Strengthening of Self-Consolidating High Strength RC Dapped Ends with CFRP Fabrics

In this work, an experimental study has been conducted to investigate the behavior of self-consolidating high strength reinforced concrete dapped end beams upgraded with CFRP composites. A series of 14-specimens have been tested, each of with length of  1500 mm, total depth of 400mm and width of 200mm. Two values of shear slenderness ratio (a/d) namely (1.5 and 1.0) are adopted. Two specimens have been considered as a reference beams (with full Design reinforcement), four were deficiently reinforced in either hanger or the extended disturbed zone, and the other eight beams have been upgraded with a variety of arrangements by CFRP fabric. This work aims to observe the effects of deficiently reinforced disturbed zones on the resistance and overall behavior of such elements. Also, the extent of strength recovery using CFRP sheeting. It is observed that reducing the hanger reinforcements by a half, results in a drop of capacity by (13%) regardless of values of (a/d). Furthermore, it is noticed that adopting the inclined arrangement of CFRP sheets with (450) yielded the best results if compared with other arrangements. An enhancement in failure load was about (23%) for (a/d=1.0)

Development of a Novel Bioactive Functionally Guided Tissue Graded Membrane for Periodontal Lesions

Periodontal disorders are chronic inflammatory condition of the supporting structures of the tooth. Guided tissue regeneration (GTR) membranes have been used in the management of destructive forms of periodontal disease as a means of aiding regeneration of lost supporting tissues, such as alveolar bone, cementum, gingiva and periodontal ligament. In this study, individual layers of a functionally graded bioactive composite membrane were fabricated using the techniques of solvent casting, freeze gelation and electrospinning by incorporating Hydroxyapatite (HA) alongside Chitosan and using acetic acid as the primary solvent. The techniques were simple, time /energy efficient and reproducible resulting in novel non porous and porous scaffolds with potential for use in periodontal tissue regeneration. Scaffolds were characterised in terms of ultra structure morphology by scanning electron microscopy, physiochemical properties, water uptake, and degradation by weight loss, mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Microscopy revealed porous features and presence of hydroxyapatite was confirmed with Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Morphology of the pores varied with different solvents, which were affected by addition of HA. Biocompatibility studies were carried out using a human osteosarcoma cell line and human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal progenitor cells. All tested scaffolds showed increasing cell viability over the tested culture period. In conclusion, solvent casting, freeze gelation and electrospinning were successfully used to fabricate scaffolds with different morphology and porosity. Future work will focus on incorporation of drug into the core layer and combining the surface and core layers to form a spatially designed functionally graded biodegradable membrane with the potential of being used for periodontal tissue regeneration

Novel VPS13B Mutations in Three Large Pakistani Cohen Syndrome Families Suggests a Baloch Variant with Autistic-Like Features.

BackgroundCohen Syndrome (COH1) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder, principally identified by ocular, neural and muscular deficits. We identified three large consanguineous Pakistani families with intellectual disability and in some cases with autistic traits.MethodsClinical assessments were performed in order to allow comparison of clinical features with other VPS13B mutations. Homozygosity mapping followed by whole exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing strategies were used to identify disease-related mutations.ResultsWe identified two novel homozygous deletion mutations in VPS13B, firstly a 1 bp deletion, NM_017890.4:c.6879delT; p.Phe2293Leufs*24, and secondly a deletion of exons 37-40, which co-segregate with affected status. In addition to COH1-related traits, autistic features were reported in a number of family members, contrasting with the "friendly" demeanour often associated with COH1. The c.6879delT mutation is present in two families from different regions of the country, but both from the Baloch sub-ethnic group, and with a shared haplotype, indicating a founder effect among the Baloch population.ConclusionWe suspect that the c.6879delT mutation may be a common cause of COH1 and similar phenotypes among the Baloch population. Additionally, most of the individuals with the c.6879delT mutation in these two families also present with autistic like traits, and suggests that this variant may lead to a distinct autistic-like COH1 subgroup

Strengthening of Self-Consolidating High Strength RC Dapped Ends with CFRP Fabrics

In this work, an experimental study has been conducted to investigate the behavior of self-consolidating high strength reinforced concrete dapped end beams upgraded with CFRP composites. A series of 14-specimens have been tested, each of with length of  1500 mm, total depth of 400mm and width of 200mm. Two values of shear slenderness ratio (a/d) namely (1.5 and 1.0) are adopted. Two specimens have been considered as a reference beams (with full Design reinforcement), four were deficiently reinforced in either hanger or the extended disturbed zone, and the other eight beams have been upgraded with a variety of arrangements by CFRP fabric. This work aims to observe the effects of deficiently reinforced disturbed zones on the resistance and overall behavior of such elements. Also, the extent of strength recovery using CFRP sheeting. It is observed that reducing the hanger reinforcements by a half, results in a drop of capacity by (13%) regardless of values of (a/d). Furthermore, it is noticed that adopting the inclined arrangement of CFRP sheets with (450) yielded the best results if compared with other arrangements. An enhancement in failure load was about (23%) for (a/d=1.0)

Phase field theory modeling of CH4/CO2 gas hydrates in gravity fields

Natural gas hydrates in reservoirs are thermodynamically unstable due to the interactions with surrounding fluids (aqueous, gas) and mineral surfaces. Depending on the local flow hydrate will dissociate as well as reform. If the dissociation rate is faster than the capacity of the surrounding fluids to dissolve the released gas, the gas will form bubbles. Depending on the rate of released gas and possible fracture patterns this may lead to venting of gas. The proper implementation of hydrodynamics will provide a deeper insight of the hydrate kinetics involved during dissociation and formation processes which involve hydrate former phase as smaller or larger bubbles or even continuous gas phase. In this work the phase field theory coupled with hydrodynamics model is implemented with variable density using the relative composition, phase field parameter and flow, which is an extension of our previous work which considers a constant density.publishedVersio

Ground-truthing Large Human Behavior Monitoring Datasets

We present a groundtruthing approach which is applicable to large video datasets collected for studying people’s behavior, and which are recorded at a low frame per second (fps) rate. Groundtruthing a large dataset manually is a time consuming task and is prone to errors. The proposed approach is semi-automated (using a combination of deepnet and traditional image analysis) to minimize human labeler’s interaction with the video frames. The framework employs mask-rcnn as a people counter followed by human assisted semi-automated tests to correct the wrong labels. Subsequently, a bounding box extraction algorithm is used which is fully automated for frames with a single person and semi-automated for frames with two or more people. We also propose a methodology for anomaly detection i.e., collapse on table or floor. Behavior recognition is performed by using a fine-tuned alexnet convolutional neural network. The people detection and behavior analysis components of the framework are primarily designed to help reduce human labor in ground-truthing so that minimal human involvement is required. They are not meant to be employed as fully automated state-of-the-art systems. The proposed approach is validated on a new dataset presented in this paper, containing human activity in an indoor office environment and recorded at 1 fps as well as an indoor video sequence recorded at 15 fps. Experimental results show a significant reduction in human labor involved in the process of ground-truthing i.e., the number of potential clicks for office dataset was reduced by 99.2% and for the additional test video by 99.7%

RAPD and SCAR markers as potential tools for detection of milk origin in dairy products: adulterant sheep breeds in Serra da Estrela cheese production

Available online 17 May 2016Serra da Estrela Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese is the most famous Portuguese cheese and has a high commercial value. However, the adulteration of production with cheaper/lower-quality milks from non-autochthones ovine breeds compromises the quality of the final product and undervalues the original PDO cheese. A Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method was developed for efficient detection of adulterant breeds in milk mixtures used for fraudulent production of this cheese. Furthermore, Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR) markers were designed envisioning the detection of milk adulteration in processed dairy foods. The RAPD-SCAR technique is here described, for the first time, to be potentially useful for detection of milk origin in dairy products. In this sense, our findings will play an important role on the valorization of Serra da Estrela cheese, as well as on other high-quality dairy products prone to adulteration, contributing to the further development of the dairy industry.This work was financially supported by the project ‘‘Valor Queijo” (CENTRO-07-0202-FEDER-030372) funded by FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) and co-funded by ‘‘Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional” (FEDER) through ‘‘COMPETE – Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade” (POFC). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006684) and the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462)

The transfer and fate of Pb from sewage sludge amended soil in a multi-trophic food chain: a comparison with the labile elements Cd and Zn

The contamination of agroecosystems due to the presence of trace elements in commonly used agricultural materials is a serious issue. The most contaminated material is usually sewage sludge, and the sustainable use of this material within agriculture is a major concern. This study addresses a key issue in this respect, the fate of trace metals applied to soil in food chains. The work particularly addresses the transfer of Pb, which is an understudied element in this respect, and compares the transfer of Pb with two of the most labile metals, Cd and Zn. The transfer of these elements was determined from sludge-amended soils in a food chain consisting of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), the mustard aphid (Lipaphis erysimi) and a predatory beetle (Coccinella septempunctata). The soil was amended with sludge at rates of 0, 5, 10 and 20 % (w/w). Results showed that Cd was readily transferred through the food chain until the predator trophic level. Zn was the most readily transferred element in the lower trophic levels, but transfer to aphids was effectively restricted by the plant regulating shoot concentration. Pb had the lowest level of transfer from soil to shoot and exhibited particular retention in the roots. Nevertheless, Pb concentrations were significantly increased by sludge amendment in aphids, and Pb was increasingly transferred to ladybirds as levels increased. The potential for Pb to cause secondary toxicity to organisms in higher trophic levels may have therefore been underestimated