variations were enabled by changing the particle size distributions of the aggregates while holding the cement paste composition constant for all concrete mixtures. To characterise the SYS and the structural build-up, constant shear rate tests with a vane-geometry rotational rheometer were performed. It was found that in the ranges under investigation the variation in volume fraction had a more pronounced effect on the static rheological properties of concrete than did the variation in surface area. An accurate mathematical description of the relationship between the initial SYS of concrete and the relative volume fraction of aggregate based on the Chateau-Ovarlez-Trung model was proposed. Challenges in deriving a similar relationship for the structural build-up rate of concrete were highlighted.

This study investigated the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on the mechanical properties of hardened self-compacting concrete for varying column heights. A column (100×20×300 cm) was fabricated by C30 self-compacting concrete in the laboratory and 10 cube samples (10x10x10 cm) were taken from fresh concrete as the references. After a period of 28 days, 160 core specimens (Ø67 mm in diameter) were taken from different column heights. Unit weight, water absorption, compressive strength, and freeze-thaw tests were performed on these 170 (10 reference cubic and 160 core) samples. The mechanical properties of the core specimens before freeze-thaw and after 8-56 freeze-thaw cycles were reported for varying column heights. The average compressive strength value of the reference cubic samples was determined as 40.28 MPa, while the compressive strengths of the core specimens before freeze-thaw were ranged from 40.25 MPa to 49.62 MPa, impying an increase in compressive strength values up to 23.18% compared to the reference cubic samples. Compressive strengths of the specimens subjected to 8 and 56 freeze-thaw cycles varied between 38.71‒48.07 MPa and 31.72‒39.11 MPa, respectively. Statistical analysis revealed that the compressive strength of the concrete exposed to 56 freeze-thaw cycles was significantly different from that of the other specimens.

Polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete (PFRC) has become an attractive alternative to steel for the reinforcement of concrete elements mainly due to its chemical stability and the residual strengths that can be reached with lower weights. The use of polyolefin fibres can meet the requirements in the standards, although the main constitutive relations are based on the experience with steel fibres. Therefore, the structural contributions of the fibres should be assessed by inverse analysis. In this study, the fibre dosage has been fixed at 6kg/m³ and both self-compacting concrete and conventional concrete have been used to compare the influence of the positioning of the fibres. An idealized homogeneous distribution of the fibres with such fibres crossing from side to side of the specimen has been added to self-compacting concrete. The experimental results of three-point bending tests on notched specimens have been reproduced by using the cohesive crack approach. Hence, the constitutive relations were found. The significance of this research relies on the verification of the formulations found to build the constitutive relations. Moreover, with these results it is possible to establish the higher threshold of the performance of PFRC and the difficulties of limiting the first unloading branch typical of fracture tests of PFRC.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis that shows the influence of fiber on ultimate compressive strength and tensile strength of ultra-high performance concrete. The internet scholarly search engines and ScienceDirect article references were used to illustrate the papers concerning the experimental investigations of mechanical properties of ultra-high strength concrete with and without fiber with clearly, completely and comparative raw data. The normal concrete test results were dismissed from this search. Seven trials were identified based on the adopted inclusion and exclusion criteria above. The meta-analysis based on standardized mean difference was carried out on the basis of a fixed-effects model for the major outcomes of the ultimate compressive and tensile properties of ultra-high performance concrete. A total of 888 test specimens were enrolled in these seven trials. The combined analysis yielded a sign of a significant improvement in ultimate compressive strength and tensile strength of ultra-high strength concrete with fiber addition of 2% by concrete volume. The summary effect size of ultimate compressive strength was 2.34 while a more improvement in term of tensile strength with effect size of 2.64. By addition fiber of 2% provides a significant benefit in mechanical properties of ultra-high performance concrete.

Immersion in salt-lake solution was adopted to periodically test the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient. The regression analysis was also completed. Also investigated was the time-dependent law of concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient with time. The influence of chloride-ion concentration in solution, water-to-cement ratio, and corrosion time on the largeness and accumulation rate of the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient was also analyzed. Test results show that the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient gradually decreased with increasing time and increased with increasing chloride-ion concentration in a salt lake . Taking into account the influence of factors such as water–binder ratio, chloride-ion concentration, and time-varying characteristics, a multi-factor calculation model for the concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient was established. Combining the prediction results and the measured data reported in this paper, the effectiveness and applicability of the established concrete chloride-ion diffusion coefficient calculation model were compared and verified, and the durability design and service life of a concrete structure under cool chlorine were compared. The results of analysis provide important boundary conditions.

There is an international concern for reducing energy consumption and protecting the environment in the construction industry. The energy efficiency of a building depends on the thermal resistance of concrete, and utilizing concrete products with elevated thermal resistance can enhance this aspect. This study analyzes the impact of perlite, as an addition, on the physico-mechanical properties of concrete, with the aim of identifying perlite concrete products that will respond to the improvement of the heat transfer resistance of the building envelope. The study examines the effect of replacing different amounts of concrete aggregates with perlite in percentages of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 100%. The results show that substituting sand with perlite improves the thermal performance of concrete, but its mechanical properties are negatively affected. The research carried out highlighted that perlite can be successfully introduced in the production of concrete blocks used for external non-bearing wall panels, the outstanding feature being the reduction of energy consumption in buildings. Overall, the paper identifies an efficient and environmentally friendly way of using perlite in the construction industry, enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings while minimizing the environmental footprint caused by the construction industry.

UHPC is a type of cement-based composite used in new construction and/or rehabilitation of existing buildings to extend service life. It is a novel composite material that can serve as an alternative to concrete construction in hostile climates. Following decades of study and production, a diverse variety of commercial UHPC compositions are now available globally to meet the rising number of applicants and demand for high-quality building materials. Although UHPC offers major benefits over normal concrete, its utilization is restricted due to restrictive design rules and exorbitant costs. As a result, a thorough examination of the durability properties of UHPC is required to give important information for material testing requirements and processes, as well as to broaden its practical uses. This report is aimed at increasing basic understanding of UHPC and supporting more UHPC research and applications.

The use of new developed high-strength steel in concrete members can reduce steel bars congestion and construction costs. This research aims to study the behavior of concrete columns reinforced with new developed high-strength steel under eccentric loading. Ten reinforced concrete columns were fabricated and tested. The test variables are transverse reinforcement amount and yield strength, eccentricity, and longitudinal reinforcement yield strength. The failure patterns are compression and tensile failure for columns subjected to small eccentricity and large eccentricity, respectively. The same level of post-peak deformability and ductility only can be obtained with lower amount of transverse reinforcement when high-strength transverse reinforcements are used in columns subjected to small eccentricity. The high-strength longitudinal reinforcement can improve bearing capacity and post-peak deformability of concrete columns. Besides, three different equivalent rectangular stress block (ERSB) parameters in predicting bearing capacity of columns with high-strength steel were discussed based on test and simulated results. It is concluded that the Code of GB 50010-2010 overestimates the bearing capacity of columns with high-strength steel, whereas bearing capacities computed using Codes of ACI 318-14 and CSA A23.3-04 agree well with test results.

Objective: Diabetes is associated with increased cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease-related mortality. We investigated the association between carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) with clusterin (CLU), amylin, secreted frizzled-related protein-4 (SFRP-4), total and active glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels, and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) individuals with or without coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: This study consisted of four groups in Medicine Hospital between April- October, 2017: Control group (mean ages: 50.3 ± 10.7 years, 20 females and 15 males), diabetic group (DM) (mean ages: 53.9 ± 11.1, 14 females and 23 males), CAD group (mean ages: 62.6 ± 11.8, 17 females and 17 males) and CAD+ DM group: (mean ages: 62.6 ± 11.8 years, 18 females and 18 males). Results: Both CAD and CAD+DM groups have higher CIMT levels than controls. CAD+DM group have also significantly higher CIMT levels than DM group. Left external carotid artery (ECA) was only found different in DM group from controls. When compared with controls, DM, CAD groups have low DPP-4 and GLP-1_total concentration. Control group have significantly lower SFRP-4 levels than DM, CAD and CAD+DM (p<0.001) groups. Serum GLP-1_total levels were found to be significantly low in CAD+DM group when compared to control group. Conclusion: DPP-4 and SFRP-4 levels are predictive marker for atherosclerosis in diabetes, correlates well with HOMA-IR particularly in diabetes. CIMT has the potential to be a clinically useful predictor of vascular risk in diabetic patients with CAD. Large cohorts and at-risk populations are needed to confirm the predictive value of these findings.

Demolished concrete and plastic waste are two increasingly aggravating problems. In this study, a novel method was proposed to simultaneously recycle concrete and plastic wastes by compacting concrete and plastic powders together under pressure and temperature. The influence of compression pressure and temperature as well as the mixture proportion on the bending strength of specimens was investigated. The results showed that pressure and temperature had a positive effect on the specimen strength; however, the molding temperature should not exceed the melting temperature of plastic. The proportion of plastic had a minimal effect on the bending strength of the specimen when plastic accounted for 25%–75% of the overall mass of the test piece.

Nowadays, in order to improve asphalt pavement performance, durability and reduce environmental pollution caused by asphalt binder, many researchers are studying to modify asphalt concrete (AC) and find alternative paving materials to extend service life of asphalt pavement. One of the successful materials used in a modification of AC are fibers. Different types of fibers have been reinforced in AC mixture and improvements have been observed. This research studies the performance of glass wool fiber reinforced in a dense-graded asphalt mixture. Generally, glass fibers are known to have excellent mechanical properties such as high tensile modulus, 100% elastic recovery and a very high tolerance to heat. The glass wool fibers are commonly used as a thermal insulation material. In this research to evaluate the performance of glass wool fiber in AC, laboratory tests Marshall mix design test, Indirect tensile strength (IDT), Tensile strength ratio (TSR) and Kim test were conducted to determine a proper mix design, tensile properties, moisture susceptibility, rutting and fatigue behaviors. Results show that addition of glass wool fibers does affect the properties of AC mixture. The use of glass wool fibers showed a positive consistence results, in which it improved the moisture susceptibility and rutting resistance of the AC. Also result showed addition of fiber increased tensile strength and toughness which indicates that fibers have a potential to resist distresses that occur on a surface of the road as a result of heavy traffic loading. The overall results showed that addition of glass wool fiber in AC mixture is beneficial in improving properties of AC pavements.

This paper presents the results of the experimental research and numerical analysis of three reinforced concrete deep beams with openings, designed by the Strut-and-Tie method according to the EN 1992-1-1 recommendations. All tested specimens were made in full size, with the same geometric characteristics and quality of the materials. The specimens, constructed as simply supported beams, were loaded with two concentrated forces and were tested for bending until failure. Each specimen was reinforced with different reinforcement layout determined by parameter variation within the Strut-and-Tie method. Based on the results of experimental research, it was concluded that the behavior of loaded members was in agreement with the proposed forms of the Strut-and-Tie models that were used for their design.

Leucokinins (LKs) constitute a family of neuropeptides identified in numerous insects and many other invertebrates. The LKs act on G-protein coupled receptors that display only distant relations to other known receptors. In adult Drosophila, 26 neurons/neurosecretory cells of three main types express LK. The four brain interneurons are of two types, and these are implicated in several important functions in the fly’s behavior and physiology, including feeding, sleep-metabolism interactions, state-dependent memory formation, as well as modulation of gustatory sensitivity and nociception. The 22 neurosecretory cells (ABLKs) of the abdominal neuromeres coexpress LK and a diuretic hormone (DH44), and together these regulate water and ion homeostasis and associated stress, as well as food intake. In Drosophila larvae, LK neurons modulate locomotion, escape responses, and aspects of ecdysis behavior. A set of lateral neurosecretory cells, ALKs, in the brain express LK in larvae, but inconsistently so in adults. These ALKs coexpress three other neuropeptides and regulate water and ion homeostasis, feeding and drinking, but the specific role of LK is not yet known. This review summarizes Drosophila data on embryonic lineages of LK neurons, functional roles of individual LK neuron types, interactions with other peptidergic systems, and orchestrating functions of LK.

In this work 144 reinforcing bars of high-ductility steel named B500SD were subjected to an accelerated corrosion treatment and then tested under tension at different loading speeds in order to assess the effect of corrosion on the ductility properties of the rebars. Results showed that the bars with a corrosion level as low as the one reducing the steel mass by 1% gave rise to a significant degradation on the ductility properties with strain-stress curves losing the yield plateau and behaving practically as cold deformed steel bars. This effect took place at every tested loading speed. Thus, the research significance relies on the assessment of the influence of the loading speed at which the tensile test is performed given that it affects the ductility properties of the reinforcement bars.

The nondestructive testing of reinforced concrete chimneys, especially the high ones, is an important element of the assessment of their condition, making it possible to forecast their safe service lifespan. Industrial chimneys are often exposed to the strong action of acidic substances – they are adversely affected by the flue gas condensate on the inside and by acid precipitation on the outside. Initially, this results in the corrosion of the shell concrete and then in the corrosion of the reinforcing steel. During the service life of such chimneys their condition should monitored in order to prevent structural failures and indicate the most endangered parts of the structure. Owing to thermographic surveys one can monitor the hazards leading to the degradation of the chimney structure, which is particularly vital when due to the character of the production process the chimney cannot be put out of operation. The methods for the interpretation of results from thermovision studies to determine the safety and durability of industrial chimneys are shown.

Despite all their advantages, load-bearing concrete shell structures with double curvatures are not frequently in use. The main reason is the complexity of their construction. In such a context, this article starts with a brief, critical review of existing technologies while their pros and cons are highlighted. Against that background the authors then propose a new approach for the highly automated fabrication of gridshell structures from variable modules. To demonstrate the feasibility of such a new technology, a demonstrator called ConDIT 1.0, a sphere-like shell structure composed of several frames was designed and built. The frame modules were fabricated automatically using extrusion-based 3D printing and a printable, strain-hardening cement-based composite (SHCC). This article presents the design of ConDIT 1.0, the mechanical material characterization of printed SHCC, the technology of module production, the results of geometry verification for print modules using 3D scanning, and the procedure for the demonstrator’s assembly.

Rapid progress in gene editing based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) has revolutionized the study of gene and genome function and genetic disease correction. While numerous genetically modified cellular and animal models have been created to understand biological processes, the clinical application of CRISPR/Cas tools has been impeded by off-targeting and delivery problems. It is generally accepted that the delivery of CRISPR in the form of a ribonucleoprotein complex (RNP) substantially reduces the time of DNA exposure to the effector nuclease, minimizing off-target effects and facilitating clinical usage. This review focuses on CRISPR/Cas RNP delivery with retro/lentiviral particles and exosomes, whose parallel production by cells transfected with viral vectors is underestimated. We critically evaluate specific mechanisms of extracellular particle formation and loading with CRISPR/Cas for each system. Additionally, the details of Cas-nanoparticle entry and uncoating, previously unappreciated in the context of gene editing efficiency, are discussed. Based on existing knowledge about the consequences of intervention in retroviral assembly, entry, or exosome formation, we outline the potential problems with CRISPR/Cas delivery using extracellular nanoparticles and ways to address them.

This paper proposes a method for monitoring the structural health of concrete bridges in Iran. In this method, the bridge condition index (BCI) of bridges is determined by the analytical hierarchy process. BCI constitutes eight indices that are scored based on the experts' views, including structural, hydrology and climate, safety, load impact, geotechnical and seismicity, strategic importance, facilities, and traffic and pavement. Experts' views were analyzed by Expert Choice software, and the relative importance (weight) of indices were determined using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Then, the gave scores of experts were assigned to indices for various conditions. Bridge inspectors can examine the bridge, determine the scores of indices, and compute BCI. Higher values of BCI ​​indicate better conditions. Therefore, bridges with lower BCI take priority in maintenance activities. Five bridges in Iran, Semnan province, were selected as the case studies, and BCI calculation of these bridges was conducted.

Jumping side volley has created breathtaking moments and cherished memories for us. Regrettably, a scientific study on the skill has not been found in literature. Relying on talent of athletes to improvise on the fly can hardly be considered a viable learning strategy. This study targets to fill the gap by quantifying factors contributing to develop its coaching method. Using 3D motion capture (12-cameras, 200Hz) and full-body biomechanical modeling, our study aimed to identify elements that govern entrainment of the skill by examining jumping, kicking and falling phases of its execution. Given the rarity of players who have acquired this skill, we found five subjects for the study. Twenty-three trials were captured and quantified. The results unveil the following key elements: 1) the control of trunk rotation during the jumping, 2) the angle between thighs upon take-off, 3) the whip-like control of the kicking leg during airborne, 4) timing between ball motion and limbs’ coordination, and 5) damping mechanism during falling. An accurate kick can only be achieved through repetitive training. This underlines the need for athletes to master a safe landing technique that minimizes risk of injury during practice. Therefore, training should begin with learning a safe falling technique.

Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a key entry point of SARS-CoV-2 virus known to induce COVID-19. We have recently outlined the concept to reduce ACE2 expression by the administration of glycyrrhizin, a component of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract, via its inhibitory activity on 11beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11betaHSD2) and resulting activation of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). We hypothesized that in organs, such as the intestine, which co-express 11betaHSD2, MR and ACE2, the expression of ACE2 would be suppressed. We studied organ tissues from an experiment originally designed to address the effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract on the stress response. Male Sprague Dawley rats were left undisturbed or exposed to chronic mild stress for five weeks. For the last two weeks, animals continued with a placebo diet or received a diet containing extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra root at a dose of 150 mg/kg of body weight/day. Quantitative PCR measurements showed a significant decrease in gene expression of ACE2 in the small intestine of rats fed with diet containing Glycyrrhiza glabra extract. This effect was independent of the stress condition and failed to be observed in non-target tissues, namely the heart and the brain cortex. In the small intestine we confirmed the reduction of ACE2 also at the protein level. Present findings provide first evidence to support the hypothesis that Glycyrrhiza glabra extract may reduce an entry point of SARS-CoV-2. Whether this phenomenon, when confirmed in additional studies, is linked to the susceptibility of cells to the virus requires further studies.

This study examines whether gas is emitted from the materials used in the fabrication of metal vacuum panels or not and if emitted, their degree as time goes by. As experimental materials, metal sheets, foamed concrete as a core material, and polymer materials as a sealing material between metal sheets were selected. Experiments on the type and the degree of bending of metal materials showed that aluminum’s vacuum reaching time of 0.001 torr was at least 40 sec to 90 sec in its flat plate, but its vacuum reaching time increased from 3 times to 4.5 times in case of 90 ° and 135 ° bending state. For this reason, it is judged that stainless steel or steel material is suitable because aluminum is inadequate in terms of processability at the time of fabricating the metal vacuum panel. Also, vacuum arrival times and weight changes with increasing foam content of inorganic foamed concrete increased from 22,000 sec to 42,000 sec with increasing foaming rate and also, the weight change increased from 1.7% to 8%. Also, the experimental results on the type of honeycomb materials, the PE (polyethylene) with a vacuum reaching time of 30,000 sec and with a weight change of 0.5% and the PTFE (Poly-tetrafluoro ethylene) with a vacuum reaching time of 29,000 sec and with a weight change of 2.2% showed the optimum value.

The paper presents section models for analysis of the resistance of RC members subjected to bending moment with or without axial force. To determine the section resistance the nonlinear stress-strain relationship for concrete in compression is assumed, taking into account the concrete softening. It adequately describes the behavior of RC members up to failure. For the reinforcing steel linear elastic-ideal plastic model is applied. For the ring cross-section subjected to bending with axial force the normalized resistances are derived in the analytical form by integrating the cross-sectional equilibrium equations. They are presented in the form of interaction diagrams and compared with the results obtained by testing conducted on RC columns under eccentric compression. Furthermore, the ultimate normalized bending moment has been derived for the rectangular cross-section subjected to bending without axial force. It was applied in the cross-sectional analysis of steel and concrete composite beams, named BH beams, consisting of the RC rectangular core placed inside a reversed TT welded profile. The comparisons made indicated good agreements between the proposed section models and experimental results.

This paper describes the packaging models that are fundamental for the design of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), and their evolution. They are divided into two large groups: continuous and discrete models. The latter are those that provide the best answer in obtaining an adequate simulation of the packing of the particles up to nanometric size. This includes the interaction among the particles by means of loosening and wall coefficients, allowing a simulation of the virtual and real compactness of such particles. In addition, a relationship between virtual and real compactness is obtained, through the compaction index, which may simulate the energy of compaction that the particles undergo in their placement in the mold. The use of last-generation additives allows such models to be implemented with water-cement (w/c) ratios close to 0.18. However, the premise of maximum packing as a basic pillar for the production of UHPC should not be the only one. The cement hydration process affected by nanoadditions and the ensuing effectiveness in the properties in both fresh and hardened state according to the respective percentages in the mixture should also be studied. An adequate ratio and proportion of these additions may lead to an obtaining of better results even with lower levels of compactness.

Shell-like, double curved and thus above-average performance structures, are usually produced monolithically on site. For industrial advancement, however, they must be divided into transportable modules which can be assembled on the construction site (design for assembly). Models are lattice shells made of steel and glass, in which predominantly flat sub-surfaces (modules) are used. Therefore, the main question is: Which modularizations are suitable for flow production with mineral building materials? In this paper designed free-form surface is going to be discretized as PQ circular mesh system, suitable modules for 3D concrete printing. Moreover, the multi-criteria optimization is done with Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in order to get optimal final shape. The goal is to start from the arbitrary shape, that can be generated from two curves, with possible two-way division into modules and compare it with the resulted discretized PQ circular mesh system, realized with new algorithm. The comparison can be defined through two main criteria: geometrical and structural.

In this paper, we study the weak gravitational deflection angle of relativistic massive particles by the Kerr-like black hole in the bumblebee gravity model. In particular, we focus on weak field limits and calculate the deflection angle for a receiver and source at a finite distance from the lens. To this end, we use the Gauss-Bonnet theorem of a two-dimensional surface defined by a generalized Jacobi metric. The spacetime is asymptotically non-flat due to the existence of a bumblebee vector field. Thus the deflection angle is modified and can be divided into three parts: the surface integral of the Gaussian curvature, the path integral of a geodesic curvature of the particle ray and the change in the coordinate angle. In addition, we also obtain the same results by defining the deflection angle. The effects of the Lorentz breaking constant on the gravitational lensing are analyzed. We then consider the finite-distance correction for the deflection angle of massive particles.

CoO-ZnO-based composites have attracted considerable attention for the development of energy storage devices because of their multifunctional characterization and ease of integration with existing components. This paper reports the synthesis of CoO@ZnO (CZ) nanostructures on Ni foam by the CBD method for facile and eco-friendly supercapacitor applications. The formation of a CoO@ZnO electrode functioned with cobalt, zinc, nickel and oxygen groups was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, low and high-resolution of scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The as-synthesized hierarchical nanocorn skeleton-like structure of CoO@ZnO-3h (CZ3h) electrode delivered a higher specific capacitance of 1136 F/g at a current density of 3 A/g with outstanding cycling stability, showing 98.3% capacitance retention over 3000 cycles in an aqueous 2 M KOH electrolyte solution. This retention was significantly better than that of other prepared electrodes, such as CoO (CO), ZnO (ZO), CoO@ZnO-1h (CZ1h), and CoO@ZnO-7h (CZ7h) (274, 383, 240 and 537 F/g, respectively). This superior capacitance was attributed to the ideal surface morphology of CZ3h, which is responsible for the rapid electron/ion transfer between the electrolyte and electrode surface area. The enhanced features of the CZ3h electrode highlight potential applications in high performance supercapacitors, solar cells, photocatalysis, and electrocatalysis.

In this study, a novel porous geopolymer mortar (GP) was produced and tested experimentally. Industrial waste materials/by-products were used as constituents of the GP, along with dune sand. One sample was produced as a control sample for benchmarking. For the rest of the samples, 15%, 30%, and 45% by volume, the solid constituents were replaced with expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) beads. These mortar samples were heat cured to depolymerize the EPS to cause porosity inside the samples. Indoor experiments were conducted to evaluate the response of produced porous GP to high heat flux. The porous samples were able to reduce heat transmission across the opposite surfaces. Induced porosity resulted in a decrement in compressive strength from 77.2 MPa for the control sample to 15.8 MPa for 45% porous sample. However, the limit lies within the standards for partitioning walls in buildings and pavements in urban areas to absorb rainwater.

Manipulating cloth-like deformable objects (CDOs) is a long-standing problem in the robotics community. CDOs are flexible (non-rigid) objects that do not show a detectable level of com- pression strength while two points on the article are pushed towards each otherand include objects such as ropes (1D), fabrics (2D) and bags (3D). In general, CDOs’ many degrees of freedom (DoF) introduce severe self-occlusion and complex state-action dynamics as significant obstacles for perception and manipulation systems. These challenges exacerbate existing issues of modern robotic control methods such as imitation learning (IL) and reinforcement learning (RL). This review focuses on the application details of data-driven control methods on four major task families in this domain: cloth-shaping, rope manipulation, dressing and bag manip- ulation. Furthermore, we identify specific inductive biases in these four domains that present challenges for more general IL and RL algorithms, and summarise the future direction for the development of the field.

Temperature and pH can expedite the ability of pathogens to cause diseases in cold-water corals (CWCs). The present study employed a combination of histology and polymerase chain reaction diagnostic techniques to investigate potential pathogens present in the CWCs Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata in the Porcupine Bank Canyon (PBC), NE Atlantic. No pathogen was observed in the Madrepora samples. Neither histology nor standard PCR detected Vibrio spp. in the corals, although using Illumina technology, V. shilonii was observed in some L. pertusa samples in low abundances (0.22%). A Rickettsiales-like organisms (RLOs) occurred at a prevalence of 8.0% and at a low infection intensity of 1 - 4. Lophelia showed a few RLOs infection from the PBC canyon head (2.7%) and high infections in the south branch (5.3%). Similarly, unidentified cells observed in L. pertusa from the south branch (4.0%) were more common than those found in the canyon head (1.3%) with a prevalence of 5.3%. Although the route of pathogen infection is unclear, a likely mode of entry could be associated with particulate availability and the feeding strategies of the scleractinian corals. This suggest that L. pertusa invests energy into an enhanced immune function and reduced susceptibility to global pathogens despite a changing ocean environment.

Reinforced concrete (RC) columns are often placed under confinement to increase their strength and ductility. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials have recently been recognized as favorable confinement systems. At present, a number of national standards and codes dedicated to the design of concrete components strengthened with CFRP in general and CFRP confinement in particular are available. These sets of rules provide design equations for confined reinforced concrete columns with circular and rectangular cross sections. Most of the standards and codes exhibit significant differences, including the used predictive models limitations, observed effects, and covered loading conditions. In this paper, five international standards and design guidelines are introduced and discussed. The purpose is to present a constructive and critical assessment of the state-of-the-art design methodologies available for CFRP confined RC columns and to discuss effects not previously considered properly. Therefore, some recent research efforts and findings from the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences are also introduced. The obtained data is used for a comparative study of the guideline predictive equations. Furthermore, it is shown that some new findings concerning the rupture strength and the maximum strength plus accompanying axial strain of a CFRP confined column are suitable to improve the current guidelines.

The civil construction industry is one of the sectors that most consume natural resources in the world and, consequently, one of that generate more waste. Thinking about constructive techniques that generate less impact on the environment is vital to ensure sustainable development. In this scenario, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been presented as an internationally recognized approach, that assesses the potential impact of products and services on human health and the environment, throughout its entire life cycle. Aimed to identify construction techniques and vertical closing systems that generate less impact and consumption of natural resources, the impacts generated by the life cycle of the three vertical closing systems most applied in construction sites in Brazil were compared: ceramic brick masonry system (CBr); concrete block masonry system (CBk); and structural blocks masonry system (SBk). The SBk proved to be the least impacting to the “Resource Scarcity”, “Damage to Human Health”, and “Damage to the diversity of Ecosystems” interesting areas. This performance is directly related to the use of cement CPIII type and also by the fact that the SBk consumes less concrete and mortar than the others. Already the "Water Consumption" area, the CBk was the least impacting due to the lower consumption of electricity during its life cycle. The reliability of the results was proven through a sensitivity analysis of the normalization and characterization factors, which consisted of comparing the results obtained by applying two different methodologies. It is believed that the LCA study carried out can assist in the decision-making process regarding the choice of the most sustainable construction method.

Poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) have protein-antifouling properties and blood compatibility. ABA triblock copolymers (PMEAn-PEO11340-PMEAn (MEOMn)) were prepared using single-electron transfer-living radical polymerization (SET-LRP) using a bi-functional PEO macroinitiator. Two types of MEOMn composed of PMEA blocks with a degree of polymerization (DP = n) of 85 and 777 were prepared using the same PEO macroinitiator. MEOMn formed flower micelles with a hydrophobic PMEA (A) core and hydrophilic PEO (B) loop shells in diluted water with a similar appearance to petals. The hydrodynamic radii of MEOM85 and MEOM777 were 151 and 108 nm, respectively. The PMEA block with a large DP formed a tightly packed core. The aggregation number (Nagg) of the PMEA block in a single flower micelle for MEOM85 and MEOM777 was 156 and 164, respectively, which were estimated using a light scat-tering technique. The critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) for MEOM85 and MEOM777 were 0.01 and 0.002 g/L, respectively, as determined by the light scattering intensity and fluorescence probe techniques. The size, Nagg, and CMC for MEOM85 and MEOM777 were almost the same inde-pendent of hydrophobic DP of the PMEA block.

The use of mixed-state ionic beams in collision dynamics investigations is examined. Using high resolution Auger projectile spectroscopy involving He-like ($1s^2\thinspace^1\!S, 1s2s\thinspace^{3,1}\!S$) mixed-state beams, the spectrum contributions of the $1s2s\thinspace^3\!S$ metastable beam component is effectively separated and clearly identified. This is performed with a technique that exploits two independent spectrum measurements under the same collision conditions, but with ions having quite different metastable fractions, judiciously selected by varying the ion beam charge-stripping conditions. Details of the technique are presented together with characteristic examples. In collisions of 4 MeV B$^{3+}$ with H$_2$ targets, the Auger electron spectrum of the separated $1s2s\thinspace^{3}S$ boron beam component allows for a detailed analysis of the formation of the $1s2s(^3\!S)nl \thinspace^2\!L$ states by direct $nl$ transfer. In addition, the production of hollow $2s2p\thinspace^{1,3}\!P$ doubly- and $2s2p^2\thinspace^2\!D$ triply-excited states, by direct excitation and transfer-excitation processes, respectively, can also be independently studied. In similar mixed-state beam collisions of 15 MeV C$^{4+}$ with H$_2$, He, Ne and Ar targets, the contributions of the $1s^2$, $1s2s\thinspace^{3,1}S$ beam components to the formation of the $2s2p\thinspace^{3,1}\!P$ states by double-excitation, $1s\rightarrow2p$ excitation and transfer-loss processes can be clearly identified, facilitating comparisons with theoretical calculations.

One of the major limitations of the current 3D-concrete-printing technology is incorporation of reinforcement. Furthermore, there is a need to decrease the ecological footprint of printable concrete. As a possible solution for these challenges, this paper presents a 3D-printable strain-hardening geopolymer composite (3DP-SHGC) that shows pseudo-ductile behaviour under direct tension. The developed 3DP-SHGC is composed of one-part (just-add-water) geopolymer binder made of slag (GGBFS), fly ash (FA) and solid activator. The one-part geopolymer binder eliminates the need for elevated temperature curing and handling of corrosive alkaline liquids. At first, an optimum matrix was identified by studying the effects of FA to GGBFS ratio on the rheological properties and compressive strength. Subsequently the optimum matrix was reinforced by PVA fibres to make the 3DP-SHGC, which printing performance and rheological properties were evaluated. In addition, the influences of curing temperature on the compressive, flexural and tensile performances of the printed specimens were also investigated. The results were compared with those obtained for the mould-cast specimens. The 3DP-SHGC exhibited superior flexural performance, higher tensile strength, and comparable tensile strain capacity to the mould-cast counterpart. Further, the curing temperature had influence on the mechanical properties of both 3D-printed and mould-cast SHGCs. The underlying reasons for the differences are discussed.

We continue to analyze basic constraints on human's decision making from the viewpoint of quantum measurement theory (QMT). As has been found, the conventional QMT based on the projection postulate cannot account for combination of the question order effect (QOE) and the response replicability effect (RRE). This was an alarm signal for quantum-like modeling of decision making. Recently, it was shown that this objection to quantum-like modeling can be removed on the basis of the general QMT based on quantum instruments. In the present paper we analyse the problem of combination of QOE, RRE, and the famous QQ-equality (QQE). This equality was derived by Busemeyer and Wang and it was shown (in the joint paper with Solloway and Shiffrin) that statistical data from many social opinion polls satisfies it. Now, we construct quantum instruments satisfying QOE, RRE, and QQE. The general features of our approach are formalized with postulates which generalize {\it Wang-Busemeyer} postulates for quantum-like modeling of decision making. Moreover, we show that our model closely reproduces the statistics of the famous Clinton-Gore Poll data with a prior belief state independent of the question order. This model successfully removes the order effect from the data to determine the genuine distribution of the opinions in the Poll. The paper also provides a psychologist-friendly introduction to the theory of quantum instruments - the most general mathematical framework for quantum measurements. We hope that this theory will attract attention of psychologists and will stimulate further applications.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) has two main histologic variants: classical-PTC (CL-PTC) and follicular variant PTC (FV-PTC). Recently, due to its similar features to benign lesions, the encapsulated FV-PTC variant was reclassified as noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP). Nonetheless, specific molecular signatures are not yet available. It is well known that telomere-related genome instability is caused by inappropriate DNA repair of dysfunctional telomeres and that mechanisms involved in the damaged telomere repair processing may led to detrimental outcomes, altering the 3D nuclear telomere and genome organization in cancer cells. This pilot study aimed to evaluate whether a specific nuclear telomere architecture might characterize NIFTP, potentially distinguishing it from other PTC histologic variants. Our findings demonstrate that 3D telomere profiles of CL-PTC and FV-PTC were different from NIFTP and that NIFTP more closely resembles follicular thyroid adenoma (FTA). NIFTP has longer telomeres than CL-PTC and FV-PTC samples and telomere length overlaps in NIFTP and FTA. There was no association between BRAF expression and telomere length in all tested samples. Our data showing that 3D nuclear telomere organization is altered differently in thyroid cancer variants, suggest that this parameter might guide clinical management of NIFTP. Although further investigations in a larger cohort of patients are necessary to corroborate our observations, telomere-related genomic instability might be of value in the diagnosis of NIFTP and allow for a more appropriate selection of the correct treatment.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the feasibility of using waste from granite gang saws (GCW-GS) to manufacture ultra-high performance, steel-fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). These machines cut granite blocks by abrasion using a steel blade and slurry containing fine steel grit. The waste generated by gang saws (GCW-GS) contains up to 15% Fe2O3 and up to 5% CaO. This is the main difference from the waste produced by diamond saws (GCW-D). Consequently, the second objective of this study is to compare the results of the waste obtained with gang saws with that from diamond saws, in order to determine the influence of iron and calcium oxides. The waste from cutting granite with gang saws was used in different percentages to replace micronized quartz powder of natural origin in the manufacture of UHPRFC. All the test specimens were analysed to determine their compressive strength, elasticity modulus, flexural strength and indirect tensile strength. The final conclusion is that wastes from both gang saws and diamond saws can be used to manufacture UHPFRC with an improvement in the mechanical properties up to a 35% replacement. The results for GCW-GS are better, mainly due to the pozzolanic effect of the iron dioxide. For higher percentage replacements the mechanical properties are close to the control concrete with small decreases.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is mainly caused by mutations in methyl CpG-binding protein 2, cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5, or forkhead box protein G1. These RTT-causing proteins harbor an intrinsically disordered region (IDR) whose conformation exhibits spatiotemporal heterogeneity, which not only confer versatility to the protein, but also implicates them in diseases. The IDR generally evolves more rapidly than an ordered structure. In this study, we examined the relationship between pathogenic RTT-associated point mutations in RTT-causing proteins and the evolutionary dynamics of sequence features including structural order–disorder, phosphorylation sites, and evolutionary rates. We also analyzed the molecular properties and evolution of proteins that interact with RTT-causing proteins in terms of phylogenetic profiles, tissue specificity, subcellular localization, expression level, and functions. The results indicate that constrained IDRs may function by forming contacts with other regions in the protein sequence causing pathogenic missense mutations likely to arise in the rapidly evolving IDR and affect molecular networks, leading to disease. The results also provide novel insights into the genetic basis for RTT and the evolution of the neocortex in higher vertebrates.

RNA interference (RNAi) is one of the main mechanisms for disease resistance and small RNA production in plants. The main proteins involved in RNAi include Dicer-like (DCL), RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDR), double-stranded RNA-binding (DRB), and Argonaute (AGO). Juglandaceae contains a variety of important woody plants, and walnuts are one of the four major woody plant groups and one of the four major dried fruits in the world. To clarify the evolution and functional differentiation of RNAi-related proteins in the walnut (Juglans regia) genome, this study integrated various web resources from gene family acquisition to structural analysis and transcriptome data to correlate walnuts and their congeners. The walnut genome has 5 DCL, 13 RDR, 15 DRB and 15 AGO genes, similar genes encoding conserved protein structural domains and conserved motifs with similar subcellular localization. Walnut AGO proteins are classified into three classes and seven subclasses. The DCL is divided into four categories, while RDR is mainly divided into four categories, and DRB can be divided into six categories. The exception is that the copy number of walnut RDR1 is 9, in which seven RDR1 are distributed in clusters on chromosome 16. Purifying selection drove the formation of walnut genes, but protein classes were subjected to varying degrees of purifying selection. Additionally, these results showed some similarity in other plants of the walnut family. Moreover, different RNAi-related genes of walnut produced abundant selective expression in response to different tissues and stresses. In this study, DCL, RDR, DRB and AGO gene families were identified and analysed in the genome of the walnut family for the first time and preliminarily examined the evolution, structure and expression characteristics of these families to provide a preliminary basis for the evolution of the walnut RNAi pathway and breeding research.

The asymptotic dynamics of the classes of rational difference equations (RDEs) of third order defined over the positive real-line as $$\displaystyle{x_{n+1}=\frac{x_{n}}{ax_n+bx_{n-1}+cx_{n-2}}}, \displaystyle{x_{n+1}=\frac{x_{n-1}}{ax_n+bx_{n-1}+cx_{n-2}}}, \displaystyle{x_{n+1}=\frac{x_{n-2}}{ax_n+bx_{n-1}+cx_{n-2}}}$$ and $$\displaystyle{x_{n+1}=\frac{ax_n+bx_{n-1}+cx_{n-2}}{x_{n}}}, \displaystyle{x_{n+1}=\frac{ax_n+bx_{n-1}+cx_{n-2}}{x_{n-1}}}, \displaystyle{x_{n+1}=\frac{ax_n+bx_{n-1}+cx_{n-2}}{x_{n-2}}}$$ is investigated computationally with theoretical discussions and examples. It is noted that all the parameters $a, b, c$ and the initial values $x_{-2}, x_{-1}$ and $x_0$ are all positive real numbers such that the denominator is always positive. Several periodic solutions with high periods of the RDEs as well as their inter-intra dynamical behaviours are studied.

The environmental and economic concern is the biggest challenge that concrete industry is facing today. Advancement in utilization of wastes in concrete as a mixture reduces usage of natural resources. Phyllite is a kind of foliated metamorphic rock generates during underground mining .Phyllite was calcined at 850 to 900oC in furnace and ground in ball mill. In this study, cement was partially replaced by weight with calcined phyllite to make M30 grade of concrete with 0% (Control mix), 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, & 10%, (which are designated as M1, M2, M3, M4, M5 and M6). The laboratory tests such as slump value, compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption, chloride ion penetration and durability in acidic and basic medium were conducted on the phyllite concrete and results are compared with the control mix. Through results it is concluded that cement can be replaced in concrete at the tune of 8% with Calcine Phyllite (CP) without affecting the strength and durability. The aim of the experiment is to find the maximum content of mines calcined Phyllite that can be used as a partial replacement of cement without compromising the quality on any of the characteristics of concrete.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a class of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) family that identify pathogen-associated molecular patterns derived from microbes and activate immune cell response. Following TLRs ligation, different adaptor and transcription molecules such as myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) are recruited that initiate inflammatory signaling pathways. The human Toll-like receptor 10 (hTLR10) is a novel member of the PRRs family with a regulatory function of immune responses because of unique cytoplasmic domains which lead to induction of both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory properties. Recent studies have reported the association of TLR10 polymorphisms with many inflammatory diseases and human cancer. Engagement of TLR10 on the surface of the epithelium and macrophages leads to the production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, while other studies have proven an anti-inflammatory role of TLR10. Accordingly, TLR10 suppresses proinflammatory cytokine production via negative regulation of MyD88 and the Akt (protein kinase B) and MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathways. This review aimed to provide answers for these conflicting findings (Inflammatory and anti-inflammatory properties of TLR10) to further identify distinct biological functions of TLR10.

The need for quick and easy deflection calculations of various prefabricated slabs causes that simplified procedures and numerical tools are used more and more often. Modelling of full 3D finite element (FE) geometry of such plates is not only uneconomical but often requires the use of complex software and advanced numerical knowledge. Therefore, numerical homogenization is an excellent tool, which can be easily employed to simplify a model, especially when accurate modelling is not necessary. Homogenization allows for simplifying a computational model and replacing a complicated composite structure with a homogeneous plate. Here, a numerical homogenization method based on strain energy equivalence is derived. Using the method proposed, the structure of the prefabricated concrete slabs reinforced with steel spatial trusses is homogenized to a single plate element with an effective stiffness. There is a complete equivalence between the full 3D FE model built with solid elements combined with truss structural elements and the simplified homogenized plate FE model. The method allows for the correct homogenization of any complex composite structures made of both solid and structural elements, without the need to perform advanced numerical analyses. The only requirement is a correctly formulated stiffness matrix of a representative volume element (RVE) and appropriate formulation of the transformation between kinematic constrains on RVE boundary and generalized strains.

The bending performance of a basalt-polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete (HBPFRC) was characterized by testing 24 400×100×100 mm3 prismatic specimens in a four-point bending test JSCE-SF4 configuration. The type and content of both fibers was varied in order to guarantee different target levels of post-cracking flexural performance. The results evidenced that mono-micro basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) allows the increase of the flexural strength (pre-cracking stage), while macro polypropylene fiber reinforced concrete can effectively improve both bearing capacity and ductility of the composite for a wide crack width range. Compared with the plain concrete specimens, flexural toughness and equivalent flexural strength of macro polypropylene fiber-reinforced concrete (PPFRC) and the hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete (HFRC) increased by 3.7~7.1 times and 10%~42.5%, respectively. From both technical and economic points of view, the optimal mass ratio of basalt fiber to polypropylene fiber resulted to be 1:2, with a total content of 6 kg/m3. This HFRC is seen as a suitable material to be used in sewerage pipes where cracking control (crack formation and crack width control) is of paramount importance to guarantee the durability and functionality of the pipeline as well as the ductility of the system in case of local failures.

Fusarium wilt of banana is a devastating disease that has decimated banana production worldwide. Host resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc), the causal agent of this disease, is genetically dissected in this study using two Musa acuminata ssp. malaccensis segregating populations segregating for Foc Tropical (TR4) and Subtropical (STR4) race 4 resistance. Marker loci and trait association using 11 SNP-based PCR markers allowed the candidate region to be delimited to a 12.9 cM genetic interval corresponding to a 959 kb region on Chromosome 3 of ‘DH-Pahang’ reference assembly v4. Within this region, there is a cluster of pattern recognition receptors, namely leucine rich repeat ectodomain containing receptor-like protein kinases, cysteine-rich cell wall associated protein kinases, and leaf rust 10 disease-resistance locus receptor-like proteins positioned in an interspersed arrangement. Their transcript levels were rapidly upregulated in the resistant but not in susceptible F2 progenies at the onset of infection. This suggests that one or several of these genes may control resistance at this locus. To confirm the segregation of single-gene resistance, we generated an inter-cross between the resistant parent ‘Ma850’ and a susceptible line ‘Ma848’, to show that the STR4 resistance co-segregated with marker ‘28820’ at this locus. Finally, an informative SNP marker 29730 allowed the locus specific resistance to be assessed in a collection of diploid and polyploid banana plants. Out of the 60 lines screened, 22 lines were predicted to carry resistance at this locus, including lines known to be TR4 resistant, such as ‘Pahang’, ‘SH-3362’, ‘SH-3217’, ‘Ma-ITC0250’, and ‘DH-Pahang/CIRAD 930’. Additional screening in the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture’s collection suggests that the dominant allele is common among in the elite ‘Matooke’ NARITA hybrids, as well as in other triploid or tetraploid hybrids derived from East African highland bananas. Fine-mapping and candidate gene identification will allow characterization of molecular mechanisms underlying TR4 resistance. The markers developed in this study can now aid the marker-assisted selection of TR4 resistance in breeding programs around the world.

There is an overarching need to find alternative treatment options for malaria and this quest is more pressing in current times due to the morbidity and mortality data arising from most endemic countries and partially owing to the fact that the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic has diverted much public health attention. Additionally, the therapeutic options available for malaria has been severely threatened with the emergence of resistance to almost all existing drugs by the human malaria parasite. The Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACTs) which hitherto have been the mainstay for malaria have encountered resistance in South East Asia, a notorious ground zero for the emergence of antimalarial drug resistance. This review analyses few key druggable targets of the parasite and the potential to leverage strategic inhibitors to mitigate the scourge of malaria by providing a concise assessment of the essential proteins of the malaria parasite that could serve as targets. Furthermore, this work provides a summary of the advances made in malaria parasite biology and the potential to leverage such findings for antimalarial drug production.

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive bacterium causing a range of mild to life-threatening infections including bone infections such as osteomyelitis. S. aureus is able to invade and persist within non-professional phagocytic cells such as osteoblasts. In the present study four different S. aureus strains, 2SA-ST239-III, 5SA-ST5-II, 10SA-ST228-I, and 14SA-ST22-IVh were tested for their ability to modulate cell viability in MG-63 osteoblast-like cells following a successful invasion and persistence. Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) ATCC-12598-ST30 was used as control. Despite the demonstrated similar abilities of internalization and persistence of ATCC-12598-ST30, 2SA-ST239-III, and 14SA-ST22-IVh strains in MG-63 osteoblast-like cells under our experimental conditions, we demonstrated that the decrease in cell viability was due to the different behavior of the considered strains, with the number of intracellular bacteria playing a limited role. We focused our attention on different cellular biochemical functions related to inflammation, cell metabolism, and oxidative stress during osteoblast infections. We were able to show that: 1) ATCC-12598-ST30 and 2SA-ST239-III were the only two clones able to persist and maintain their number into the cellular hostile environment during the entire period of infection; 2) 2SA-ST239-III was the only clone able to significantly increase the gene expression (3 and 24 h) and protein secretion (24 h) of both interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) in MG-63 osteoblast-like cells; 3) the same clone determined a significant up-regulation of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and the metabolic marker glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNAs at 24 h post infection; 3) neither the MSSA nor the four MRSA strains induced oxidative stress phenomena in MG-63 cells, although a very different expression pattern towards nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and its downstream gene heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) activation was observed among the different clones. Our results can open a new way of considering therapies, going in the direction of an individualized therapeutic strategy that should take into account the difference existing between MSSA and MRSA as well as the distinctive features of the different clones. Not only, therefore, a different antibiotic approach but also a starting point for considering different host factors, i.e. the modulation of specific cytokines such as IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β1.

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities in aquatic ecosystems and harbor an enormous genetic diversity. While their great influence on the marine ecosystems is widely acknowledged, current information about their diversity remains scarce. A viral metagenomic analysis of three water samples was conducted from sites on the South Scotia Ridge (SSR) near the Antarctic Peninsula, during the austral summer 2016. The taxonomic composition and diversity of the viral communities were investigated and a functional assessment of the sequences was determined. Phylotypic analysis showed that most viruses belonging to the order Caudovirales, especially the family Podoviridae (41.92-48.7%), similar to the viromes from the Pacific Ocean. Functional analysis revealed a relatively high frequency of phage-associated and metabolism genes. Phylogenetic analyses of phage TerL and Capsid_NCLDV (nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses) marker genes indicated that many sequences associated with Caudovirales and NCLDV were novel and distinct from known phage genomes. High Phaeocystis globosa virus virophage (Pgvv) signatures were found in SSR area and complete and partial Pgvv-like were obtained which may have an influence on host-virus interactions. Our study expands the existing knowledge of viral communities and their diversities from the Antarctic region and provides basic data for further exploring polar microbiomes.

This paper discusses the use of fly ash in concrete construction industry. Fly ash is incorporated as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) concrete in partial replacement of cement, and is recently used as a geopolymer cement in the development of geopolymer concrete (GPC) mixes. Class C and Class F fly ash high aluminosilicate content, and fine granular size contributes to concrete improved workability, lower permeability, and reduced heat of cement hydration. Due to its chemical properties, the use of fly ash in producing OPC and GPC results in increased compressive strength, higher tensile strength evaluated by measuring hardened concrete modulus of rupture (MOR), and higher modulus of elasticity (MOE). The fine size of fly ash particles increases the concrete mix packing order, and reduce the ingress of moisture, and mitigates the impact of aggressive environmental attacks through the reduction of sulfates and chlorides rate of concrete penetration. Thus, fly ash improves concrete resistivity to alkali-aggregate reactions (AAR), and reduces the corrosion of reinforcing steel, and prestressing strands. Fly ash as an economic byproduct of coal industry results in reduced material cost, increased durability, and a higher sustainability of concrete construction projects.

In this paper, we study the third order semilocal convergence of the Newton-like method for finding the approximate solution of nonlinear operator equations in the setting of Banach spaces. First, we discuss the convergence analysis under ω-continuity condition, which is weaker than the Lipschitz and Hölder continuity conditions. Second, we apply our approach to solve Fredholm integral equations, where the first derivative of involved operator not necessarily satisfy the Hölder and Lipschitz continuity conditions. Finally, we also prove that the R-order of the method is 2p + 1 for any p $\in$ (0,1].

RNAi technology is a versatile, effective, safe, and eco-friendly alternative for crop protection. There is plenty of evidence of its use through host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) and spray-induced gene silencing (SIGS) techniques to control viruses, bacteria, fungi, insects, and nematodes. For SIGS, its most significant challenge is achieving stability and avoiding premature degradation of RNAi in the environment or during its absorption by the target organism. One alternative is encapsulation in liposomes, virus-like particles, polyplex nanoparticles, and bioclay, which can be obtained through the recombinant production of RNAi in vectors, transgenesis, and micro/nanoencapsulation. The materials must be safe, biodegradable, and stable in multiple chemical environments, favoring the controlled release of RNAi. Most of the current research on encapsulated RNAi focuses primarily on oral delivery to control insects by silencing essential genes. The regulation of RNAi technology focuses on risk assessment using different approaches; however, this technology has positive economic, environmental, and human health implications for its use in agriculture. The emergence of alternatives combining RNAi gene silencing with the induction of resistance in crops by elicitation and metabolic control is expected, as well as multiple silencing and biotechnological optimization of its large-scale production.

Research on early stages of corrosion of steel bars, together with the formation and development of cracks induced in the surrounding concrete and caused by chloride penetration, is relevant in improving the durability of reinforced concrete structures. This paper uses integration of the analytical models examined in the published literature, combined with experimental research in corrosion induced at the concrete/steel interface, in estimating the time-to-crack initiation of reinforced concrete subjected to corrosion. This work studies the influence of the porous network and electric current density on the cracking process at early ages. The experimental campaign was performed by using an accelerated corrosion test on a conventional concrete (CC) and a concrete with silica fume (SFC) by submitting them to a current density of 50μA/cm² and 100μA/cm². Examination performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) provided both qualitative and quantitative information on the penetration of the rust layer in the surrounding concrete porous network. Strain gauges were used to measure corrosion-induced deformations between steel and concrete matrices, as well as the formation of corrosion-induced cracks. A good correlation between the rate of penetration of the rust products in the surrounding pores and the delay of the cracking pressure in concrete was observed from the experimental results. This phenomenon is incorporated into the analytical model by using a reduction factor, which mainly depends on the pore size of the concrete. The crack width obtained exhibited a significant dependency on electric current density at the beginning of the test, depending mainly on the pore size of the concrete later.

Renovation, restoration, remodeling, refurbishment, and retrofitting of build-ings often imply modifying the behavior of the structural system. Modification sometimes includes applying forces (i.e., concentrated loads) to beams that before were subjected to distributed loads only. For a reinforced concrete structure, the new condition causes a beam to bear a concentrated load with the crack pattern that was produced by the distributed loads that acted in the past. If the concentrated load is applied at or near the beam’s midspan, the new shear demand reaches the maximum around the midspan. But around the midspan, the cracks are vertical or quasi-vertical, and no inclined bar is present. So, the actual shear capacity around the midspan not only is low, but also can be substantially lower than the new demand. In order to bring the beam capacity up to the demand, fiber-reinforced-polymer composites can be used. This paper presents a design method to increase the concentrated load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams whose load distribution has to be changed from distributed to concentrated, and an analytical model to pre-dict the concentrated load-carrying capacity of a beam in the strengthened state.

The Particle-In-Cell (PIC) method has been developed in order to investigate microscopic phenomena, and with the advances of computing power, newly developed codes have been used for several fields such as astrophysical, magnetospheric, and solar plasmas. PIC applications have grown extensively with large computing powers available on supercomputers such as Pleiades and Blue Waters in the US. For astrophysical plasma research PIC methods have been utilized for several topics such as reconnection, pulsar dynamics, non-relativistic shocks, relativistic shocks, relativistic jets, etc. PIC simulations of relativistic jets have been reviewed with the emphasis on the physics involved in the simulations. This review summarizes PIC simulations, starting with the Weibel instability in slab models of jets, and then focuses on global jet evolution in helical magnetic field geometry. In particular we address kinetic Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities and mushroom instabilities.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is associated with a high risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular (CV) disease. Contributing pathophysiologic factors include endothelial dysfunction caused by excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), increased activity of nuclear factor kB (NFkB), altered macrophage polarization, and reduced synthesis of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). Consequently, there can be a potentially rapid progression of the atherosclerotic disease with a higher propensity to unstable plaque, leading to increased cardiovascular mortality. Management is aimed at prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of hyperglycemia and vascular complications. Innovative therapeutic approaches for T2DM seek to customize the antidiabetic treatment to each patient in order to optimize glucose-lowering effects, minimize hypoglycemia and adverse effects, and prevent cardiovascular events. The newer drugs (Glucagon Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists, GLP-1 RAs; Sodium GLucose coTransporter-2 inhibitors, SGLT2is; DiPeptidyl Peptidase-4 inhibitors, DPP4is) impact body weight, lipid parameters, and blood pressure, as well as endothelial function, inflammatory markers, markers of oxidative stress, and subclinical atherosclerosis. The present review summarizes the results of trials that evaluated the cardiovascular safety of these drugs and found them to be safe from the CV standpoint.

The recent developments in the delivery and design of transcription factors put their therapeutic applications within reach, exemplified by cell replacement, cancer differentiation and T-cell based cancer therapies. The success of such applications depends on the efficacy and precision in the action of transcription factors. The biophysical and genetic characterization of the paradigmatic prokaryotic repressors, LacI and TetR and the designer transcription factors, TALE and CRISPR-Cas9 revealed common rules, which can help the optimization of activators and repressors. Further studies will be required to analyze the linkage between dissociation constants and enzymatic activity, the role of phase separation and squelching in activation and repression, and the long-range interaction of transcription factors with epigenetic regulators in the context of the chromosomes. Understanding these mechanisms will help to tailor systematically optimized designer transcription factors to the needs of specific applications.

This paper seeks to optimize the mechanical and durability properties of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC). To meet this objective, concrete specimens were manufactured by using 1,100 kg/m3 of binder, water/binder ratio 0.20, silica sand and last generation of superplasticizer. Silica fume, metakaolin and two types of nano silica were used for improving the performances of the concrete. Additional mixtures included 13mm long OL steel fibers. Compressive strength, electrical resistivity, mercury intrusion porosimetry tests and differential and thermogravimetric thermal analysis were carried out. The binary combination of nano silica and metakaolin, and the ternary combination of nano silica with metakaolin and silica fume, led to the best performances of the UHPC, both mechanical and durable performances.

The use of polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete (PFRC) as an alternative for reducing or even eliminating the reinforcing steel bars employed in reinforced concrete has become real in the past years. This contribution analyses the improvements in sustainability that a change in the aforementioned reinforcement configuration might provide in a flyover bridge. Economic, environmental and social parameters of both possibilities were studied by means of the integrated value model for sustainable assessment use (Modelo Integrado de Valor para una Evaluación Sostenible, MIVES) used in Spain, which is a multi-criteria decision-making method based on the value function concept and the seminars delivered by experts. The results of the MIVES method showed that the use of PFRC in combination with reinforced concrete (RC) has a sustainability index 22% higher. An analysis of the parameters that form this evaluation shows that there are no remarkable differences in the financial costs between the two possibilities studied. Nevertheless, social and environmental aspects provide with a better qualification the option of building a bridge by using PFRC combined with RC.

Cellular substructure has been widely observed in the sample fabricated by laser powder bed fusion, while its growth direction and the crystallographic orientation have seldom been studied. This research tries to build a general model to construct the substructure from its two-dimensional morphology. All the three Bunge Euler angles to specify a unique growth direction are determined, and the crystallographic orientation corresponding to the growth direction is also obtained. Based on the crystallographic orientation, the substructure in the single track of austenitic stainless steel 316L is distinguished between the cell-like dendrite and the cell. It is found that, with the increase of scanning velocity, the substructure transits from cell-like dendrite to cell. When the power is 200 W, the critical growth rate of the transition in the single track can be around 0.31 ms^-1.

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is innervated by the enteric nervous system (ENS), an extensive neuronal network that traverses along its walls. Due to local reflex circuits, the ENS is capable of functioning with and without input from the central nervous system. The functions of the ENS range from the propulsion of food to nutrient handling, blood flow regulation and immunological defense. Records of it first being studied emerged in the early 19th century when the submucosal and myenteric plexuses were discovered. This was followed by extensive research and further delineation of its development, anatomy, and function during the next two centuries. The morbidity and mortality associated with the underdevelopment, infection or inflammation of the ENS highlights its importance and the need for us to completely understand its normal function. This review will provide a general overview of the ENS to date and connect specific GI disorders such as short bowel syndrome with neuronal pathophysiology. Exciting opportunities in which the ENS could be used as a therapeutic target for common GI diseases will also be highlighted, as the further unlocking of such mechanisms could open the door to more therapy-related advances, and ultimately change our approach to GI disorders.

Jingmen viruses are newly described segmented flavi-like viruses that have a worldwide distribution in ticks and have been associated with febrile illnesses in humans. Computational analyses were used to predict that Jingmen flavi-like virus glycoproteins have structural features of class II viral fusion proteins, including an ectodomain consisting of beta-sheets and short alpha-helices, a fusion peptide with interfacial hydrophobicity and a three domain architecture. Jingmen flavi-like virus glycoproteins have a sequence enriched in serine, threonine and proline at the amino terminus, which is a feature of mucin-like domains. Several of the serines and threonines are predicted be modified by the addition of O-linked glycans. Some of the glycoproteins are predicted to have an additional mucin-like domain located prior to the transmembrane anchor, whereas others are predicted to have a stem consisting of two alpha-helices. The flavivirus envelope protein and Jingmen flavi-virus glycoproteins may have diverged from a common class II precursor glycoprotein with a mucin-like domain or domains acquired after divergence.

In this work, the transport equations of ionic species in concrete are studied. First, the equations at the porescale are considered, which are then averaged over a representative elementary volume. The so obtained transport equations at the macroscopic scale are thoroughly examined and each term is interpreted. Furthermore, it is shown that the tortuosity-connectivity does not slow the average speed of the ionic species down. The transport equations in the representative elementary volume are then compared with the equations obtained in an equivalent pore. Lastly, comparing Darcy’s law and the Hagen-Poiseuille equation in a cylindrical equivalent pore, the tortuosity-connectivity parameter is obtained for four dierent concretes. The proposed model provides very good results when compared with the experimentally obtained chloride profiles for two additional concretes.

Dendrobium okinawense is an endangered epiphytic orchid, and there has been no scientific report so far on its propagation. Protocorm is mass of cell, and protocorm-like bodies (PLBs) look alike protocorm produced by vegetative explants in vitro. Regeneration of PLBs is the most efficient technique for the orchids micro-propagation. We used different light emitting diodes (LEDs) for the efficient PLB organogenesis of D. okinawense. PLBs regenartion under green and red LED surpassed respectively 81.1% and 71.6% in numbers, and respectively 80.8% and 57.8% in fresh weight over white fluorescent light. We manipulated the culture media by different concentrations of PCIB and HMI. PLBs organogenesis promoted by low concentration, it increased respectively 35.9% and 19.3% over control by 0.01 mg/L PCIB and 0.01 ml/L HMI in numbers. Green LED and PCIB independently produced mostly similar numbers of new PLBs. Interestingly, culture media with 0.01 mg/L of PCIB further increased 8.5% of the numbers of PLBs under green LED, whereas the culture media with 0.01 mg/L HMI reduced the number of PLBs under green LED. PLBs culture under green LED with very low concentrations of PCIB manipulated culture media can significantly increase their organogenesis of D. okinawense.

The brittle shear failure of reinforced concrete beams is complexed and unfavorable. For decades, research on the mechanical properties and durability of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) to make recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) has been widely investigated. However, test results on the shear strength of reinforced recycled aggregate concrete beams are still limited and contradictory. This paper reports the shear strength of reinforced recycled aggregate concrete beams without stirrups. Eight RAC beams and two controlled beams with natural coarse aggregate (NCA) were tested under the four-point flexural test with the shear span-to-effective depth ratio (a/d) of 3.10. Parameters in this study were the replacement percentage of RCA (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) and longitudinal reinforcement ratio (w) of 1.16% and 1.80%. It was found that the normalized shear stresses of RAC beams with w = 1.80% at all levels of replacement percentage were quite similar to that of the NAC counterparts. Normalized shear stress of the beam with 100% RCA and w = 1.16% was lower than that of the NAC beam by 5%. Database of 128 RAC beams without shear reinforcement from literature was analyzed to evaluate the ability of the most recent ACI 318-19 shear provisions in shear strength prediction. A reduction factor of 0.75 is proposed to the current ACI code provision to account for the physical variations of RCA such as replacement percentage, RCA source and quality, density, amount of residual mortar, and physical irregularity.

A generalization of $\eta$-Ricci solitons is considered involving an additional metric and functions as soliton coefficients. The soliton potential is torse-forming and orthogonal to the contact distribution of the almost contact B-metric manifold. Then such a manifold can also be considered as an almost Einstein-like manifold, a generalization of an $\eta$-Einstein manifold with respect to both B-metrics and functions as coefficients. Necessary and sufficient conditions are found for a number of properties of the curvature tensor and its Ricci tensor of the studied manifolds. Finally, an explicit example of an arbitrary dimension is given and some of the results are illustrated.

As the coproduct of steelmaking, steelmaking slag, volumetrically expansive-prone without treatment, has been satisfactorily used as an aggregate base course material in highway construction. Although numerous technical reports and papers have revealed that steel slag aggreged using in rigid matrixes, the end product, paving block, non-structural concrete, for example, possesses superb strength and durability properties, the application of steel slag aggregate as a concrete aggregate is currently prohibited in highway construction. Naturally, researchers explore the practicality of use of steel slag, how to connect the laboratory experiment results to the end-product behavior, and further convert the research results into real construction? For all nontraditional or secondary materials utilization, the procedure of laboratory material examination, lab and field trial test are critical. To generalize the utilization, usability criteria establishment is necessary. This paper tries to use step-by-step method and plain language to explain how the volumetrically expansion can be simulated in lab testing apparatus, and based on the model, the mathematical deduction can result in a numerical usability criterion for steel slag use as a coarse aggregate in concrete (a rigid material). Therefore the paper is composed four main parts, laboratory test methods to examine the expansion force resulted from steel slag; converting the measured expansion force in a given volume of mass aggregate to the expansion (body) force of a single particle; modeling of slag and end material disruption; and a usability criterion from numerical deduction for the use of expansive-prone coarse slag in concrete or other rigid matrices. The paper provides the solutions to answer the above questions. Through the mathematical and mechanical modeling, provides the potential criteria that could result in specifications and guidance establishment for broad volumetric expansive-prone slags.

Fibre reinforced cementitious materials (FRC) have become an attractive alternative for structural applications. Among such FRC, steel and polyolefin fibre reinforced concrete and glass fibre reinforced concrete are the most used ones. However, in order to exploit the properties of such materials structural designers need constitutive relations that reproduce FRC fracture behaviour accurately. This contribution analyses the suitability of multilinear softening functions combined with a cohesive crack approach for reproducing the fracture behaviour of the FRC previously mentioned. The implementation performed accurately simulates the fracture behaviour while being versatile, robust and efficient from a numerical point of view.

Concrete, as one of the essential construction materials is responsible for a vast amount of emissions. Using recycled materials and gray water can considerably contribute to the sustainability aspect of concrete production. Thus, finding a proper replacement for fresh water, in the production of concrete, is significant. The usage of industrial wastewater, instead of water in the concrete can is considered in this paper. In this study, 450 concrete samples are produced with different amounts of wastewater. The mechanical parameters such as slump, compressive strength, water absorption, tensile strength, electrical resistivity, rapid freezing, half-cell potential, and appearance are investigated. The results showed that the usage of industrial wastewater does not significantly change the main characteristics of concrete. Although, increasing the concentration of the wastewater can decrease durability and strength features nonlinearly.

Near-fault ground motions can cause severe damage to civil structures, including bridges. Safety assessment of these structures for near fault ground motion is usually performed through Non-Linear Dynamic Analyses, while faster methods are often used. IMPAb (Incremental Modal Pushover Analysis for Bridges) permits to investigate the seismic response of a bridge by considering the effects of higher modes, which are often relevant for bridges. In this work, IMPAb is applied to a bridge case study considering near-fault pulse-like ground motion records. The records were analyzed and selected from the European Strong Motion Database and the pulse parameters were evaluated. In the paper results from standard pushover procedures and IMPAb are compared with nonlinear Response-History Analysis (NRHA), considering also the vertical component of the motion, as benchmark solutions and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). Results from the case study demonstrate that the vertical seismic action has a minor influence on the structural response of the bridge. Therefore IMPAb, which can be applied considering vertical motion, remains very effective conserving the original formulation of the procedure, and can be considered a well performing procedure also for near-fault events.

This article is a scoping review analyzing advances in experimental studies on bacterial self-healing of concrete. From Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and Google Scholar search engine databases, 54 studies were selected for analysis, and an increasing trend of publications since 2015 was found, with India as the country with the largest research presence. Different ma-terials are used as replacement or admixture in concrete, such as fibers, particles and recycled material from construction waste. It was found that the most commonly used bacteria are Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus sphaericus, which can improve the strength of concrete by generating calcite and sealing cracks. In addition, it was found that the presence of materials such as fibers, ashes and construction recyclates can protect bacteria in an alkaline environment. The designs usually in-clude more than two experimental groups and a control. In summary, this study highlights the importance of bacterial self-healing in concrete and provides information on advances in this field of research.

Reinforcement corrosion due to chloride attack is of major economic significance for reinforced concrete structures. Pozzolans are known to inhibit corrosion initiation mainly by reducing concrete permeability. However, there is evidence in the literature that changes in the chemical environment in the concrete due to the pozzolans may be creating improved corrosion resistance, by themselves. In this study, the composition of a pore solution of mature hydrated cement paste containing silica-fume at different ratios was analyzed. The electrochemical behavior of reinforcing steel was studied in simulated pore solutions with silicate concentrations ranging from 0 to 35.6 mM, which are within the concentration range found by pore solution extraction to be up to 49 mM. Polished reinforcing steel specimens were used for cyclic voltammetry in simulated pore solutions with chloride concentrations of 10-20%. Better corrosion protection was found with increasing silicate concentration up to 3.56 mM. This was indicated by lower corrosion currents both in the passive state and after anodic activation. Anodic activation of steel in a 35.6 mM silicate solution with 20% NaCl yielded a higher potential than the anterior potential.

Semi-destructive and non-destructive techniques are not commonly used for masonry as they are complex and difficult to perform. This paper describes validation of the following methods: semi-destructive and non-destructive, ultrasonic technique for autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC). The research subject was the compressive strength of AAC test elements with declared various density classes of: 400, 500, 600 and 700 (kg/m3) and various moisture levels. Empirical data including the shape and size of specimens, were established from tests on 494 cylindrical and cuboid specimens, and standard cube specimens 100×100×100 mm using the general relationship for standard concrete (Neville’s curve). The effect of moisture on AAC was taken into account while determining the strength fBw for 127 standard specimens tested at different levels of water content (w = 100%, 67%, 33% 23% and 10%). Defined empirical relations can be used to correct the compressive strength of dry specimens. For 91 specimens 100×100×100 mm, the P-wave velocity cp was tested with the transmission method using using the ultrasonic pulse velocity method with exponential transducers. The curve (fBw – cp) for determining the compressive strength of AAC elements with any moisture level (fBw) was established.

Expression of Krüppel–like factor 15 (KLF15), a stress induced transcription factor, is induced during bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) reactivation from latency, and KLF15 stimulates BoHV-1 replication. Transient transfection studies revealed KLF15 and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) cooperatively transactivate the BoHV-1 immediate early transcription unit 1 (IEtu1), herpes sim-plex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infected cell protein 0 (ICP0), and ICP4 promoter. The IEtu1 promoter drives expression of bICP0 and bICP4, two key BoHV-1 transcriptional regulatory proteins. Based on these studies, we hypothesized infection is a stressful stimulus that increases KLF15 ex-pression and enhances productive infection. New studies demonstrated that silencing KLF15 impaired HSV-1 productive infection and KLF15 steady state protein levels were increased at late stages of productive infection. KLF15 was primarily localized to the nucleus following in-fection of cultured cells with HSV-1, but not BoHV-1. When cells were transfected with a KLF15 promoter construct and then infected with HSV-1, promoter activity was significantly increased. The ICP0 gene and to a lesser extent bICP0 transactivated the KLF15 promoter in the absence of other viral proteins. In contrast, BoHV-1 or HSV-1 encoded VP16 had no effect on KLF15 pro-moter activity. Collectively, these studies revealed HSV-1 and BoHV-1 productive infection in-creased KLF15 steady state protein levels, which correlated with increased virus production.

Concrete is a heterogeneous material with a disordered material morphology that strongly governs the behavior of the material. In this contribution, we present a computational tool called the Concrete Mesostructure Generator (CMG) for the generation of ultra-realistic virtual concrete morphologies for mesoscale and multiscale computational modeling and simulation of concrete. Given an aggregate size distribution, realistic generic concrete aggregates are generated by a sequential reduction of a cuboid to generate a polyhedron with multiple faces. Thereafter, concave depressions are introduced in the polyhedron using gaussian surfaces. The generated aggregates are assembled into the mesostructure using a hierarchic random sequential adsorption algorithm. The virtual mesostructures are first calibrated using laboratory measurements of aggregate distributions. The model is validated by comparing the elastic properties obtained from laboratory testing of concrete specimens with the elastic properties obtained using computational homogenisation of virtual concrete mesostructures. Finally, a 3D-convolutional neural network is trained to directly generate elastic properties from voxel data.

The deformation monitoring information of concrete dams contains some high-frequency com-ponents, and the high-frequency components are strongly nonlinear, which reduces the accuracy of dam deformation prediction. In order to solve such problems, this paper proposes a concrete dam deformation monitoring model based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) combined with wavelet threshold noise reduction and sparrow search algorithm (SSA) optimization of long short-term memory network (LSTM). The model uses EMD combined with wavelet threshold to decompose and denoise the measured deformation data. On this basis, the LSTM model based on SSA optimization is used to mine the nonlinear function relationship between the reconstructed monitoring data and various influencing factors. The example analysis shows that the model has good calculation speed, fitting and prediction accuracy and it can effectively mine the date char-acteristics inherent in the measured deformation, and reduce the influence of noise components on the modeling accuracy.

(1)Background: Early-age concrete shrinkage induces stress that impact the cost and service life of concrete pavements. (2)Methods: In this study, strain measurements of field slabs were conducted and a methodology was presented that independently derived autogenous, drying, and thermal shrinkages in the initial stages of concrete placement. Total strain was measured according to five different environmental conditions and shrinkage strain was calculated for each condition. (3)Results: By measuring the strain of the slab and the specimen, the drying shrinkage strain was measured to be approximately 54% better than that by the conventional non-stressed cylinder method because it was possible to measure the drying shrinkage strain at the surface rather than in the middle part of the slab along its depth direction. When the water-to-cement ratio increased (35→40%), there was a considerable reduction (317με→82με) of autogenous shrinkage strain for the concrete at 28 days of age. Furthermore, calculation of stress-dependent strain allowed the presentation of more intuitive and accurate results. (4)Conclusion: As the measurement of independent shrinkage occurrence is possible, the consequent calculated result of the stress-dependent strain acting on real slabs will facilitate improvement in the construction quality, reduction in the development of defects in the concrete structure, and increase in the service life.

Astronauts at are risk of losing 1.0 – 1.5% of their bone mass for every month they spend in space despite their adherence to high impact exercise training programs designed to preserve the musculoskeletal system. This article reviews the basics of bone formation and resorption and details how exposure to microgravity or simulated microgravity affects the structure and function of osteoblasts, osteocytes, osteoclasts, and their mesenchymal and hematologic stem cell precursors. It details the critical roles that insulin-like growth facor-1 and its receptor IGFR1 play in maintaining bone homeostasis and how exposure of bone cells to microgravity affects the function of these growth factors. Lastly, it discusses the potential of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand, syncytin-A, and sclerostin inhibitors and recombinant IGF-1 as a bone-saving treatment for astronauts in space and during their colonization of the Moon.

This work proposes a novel methodology for the complete characterization of fiber reinforced concrete (FRC). The method includes bending tests of prismatic notched specimens, based on the Standards for FRC, tensile and pure shear tests. The values adopted by the standards for designing FRC are the obtained from bending tests, typically fR3, even for shear and pure tension loading. This paper shows that the remaining strength of FRC, supplied by the fibers, depends on the type of loading. In the case of shear and tensile loading the prescriptions of the standards may be unsafe. In this work, the remaining halves of specimens subjected to bending test are prepared and used for shear and tension tests. This means significant savings in specimen preparation and a greater amount of information for structural use of FRC. The results provide relevant information for the design of structural elements of FRC compared with the only use of data supplied by bending tests. In addition, a video-extensometry system was used to analyze the crack generation and cracking patterns. The video-extensometry applied to shear tests allowed the assessment of the sliding values and crack opening values at the crack discontinuity. These values may be quite relevant for the study of the FRC behavior when subjected to shear according to the shear-friction model theories.