A ‘locking-bolt’ demountable shear connector (LBDSC) is proposed to facilitate the deconstruction and reuse of steel-concrete composite structures, in line with achieving a more sustainable construction design paradigm. The LBDSC is comprised of a grout-filled steel tube and a geometrically compatible partially threaded bolt. The latter has a geometry that ‘locks’ the bolt in compatible holes predrilled on the steel flange and eliminates initial slip and construction tolerance issues. The structural behaviour of the LBDSC is evaluated through nine pushout tests using a horizontal test setup. The effects of the tube thickness, strength of concrete slab, and strength of infilled grout on the shear resistance, initial stiffness, and ductility of the LBDSC are assessed. The experimental results show that the LBDSC can achieve higher shear resistance and similar initial stiffness as compared to traditional welded studs. In addition, all tested LBDSCs exhibited slip capacities ranging from 14 to 32 mm and can be classified as ductile shear connectors according to Eurocode 4. A detailed finite element model was also created and found to be reliable to reproduce the experimental behaviour. Parametric studies were subsequently conducted using the validated model to study further parameters and generalise the experimental results. Due to the specific test setup, non-negligible uplift forces were generated in the connector and the potential implications are discussed.
Background: This study aimed to determine whether there is a relationship among the bite force with facial dimensions and dental arches in a sample of Iraqi adults with Class I skeletal and dental relations. Materials and methods: Forty dental students (20 males and 20 females) were selected under certain criteria. For those individuals, dental impressions, frontal facial photographs and maximum bite force at molar and incisor regions were taken. The dental arches widths and facial dimensions were measured using the AutoCAD program 2007, while the bite force was determined using special device. Descriptive statistics for the measured variables were performed and gender difference was determined using independent sample t-test, while the rel
... Show MoreSYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION, STRUCTURAL, THERMAL, POM STUDIES, ANTIMICROBIAL AND DNA CLEAVAGE ACTIVITY OF A NEW SCHIFF BASE-AZO LIGAND AND ITS COMPLEXATION WITH SELECTED METAL IONS
Background: Obesity typically results from a variety of causes and factors which contribute, genetics included, and style of living choices, and described as excessive body fat accumulation of body fat lead to excessive body, is a chronic disorder that combines pathogenic environmental and genetic factors. So, the current study objective was to investigate the of the FTO gene rs9939609 polymorphism and the obesity risk. Explaining the relationship between fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) rs9939609 polymorphism and obesity in adults. Methods: Identify research exploring the association between the obesity risk and the variation polymorphisms of FTO gene rs9939609. We combined the modified odds ratios (OR) as total groups and subgro
... Show MoreDespite the antiplaque effect of mouth-rinsing with a combination composed of miswak (Salvadora persica L.) and green tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) extracts, no data are available regarding its effect on gingival tissue at the molecular level. This pilot study aimed to assess the effect of oral rinsing with this combination on gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) flow and IL-1β levels. Ten subjects rinsed with either the combination, 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) or distilled water without toothbrushing for 4 days after receiving baseline polishing. GCF IL-1β concentration, influx, resting volume and plaque quantity were measured at baseline and after 4 days for each intervention. No significant differences in GCF flow or
... Show More3D‐printed scaffolds loaded with healing directed agents could be employed for better treatment outcome in regenerative dentistry. The aim of this study was to fabricate and characterize simple 3D‐printed poly lactic acid (PLA) scaffolds coated with nanoHydroxyapatite (nHA), Naringin (NAR), or their combination, and testing their morphological, chemical, mechanical, antibacterial, biocompatible and bioactive properties. Methodology: Two variants pore sizes, 300 and 700 μm, of 3D‐printed PLA disc scaffolds measuring (10 × 1 mm) were fabricated. These scaffolds were dip‐coated with nHA, NAR, or both (nHA/NAR). Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FeSEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier transfo
... Show MoreA simple, economic, rapid, reliable, and stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol (PCM) and caffeine (CF) in solid dosage form. The chromatographic separations were achieved with a Waters Symmetry® C18 column (5 μm, 4.6 × 150 mm), using a mixture of methanol and water (40:60, v/v) as a mobile phase, under isocratic elution mode with a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min, and ultraviolet (UV) detection was set at 264 nm. The oven temperature for the column was set and maintained at 35 °C. The method was validated according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines, and it demonstrated excellent linearity, wi
... Show MoreWith the fast-growing of neural machine translation (NMT), there is still a lack of insight into the performance of these models on semantically and culturally rich texts, especially between linguistically distant languages like Arabic and English. In this paper, we investigate the performance of two state-of-the-art AI translation systems (ChatGPT, DeepSeek) when translating Arabic texts to English in three different genres: journalistic, literary, and technical. The study utilizes a mixed-method evaluation methodology based on a balanced corpus of 60 Arabic source texts from the three genres. Objective measures, including BLEU and TER, and subjective evaluations from human translators were employed to determine the semantic, contextual an
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