Comparison Between the Effects of Straight And Hook Steel Fibers on Fresh and Hardened Characteristics of Concrete

This research looked into how steel fiber type and concentration influence Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) mechanical properties. According to tests, the percentage of steel fibers in SFRC is directly related to compressive, flexural, splitting tensile, and direct tensile strength. Straight and hooked steel fibers with the same aspect ratio, 13 mm in length and 0.2 mm in width of straight steel fibers, and 35 mm long and 0.55 mm wide hook-end steel fibers were utilized. Three different percentages of fiber were used: 0.5, 1, and 1.5% by volume. Seven variants of concrete with different types and different percentages of steel fiber were created and evaluated. At 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% fiber content, the compressive strength of a cube reinforced with hook steel fibers increased by 1.41, 11.52, and 20.81%, respectively, while the compressive strength of a cube reinforced with straight steel fibers increased by 7.27 and 20%, and 21.4% for the same percentages of steel hooked fiber. This indicates that the straight steel fibers are more effective than the hook steel fibers when increasing the compressive strength of the (SFRC). This means that (pressure force increases, albeit gradually). The concrete's splitting tensile strength may be significantly increased by introducing straight and hook steel fiber into the mixture. The tensile strength is improved by (52.78, 69.44, 122.22%) and (44.44, 62.8, 94.44%) when compared to the control concrete sample. Straight steel fibers increased flexural strength by (44.23, 61.54, 86.54%) compared to the control sample, and hook steel fibers increased flexural strength by (11.54, 28.85, 55.77%). When straight fibers are introduced to the control concrete sample, the direct tensile strength increases by about (54.17, 87.5, 162.5) %, and when hook fibers are added, the direct tensile strength increases by (45.83, 75, and 150%)

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF AL-HILLAH RIVER POLLUTION AT BABIL GOVERNORATE (IRAQ)

In this study, the environmental characteristics of Al-Hillah River were studied using geoinformatics applications, which is one of the geospatial techniques (GST). Applying this methodology, a geographic information system was developed, and it was supplied with laboratory data for the physical and chemical properties of 16 parameters for 2021. These data were linked to their spatial locations, using radar imagery of the Digital Elevation Model (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission), and Landsat ETM+7 satellite image. The results indicated that Al-Hillah River was affected by the liquid discharges of factories, cities, and farms spread on its sides, especially in the cities of Sadat Al-Hindiya, Al-Hillah, and Al-Hashimiyah. The seasonal changes in the climate affected some characteristics, including water temperature, pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids, and total hardness. The study showed that the concentration of sulfate (SO4) has risen above the permissible limits for the waters of Iraqi rivers. There are relatively high hardness and alkalinity values, but they were within the permissible limits. The study also showed that most of the results of environmental parameters that were used in the laboratory, were within the permissible limits of Iraqi water, except for sulfates. The justification for conducting this study is to help government agencies and decision-makers to adopt a correct vision for development projects that serve Babil Governorate. Also, it is the first time that the environmental characteristics of Al-Hillah River are studied using geoinformatics applications

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017 (GBD 2017) includes a comprehensive assessment of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 354 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Previous GBD studies have shown how the decline of mortality rates from 1990 to 2016 has led to an increase in life expectancy, an ageing global population, and an expansion of the non-fatal burden of disease and injury. These studies have also shown how a substantial portion of the world's population experiences non-fatal health loss with considerable heterogeneity among different causes, locations, ages, and sexes. Ongoing objectives of the GBD study include increasing the level of estimation detail, improving analytical strategies, and increasing the amount of high-quality data. Methods: We estimated incidence and prevalence for 354 diseases and injuries and 3484 sequelae. We used an updated and extensive body of literature studies, survey data, surveillance data, inpatient admission records, outpatient visit records, and health insurance claims, and additionally used results from cause of death models to inform estimates using a total of 68 781 data sources. Newly available clinical data from India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, China, Brazil, Norway, and Italy were incorporated, as well as updated claims data from the USA and new claims data from Taiwan (province of China) and Singapore. We used DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, as the main method of estimation, ensuring consistency between rates of incidence, prevalence, remission, and cause of death for each condition. YLDs were estimated as the product of a prevalence estimate and a disability weight for health states of each mutually exclusive sequela, adjusted for comorbidity. We updated the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary development indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Additionally, we calculated differences between male and female YLDs to identify divergent trends across sexes. GBD 2017 complies with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting. Findings: Globally, for females, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and haemoglobinopathies and haemolytic anaemias in both 1990 and 2017. For males, the causes with the greatest age-standardised prevalence were oral disorders, headache disorders, and tuberculosis including latent tuberculosis infection in both 1990 and 2017. In terms of YLDs, low back pain, headache disorders, and dietary iron deficiency were the leading Level 3 causes of YLD counts in 1990, whereas low back pain, headache disorders, and depressive disorders were the leading causes in 2017 for both sexes combined. All-cause age-standardised YLD rates decreased by 3·9% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 3·1-4·6) from 1990 to 2017; however, the all-age YLD rate increased by 7·2% (6·0-8·4) while the total sum of global YLDs increased from 562 million (421-723) to 853 million (642-1100). The increases for males and females were similar, with increases in all-age YLD rates of 7·9% (6·6-9·2) for males and 6·5% (5·4-7·7) for females. We found significant differences between males and females in terms of age-standardised prevalence estimates for multiple causes. The causes with the greatest relative differences between sexes in 2017 included substance use disorders (3018 cases [95% UI 2782-3252] per 100 000 in males vs 1400 [1279-1524] per 100 000 in females), transport injuries (3322 [3082-3583] vs 2336 [2154-2535]), and self-harm and interpersonal violence (3265 [2943-3630] vs 5643 [5057-6302]). Interpretation: Global all-cause age-standardised YLD rates have improved only slightly over a period spanning nearly three decades. However, the magnitude of the non-fatal disease burden has expanded globally, with increasing numbers of people who have a wide spectrum of conditions. A subset of conditions has remained globally pervasive since 1990, whereas other conditions have displayed more dynamic trends, with different ages, sexes, and geographies across the globe experiencing varying burdens and trends of health loss. This study emphasises how global improvements in premature mortality for select conditions have led to older populations with complex and potentially expensive diseases, yet also highlights global achievements in certain domains of disease and injury

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. Methods: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. Findings: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. Interpretation: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

Experimental Investigation on the Impact of Micro-Steel Fibers on the Flat Slabs' Punching Shear Resistance

This research examined the effects of micro-straight steel fiber percentage and column form on the punching shear of SFRC slabs. Fibers made of micro steel with a diameter of 0.2 mm and a length of 13mm with an aspect ratio equal to 65 were used. The fiber content varied between 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% by volume. Four different types of concrete mixes were adopted and tested. Experimental results showed that when the percentage of steel fibers in SFRC increased, its compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, and direct tensile strength improved. This investigation applied a monotonic load to eight cast slabs (two each of conventional concrete of square and circular column sections of the equivalent area while the other six slabs were made with steel fiber concrete. The dimensions of each slab were  (920 x 920 x 80 ) mm. Each slab specimen had essential, edge-based support with square and round column sections. It has been demonstrated that slabs with square column sections endured a relatively higher ultimate load than slabs with circular column segments when the steel fiber dosage was 0.5% or 1.0%. Still, at a steel fiber dosage of 1.5%, circular column segment slabs approached the ultimate load of square column segment slabs. The heterogeneous behavior in concrete can be attributed to the random and unequal distribution of steel fibers throughout the material. There were only flexural fractures visible on the tensile face of the slab. New fractures emerged in the center of the slab as the load increased

Comparison Between the Effects of Straight And Hook Steel Fibers on Fresh and Hardened Characteristics of Concrete

This research looked into how steel fiber type and concentration influence Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) mechanical properties. According to tests, the percentage of steel fibers in SFRC is directly related to compressive, flexural, splitting tensile, and direct tensile strength. Straight and hooked steel fibers with the same aspect ratio, 13 mm in length and 0.2 mm in width of straight steel fibers, and 35 mm long and 0.55 mm wide hook-end steel fibers were utilized. Three different percentages of fiber were used: 0.5, 1, and 1.5% by volume. Seven variants of concrete with different types and different percentages of steel fiber were created and evaluated. At 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5% fiber content, the compressive strength of a cube reinforced with hook steel fibers increased by 1.41, 11.52, and 20.81%, respectively, while the compressive strength of a cube reinforced with straight steel fibers increased by 7.27 and 20%, and 21.4% for the same percentages of steel hooked fiber. This indicates that the straight steel fibers are more effective than the hook steel fibers when increasing the compressive strength of the (SFRC). This means that (pressure force increases, albeit gradually). The concrete's splitting tensile strength may be significantly increased by introducing straight and hook steel fiber into the mixture. The tensile strength is improved by (52.78, 69.44, 122.22%) and (44.44, 62.8, 94.44%) when compared to the control concrete sample. Straight steel fibers increased flexural strength by (44.23, 61.54, 86.54%) compared to the control sample, and hook steel fibers increased flexural strength by (11.54, 28.85, 55.77%). When straight fibers are introduced to the control concrete sample, the direct tensile strength increases by about (54.17, 87.5, 162.5) %, and when hook fibers are added, the direct tensile strength increases by (45.83, 75, and 150%)

Science Case for the new High-Intensity Muon Beams HIMB at PSI

In April 2021, scientists active in muon physics met to discuss and work out the physics case for the new High-Intensity Muon Beams (HIMB) project at PSI that could deliver of order $10^{10}$ s$^{-1}$ surface muons to experiments. Ideas and concrete proposals were further substantiated over the following months and assembled in the present document. The high intensities will allow for completely new experiments with considerable discovery potential and unique sensitivities. The physics case is outstanding and extremely rich, ranging from fundamental particle physics via chemistry to condensed matter research and applications in energy research and elemental analysis. In all these fields, HIMB will ensure that the facilities S$\mu$S and CHRISP on PSI's High Intensity Proton Accelerator complex HIPA remain world-leading, despite the competition of muon facilities elsewhere