Performance of Steel Slag as Fine Aggregate in Structural Concrete

Suitability of using steel slag (SS) as substitute for sand in concrete was investigated. SS was collected from a dump site, crushed manually and sieved through between sieves No. 4 and 200. SS was characterized using XRF and XRD techniques. Concrete of mix ratio 1:2:4 was batched by weight with slag replacement levels of 0 to 100% of sand at 25% interval and the concrete specimens (cubes and beams) produced were cured in water for 7, 14, 28 and 56 days. Water demand, compressive strength as well as flexural strength of the concrete were determined. Results indicated that SS contained high amorphous silica (42.40%) and ferric oxides (31.90%) with traces of crystalline particles. The water-cement ratio reduced from 0.62 to 0.50 as slag proportion increased from 0% to 100% at slump range of 6010 mm. The strength of SS concrete increased with increase in proportion of SS. The study suggested that up to 50% of weight of sand could be replaced with slag to produce structural concrete.http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i3.

Role of three side support ankle–foot orthosis in improving the balance in children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a heterogeneous group of permanent, non-progressive motor disorders of movement and posture. Ankle–foot orthoses (AFOs) are frequently prescribed to correct skeletal misalignments in spastic CP. The present study aims to evaluate the effect of the three side support ankle–foot orthosis on standing balance of the spastic diplegic CP children. Thirty spastic diplegic CP children participated in this study from both sexes. They were divided randomly intotwo age and sex matched groups: (Group I: study group and Group II: control group). The degree of spasticity was evaluated by passive movement for both limbs, while the child was completely relaxed. The Biodex stability system, was used for the assessment of the dynamic postural control of all diplegic children. Also the system measures the subject’s ability to control the platform’s angle of tilt. The patient’s performance is noted as stability index which represents the variance of the platform displacement in degrees. Every patient in the study group was exercised on three side support ankle–foot orthosis for 30 min, three times weekly, for 6 months, also they received the same therapeutic exercise program which was given to the control group. The results revealed no significant difference as regards the pre-treatment mean values of all stability indices in both the control and the study groups (P< 0.05). However comparison between post-treatment mean values of allstability indices in both groups showed significant improvement in favor of the study group (p<0.05). In conclusion: Uses of the three side support ankle–foot orthosis in addition to physical exercise program is highly useful in rehabilitation of spastic diplegic cerebral palsy children as theyenabled them to gain more balance control and postural reactions

Diversity in the organization of elastin bundles and intramembranous muscles in bat wings

Unlike birds and insects, bats fly with wings composed of thin skin that envelops the bones of the forelimb and spans the area between the limbs, digits, and sometimes the tail. This skin is complex and unusual; it is thinner than typical mammalian skin and contains organized bundles of elastin and embedded skeletal muscles. These elements are likely responsible for controlling the shape of the wing during flight and contributing to the aerodynamic capabilities of bats. We examined the arrangement of two macroscopic architectural elements in bat wings, elastin bundles and wing membrane muscles, to assess the diversity in bat wing skin morphology. We characterized the plagiopatagium and dactylopatagium of 130 species from 17 families of bats using cross‐polarized light imaging. This method revealed structures with distinctive relative birefringence, heterogeneity of birefringence, variation in size, and degree of branching. We used previously published anatomical studies and tissue histology to identify birefringent structures, and we analyzed their architecture across taxa. Elastin bundles, muscles, neurovasculature, and collagenous fibers are present in all species. Elastin bundles are oriented in a predominantly spanwise or proximodistal direction, and there are five characteristic muscle arrays that occur within the plagiopatagium, far more muscle than typically recognized. These results inform recent functional studies of wing membrane architecture, support the functional hypothesis that elastin bundles aid wing folding and unfolding, and further suggest that all bats may use these architectural elements for flight. All species also possess numerous muscles within the wing membrane, but the architecture of muscle arrays within the plagiopatagium varies among families. To facilitate present and future discussion of these muscle arrays, we refine wing membrane muscle nomenclature in a manner that reflects this morphological diversity. The architecture of the constituents of the skin of the wing likely plays a key role in shaping wings during flight

Evaluation de la quantité des métaux lourds dans la décharge d’Agoè (Lomé- Togo): Cas du plomb, cadmium, cuivre, nickel et zinc

Depuis l’indépendance (1960), la population de la ville de Lomé à l’instar des grandes villes Africaines n’a cessé d’augmenter, engendrant ainsi une forte production des déchets. Ceci a entraîné la mise en place des décharges à l’exemple de celle d’Agoè pour une gestion pérenne des déchets. Ce travail a pour objectif d’évaluer la quantité des métaux lourds de la décharge finale des déchets urbains de la ville de Lomé. Les échantillons sont prélevés à la surface et à chaque mètre en profondeur en six points de la décharge finale. Les paramètres physico-chimiques (humidité, pH, matière organique) ont été déterminés sur ces échantillons de même que les teneurs de cinq métaux lourds (plomb, cadmium, nickel, cuivre et zinc). Le taux d’humidité des échantillons varie entre 17,65 et 67,64%. Le pH mesuré varie entre 7,48 et 8,45. La teneur en matière organique déterminée par la méthode de perte au feu varie entre 8,58 et 14,57%. Les teneurs moyennes des métaux lourds sont de 66,91 mg/kg pour le plomb ; 2,51 mg/kg pour le cadmium ; 6,10 mg/kg pour le nickel; 70,24 mg/kg pour le cuivre et 401,13 mg/kg pour le zinc. Le cadmium et le zinc ont des teneurs supérieures à la norme AFNOR NF U 44-041.Mots clés: Déchets, décharge, métaux lourds, polluant

Influence of Anti-Plasmodial Metal Complex on Rumen Microbial Populations and Serum Parameters in Sheep

A locally synthesized transition metal complex, cobalt-lumefantrine was assessed through laboratory and feeding trials to ascertain its usefulness as an agent for manipulation of the rumen in sheep grazing tropical pasture. The antimicrobial properties of the metal complex were examined on fresh rumen fluids at different concentrations (0, 0.010, 0.025 and 0.050 mg metal complex/50 ml) to estimate the optimum dosage for the sheep. Thereafter, twelve adult male sheep (11.27 ± 0.62 kg, initial body weight) were divided into three similar treatment groups. Sheep were drenched individually with 2.5 mg metal complex/head dissolved in 10 ml distilled water, either once or at two-week interval over 28 days. The control group received water without the metal complex. Total protozoa population was lowest (P < 0.05) when 50 ml rumen sample was incubated with 0.025 mg cobaltlumefantrine metal complex. Serum alanine amino transferase, ALT (23.73 and 18.16 vs. 16.92 μg/L) and cholesterol (0.94 and 1.18 vs. 1.40 mmol/L) levels were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by the antiplasmodial metal complex treatments (single and repeated treatments vs. the control). It was concluded that 2.5 mg cobalt-lumefantrine complex treatment had no adverse effects on rumen pH, favourably modified rumen microbial populations and improved serum cholesterol level in the sheep.Keywords: Antiplasmodial, metal-complex, rumen, sheep

A Dimension-Adaptive Multi-Index Monte Carlo Method Applied to a Model of a Heat Exchanger

We present an adaptive version of the Multi-Index Monte Carlo method, introduced by Haji-Ali, Nobile and Tempone (2016), for simulating PDEs with coefficients that are random fields. A classical technique for sampling from these random fields is the Karhunen-Lo\`eve expansion. Our adaptive algorithm is based on the adaptive algorithm used in sparse grid cubature as introduced by Gerstner and Griebel (2003), and automatically chooses the number of terms needed in this expansion, as well as the required spatial discretizations of the PDE model. We apply the method to a simplified model of a heat exchanger with random insulator material, where the stochastic characteristics are modeled as a lognormal random field, and we show consistent computational savings

Perforin gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells improves immune dysregulation in murine models of perforin deficiency

Defects in perforin lead to the failure of T and NK cell cytotoxicity, hypercytokinemia, and the immune dysregulatory condition known as familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (FHL). The only curative treatment is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation which carries substantial risks. We used lentiviral vectors (LV) expressing the human perforin gene, under the transcriptional control of the ubiquitous phosphoglycerate kinase promoter or a lineage-specific perforin promoter, to correct the defect in different murine models. Following LV-mediated gene transfer into progenitor cells from perforin-deficient mice, we observed perforin expression in mature T and NK cells, and there was no evidence of progenitor cell toxicity when transplanted into irradiated recipients. The resulting perforin-reconstituted NK cells showed partial recovery of cytotoxicity, and we observed full recovery of cytotoxicity in polyclonal CD8 + T cells. Furthermore, reconstituted T cells with defined antigen specificity displayed normal cytotoxic function against peptide-loaded targets. Reconstituted CD8 + lymphoblasts had reduced interferon-γ secretion following stimulation in vitro, suggesting restoration of normal immune regulation. Finally, upon viral challenge, mice with >30% engraftment of gene-modified cells exhibited reduction of cytokine hypersecretion and cytopenias. This study demonstrates the potential of hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy as a curative treatment for perforin-deficient FHL

More on STAT1 Gain of Function, Type 1 Diabetes, and JAK Inhibition

This is the final version. Available from the Massachusetts Medical Society via the DOI in this recor

Metallointercalator [Ru(dppz)2(PIP)]2+ Renders BRCA Wild-Type Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells Hypersensitive to PARP Inhibition

There is a need to improve and extend the use of clinically-approved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPi), including for BRCA wild-type triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The demonstration that ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complex (RPC) metallo-intercalators can rapidly stall DNA replication fork progression provides the rationale for their combination alongside DNA damage response (DDR) inhibitors to achieve synergism in cancer cells. The aim of the present study was to evaluate use of the multi-intercalator [Ru(dppz)2(PIP)]2+ (dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine, PIP = (2-(phenyl)imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline, Ru-PIP) alongside the PARP inhibitors (PARPi) olaparib and NU1025. Cell proliferation and clonogenic survival assays indicated a synergistic relationship between Ru-PIP and olaparib in MDA-MB-231 TNBC and MCF7 human breast cancer cells. Strikingly, low dose Ru-PIP renders both cell lines hypersensitive to olaparib, with a 300-fold increase in olaparib potency in TNBC; the largest non-genetic PARPi enhancement effect described to date. Negligible impact on the viability of normal human fibroblasts was observed for any combination tested. Increased levels of DNA double-strand break (DSB) damage and olaparib abrogation of Ru-PIP activated pChk1 signalling is consistent with PARPi-facilitated collapse of Ru-PIP-associated stalled replication forks. This results in enhanced G2/M cell-cycle arrest, apoptosis and decreased cell motility for the combination treatment compared to single-agent conditions. This work establishes that an RPC metallo-intercalator can be combined with PARPi for potent synergy in BRCA-proficient breast cancer cells, including TNBC