Optimization of Tuff Stones Content in Lightweight Concrete Using Artificial Neural Networks

Tuff stones are volcanic sedimentary rocks formed by the consolidation of volcanic ash. They possess unique geological properties that make them attractive for a variety of construction and architectural applications. Considerable amounts and various types of Tuff stones exist in the eastern part of Jordan. However, the use of Tuff stones often requires experimental investigations that can significantly impact the accuracy of their physical and mechanical characteristics. To ensure consistent and predictable properties in their mix design, it is essential to minimize the effects of these experimental procedures. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have emerged as a promising tool to address such challenges, leveraging their ability to analyze complex data and optimize concrete mix design. In this research, ANNs have been used to predict the optimum content of Tuff fine aggregate to produce structural lightweight concrete with a wide range (20 to 50 MPa) of compressive strength. Three different types of Tuff aggregates, namely gray, brown, and yellow Tuff, were experimentally investigated. A set of 68 mixes was produced by varying the fine-tuff aggregate content from 0 to 50%. Concrete cubes were cast and tested for their compressive strength. These samples were then used to form the input dataset and targets for ANN. ANN was created by incorporating the recent advancements in deep learning algorithms, and then it was trained, validated using data collected from the literature, and tested. Both experimental and ANN results showed that the optimum content of the various types of used Tuff fine aggregate ranges between 20 to 25%. The results revealed that there is a clear agreement between the predicted values using ANN and the experimental ones. The use of ANNs may help to cut costs, save time, and expand the applications of Tuff aggregate in lightweight concrete production. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-11-013 Full Text: PD

Greenhouse gas emissions associated with road transport projects: current status, benchmarking, and assessment tools

Global warming and climate change have been two much-debated topics in recent times due to their malevolent consequences not only to ecosystems, but also to the human race. They are indeed negative by-products of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The transportation sector is a major contributor of GHG emissions, accounting for approximately 20 percent of all carbon dioxide (co2) emissions globally, and road transportation accounts for the large majority of those emissions. This paper reviews literature related to GHG emissions produced by construction, operation, and maintenance phases of road projects. It compares country-specific GHG emission levels and provides input on assessment tools that can be used to estimate road project-specific GHG emissions. Lastly, the paper draws conclusions in regards to the magnitude of GHG emissions produced by road transportation, as well as to the status of assessment tools readily available in the market. The authors find that GHG emissions continue to be a concern, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), and recognize the need for reliable modeling tools capable of estimating project-specific GHG emissions. As a result, a model framework is proposed as the first step towards a comprehensive modeling tool capable of estimating GHG emissions produced during the entire life-cycle of a road project. The authors disclose that such tool is currently under development

A Survey on the Use of Plastic versus Biodegradable Bottles for Drinking Water Packaging in the United Arab Emirates

Due to intensive utilization and extensive production, plastic waste is becoming a serious threat to the environment and human health. The situation is even worse in countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where single-use plastic water bottles add to the load of plastic pollution. The main objective of this survey was to assess the extent of bottled water utilization by the UAE residents and their awareness of the environmental concerns arising from single-use plastic bottles. The aim was also to evaluate their willingness to shift towards using biodegradable plastic bottles. This study involved the feedback of 2589 respondents living in the UAE. The eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) was applied to determine the most responsible variables explaining the variability of our data set. A chi-square analysis was also used to determine the significance among the responses. Most of the respondents to this survey were UAE nationals (79.8%) of ages ranging from 21 to 35 years (42%), who were educated, with most holding a university degree (69.6%). Regardless of their gender, age, occupation, education, and income, a large group of respondents (40.7%) was concerned about the impact of their purchased items on the environment; however, the frequency of plastic products recycled was observed to be low (49.7%). According to the findings of this survey, 42.4% of the respondents were likely to purchase 100% biodegradable bottles, and about 70% of the respondents expressed a willingness to spend at least AED 1 more for purchasing 100% biodegradable bottles

Prevalence of asymptomatic cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in newborns in northeast Florida

BackgroundCongenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the leading cause of hearing loss and neurocognitive delay among children. Affected infants may be asymptomatic at birth and even pass their universal hearing screen. Early identification of CMV-infected infants will allow earlier detection, evaluation and management. The prevalence of congenital CMV infection in the developed world varies geographically from 0.6% to 0.7% of all deliveries and certain regions are at higher risk. The prevalence of congenital CMV is unknown for our region.AimThe purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of CMV infection among the neonatal population at an urban, tertiary hospital in northeast Florida which serves a large population of patients with low socioeconomic status to assess if universal screening program for congenital asymptomatic CMV infection can be determined.MethodsThe study was submitted and approved by our Institutional Review Board. We tested the urine for CMV infection in 100 asymptomatic newborns (>32 weeks gestational age and >1,750 g weight at the time of delivery) delivered between June 2016 and July 2017.ResultsUrine CMV was tested on 100 infants. One infant had a positive urine NAAT for CMV, making the prevalence of congenital CMV infection among asymptomatic newborns in our hospitals' population 1%.ConclusionCMV prevalence in our setting of an urban, tertiary hospital is relatively consistent with the national average of all congenital CMV infections. A policy of universal screening for congenital CMV may be necessary

CIP2A expression predicts recurrences of tamoxifen-treated breast cancer

CIP2A is emerging as an oncoprotein overexpressed commonly across many tumours and generally correlated with higher tumour grade and therapeutic resistance. CIP2A drives an oncogenic potential through inhibiting protein phosphatase 2A, stabilizing MYC, and promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, although further biological mechanisms for CIP2A are yet to be defined. CIP2A protein expression was studied by immunohistochemistry in oestrogen receptor–positive primary breast cancers (n = 250) obtained from the Leeds Tissue Bank. In total, 51 cases presented with a relapse or metastasis during adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen and were regarded as tamoxifen resistant. CIP2A expression was scored separately for cytoplasmic, nuclear, or membranous staining, and scores were tested for statistically significant relationships with clinicopathological features. Membranous CIP2A was preferentially expressed in cases who experienced a recurrence during tamoxifen treatment thus predicting a worse overall survival (log rank = 8.357, p = 0.004) and disease-free survival (log rank = 21.766, p < 0.001). Cox multivariate analysis indicates that it is an independent prognostic indicator for overall survival (hazard ratio = 4.310, p = 0.013) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio = 5.449, p = 0.002). In this study, we propose the assessment of membranous CIP2A expression as a potential novel prognostic and predictive indicator for tamoxifen resistance and recurrence within oestrogen receptor–positive breast cancer

Carcinoembryonic antigen is the preferred biomarker for in vivo colorectal cancer targeting.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer-specific biomarkers have been used as molecular targets for fluorescent intra-operative imaging, targeted PET/MRI, and selective cytotoxic drug delivery yet the selection of biomarkers used is rarely evidence-based. We evaluated sensitivities and specificites of four of the most commonly used markers: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), tumour-associated glycoprotein-72 (TAG-72), folate receptor-α (FRα) and Epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR). METHODS: Marker expression was evaluated semi-quantitatively in matched mucosal and colorectal cancer tissues from 280 patients using immunohistochemistry (scores of 0-15). Matched positive and negative lymph nodes from 18 patients were also examined. RESULTS: Markers were more highly expressed in tumour tissue than in matched normal tissue in 98.8%, 79.0%, 37.1% and 32.8% of cases for CEA, TAG-72, FRα and EGFR, respectively. Carcinoembryonic antigen showed the greatest differential expression, with tumours scoring a mean of 10.8 points higher than normal tissues (95% CI 10.31-11.21, P<0.001). Similarly, CEA showed the greatest differential expression between positive and negative lymph nodes. Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed CEA to have the best sensitivity (93.7%) and specificity (96.1%) for colorectal cancer detection. CONCLUSION: Carcinoembryonic antigen has the greatest potential to allow highly specific tumour imaging and drug delivery; future translational research should aim to exploit this

Methods of Determining Retardation Coefficients of Organic Compounds in Aquifers

 Sorption is an important mechanism that affects the mobility of organic compounds in the subsurface environment. Sorbed compounds move slower than that of groundwater, causing retardation in their movement. Accurate determination of retardation coefficients (R) of organic compounds in aquifers is critical for understanding their movement, fate, and remediation. Several methods, including predictive tools, laboratory experiments, and field experiments have been utilized for determining sorption-related retardation. The objective of this paper was to review and compare between the different methods used for the determination of R of organic compounds, with emphasis on predictive- and laboratory-based approaches. Predictive tools are based on the use of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs). Laboratory methods utilize different types of reactors including batch, stirred-flow, circulation-through-column, or miscible displacement through packed columns. In addition, data from the column method have been analyzed in various ways to determine R. Discrepancies between results from different methods or from different analysis approaches have been reported. This create uncertainty about the suitability of some of these methods or the used analysis approaches. This paper highlights the possible causes for the observed discrepancy and establishes the limitations and appropriateness of the used methods and analysis approaches

A rapid virus neutralization assay for Newcastle disease virus with the swine testicular continuous cell line

abstract: Five continuous cell lines, swine testicular (ST), human rectal tumour (HRT 18), fetal rhesus monkey kidney (MA104), bovine turbinate (BT), and quail tracheal (QT35), were evaluated and compared with chick embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) for their ability to propagate B1 or Texas GB strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The NDV Texas GB strain replicated in all the continuous cell lines used in this study. Only the ST and QT35 cells produced a cytopathic effect (CPE) similar to that produced in CEFs. However, the ST cell line remained attached while displaying CPE, whereas infected QT35 cells detached, as did the CEFs. The B1 strain of NDV replicated in ST cells, MA104 cells, and CEFs but with less CPE as compared with the Texas GB strain. Pretreatment with trypsin did not enhance CPE with either NDV strain at the level tested. Sera evaluated for neutralizing antibody titres to NDV were significantly higher in titre when the ST cell line was used and compared with CEFs. A high correlation was found between the microscopic examination and the tetrazolium dye (MTT) microassay methods for determining the viral neutralization endpoint, thus suggesting the ST cell line and MTT microassay could be used as an alternative to CEFs and microscopic examination for evaluating neutralizing antibodies titres to NDV