Seismic resistance of traditional timber-frame hımış

Hımış structures have hardly ever found as extensive a role as other traditional timber housing, such as those originating from Japan or Central Europe, within the wide discourse on the seismic performance of timber-frame architecture that has gained significant momentum in the last few decades owing to advancing testing technologies. While the hımış construction technique was perhaps not born as a result of a conscious search for a seismically resistant building form, it was soon widely appreciated for its structural features advantageous under seismic loading - especially from the sixteenth century when it has become a well-established construction technique in part of the Balkans and in today’s Turkey. Despite widely available anecdotal information based on post-disaster studies regarding its performance under earthquakes, robust quantitative data on the seismic behaviour of these structures were practically non-existent until quite recently, and are still somewhat limited. However, we are now able to confirm that hımış constructions do have intrinsic qualities that are very beneficial under seismic action. This paper aims to make a brief review of the current state of our knowledge on structural performance of hımış buildings under earthquake loading, with specific emphasis on infill/cladding techniques, connection details and energy dissipation characteristics

Effect of alloy types on the anodizing process of aluminum

Specimens of AA 5083 and AA 6111 (unheat- and heat-treated) were investigated in comparison with the pure aluminum during anodizing in sulfuric acid bath using electrochemical techniques, SEM/EDS and XRF. The alloy type affects the kinetics of anodizing but certain qualitative characteristics and the basic aspects of the anodizing mechanism are similar for the alloys and pure aluminum. We found that for AA 6111 alloy, the stage of rearrangement of the pores during anodizing before the current reaches a steady-state value is missing due to enrichment of the alloying elements at the oxide/metal interface. For alloys under certain anodizing conditions, formation of a resistive film at the bottom of the pores results in decreasing anodizing current. This phenomenon is more prevalent for AA 5083 alloy than for AA 6111. For AA 6111 alloy, the heat treatment affects anodizing kinetics and improves the anodizing efficiency. Understanding the effect of alloy types on anodizing process under various operating conditions (voltage, temperature and sulfuric acid concentration) will enable us to optimize porous oxide structures for improved coating performance in color ability and corrosion resistance. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Immunohistochemical study of PTEN and phosphorylated mTOR proteins in familial and sporadic invasive breast carcinomas

Aims: Loss of phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) leads to activation of several kinases, including mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which promotes cell cycle progression. The aim was to study the expression of PTEN and phosphorylated (p)-mTOR in familial and sporadic invasive breast carcinomas and their relation to clinicopathological features, molecular indices (Wnt1) and patients' survival. Methods and results: PTEN and p-mTOR were detected immunohistochemically in 215 sections of invasive breast carcinomas (112 with a familial history of breast cancer). Image analysis was used and univariate and multivariate analyses employed for statistical evaluation of results. PTEN was detecte5d in the nucleus (73.5%) and p-mTOR in the cytoplasm (44.2%) of cancer cells. Loss of PTEN protein was more frequently detected in women with a familial history of breast cancer (72%) (P < 0.0001), while its expression was negatively correlated with Wnt1, in total (P = 0.049). p-mTOR showed a positive association with lymph node status (P = 0.010) and was found to have a negative impact on patients' overall survival (P = 0.016). Conclusions: Loss of PTEN protein expression appears to occur more frequently in women with a family history of breast cancer, whereas activation of mTOR protein seems to be related to a more aggressive phenotype. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Limited

Effect of alloy types on the electrolytic coloring process of aluminum

The AC electrolytic coloring process at 15 Vrms in acidic tin sulfate solutions for specimens of AA 5083, AA 6111 unheat- and heat-treated was investigated in comparison with pure aluminum. For this purpose, electrochemical techniques, SEM/EDS and XRF were used. The specimens were anodized in sulfuric acid baths under different conditions, prior to electrolytic coloring. The alloy type affects the rate of tin deposition but certain qualitative characteristics and basic aspects of electrolytic coloring mechanisms are similar for alloys and pure aluminum. The temper of AA 6111 does not affect the electrolytic coloring process, although it influences the anodizing process. Under standard electrolytic coloring conditions, the current efficiency for tin deposition is low for all examined materials. However, pure aluminum has a much higher tin deposition efficiency than the alloys. A reduced amount of deposited metal with prolonged electrolytic coloring is observed for AA 6111, indicating deterioration of oxide structure during coloring process. For AA 5083, the increase of conductance of the oxide film results in an increase of the rms current and faradaic cathodic charge consumed during the electrolytic coloring process in comparison with the pure aluminum; this results in an increase of hydrogen evolution with no improvement in tin deposition efficiency. The anodizing voltage affects the electrolytic coloring process to a lesser degree for alloys than for pure aluminum, indicating the role of the morphology of the oxide film. The increases of anodizing temperature and porous layer thickness have marginal effect on electrolytic coloring process. Understanding the effect of alloy types on electrolytic coloring process will enable us to achieve color uniformity and to expand color and shade selections. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

An investigation of electrolytic coloring process of anodized aluminum coatings

In this paper specimens of pure aluminum, AA 5083 and AA 6111 anodized under standard conditions were electrolytically colored from acidic tin sulphate solutions at different rms voltages in order to further gain insight to the ac electrolytic coloring process. Electrochemical methods, SEM/EDS, RBS and XRF techniques were used in this study. The tin deposition efficiency increases with the increase of applied rms electrolytic coloring voltage and the purity of aluminum. The classical linear porosity of the film formed on high purity aluminum favors the tin deposition, while the heavily modified film morphology on AA 6111, impedes it. In the case of reanodizing the anodic-cathodic peak currents quickly reach maximum values and they are influenced by the applied rms voltage and the material types. Their ratio approaches unity indicating symmetry and cooperative movement of the ions through the oxide film. The corresponding ratio of faradaic charges is about 0.6, thus the anodic reactions occur in an extent of about 60% of the cathodic ones. However as the electrolytic coloring is going on and the currents decrease reaching a limited value, then these ratios change slightly not only with respect to the time of coloring but also to the material types. Regardless of the reanodizing or dissolution process being operative during the anodic half cycle, the tin deposition proceeds, when formation of new oxide and redistribution of pores take place. In the case of thinning of barrier layer more time is necessary in order to reach the peak currents their maximum values. The symmetry of these currents is considerably disturbed in the case of alloys but not of pure aluminum, while the ratio of faradaic charges is slightly modified. Thus the capacitance of the oxide films of alloys seems to be considerably altered during the barrier layer dissolution process. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Polycystin-1 downregulation induces ERK-dependent mTOR pathway activation in a cellular model of psoriasis

Psoriatic plaques tend to localize to the knees and elbows, areas that are particularly subject to mechanical stress resulting from bending and friction. Moreover, plaques often develop at sites of mechanical trauma or injury (Koebner phenomenon). Nevertheless, mechanotransduction has never been linked to psoriasis. Polycystins (polycystin-1, PC1; polycystin-2, PC2) are mechanosensitive molecules that function as key regulators of cellular mechanosensitivity and mechanotransduction. The aim of this in vitro study was to investigate the role of polycystins in the development of psoriasis. We showed that PC1 knockdown in HaCaT cells led to an elevated mRNA expression of psoriasis-related biomarkers Ki-67, IL-6, TNF-α VEGF and Bcl-2, while PC1 functional inhibition was accompanied by increased cell proliferation and migration of HaCaT cells. In addition, PC1 knockdown via siRNA in HaCaT cells was followed by activation of critical molecules of the mTOR and MAPK pathways and this mTOR pathway activation was ERK-dependent. Furthermore, loss of PC1 protein expression and elevated levels of activated mTOR substrates were also observed in human samples of psoriatic plaques. Overall, our study suggests that the PC1/ERK/mTOR signaling axis represents a novel potential mechanism in psoriasis pathogenesis. © 2018 Elsevier B.V