Improving the Resistance of Self Compacting Concrete exposed to Elevated Temperatures by Using Steel Fiber

Elevated high temperatures due to fire represents one of the most severe risks to buildings and structures, which negatively affects on the engineering properties for constituent members of these buildings. The study aims to investigate the role of  steel fiber to improve of  properties of self compacting concrete (SCC) at elevated temperature (25, 200, 400 and 600°C) with two different exposure durations of (0.5 and 1.5 hours). Specimens were exposed to temperature and tested at age (7, 28 and 90 days) .The slump flow and T500mm, L-box, and Sieve segregation resistance were conducted to investigate the fresh properties of SCC. Whereas the properties of hardened concrete were inspected using compression test, splitting tensile test, and flexural , as well as modulus of elasticity tests. The results indicate that Elevated temperatures and increasing of exposure duration had  passively influenced on hardened properties of both plain and reinforced SCC, hardened properties of two type of SCC decreased with increased temperatures and increasing of exposure duration. Also the results indicate that steel fiber used in self-compacting concrete reduced the amount of deterioration of properties of Self compacting fiber-reinforced concrete (SCFRC) at high temperature. The percentage change ( improvement ) for mixes with steel fiber (0.5 and 1%) with respect to mixes without steel fiber , where compressive strength ranged between (0.3-20.9%) at 200 o C, (-3.1-31.3%) at 400 o C and (-3.9-31.5%) at 600 o C. Also the best percentages of increase were in splitting tensile strength and flexural strength , the percentages of increase in splitting tensile ranged between (27-94%) at 200 o C, (39-121%) at 400 o C and (38-109%) at 600 o C. and the percentage of increase in flexural strength ranged between (68-146%)  at 200 o C, (75-122%) at 400 o C and (45-109%) at 600 o C. Also the percentage of increase in static modulus of elasticity ranged between (4.3-15.5%) at 200 o C and (6.1-18.3%) at 400 o C for mixes with steel fiber (0.5 and 1%) with respect to reference mixture. It had also emerged the spalling phenomenon at parts of cylinders and prisms specimens  at exposed to high temperatures (400 oC), at  the duration of exposure was 1.5 hours, and the temperature (600 oC) at duration of exposure 0.5 and 1.5 hours. Keywords: Self compacting concrete , elevated  temperature , Steel Fiber , Compressive strength, Splitting tensile , Flexural strength , modulus of elasticity, spalling phenomenon

Some Immunological and Hematological Parameters among Refugees in Kawergosk Camp – Erbil Governorate

The study included 258 Syrian refugees of different ages and sex and another 60 volunteers as control group (C.G). These refugees were in Kawergosk camp in Erbil Governorate. Blood was collected from each individual for the estimation of white blood cell (WBC), eosinophil, iron, hemoglobin (Hb), and immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels. Mean serum levels of IgE among male and female refugees showed highly significant increasing when compared to C.G. Most of the refugees had normal iron levels, where iron concentrations were more than 65 mg/dl among 67 males and more than 50 mg/dl among 104 females and 48 children, while some had iron deficiency in which the majority were female (9 males, 24 females, and 6 children had iron deficiency). In addition, Hb concentrations were normal among 65 males (more than 13.0 g/dl), 89 females (more than 11.0 g/dl), and 48 children (more than 12.0 g/dl). However, anemia was found among 8 men, 42 women, and 6 children. It was revealed that there was a highly significant rising in eosinophils in male and female refugees in comparison to C.G. WBC count is non-significantly slightly increased in both male’s and female’s refugees when compared to C.G

Indole-3-carbinol suppresses NF-κB activity and stimulates the p53 pathway in pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells

B cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL) is the most common type of cancer in children. Dramatic improvements in primary therapy for childhood ALL have led to an overall cure rate of 80 , providing opportunities for innovative combined-modality strategies that would increase cure rates while reducing the toxic side effects of current intensive regimens. In this study, we report that indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a natural phytochemical found in cruciferous vegetables, had anti-leukemic properties in BCP-ALL NALM-6 cells. I3C induced cell growth inhibition by G1 cell cycle arrest and triggered apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. p53, p21, and Bax proteins showed increased expression after I3C treatment. Real-time PCR analysis of pro-apoptotic p53 target genes revealed up-regulation of PUMA, NOXA, and Apaf-1. I3C also suppressed constitutive nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation and inhibited the protein expression of NF-kappa B-regulated antiapoptotic (IAP1, Bcl-xL, Bcl-2, XIAP) and proliferative (c-Myc) gene products. Coadministration of I3C with the topoisomerase II inhibitor, doxorubicin, potentiates cytotoxic effects compared with either agent alone. Apoptosis induction by the drug combination was associated with enhanced caspase-9 activation and PARP cleavage. Furthermore, I3C abolished doxorubicin-induced NF-κB activity as evidenced by decreased nuclear accumulation of p65, inhibition of IκBα phosphorylation and its degradation, and decreased NF-κB DNA-binding activity. Western blot analysis revealed that doxorubicin-induced Bcl-2 protein expression was inhibited by I3C. Overall, our results indicated that using nontoxic agents, such as I3C, in combination with anthracyclines might provide a new insight into the development of novel combination therapies in childhood BCP-ALL. © 2015, International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM)

Towards improved socio-economic assessments of ocean acidification’s impacts

Ocean acidification is increasingly recognized as a component of global change that could have a wide range of impacts on marine organisms, the ecosystems they live in, and the goods and services they provide humankind. Assessment of these potential socio-economic impacts requires integrated efforts between biologists, chemists, oceanographers, economists and social scientists. But because ocean acidification is a new research area, significant knowledge gaps are preventing economists from estimating its welfare impacts. For instance, economic data on the impact of ocean acidification on significant markets such as fisheries, aquaculture and tourism are very limited (if not non-existent), and non-market valuation studies on this topic are not yet available. Our paper summarizes the current understanding of future OA impacts and sets out what further information is required for economists to assess socio-economic impacts of ocean acidification. Our aim is to provide clear directions for multidisciplinary collaborative research

Interplay of Oxidative Stress and Necrosis-like Cell Death in Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury:A Focus on Necroptosis

Extensive research work has been carried out to define the exact significance and contribution of regulated necrosis-like cell death program, such as necroptosis to cardiac ischemic injury. This cell damaging process plays a critical role in the pathomechanisms of myocardial infarction (MI) and post-infarction heart failure (HF). Accordingly, it has been documented that the modulation of key molecules of the canonical signaling pathway of necroptosis, involving receptor-interacting protein kinases (RIP1 and RIP3) as well as mixed lineage kinase domain-like pseudokinase (MLKL), elicit cardioprotective effects. This is evidenced by the reduction of the MI-induced infarct size, alleviation of myocardial dysfunction, and adverse cardiac remodeling. In addition to this molecular signaling of necroptosis, the non-canonical pathway, involving Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII)-mediated regulation of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening, and phosphoglycerate mutase 5 (PGAM5)–dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp-1)-induced mitochondrial fission, has recently been linked to ischemic heart injury. Since MI and HF are characterized by an imbalance between reactive oxygen species production and degradation as well as the occurrence of necroptosis in the heart, it is likely that oxidative stress (OS) may be involved in the mechanisms of this cell death program for inducing cardiac damage. In this review, therefore, several observations from different studies are presented to support this paradigm linking cardiac OS, the canonical and non-canonical pathways of necroptosis, and ischemia-induced injury. It is concluded that a multiple therapeutic approach targeting some specific changes in OS and necroptosis may be beneficial in improving the treatment of ischemic heart disease

Digitization to Support Generations of Refugees: How Can IS Research and Researchers Make a Difference?

In recent years, a new refugee crisis has been sweeping the world due to the continuous violence in different places and countries. These developments have caused unexpected challenges on different levels, ranging from individuals (including migrants and refugees and hosting populations) to organizations, countries, and continents (including those fleeing violence and hosting countries of fleeing individuals). Despite the urgency and the potential risks associated with the current refugee situation, relatively little work has been carried out by IS researchers on how to find the intersection between this societal topic and the use of technology to alleviate this crisis. The outcomes of the panel have implications for both academia and practice. We would like to uncover the beneficial use of digital transformation solutions that could help and empower refugees and host communities using the bright side of existing technologies in integrating refugees into society

Classification of Construction Projects

The final publication is available at World Academy of Science via https://waset.org/Publication/classification-of-construction-projects/10001697 © 2015, This unmodified version is made available under the CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/In order to address construction project requirements and specifications, scholars and practitioners need to establish taxonomy according to a scheme that best fits their need. While existing characterization methods are continuously being improved, new ones are devised to cover project properties which have not been previously addressed. One such method, the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI), has received limited consideration strictly as a classification scheme. Developed by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) in 1996, the PDRI has been refined over the last two decades as a method for evaluating a project's scope definition completeness during front-end planning (FEP). The main contribution of this study is a review of practical project classification methods, and a discussion of how PDRI can be used to classify projects based on their readiness in the FEP phase. The proposed model has been applied to 59 construction projects in Ontario, and the results are discussed