STR-988: POST-FIRE RESIDUAL STRENGTH OF GLASS FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER (GFRP) BARS

Lack of reliable and adequate information on material characteristics of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) at elevated temperatures lowers the accuracy of analytical and design models developed to predict the behaviour of GFRP reinforced concrete members. There is an essential need to assess the remaining strength of bridge and building components after exposure to fire to determine if repair or replacement is required. This paper presents experimental results of a series of tensile tests on GFRP reinforcing bars after exposure to elevated temperatures. GFRP specimens with nominal diameter of 16 mm were exposed to different temperatures in an electric furnace. During the heat exposure, the samples were loaded with 25 % of their ultimate tensile strength to simulate the sustained load that a reinforcing bar in a concrete member may carry in a fire incident. After the samples cooled to room temperature, they were loaded to failure. The same type of GFRP bars had been tested earlier by the authors under simultaneous effects of heat and load. At high temperature, the bars had considerable strength loss. However, the results presented in this paper show notable tensile strength recovery when the specimens were cooled before loading to failure. This information is essential for studying the post-fire evaluation of GFRP reinforced concrete members exposed to fires

Crowdsourced assessment of common genetic contribution to predicting anti-TNF treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects millions world-wide. While anti-TNF treatment is widely used to reduce disease progression, treatment fails in Bone-third of patients. No biomarker currently exists that identifies non-responders before treatment. A rigorous community-based assessment of the utility of SNP data for predicting anti-TNF treatment efficacy in RA patients was performed in the context of a DREAM Challenge (http://www.synapse.org/RA_Challenge). An open challenge framework enabled the comparative evaluation of predictions developed by 73 research groups using the most comprehensive available data and covering a wide range of state-of-the-art modelling methodologies. Despite a significant genetic heritability estimate of treatment non-response trait (h(2) = 0.18, P value = 0.02), no significant genetic contribution to prediction accuracy is observed. Results formally confirm the expectations of the rheumatology community that SNP information does not significantly improve predictive performance relative to standard clinical traits, thereby justifying a refocusing of future efforts on collection of other data

Crowdsourced assessment of common genetic contribution to predicting anti-TNF treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis

Correction: vol 7, 13205, 2016, doi:10.1038/ncomms13205Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects millions world-wide. While anti-TNF treatment is widely used to reduce disease progression, treatment fails in Bone-third of patients. No biomarker currently exists that identifies non-responders before treatment. A rigorous community-based assessment of the utility of SNP data for predicting anti-TNF treatment efficacy in RA patients was performed in the context of a DREAM Challenge (http://www.synapse.org/RA_Challenge). An open challenge framework enabled the comparative evaluation of predictions developed by 73 research groups using the most comprehensive available data and covering a wide range of state-of-the-art modelling methodologies. Despite a significant genetic heritability estimate of treatment non-response trait (h(2) = 0.18, P value = 0.02), no significant genetic contribution to prediction accuracy is observed. Results formally confirm the expectations of the rheumatology community that SNP information does not significantly improve predictive performance relative to standard clinical traits, thereby justifying a refocusing of future efforts on collection of other data.Peer reviewe

Numerical Study of FRP Reinforced Concrete Slabs at Elevated Temperature

One-way glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) reinforced concrete slabs at elevated temperatures are investigated through numerical modeling. Serviceability and strength requirements of ACI-440.1R are considered for the design of the slabs. Diagrams to determine fire endurance of slabs by employing “strength domain” failure criterion are presented. Comparisons between the existing “temperature domain” method with the more representative “strength domain” method show that the “temperature domain” method is conservative. Additionally, a method to increase the fire endurance of slabs by placing FRP reinforcement in two layers is investigated numerically. The amount of fire endurance gained by placing FRP in two layers increases as the thickness of slab increases

Bone powder as EPR dosimetry system for electron and gamma radiation

In this work bovine bone powder samples were irradiated at three different dose rates of 100, 260 and 630 kGy/min for the absorbed dose range of 3 to 110 kGy, using 10 MeV electron beam radiation. The samples were subjected to EPR measurement at room temperature in air. The variation of EPR signal intensities were constructed and evaluated base on quantitative data related to the absorbed doses. Moreover, they were compared with the obtained results from the samples irradiated by a 60Co gamma-ray source with a dose rate of 2.65 kGy/h. The time and temperature effects on the EPR response of this dosimeter were also studied. The results indicated that the bone sample was a suitable dosimeter especially for electron beam at high doses

Effect of Cacl2 Solution at Different Temperatures on Qualitative and Quantitative Characteristics and Shelf Life of Peach Fruit, Cv. Anjiri Maliki

In order to study the effect of CaCl2 treatment on postharvest quality and storage behavior of peach fruit cv. Anjiri Maliki, the fruits were dipped in CaCl2 solution, at concentration of 0 as control and 60mM, in different temperatures (4, 8, 16, 32 and 64°C) for 5 minutes. The trial was carried out as a factorial experiment if frame of complete randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The fruits were stored at 2-3°C and 85-90% R.H for finally 28 days, and then the fruit parameters were measured weekly. Traits such as titratable acidity (TA), total soluble solids (TSS), vitamin C, weight loss, tissue firmness and calcium concentration were determined. Results showed that in total storage period (four measurements times), treatment with CaCl2, at temperature of 64°C was the best treatment according to maintaining flesh firmness, maintaining TSS, preventing the degradation of ascorbic acid, reducing the TA changes, modulation of weight loss and increasing the amount of calcium content in fruits. Also thermal treatments at temperatures of 32 and 64°C, alone end without CaCl2, had significant effects on maintaining fruit firmness, TA and acid ascorbic and caused to modulation in weight loss. On the other hand the application of calcium chloride at temperatures of 4 and 32°C had significant effect on quality parameters