Second Order Effects in Concrete Insulated Wall Panels

Insulated concrete panels (CIPs) have been used for over 60 years for their both structural and thermal resistance. The flexural behavior of CIPs has been investigated in recent years. The CIPs are rapidly becoming ubiquitous in the precast industry, and the tilt-up industry is initiating a study to determine their effectiveness as a tilt-up product. There are several known challenges associated with a tilt-up version of a partially composite wall and likely other unknown challenges. This study was initiated to investigate the behavior of load-bearing concrete insulated wall panels for use in tilt-up construction. The primary objective was to understand the inelastic behavior of these panels so that engineers could perform a proper second-order analysis for combined axial and out-of-plane loading. This dissertation contains information related to the testing of solid and partially composite insulated wall panels that integrated proprietary wythe connection systems. Since tilt-up panel testing of similar scope had not been done since the 1980s on panels of lower height, there were several goals for this testing. This represented an opportunity to validate the current ACI code alternate slender wall analysis method and provide a set of control panels for testing solid tilt-up panel behavior. Testing solid panels and CIPs of 40 ft span, a length typical of contemporary construction, was critical to observe such slenderness ratios and identify significant second-order panel behavior. In addition, 24 small-scale panels of 11 ft-long were monitored for shrinkage and tested under flexural load to determine the effect of shrinkage and the reinforcement ratio on the cracking moment and tension stiffening model. Using the unique experimental information herein, The Shear Flow method and a new method termed The Shear Slip Method were evaluated to estimate horizontal shear failure. The Shear Flow method, when used properly, results in perhaps an overly conservative prediction of horizontal shear strength but does not match the observed data well. The Shear Slip Method relies on an assumption of the failure slip mechanism (as observed from these and other experiments) and the double shear data to determine a maximum horizontal shear strength while incorporating the ductility of the connectors. This method was found to predict horizontal shear failure both accurately and conservatively. A Modified Slender Wall Method was developed to estimate the contribution of connector slip to the shear deformations in a straightforward way. When using this method to predict the deformations at failure for panels that experienced flexural failure it produced accurate and conservative results. For panels that are controlled by horizontal shear failure, this method can be overly conservative for flexural deformations because it is intentionally simplified. Another method termed the K123 method was demonstrated that can better predict panel deflections and horizontal shear failures using matrix analysis or other methods. The results from the experimental program and the panels from the literature were used to calibrate the OpenSees model. A large parametric study consisted of 648 models using OpenSees to evaluate different lengths of CIPs and connector types that were outside of the experimental program scope to demonstrate the effect of the slenderness and axial load. The parametric study confirms that the proposed methods agree well with Opensees models and confirm the findings from the experimental program. This project’s findings serve as a foundation for developing a design guide for Tilt-up CIP

[INVITED] Novel optical biosensing technologies for detection of mycotoxins

This work reviews our recent progress in development of novel optical methods of detection of mycotoxins in direct assay with either specific antibodies or aptamers. The main method in this work was the total internal reflection ellipsometry (TIRE) combined with LSPR transducers based on gold nano-structures produced by annealing of thin gold films. The gold nano-islands produced were characterised with SEM, AFM, UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. The combination of TIRE and LSPR offers superior refractive index sensitivity as compared to traditional UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. The limitations of LSPR related to a short evanescent field decay length can be overcome using small-size bio-receptors, such as half-antibodies and aptamers. The achieved sensitivity of detection of mycotoxins in 0.01 ppb level of concentration is sufficient for the use of this method for analysis of agriculture products, food and feed on the presence of mycotoxins. Even higher sensitivity in sub-ppt level was achieved with another optical biosensor developed recently; it is based on optical planar waveguide operating as polarization interferometer (PI). This method is promising for development of portable, highly sensitive, and simple to use biosensors suitable for point-of-need detection of mycotoxins

Epidemiology and risk factors of atopic dermatitis among children in Basrah, Iraq

Atopic dermatitis is a major public health problem, especially among children and has an economic burden at family and community levels. The present research aimed to study the frequency, distribution and determinants of atopic dermatitis in Basrah city, Iraq. A cross-sectional study was carried out between December 2020 and March 2021 at the dermatology outpatient clinic of Alfayhaa Hospital in Basrah, Iraq. The overall prevalence of the disease among children was 21.3 %. The age-specific prevalence rate among infantile, childhood and adolescent groups were 40.7%, 21.7%, and 12.1%, respectively. One hundred Four children who attended the dermatology outpatient clinic were diagnosed with Atopic dermatitis. The mean age of the patients was 6.6±2.8 years. In 87.5% of the cases, the onset of disease was before two years of age. Using objective scoring atopic dermatitis (SCORAD), the disease was classified into mild, moderate and severe with a percentage of 10.6, 83.6, and 5.8, respectively. There was no significant association between the severity of atopic dermatitis with early-onset, positive family history of atopy, nor a high body mass index (BMI). We recommend further large-scale and community-based studies to estimate the real burden of the disease with emphasis on preventive measures

Highly sensitive label-free in vitro detection of aflatoxin B1 in an aptamer assay using optical planar waveguide operating as a polarization interferometer

This work reports on further development of an optical biosensor for the in vitro detection of mycotoxins (in particular, aflatoxin B1) using a highly sensitive planar waveguide transducer in combination with a highly specific aptamer bioreceptor. This sensor is built on a SiO2–Si3N4–SiO2 optical planar waveguide (OPW) operating as a polarization interferometer (PI), which detects a phase shift between p- and s-components of polarized light propagating through the waveguide caused by the molecular adsorption. The refractive index sensitivity (RIS) of the recently upgraded PI experimental setup has been improved and reached values of around 9600 rad per refractive index unity (RIU), the highest RIS values reported, which enables the detection of low molecular weight analytes such as mycotoxins in very low concentrations. The biosensing tests yielded remarkable results for the detection of aflatoxin B1 in a wide range of concentrations from 1 pg/mL to 1 μg/mL in direct assay with specific DNA-based aptamers

Generation of Catalytic Films of Zeolite Y and ZSM-5 on FeCrAlloy Metal

This work details the generation of thin films of structured zeolite catalysts (ZSM–5 and Y) onto the surface of a metal substrate (FeCrAlloy) using in-situ hydrothermal synthesis. In addition, the zeolite Y is post-synthetically modified by acidified ammonium ion exchange to generate US-Y. Finally the catalytic activity of the structured ZSM-5 catalyst films (Si/Al = 11, thickness 146 µm) and structured US–Y catalyst film (Si/Al = 8, thickness 23µm) were compared with the pelleted powder form of ZSM–5 and USY catalysts of similar Si/Al ratios. The structured catalyst films have been characterised using a range of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X–ray analysis (EDX) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The transition from oxide-on-alloy wires to hydrothermally synthesised uniformly zeolite coated surfaces was followed using SEM and XRD. In addition, the robustness of the prepared coating was confirmed by subjecting these to thermal cycling (ambient to 550°C). The cracking of n–heptane over the pellets and structured catalysts for both ZSM–5 and Y zeolite showed very similar product selectivities for similar amounts of catalyst with an apparent activation energy of around 60 kJ mol-1. This paper demonstrates that structured catalysts can be manufactured with excellent zeolite adherence and when suitably activated/modified give comparable cracking results to the pelleted powder forms. These structured catalysts will improve temperature distribution in highly exothermic and endothermic catalysed processes

Influence of Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide Cation Concentration on Omega Zeolite Crystal Size

Omega zeolite nanocrystals can be synthesized hydrothermally from a sodium aluminosilicate solution characterized by a 5.96 Na2O/Al2O3 constant molar ratio, carried out at a maximum temperature of about 100°C for 4 days after aging at room temperature for 3 days, utilizing tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMA-OH) at molar ratios of 0.36, 0.48, and 0.61. By using different analysis techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy, the physical characteristics of the nanosized omega zeolite crystals can be identified, and the omega zeolite crystal size can be regulated between 34 and 100 nm. In this research paper, the process of creating a uniform aluminosilicate solution with TMA-OH, followed by forming a solid aluminosilicate gel with adjusted elemental composition, reveals the significance of the TMA-OH/Al2O3 mole ratio for synthesizing nanocrystalline omega zeolite aggregates

Factors Affecting Electrocoagulation Process for Different Water Types: A Review

Raw water must meet specific physical, chemical, and biological requirements to be suitable for drinking. There are various techniques available for treating wastewater, and aside from conventional methods that involve chemicals, electrocoagulation is an efficient and advanced approach. Electrocoagulation has proven effective in treating many pollutants, including bacteria, viruses, iron, fluoride, sulfate, boron, hardness, and turbidity. Total suspended solids, organic and inorganic materials, chemical oxygen demand COD, biochemical oxygen demand BOD, and color. It finds extensive application in treating different types of water and wastewater due to its exceptional ability to remove diverse contaminants. Recently, electrocoagulation has garnered significant attention due to its remarkable efficiency in treating various pollutants. This article provides a thorough analysis of contemporary literature that is committed to using electrocoagulation in a variety of water treatment methods, with a focus on the different variables affecting the process performance, such as electrical current, electrode type, electrode configuration, initial pH, electrode distance, NaCl concentration, initial concentration of pollutants, operating temperature and electrolysis time

A new approach to predicting vertical permeability for carbonate rocks in the southern Mesopotamian basin

Reservoir performance depends on many factors, and the most important one is permeability anisotropy. In addition, with high heterogeneity, it is essential to find unique relationships to predict permeability. Therefore, this study aims to predict vertical permeability based on horizontal permeability and porosity and to find new equations for carbonate reservoirs. This work relied on the 398 measured points of cores data collected from several wells in carbonate reservoirs. A new correlation for predicting vertical permeability for the whole data (369 samples) as a function of horizontal permeability and porosity has been developed. The results indicate that this new correlation can estimate the vertical permeability with correlation coefficients (RSQ) of 0.853. Then, the used data were divided into four groups depending on the Kv/Kh values: less than 0.1, 1–0.1, 1–10, and more than 10, and a new correlation for permeability prediction for each group has been developed with good RSQ values of 0.751, 0.947, 0.963, and 0.826, respectively. The previous studies lack the correlations to predict vertical permeability in carbonate reservoirs, so this study can be considered as a reference for similar cases

DETECTION OF SOME VIRULENCE, ANTIBACTERIAL RESISTANCE GENES FOR SALMONELLA ISOLATED FROM DOGS IN BAGHDAD CITY

Two hundred and fifty (250) samples from both diarrheic and non-diarrheic dogs in both sex male and female multi breeds ( German shepherd and malinois ) in Academy for training police and military dogs for searching about drugs , explosives ,local dogs and pet dogs from different clinical cases in Baghdad city were tested. All samples are obtained in aseptically rectal swabs and transporting to the microbiology lab, for culturing and identification for salmonella species. The study gave 16 (6.4%) positive Salmonella. Virulent gene study gave us 16(6.4%) invA gene, invF 13(5.2%) and sit C 16 (6.4%).Antibiotic sensitivity test According to Bauer-Kirby method were done and gave 16 (6.4%) isolates resistance for ciprofloxacin which is the most clinical antibiotic drug of choice against Salmonella infection . Detection of gyrA gene resistance gene for ciprofloxacin using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) gave 16 (6.4%) for all positive isolates