Numerical Analysis on Bond Strength of FRP Rebars under Elevated Temperature

The bond behaviour between fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) and concrete at a different temperature, ranging from room temperature (20°C) to high temperature of up to 300°C, are modelled using the FEA in this paper. Four different commercially produced FRPs with different bond treatments and the bond properties were study in this temperature range. It is observe that when the temperature increases from 20°C to 300°C the FRP's bond strength reduced between 80 and 90%, however, this reduction for steel is only 38% at this temperature range. Also as the temperature increased a reduction in the bond stiffness has occurred

Anti-adhesive effect of ZnO nanoparticles against uropathogenic escherichia coli in bladder epithelial cell cultures and on fimh gene expression

Background: One of the most important causes of urinary tract infection (UTI) in the world is uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). The first necessary step for establishing UTI is the attachment and invasion of UPEC to the urinary tract epithelial cells. Objectives: In this study, we assessed the anti-adhesion activity of the zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) against UPEC in T24 cell cultures and the effect of these particles on the fimH gene expression by real-time PCR method. Methods: Toxicity of ZnO NPs was measured with MTT test and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was assessed by agar dilution method. Results: Minimum inhibitory concentration for the three UPEC strains that were used in this study were 1250 µg.mL-1 . Our results showed that the IC50 of ZnO NPs for the T24-cells was 19.53 µg.mL-1 and 0.3 µg.mL-1 is a nontoxic concentration for this cell line. These low concentrations of ZnO suspensions showed 28.77 to 44.71 decrease in the attachment of UPEC to the T24 cells and also could decrease the expression of fimH gene in UPEC. Conclusions: This study showed the anti-adhesive effect of ZnO suspension against UPEC adhesion to the T24 cells and decreased fimH gene expression are seen in these low concentrations of ZnO suspensions. © 2019, Author(s)

Introduction of inflammatory bowel disease biomarkers panel using protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis

Aim: In the present study, a protein-protein interaction network construction is conducted for IBD. Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases as serious chronic gastrointestinal disorders attracted many molecular investigations. Diverse molecular information is present for IBD. However, these molecular findings are not highlighted based on interactome analysis. On the other hand, PPI network analysis is a powerful method for study of molecular interactions in the protein level that provide useful information for highlighting the desired key proteins. Methods: Cytoscape is the used software with its plug-ins for detailed analysis. Two centrality parameters including degree and betweenness are determined and the crucial proteins based on these parameters are introduced. Results: The 75 proteins among 100 initial proteins are included in the network of IBD. Seventy-five nodes and 260 edges constructed the network as a scale free network. The findings indicate that there are seven hub-bottleneck proteins in the IBD network. Conclusion: More examination revealed the essential roles of these key proteins in the integrity of the network. Finally, the indicator panel including NFKB1, CD40, TNFA, TYK2, NOD2, IL23R, and STAT3 is presented as a possible molecular index for IBD. � 2016 RIGLD, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases