A Review of Corrosion and Protection of Steel in Concrete

Corrosion of reinforcement is one of the major durability challenges which leads to a reduction in the design life of reinforced concrete. Due to an increasing demand for longer service lives of infrastructure (typically 100-120 years) and the high cost involved in building and maintaining it, the repair of concrete structures has become extremely important. This paper discusses mechanism of corrosion in reinforced concrete and its thermodynamic and kinetic behaviour. It also presents and compares different corrosion prevention and protection techniques available and recommended by BS 1504-9:2008; including the use of corrosion inhibitors, alternative reinforcement, steel and concrete coating and electrochemical techniques. It is concluded that the electrochemical techniques are more effective than conventional methods

Efficiency of Spermatogonial Dedifferentiation during Aging

Adult stem cells are critical for tissue homeostasis; therefore, the mechanisms utilized to maintain an adequate stem cell pool are important for the survival of an individual. In Drosophila, one mechanism utilized to replace lost germline stem cells (GSCs) is dedifferentiation of early progenitor cells. However, the average number of male GSCs decreases with age, suggesting that stem cell replacement may become compromised in older flies.Using a temperature sensitive allelic combination of Stat92E to control dedifferentiation, we found that germline dedifferentiation is remarkably efficient in older males; somatic cells are also effectively replaced. Surprisingly, although the number of somatic cyst cells also declines with age, the proliferation rate of early somatic cells, including cyst stem cells (CySCs) increases.These data indicate that defects in spermatogonial dedifferentiation are not likely to contribute significantly to an aging-related decline in GSCs. In addition, our findings highlight differences in the ways GSCs and CySCs age. Strategies to initiate or enhance the ability of endogenous, differentiating progenitor cells to replace lost stem cells could provide a powerful and novel strategy for maintaining tissue homeostasis and an alternative to tissue replacement therapy in older individuals

Cigarette smoke and lipopolysaccharide induce a proliferative airway smooth muscle phenotype

Background: A major feature of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is airway remodelling, which includes an increased airway smooth muscle (ASM) mass. The mechanisms underlying ASM remodelling in COPD are currently unknown. We hypothesized that cigarette smoke (CS) and/or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a major constituent of CS, organic dust and gram-negative bacteria, that may be involved in recurrent airway infections and exacerbations in COPD patients, would induce phenotype changes of ASM. Methods: To this aim, using cultured bovine tracheal smooth muscle (BTSM) cells and tissue, we investigated the direct effects of CS extract (CSE) and LPS on ASM proliferation and contractility. Results: Both CSE and LPS induced a profound and concentration-dependent increase in DNA synthesis in BTSM cells. CSE and LPS also induced a significant increase in BTSM cell number, which was associated with increased cyclin D1 expression and dependent on activation of ERK 1/2 and p38 MAP kinase. Consistent with a shift to a more proliferative phenotype, prolonged treatment of BTSM strips with CSE or LPS significantly decreased maximal methacholine- and KCl-induced contraction. Conclusions: Direct exposure of ASM to CSE or LPS causes the induction of a proliferative, hypocontractile ASM phenotype, which may be involved in airway remodelling in COPD

Reporting Guidelines for the Early-Phase Clinical Evaluation of Applications Using Extended Reality: RATE-XR Qualitative Study Guideline

Background: Extended reality (XR), encompassing technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, has rapidly gained prominence in health care. However, existing XR research often lacks rigor, proper controls, and standardization. Objective: To address this and to enhance the transparency and quality of reporting in early-phase clinical evaluations of XR applications, we present the “Reporting for the early-phase clinical evaluation of applications using extended reality” (RATE-XR) guideline. Methods: We conducted a 2-round modified Delphi process involving experts from diverse stakeholder categories, and the RATE-XR is therefore the result of a consensus-based, multistakeholder effort. Results: The guideline comprises 17 XR-specific (composed of 18 subitems) and 14 generic reporting items, each with a complementary Explanation & Elaboration section. Conclusions: The items encompass critical aspects of XR research, from clinical utility and safety to human factors and ethics. By offering a comprehensive checklist for reporting, the RATE-XR guideline facilitates robust assessment and replication of early-stage clinical XR studies. It underscores the need for transparency, patient-centeredness, and balanced evaluation of the applications of XR in health care. By providing an actionable checklist of minimal reporting items, this guideline will facilitate the responsible development and integration of XR technologies into health care and related fields

Affinity-Purified Respiratory Syncytial Virus Antibodies from Intravenous Immunoglobulin Exert Potent Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity

Mixed infections are one of the major therapeutic challenges, as the current strategies have had limited success. One of the most common and widespread conditions of mixed infection is respiratory syncytial virus-mediated pathology of the respiratory tract in children. There is a dire need for the development of novel therapeutic approaches during mixed infections. Therapeutic intravenous immunoglobulin preparations, obtained from plasma pools of healthy donors have been used in immune deficiencies. This study was thus designed to characterize the functional efficacy of RSV-specific antibodies in IVIg. To explore the functional ability of these affinity-purified RSV-specific antibodies, the antibody-dependent and complement dependent cytotoxicity was determined using peripheral cells of healthy donors. This study demonstrates the existence of highly potent RSV-specific antibodies in IVIg preparations and provides the basis for the use of IVIg as broad-spectrum protective shield to RSV-infected children during mixed infections

RATE-XR

Reporting eArly-phase sTudies Evaluating eXtended Reality applications in healthcare guidelin

RATE-XR

Reporting eArly-phase sTudies Evaluating eXtended Reality applications in healthcare guidelin

Electroweak parameters of the z0 resonance and the standard model

Contains fulltext : 124399.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access