Seismic resistance of traditional timber-frame hımış

Hımış structures have hardly ever found as extensive a role as other traditional timber housing, such as those originating from Japan or Central Europe, within the wide discourse on the seismic performance of timber-frame architecture that has gained significant momentum in the last few decades owing to advancing testing technologies. While the hımış construction technique was perhaps not born as a result of a conscious search for a seismically resistant building form, it was soon widely appreciated for its structural features advantageous under seismic loading - especially from the sixteenth century when it has become a well-established construction technique in part of the Balkans and in today’s Turkey. Despite widely available anecdotal information based on post-disaster studies regarding its performance under earthquakes, robust quantitative data on the seismic behaviour of these structures were practically non-existent until quite recently, and are still somewhat limited. However, we are now able to confirm that hımış constructions do have intrinsic qualities that are very beneficial under seismic action. This paper aims to make a brief review of the current state of our knowledge on structural performance of hımış buildings under earthquake loading, with specific emphasis on infill/cladding techniques, connection details and energy dissipation characteristics

The use of the dye CI acid blue 45 in the electrolytic colouring of anodised aluminium

The electrolytic colouring of anodised aluminium from acidic tin(II) sulphate solutions in the presence of the dye Alizarin Saphirol B (Cl Acid Blue 45) has been investigated. The method combines electrolytic colouring and adsorptive dyeing in a single stage and expands the range of colours which can be produced by the electrolytic colouring process. A dye concentration in the acidic tin(II) sulphate colouring bath of 7.5 g/l and a treatment time of 1-2 min, at 15 V (50 Hz), results in a grey-blue hue with high fastness properties and resistance to corrosion. The mechanism of the action of the dye is discussed

Acid-dyes as corrosion inhibitors for mechanically pretreated aluminum

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide acid-dyes, known for the dyeing of porous aluminum oxide films, as inhibitors of the corrosion of aluminum in neutral chloride solutions. Design/methodology/approach - Potentiodynamic polarization plots are recorded on mechanically pretreated aluminum using a three-electrode cell containing 0.01 M NaCl solution with or without 0.025 mM of the acid-dyes monosulfonic methyl orange (MO), disulfonic chromotrop RR (CH), disulfonic alphazurine A (AZ) and trisulfonic light green SF yellowish (LG). The X-ray fluorescence technique is used in certain cases for the estimation of sulfur net content of the surface of the probes and thus of the concentration of the adsorbed dye. Findings - The inhibition efficiency of acid dyes on corrosion of mechanically pretreated aluminum seems to be related more to the presence of a following quinonoid structure which probably contributes more to the formation of mono- or bi-dentate compounds with the aluminum cations in the substrate than to the number of sulfonic groups in their molecule. Thus, the triphenylmethane dyes LG and, to a greater extent AZ, having this quinonoid structure means they are more efficient as corrosion inhibitors in near-neutral chloride solution than the azo dyes MO and CH, that do not have it. Practical implications - Selected acid-dyes such as triphenylmethane sulfonic-dyes, which have found wide application in the dyeing industry, seem to protect aluminum against the corrosive action of chlorides. Originality/value - This paper is intended to be the nucleus for the electrochemical studies of the effectiveness of acid dyes as corrosion inhibitors for aluminum. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Effect of BRCA1 immunohistochemical localizations on prognosis of patients with sporadic breast carcinomas

Our purpose was to investigate the expression pattern of BRCA1 protein in sporadic breast carcinomas, as well as the clinicopathological and prognostic value of its subcellular localizations. Immunohistochemistry was performed on paraffin embedded tissue specimens from 111 sporadic, invasive breast carcinomas to detect the expression of the proteins BRCA1, ER, PR, erbB2, p53 and Ki67. BRCA1 protein was detected in the nuclei and the cytoplasm of the tumor cells. Nuclear BRCA1 immunoreactivity showed no relation with the classic clinicopathological markers and the expression of cerbB2, p53 and Ki67. Reduced expression of nuclear BRCA1 protein was found to exert an independent favorable impact on both the overall and relapse-free (RF) survival of the patients (p = 0.019 and p = 0.043, respectively). Cytoplasmic BRCA1 was associated with none of the classic histomorphological indices, except from the lymph node metastasis, with which its relation was found to be inverse (p = 0.05), prolonging the RF survival of the patients (p = 0.05). Our findings suggest that BRCA1 protein depicts different prognostic significance, according to its subcellular distribution. Nuclear detection of the protein was associated with a worse prognosis, while the cytoplasmic one was related to fewer recurrences as a result of fewer lymph node metastases. © 2014 Elsevier GmbH

Differential effect of the expression of TGF-β pathway inhibitors, Smad-7 and Ski, on invasive breast carcinomas: Relation to biologic behavior

The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of Smad-7 and Ski proteins in invasive breast carcinomas, to determine their clinicopathological value and their influence on carcinomas biologic behavior. Immunohistochemistry was applied on 150 invasive breast carcinomas to detect the expression of Smad-7 and Ski. Their correlation to clinicopathologic parameters and markers of metastasis was statistically processed using chi-squared test. Overall and disease-free survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier test and log-rank statistics. Smad-7 was immunodetected in the cytoplasm of cancer cells in 60%, whereas Ski was immunodetected in the cytoplasm and nuclei in 44.5% and 17.6% of the cases, respectively. Smad-7 expression was positively correlated with tumor size, stage, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, and MMP-14. Cytoplasmic Ski expression was negatively associated with tumor size, stage, and lymph node status, and its nuclear expression was negatively related to histologic grade. Cytoplasmic Ski expression was associated with longer overall and disease-free survival. It appears that two negative regulators of the transforming growth factor-β pathway, Smad-7 and Ski, behave differentially in invasive breast carcinomas. Smad-7 appears to be related with an aggressive phenotype, whereas Ski expression is related to a less aggressive behavior and positively influences patients' survival. © 2011 The Authors. APMIS © 2011 APMIS

Effect of alloy types on the anodizing process of aluminum

Specimens of AA 5083 and AA 6111 (unheat- and heat-treated) were investigated in comparison with the pure aluminum during anodizing in sulfuric acid bath using electrochemical techniques, SEM/EDS and XRF. The alloy type affects the kinetics of anodizing but certain qualitative characteristics and the basic aspects of the anodizing mechanism are similar for the alloys and pure aluminum. We found that for AA 6111 alloy, the stage of rearrangement of the pores during anodizing before the current reaches a steady-state value is missing due to enrichment of the alloying elements at the oxide/metal interface. For alloys under certain anodizing conditions, formation of a resistive film at the bottom of the pores results in decreasing anodizing current. This phenomenon is more prevalent for AA 5083 alloy than for AA 6111. For AA 6111 alloy, the heat treatment affects anodizing kinetics and improves the anodizing efficiency. Understanding the effect of alloy types on anodizing process under various operating conditions (voltage, temperature and sulfuric acid concentration) will enable us to optimize porous oxide structures for improved coating performance in color ability and corrosion resistance. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved