Nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete hollow beam with GFRP bars and stirrups using finite element method under cyclic load

Insufficient knowledge on using fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) materials in hollow members limits their application. Torsional load results in the less efficient hollow section that plays an important role in hollow members. This load is generated on the members by an external load. The torsional load in hollow members that are reinforced longitudinally with FRP has been discussed for years. However, research on high-strength concrete (HSC) reinforced with glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) is scarce. Therefore, in this study, the behaviour of hollow beam internally reinforced with GFRP bars under cyclic load is investigated. For this purpose, the HSC-reinforced concrete hollow beam with GFRP bars and hollow beam with normal reinforcement are considered and finite element model is developed and nonlinear dynamic analysis has been conducted by applying cyclic loads to the developed models. In addition, reinforced concrete (RC) solid beam with HSC material is tested experimentally in order to verify and validate the ability of finite element software to predict the result. The analysis results are investigated in terms of the hysteresis loop, stress and strain distribution in the beam and it is indicated that the performance of hollow beam reinforced with GFRP bars and stirrups has improved in comparison with HSC beam with GFRP bars and also HSC beam with normal steel reinforcement. Therefore, based on this research, it is recommended to implement GFRP bars and stirrup for strengthening the concrete members in the high humidity areas where use of normal steel is not feasible due to corrosion threat

Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Rice LRR-Kinases

LRR-kinases constitute the largest subfamily of receptor-like kinases in plants and regulate a wide variety of processes related to development and defense. Through a reiterative process of sequence analysis and re-annotation, we identified 309 LRR-kinase genes in the rice genome (Nipponbare). Among them, 127 genes in the Rice Annotation Project Database and 85 in Refseq of NCBI were amended (in addition, 62 LRR-kinase genes were not annotated in Refseq). The complete set of LRR-kinases was characterized. These LRR-kinases were classified into five groups according to phylogenetic analysis, and the genes in groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 usually have fewer introns than those in group 5. The introns in the LRR domain, which are highly conserved in regards to their positions and configurations, split the first Leu or other amino residues at this position of the ‘xxLxLxx’ motif with phase 2 and usually separate one or more LRR repeats exactly. Tandemly repeated LRR motifs have evolved from exon duplication, mutation and exon shuffling. The extensive distribution and diversity of the LRR-kinase genes have been mainly generated by tandem duplication and mutation after whole genome duplication. Positive selection has made a limited contribution to the sequence diversity after duplication, but positively selected sites located in the LRR domain are thought to involve in the protein-protein interaction

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388

Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx$ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98

Signal processing and transduction in plant cells: the end of the beginning?

Plants have a very different lifestyle to animals, and one might expect that unique molecules and processes would underpin plant-cell signal transduction. But, with a few notable exceptions, the list is remarkably familiar and could have been constructed from animal studies. Wherein, then, does lifestyle specificity emerge

Lysozyme transgenic goats’ milk positively impacts intestinal cytokine expression and morphology

In addition to its well-recognized antimicrobial properties, lysozyme can also modulate the inflammatory response. This ability may be particularly important in the gastrointestinal tract where inappropriate inflammatory reactions can damage the intestinal epithelium, leading to significant health problems. The consumption of milk from transgenic goats producing human lysozyme (hLZ) in their milk therefore has the potential to positively impact intestinal health. In order to investigate the effect of hLZ-containing milk on the inflammatory response, young pigs were fed pasteurized milk from hLZ or non-transgenic control goats and quantitative real-time PCR was performed to assess local expression of TNF-α, IL-8, and TGF-β1 in the small intestine. Histological changes were also investigated, specifically looking at villi width, length, crypt depth, and lamina propria thickness along with cell counts for intraepithelial lymphocytes and goblet cells. Significantly higher expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine TGF-β1 was seen in the ileum of pigs fed pasteurized milk containing hLZ (P = 0.0478), along with an increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes (P = 0.0255), and decrease in lamina propria thickness in the duodenum (P = 0.0001). Based on these results we conclude that consuming pasteurized milk containing hLZ does not induce an inflammatory response and improves the health of the small intestine in pigs

Truss geometry and topology optimization with global stability constraints

In this paper, we introduce geometry optimization into an existing topology optimization workflow for truss structures with global stability constraints, assuming a linear buckling analysis. The design variables are the cross-sectional areas of the bars and the coordinates of the joints. This makes the optimization problem formulations highly nonlinear and yields nonconvex semidefinite programming problems, for which there are limited available numerical solvers compared with other classes of optimization problems. We present problem instances of truss geometry and topology optimization with global stability constraints solved using a standard primal-dual interior point implementation. During the solution process, both the cross-sectional areas of the bars and the coordinates of the joints are concurrently optimized. Additionally, we apply adaptive optimization techniques to allow the joints to navigate larger move limits and to improve the quality of the optimal designs

Memory Immune Responses against Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 Influenza Virus Induced by a Whole Particle Vaccine in Cynomolgus Monkeys Carrying Mafa-A1*052∶02

We made an H1N1 vaccine candidate from a virus library consisting of 144 ( = 16 HA×9 NA) non-pathogenic influenza A viruses and examined its protective effects against a pandemic (2009) H1N1 strain using immunologically naïve cynomolgus macaques to exclude preexisting immunity and to employ a preclinical study since preexisting immunity in humans previously vaccinated or infected with influenza virus might make comparison of vaccine efficacy difficult. Furthermore, macaques carrying a major histocompatibility complex class I molecule, Mafa-A1*052∶02, were used to analyze peptide-specific CD8+ T cell responses. Sera of macaques immunized with an inactivated whole particle formulation without addition of an adjuvant showed higher neutralization titers against the vaccine strain A/Hokkaido/2/1981 (H1N1) than did sera of macaques immunized with a split formulation. Neutralization activities against the pandemic strain A/Narita/1/2009 (H1N1) in sera of macaques immunized twice with the split vaccine reached levels similar to those in sera of macaques immunized once with the whole particle vaccine. After inoculation with the pandemic virus, the virus was detected in nasal samples of unvaccinated macaques for 6 days after infection and for 2.67 days and 5.33 days on average in macaques vaccinated with the whole particle vaccine and the split vaccine, respectively. After the challenge infection, recall neutralizing antibody responses against the pandemic virus and CD8+ T cell responses specific for nucleoprotein peptide NP262-270 bound to Mafa-A1*052∶02 in macaques vaccinated with the whole particle vaccine were observed more promptly or more vigorously than those in macaques vaccinated with the split vaccine. These findings demonstrated that the vaccine derived from our virus library was effective for pandemic virus infection in macaques and that the whole particle vaccine conferred more effective memory and broader cross-reactive immune responses to macaques against pandemic influenza virus infection than did the split vaccine

Serum biomarkers in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome an ailing prognosticator

The use of biomarkers in medicine lies in their ability to detect disease and support diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. New research and novel understanding of the molecular basis of the disease reveals an abundance of exciting new biomarkers who present a promise for use in the everyday clinical practice. The past fifteen years have seen the emergence of numerous clinical applications of several new molecules as biologic markers in the research field relevant to acute respiratory distress syndrome (translational research). The scope of this review is to summarize the current state of knowledge about serum biomarkers in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome and their potential value as prognostic tools and present some of the future perspectives and challenges