unreinforced masonry buildings

A recent earthquake of M=4.9 occurred on 29 October 2007 in C, ameli, Denizli, which is located in a seismically active region at southwest Anatolia, Turkey. It has caused extensive damages at unreinforced masonry buildings like many other cases observed in Turkey during other previous earthquakes. Most of the damaged structures were non-engineered, seismically deficient, unreinforced masonry buildings. This paper presents a site survey of these damaged buildings. In addition to typical masonry damages, some infrequent, event-specific damages were also observed. Reasons for the relatively wide spread damages considering the magnitude of the event are discussed in the paper

Genetic Association of a Gain-of-Function IFNGR1 Polymorphism and the Intergenic Region LNCAROD/DKK1 With Behcet's Disease

Objective. Behçet’s disease is a complex systemic inflammatory vasculitis of incompletely understood etiology. This study was undertaken to investigate genetic associations with Behçet’s disease in a diverse multiethnic population.Methods. A total of 9,444 patients and controls from 7 different populations were included in this study. Genotyping was performed using an Infinium ImmunoArray- 24 v.1.0 or v.2.0 BeadChip. Analysis of expression data from stimulated monocytes, and epigenetic and chromatin interaction analyses were performed.Results. We identified 2 novel genetic susceptibility loci for Behçet’s disease, including a risk locus in IFNGR1(rs4896243) (odds ratio [OR] 1.25; P = 2.42 × 10−9) and within the intergenic region LNCAROD/DKK1 (rs1660760) (OR 0.78; P = 2.75 × 10−8). The risk variants in IFNGR1 significantly increased IFNGR1 messenger RNA expression in lipopolysaccharide- stimulated monocytes. In addition, our results replicated the association (P 30 genetic susceptibility loci with a suggestive level of association (P < 5 × 10−5), which will require replication. Finally, functional annotation of genetic susceptibility loci in Behçet’s disease revealed their possible regulatory roles and suggested potential causal genes and molecular mechanisms that could be further investigated.Conclusion. We performed the largest genetic association study in Behçet’s disease to date. Our findings reveal novel putative functional variants associated with the disease and replicate and extend the genetic associations in other loci across multiple ancestries

Epigenetic adaptations of the masticatory mucosa to periodontal inflammation

Background: In mucosal barrier interfaces, flexible responses of gene expression to long-term environmental changes allow adaptation and fine-tuning for the balance of host defense and uncontrolled not-resolving inflammation. Epigenetic modifications of the chromatin confer plasticity to the genetic information and give insight into how tissues use the genetic information to adapt to environmental factors. The oral mucosa is particularly exposed to environmental stressors such as a variable microbiota. Likewise, persistent oral inflammation is the most important intrinsic risk factor for the oral inflammatory disease periodontitis and has strong potential to alter DNA-methylation patterns. The aim of the current study was to identify epigenetic changes of the oral masticatory mucosa in response to long-term inflammation that resulted in periodontitis. Methods and results: Genome-wide CpG methylation of both inflamed and clinically uninflamed solid gingival tissue biopsies of 60 periodontitis cases was analyzed using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip. We validated and performed cell-type deconvolution for infiltrated immune cells using the EpiDish algorithm. Effect sizes of DMPs in gingival epithelial and fibroblast cells were estimated and adjusted for confounding factors using our recently developed “intercept-method”. In the current EWAS, we identified various genes that showed significantly different methylation between periodontitis-inflamed and uninflamed oral mucosa in periodontitis patients. The strongest differences were observed for genes with roles in wound healing (ROBO2, PTP4A3), cell adhesion (LPXN) and innate immune response (CCL26, DNAJC1, BPI). Enrichment analyses implied a role of epigenetic changes for vesicle trafficking gene sets. Conclusions: Our results imply specific adaptations of the oral mucosa to a persistent inflammatory environment that involve wound repair, barrier integrity, and innate immune defense

STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF TALL AND SPECIAL BUILDINGS

This paper presents the results of model calibration conducted on a historical mosque called Hafsa Sultan in Manisa, Turkey. The finite element model of the mosque was calibrated by the use of the results obtained from ambient vibration tests of the structure. In order to develop a solid model of the structure, the dimensions of the structure, defects such as cracks and material degradations in the structure, and the materials used in different parts were identified. For the evaluation of the material properties of the structure, nondestructive and destructive testing methods were used. The numerical and experimental modal parameters of the structure were obtained by finite element method (FEM) and Operational Modal Analysis (OMA), respectively. The natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes were obtained from both FEM and OMA and compared with each other. While a good compatibility was achieved between mode shapes, some differences between natural frequencies occurred. It was thought that the differences resulted from variations in the Young's modulus of masonry, cracks in elements or boundary conditions. Therefore, the finite element model was calibrated by changing material parameters. Finally, a more realistic numerical model of the mosque was put forward and the results were discussed in detail. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

A NEW STRONG FLOOR-REACTION WALL SYSTEM WITHOUT GALLERY FOR EXPERIMENTAL

Strong floors and reaction walls are important elements of structural mechanics laboratories. They should be designed before the construction of the laboratory building for efficiency. They have a gallery used for the anchorage of the test models and storage of test equipment. In this paper, a strong floor without a gallery has been designed for an existing laboratory facility. The anchorage system has been designed to fix the model structures to the strong floor. Design issues of strong floor and reaction floor systems are mentioned in the scope of the paper. The construction of the system is simple and economical and provides a comfortable environment for experimental studies

A new strong floor-reaction wall system without gallery for experimental studies in structural mechanics

Strong floors and reaction walls are important elements of structural mechanics laboratories. They should be designed before the construction of the laboratory building for efficiency. They have a gallery used for the anchorage of the test models and storage of test equipment. In this paper, a strong floor without a gallery has been designed for an existing laboratory facility. The anchorage system has been designed to fix the model structures to the strong floor. Design issues of strong floor and reaction floor systems are mentioned in the scope of the paper. The construction of the system is simple and economical and provides a comfortable environment for experimental studies © Shiraz University

A NEW METHOD FOR STRENGTHENING OF PRECAST INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES

1998 Ceyhan and 1999 Marmara Earthquakes causes extensive damages of the precast industrial structures. This type of structures is important economically. They do not have enough lateral rigidity, lateral load capacity and a rigid diaphragm. Several strengthening techniques have been applied to those type of structures. However, minimization of the disturbance during the strengthening of these structures is an important research issue as considerable economic losses are to be happen while building remains out-of-service. In this study, effectiveness of the strengthening with external shear walls and rigid diaphragm is investigated experimentally. A typical precast concrete frame and a strengthened structure with proposed method are tested under reversed cyclic loads. Experiments showed that proposed method improves lateral stiffness, base shear capacity and provides an efficient diaphragm behavior to the structure

Collapse mechanism estimation of a historical slender minaret

The aim of this study is to accurately estimate seismic damage and the collapse mechanism of the historical stone masonry minaret ``Hafsa Sultan{''}, which was built in 1522. Surveying measurements and material tests were conducted to obtain a 3D solid model and the mechanical properties of the components of the minaret. The initial Finite Element (FE) model is analyzed and numerical dynamic characteristics of the minaret are obtained. The Operational Modal Analysis (OMA) method is conducted to obtain the experimental dynamic characteristics of the minaret and the initial FE model is calibrated by using the experimental results. Then, linear time history (LTH) and nonlinear time history (NLTH) analyses are carried out on the calibrated FE model by using two different ground motions. Iron clamps which used as connection element between the stones of the minaret considerably increase the tensile strength of the masonry system. The Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) model is selected in the nonlinear analyses in ABAQUS. The analyses conducted indicate that the results of the linear analyses are not as realistic as the nonlinear analysis results when compared with existing damage