The utilization and incorporation of glass fiber-reinforced plastics (GFRP) in structural applications and architectural constructions are progressively gaining prominence. Therefore, this paper experimentally and numerically investigates the use of GFRP I-beams in conjunction with concrete slabs to form composite beams. The experimental design incorporated 2600 mm long GFRP I-beams which were connected compositely to concrete slabs with a 500 mm width and 80 mm thickness. The concrete slabs are categorized into two groups: concrete slabs cast using normal-strength concrete (NSC), and concrete slabs prepared using high-strength concrete (HSC). Various parameters like the type of concrete (normal and high-strength concrete), type of stiffeners bonded to the composite section (bolt–epoxy or bolt only), and inclusion of corrugated metal sheets were investigated. To obtain the full shear connection between the GFRP I-sections and concrete slabs, two rows of shear connectors in the form of bolts were utilized. These shear connectors were erected to the top flange of the GFRP I-sections to compositely connect between the GFRP I-beams and the concrete slabs as well as the corrugated metal sheets. The strengthening of the shear webs of GFRP I-beams with GFRP T-section stiffeners resulted in an enhancement in the flexural and shear strength. The failure loads in the case of the bolt–epoxy connection for the stiffeners were 8.2% and 10.0% higher than those in the case of bolt only when the concrete compressive strengths were 20.1 MPa and 52.3 MPa, respectively. Moreover, the effect of the concrete compressive strength was vital where the failure loads increased by 79.9% and 77.1% when HSC was used instead of NSC for the cases of bolt–epoxy and bolt only, respectively. The epoxy adhesive used in conjunction with mechanical connectors, specifically bolts, resulted in sufficient composite action and delayed shear failure within the web of the GFRP beam. For the specimens with bolt–epoxy connection, strain levels in the concrete slabs were consistently higher than in the other specimens with bolts alone at the same loading level. The concrete slabs integrated with HSC registered strain levels that were 20.0% and 21.8% greater for bolt–epoxy and bolt-only connections, respectively, when compared to those using normal-strength concrete (NSC). This discrepancy can likely be credited to the enhanced composite interaction between the concrete slabs and the GFRP I-beams. In addition, ABAQUS software (version 6.2) was used to develop FE models to analyze the tested composite beams and provide a parametric study using the verified models.
The prolactin hormone played role in the many autoimmune disorders. To determine the importance of high levels of prolactin in triggering rheumatoid arthritis, thirty patient's women with hyperprolactinemia aged (20-45) years old have been investigated and compared with twenty five healthy individuals. All the studied groups were carried out to measure the concentration of citrulinated peptide(CCP) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA), antikeratin antibodies (AKA)and antinuclear antibodies(ANA) by indirect fluorescent assay IFAT. There was a significant elevation of CCP concentration compared with control groups (P< 0.05). The percentage of antikeratin antibodies and antinuclear antibodies was (20%, 10%) respectively, and
... Show MoreThe Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has recently emerged as a human pathogen caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus was first reported from Wuhan, China, on 31 December 2019. Upon study, it has been used molecular docking to binding affinity between COVID-19 protease enzyme and flavonoids with evaluations based on docking scores calculated by AutoDock Vina. Results showed that naringin suppressed COVID-19 protease, as it has the highest binding value than other flavonoids including quercetin, hesperetin, garcina and naringenin. An important finding in this study is that naringin with neighboring poly hydroxyl groups can serve as inhibitors of COVID-19 protease bind to the S pocket of protein, it is shown that residues His163, Glu166, Asn142, His41and
... Show MoreRutting is a predominant distress in asphalt pavements, particularly in hot climatic regions. This study systematically investigated the high-temperature performance of hot mix asphalt modified with five nanomaterials, namely, nano-silica (NS), nano-alumina (NA), nano-titanium (NT), nano-zinc (NZ), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), under consistent laboratory conditions. Modification dosages were selected up to 10% for NS, NA, and NT, and up to 5% for NZ and CNTs. The experimental methodology comprised the following: (i) binder rheological characterization through rotational viscosity, G*/sinδ, and multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) to quantify rutting susceptibility; (ii) chemical and microstructural assessments using Fourier transf
... Show MoreA transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) is characterized by the application of medications onto the skin's surface to deliver drugs at a controlled and predefined rate through the skin. Spanlastics, an elastic nanovesicle capable of transporting various pharmacological substances, shows promise as a drug delivery carrier. It offers numerous advantages over traditional vesicular systems applied topically, including enhanced stability, flexibility in penetration, and improved targeting capabilities. This study aims to develop meloxicam (MX)-loaded spanlastics gel as skin delivery carriers and to look into the effects of formulation factors like Tween80, Brij 35, and carbopol concentration on the properties of spanlastics gel, like pH, drug
... Show MoreBackground: Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia is a prevalent condition commonly treated with phototherapy. While effective, phototherapy can cause adverse effects such as dehydration and maternal separation, necessitating complementary care strategies. Objectives: This systematic review aims to evaluate the efficacy of foot reflexology and related tactile interventions on bilirubin levels and physiological parameters in neonates undergoing treatment for hyperbilirubinemia. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across five electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library) for studies published between 2019 and 2025. The review followed the PRISMA guidelines and PICOS framework. Twenty studies,
... Show MoreCD63 is -one of the tetraspanin family proteins, which are regarded as: hallmark exosomal markers because it is absent from other types of vesicles. It is expressed in the cell membrane of cancer cells, and cytoplasm of stromal cells. Objective: To assess CD63 expression in gastric cancer (GC) patients, and detected if it could be used as a predictive marker. Furthermore, the current study aimed to find the correlation between CD63 expression and clinicopathological parameters as: gender, age, invasion depth, histopathological type, involvement of lymph nodes, grade and stages of GC (TNM). The current study is a retrospective study in the period time from (2018 to-2020); 50 randomly patients formalin-fixed paraffin embedded blocks (FFPE)
... Show MoreBladder dysfunction is one of the most common complications of diabetes, even exceeding nephropathy or peripheral neuropathy. Diabetic cystopathyaffects patients in both sexes, and its prevalence increases over time with diabetes; our concern is to evaluate the urodynamic findings of bladder dysfunction in diabetic patients.A cross sectional study conducted at Ghazi Al-Hariri Surgical specialized hospital during the period from the firsts of January 2018 to the end of Mar 2019, in which 118 diabetic patients (71 female and 47 male) with lower urinary tract symptoms were enrolled in the current study. The mean age (62±13) years old, 37.3% of patients presented with urgency as the main type of dysfunction. Diabetic cystopathy were fo
... Show MoreIncreasing world demand for renewable energy resources as wind energy was one of the goals behind research optimization of energy production from wind farms. Wake is one of the important phenomena in this field. This paper focuses on understanding the effect of angle of attack (α) on wake characteristics behind single horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT). This was done by design three rotors different from each other in value of α used in the rotor design process. Values of α were (4.8˚,9.5˚,19˚). The numerical simulations were conducted using Ansys Workbench 19- Fluent code; the used turbulence model was (k-ω SST). The results showed that best value for extracted wind energy was at α=19˚, spread distance of wak
... Show MoreA new Differential Evolution (ARDE) algorithm is introduced that automatically adapt a repository of DE strategies and parameters adaptation schemes of the mutation factor and the crossover rate to avoid the problems of stagnation and make DE responds to a wide range of function characteristics at different stages of the evolution. ARDE algorithm makes use of JADE strategy and the MDE_pBX parameters adaptive schemes as frameworks. Then a new adaptive procedure called adaptive repository (AR) has been developed to select the appropriate combinations of the JADE strategies and the parameter control schemes of the MDE_pBX to generate the next population based on their fitness values. Experimental results have been presented to confirm the reli
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