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Effect of cement, Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS), GGBS:magnesia (MgO) and GGBS:MgO:cement were studied as agents on stabilisation of a clay soil contaminated with glycerol solution. The contaminated soil was mixed with 5, 10 and 15% of the above agents. Atterberg limits and compaction tests were conducted on these mixtures. Additionally, strength and durability tests were performed on prepared samples at different curing times. The strength of soil contaminated with 4, 8, and 12% glycerol was reduced by 23.5, 30.1, and 36.5%, respectively, compared to the natural soil. By adding 5% cement to the soil contaminated with 4% glycerol, its strength after 7, 14, and 28 days of curing time was increased to 1581, 1984.5, and 2343.4 kPa, respectively. All the selected agents increased the strength of the contaminated soil and its increase was dependent on the percentage of the agent and curing time. It was revealed that GGBS:MgO:cement was more effective in increasing the strength than the other used agents. Durability tests also showed that the weight loss of the samples at different conditions was less than 10%. SEM results showed that the increase in strength of the soil results from the interaction between soil and agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted on the effects of temperature and salt concentration of pore fluid on the properties of an expansive soil during drying and wetting cycles. The experimental tests were performed on modified and conventional odometers at constant and variable temperatures under 10 kPa surcharge pressure. Distilled water and solutions of sodium chloride and calcium chloride with concentration of 250 g/litre were used for making samples and distilled water was used for inundating samples during the wetting stage. The results showed that the swelling potential is decreased with increasing the number of cycles for both constant and variable temperature conditions. It was revealed that the potential of swelling is a function of salt concentration of pore fluid of the sample and the effect of temperature on the potential of shrinkage and swelling is negligible. The variation of void ratio with water content is dependent on the salt concentration of pore fluid and the position of void ratio-water content curve is a function of temperature. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests showed that the structure of soil is changed during drying and wetting cycles which results in the reduction of potential of shrinkage and swelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the generalized total time on test transform and some related transforms for weighted variables are stated. Their characteristics and relationship with each other have been considered and also these transforms have been investigated in the weighted mode from the point of view of stochastic orders. Also, by presenting graphs of generalized total time on test transform for some common weight functions, its behavior with respect to the weighted function is studied. Then the relationship of this transform with its initial state is expressed. In the following, the topic under discussion is explained with some practical examples. Then providing a comprehensive exploration of the applications of the studied transforms within the domains of insurance and reliability. By delving into these practical contexts, we gain valuable insights into how these mathematical tools can be effectively utilized to address complex challenges in risk assessment, decision-making, and resource allocation. Additionally, the examination of the NBU class of distributions offers a deeper understanding of their behavior, shedding light on their relevance and applicability in various statistical analyses. Finally, the article concludes with a detailed discussion of a specific real dataset, offering a concrete demonstration of how the topic under study can be applied in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, various pollutants have been released into the environment in substantial amounts due to human activities. Oil pollution is one of these pollutants and can be harmful to both humans and the environment, making its detection and cleanup highly important. Considering the applicability of the electronic nose methods in various domains, including the food industry, environment, etc, this research aims to measure the feasibility of using electronic nose technology to detect soil contaminated with crude oil. An electronic nose system with eight metal oxide semiconductor sensors was used in this research. The soil used in this research was from one of the farms surrounding Karaj province, which, in the laboratory of the University of Tehran, was contaminated with crude oil at four concentrations: 200 ppm, 500 ppm, 1000 ppm, and 5000 ppm, and then the samples evaluated. This system was examined along with pattern recognition methods such as principal component analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and support vector machine (SVM). The results from the pattern recognition methods showed an accuracy of 92% for principal component analysis, 100% for linear discriminant analysis, and 100% for the support vector machine method. Moreover, by employing statistical data analysis using a factorial experiment method within a randomized block design and using decision tree regression, support vector regression, gradient boosted regression, and random forest regression, which has the pollutant detection rate with an average accuracy of 95.5% for the MQ3 sensor, showed the best performance, and detect the difference between the contaminated concentrations. In conclusion, by comparing the results of selected electronic nose sensors with the results obtained by the gas chromatography system on the soil contaminated with crude oil, they have had an acceptable sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method has been devised to compute the local integrals of motion (LIOMs) for a one-dimensional many-body localized system. In this approach, a class of optimal unitary transformations is deduced in a tensor network formalism to diagonalize the Hamiltonian of the specified system. To construct the tensor network, we utilize the eigenstates of the subsystems' Hamiltonian to attain the desired unitary transformations. Subsequently, we optimize the eigenstates and acquire appropriate unitary localized operators that will represent the LIOMs tensor network. The efficiency of the method was assessed and found to be both fast and almost accurate. In framework of the introduced tensor network representation, we examine how the entanglement spreads along the considered many-body localized system and evaluate the outcomes of the approximations employed in this approach. The important and interesting result is that in the proposed tensor network approximation, if the length of the blocks is greater than the length of localization, then the entropy growth will be linear in terms of the logarithmic time. Also, it has been demonstrated that the entanglement can be calculated by only considering two blocks next to each other, if the Hamiltonian has been diagonalized using the unitary transformation made by the provided tensor network representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, magnesium oxide (MgO) has been considered by researchers as a new agent for the remediation of contaminated soils. In this paper, the effect of MgO and hydrated lime on the remediation of a clay soil contaminated with MTBE (Methyl Butyl Ether) was studied. The contaminated soil was made artificially by adding 2.25 g MTBE per kg of soil. MgO with different percentages (0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 5, 10, and 20%) and lime with 2.5, 5, and 10% percentages were added to the natural and contaminated soil. The results showed that by increasing the percentage of MgO or lime and curing time, the strength of natural and contaminated soil was improved. The results of the leaching tests showed that by adding 5, 10, or 20% MgO, all the existing MTBE in the soil samples were removed while for the smaller percentages of MgO (0.125, 0.25, and 0.5%) there was a decrease in the concentration of MTBE with time. The results of the leaching tests also revealed that the hydrated lime was effective in reducing the concentration of MTBE. The amount of reduction in the concentration of MTBE was dependent on the percentage of MgO or hydrated lime. The comparison of the results of the two binders showed that MgO was more effective than the hydrated lime in removing the MTBE from the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independence test based on empirical copula does not perform well in the presence of weak dependency or when dependency occurs only in the tails. The copula density, which is estimated by a local likelihood probit transformation method, is used to detect the independence. In this article, three nonparametric tests of independence based on α-divergence and copula density are introduced. These tests are capable of considering weak dependency. The asymptotic consistency of the copula-based α-divergence estimator is also derived. In addition, the empirical powers of the proposed tests are computed through extensive simulations. The results show that the new tests outperform in small sample sizes or weak dependencies. Finally, an application in uranium exploration is presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the alternative versions of Shannon entropy is a measure of information which is called exponential entropy. Shannon and exponential entropies depend only on the event probabilities. These measures have also been extended to incorporate a set of weights associated with the events. Such weights may reflect some additional characteristics of the events such as their relative importance. In this paper, Axiomatic derivations and properties of weighted exponential entropy parallel to those achieved for weighted entropy are investigated. The relation between weighted exponential entropy of X and a strictly monotone and nonnegative function of X has obtained. The generalized weighted entropy and the generalized weighted exponential entropy for continuous random variable have been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A one-pot efficient, green, and environmentally friendly multicomponent synthesis of novel 2H-pyrano-[2,3-d][1,3]thiazole-6-carbonitriles has been performed in a green, low cost, mild, efficient, and commercially available 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol as solvent in the presence of a Lewis acid catalyst under ultrasonic irradiation at room temperature. The reaction was conducted with 2-chloroacetic acid, ammonium thiocyanate, aryl aldehydes, and malononitrile. This method has the advantages of high yield, clean reaction, short reaction time, simple operation, and no use of hazardous organic solvents. The synthesized compounds were charac-terized by 1H and 13C NMR, IR, and mass spectra and elemental analyses and were screened for antimicrobial activities. Some of the compounds exhibited promising antibacterial and antifungal activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let R be an associative ring and let n be a non-negative integer. In this paper, we consider n-super finitely presented, Gorenstein n-weak injective and Gorenstein n-weak flat modules under change of rings. For an excellent extension S ≥ R, we show that the Gorenstein n-super finitely presented dimensions (resp., weak Gorenstein n-super finitely presented dimensions) of rings R and S coincide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive prior work has provided methods for the optimization of routing based on weights assigned to travel duration, and/or travel cost, and/or the distance traveled. Routing can be in various modalities, such as by car, on foot, by bicycle, via public transit, or by boat. A typical method of routing involves building a graph comprised of street segments, assigning a normalized weighted value to each segment, and then applying the weighted-shorted path algorithm to the graph in order to find the best route. Some users desire that the routing suggestion include consideration pertaining to the scenic-architectural quality of the path. For example, a user may seek a leisure walk via what they might deem as visually attractive architecture. Here, we are proposing a method to quantify such user preferences and scenic quality and to augment the standard routing methods by giving weight to the scenic quality. That is, instead of suggesting merely the time and cost-optimal route, we will find the best route that is tailored towards the user's scenic quality preferences as an additional criterion to the time and cost. The proposed method uniquely weighs the scenic interest or residential street segments based on the property valuation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we provide a probabilistic proof to the strengthened Hardy's integral inequality given in text. We also provide the upper and lower bounds for expectation of functions of hazard rate, mean residual life, eta function and intensity function. Moreover, an upper bound for extropy and cumulative residual extropy is obtained based on Hardy's inequality. Furthermore, we obtain upper bounds for cumulative residual Tsallis entropy of series and parallel systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the useful distributions in modeling mortality (or failure) data is the univariate Gompertz–Makeham distribution. To examine the relationship between the two variables, the extended bivariate Gompertz–Makeham distribution is introduced, and its properties are provided. Also, some reliability indices, including aging intensity and stress-strength reliability, are calculated for the proposed model. Here, a new copula function is constructed based on the extended bivariate Gompertz–Makeham distribution. Some of its features including dependency properties, such as dependence structure, some measures of dependence, and tail dependence, are studied. The estimation of the parameters of new copula is presented, and at the end, a simulation study and a performance analysis based on the real data are presented. So, by analyzing the mortality data due to COVID-19, the appropriateness of the proposed model is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new dependent model is introduced. The model is motivated using the structure of series-parallel systems consisting of two series-parallel systems with a random number of parallel sub-systems that have fixed components connected in series. The dependence properties of the proposed model are studied. Two estimation methods, namely the moment method, and the maximum likelihood method are applied to estimate the parameters of the distributions of the components based on observing the system's lifetime data. A Monte Carlo simulation study is used to evaluate the performance of the estimators. Two real data sets are used to illustrate the proposed method. The results are useful for researchers and practitioners interested in analyzing bivariate data related to extreme events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malt beverage is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Recently, consumption of non-alcoholic beverages has expanded significantly in many countries. The permitted level of alcohol in malt beverage is less than 0.5% by Iranian National Standards. In this study, a method was developed to determine ethanol content in malt beverages by FTIR, equipped with Horizontal Attenuated Total Reflectance (H-ATR). Here, the Limit Of Detection (LOD) and Limit Of Quantification (LOQ) were 0.07% and 0.23%, respectively. The correlation coefficient of calibration curve was higher than 0.999. Fifty commercial malt beverages from six brands (five Iranian and one imported brand) and three types of flavored malt beverage (classic, equatorial, and lemon) were assessed. The average detected ethanol amount in samples was 0.19%, varying between 0.00- 1.47percent. The results showed that the amount of ethanol in lemon malt drinks was more than the maximum permitted limit; that could be attributed to the usage of ethylene glycol for extraction of lemon flavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The Stabilization and Solidification (S/S) technique is one of the most cost‐effective, low‐risk, and efficient remedial technologies for contaminated soils. In this research, the effect of MgO (Magnesium Oxide) on the remediation of a clay soil contaminated with phenanthrene with and without forced carbonation was studied by the S/S method. The effects of various parameters in reducing the mobility and leaching of phenanthrene were considered, including the percentage of MgO and curing time with and without forced carbonation, as well as the duration of carbonation. RESULTS: The results of the leaching tests showed that by using 5% MgO, the initial concentration of phenanthrene (32.7 mg kg−1) is changed to 9.16, 5.77, and 5.1 mg kg−1 for curing times of 7, 14, and 28 days. In addition, for the mixture of contaminated soil with 0.25% MgO and by using forced carbonation, the initial concentration is changed to 7.9, 4.3, and 3.73 mg kg−1 after 4, 8, and 24 h of injection of CO2. The S/S mechanisms for the removal of phenanthrene from soil include immobilization, adsorption, and encapsulation mechanisms. These stages are dependent on the hydration products of MgO. CONCLUSION: A comparison of the results of the leaching tests without and with forced carbonation showed that forced carbonation can reduce the concentration of phenanthrene in a few hours with a small percent of MgO compared to the case without forced carbonation. Therefore, forced carbonation provides a cost‐effective method for the remediation of contaminated soil. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water contamination that caused by heavy metals is a very common phenomenon in the industrial age. One of the popular way to treat metal contaminated water is by adsorption process using activated carbon as the adsorbent. This paper works on producing activated carbon by chemical means with impregnation ratios of NaOH:char (w/w) was predetermined at 1:1 (ACT1-1), 2:1 (ACT2-1) and 3:1 (ACT3-1) under activation temperature of 700°C. Considering the Leucaena leucocephala is a wildly, easy and fast grown species, with the availability throught the year, it was chosen to be used as the precursor. The properties of these activated carbons and its potential for cadmium removal from aqueus solution was analyzed. It was found that the highest surface area was recorded at 662.76 m²/g. Four parameters were studied which are contact time, the effect of pH, initial concentration of adsorbate and temperature. The equilibrium time was achieved in 40 min treatment at initial concentrations of 30 mg/l. The adsorbent exhibited good sorption potential for cadmium at pH 8.0 and equilibrium temperature of 30°C. Based on the results, this study had proved that activated carbon from Leucaena leucocephala biomass have the good potential to be used for removal of cadmium from wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior of the kernel bivariate distribution function estimator for negatively superadditive dependent. The exponential convergence rates for the kernel estimator are investigated. Under certain regularity conditions, the optimal bandwidth rate is determined with respect to mean squared error criteria. A simulation study is used to justify the behavior of the kernel and histogram estimators. As an application, a real data set in hydrology is considered and the kernel bivariate distribution function estimator of the data is investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of magnesia (MgO) on the stabilization of a clay soil contaminated with glycerol was investigated through a series of experiments. The tests were performed in two groups. In the first group, the natural soil was mixed with 5, 8, and 12% MgO. A set of tests, including unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, were conducted on samples prepared at curing times of 7, 14, and 28 days. In addition, a number of samples prepared with different percentages of MgO were subjected to CO2 under a pressure of 0.5 bar for periods of 4, 8, and 24 hours. In the second group, the soil was contaminated with 4, 8, and 12% glycerol and was then mixed with 5, 8, and 12% MgO. A group of tests, similar to the first group, were conducted on the contaminated samples. The results showed that adding MgO to the natural soil and the contaminated soil increases the strength of the soil, and the amount of increase in strength depends on the percentage of MgO and the curing time. During stabilization, the contaminated soil with 8 and 12% glycerol gained more strength than the natural soil. The results also indicated that forced carbonation can facilitate the stabilization of MgO-stabilized natural and contaminated soils in a few hours compared with conventional methods that take several days. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed that the gained strength for both groups resulted from the interaction between the soil and MgO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation into the behaviour of a clay soil stabilised with MgO under forced carbonation and comparison with conventional chemical stabilisation methods. The tests were conducted in two groups. In the first group the soil was mixed with 5, 10, 15 and 20% MgO or cement. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests were performed on compacted samples from these mixtures at curing times of 7, 14 and 28 days. In the second group, samples prepared with different percents of MgO were subjected to CO2 under pressures of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 bar for periods of 4, 8, 12 and 24 h. The results showed that adding MgO increases the strength of the soil and, like other binders, the amount of increase in strength depends on the percent of MgO and curing time. It is also resulted that the effect of MgO is less than cement in increasing the strength. It was revealed that forced carbonation can facilitate the stabilisation of MgO-stabilised soil in a few hours compared with usual process that takes several days. XRD and SEM results showed that the gained strength is resulted from the interaction between the soil and the agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urease is a dinickel enzyme that is responsible for the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide. A series of bacteria like Helicobacter pylori produce urease in order to release ammonia via urea hydrolysis and survive in acidic environments. Urease inhibitors are often used as a part of the medical treatment of infections by ureolytic bacteria. In this work, a series of diaryl pyrimidine derivatives (compounds 6a–6i) have been synthesized as urease inhibitors, their inhibitory activities against Jack bean urease have been investigated in vitro, and the obtained values of IC50 showed potent urease inhibitory activity. Cytotoxic activity of the synthesized compounds was evaluated against four cell lines (HT-29, MCF-7, T47D, and NIH3T3). Many of the tested compounds did not show significant cytotoxicity, and compounds 6d, 6g, and 6i did not show any cytotoxic activity against these cell lines. Among these, compound 6d showed the most pronounced urease inhibitory activity (IC50 = 780 ± 50nM), being over 28-fold more potent than thiourea (IC50 = 22.01 ± 0.08 ìM) and 128-fold more potent than hydroxyurea (IC50 = 100.00 ± 0.08 ìM) as standard inhibitors, respectively. The results of molecular docking studies showed that compound 6b had the best binding energy and exhibited proper interaction with the active site of urease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nanochitosan was extracted from shrimp wastes and modified by Schiff base ligand and graphene oxide. Nanochitosan characterization was carried out by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and elemental analysis. This study was done to apply nanopolymer based on shrimp wastes as a biodegradable and recoverable biosorbent for removal of heavy of metals including copper and lead from contaminated water. The effects of initial solution pH, biosorbent dose, initial concentrations of lead(II) and copper(II) and contact time on the uptake capacity of the related metals were investigated using batch experiments. This nanopolymer biomass exhibited the highest uptake capacity for the metal ions (466 and 698.8 mg/g for lead and copper ions, respectively) at the pH value of 6.0, the biomass dose of 0.01 g/L, the metal concentration of 200 mg/L and the contact time of 420 min. These remarkable uptake capacity values indicate the high efficiency of the absorbent in wastewater treatment for heavy metals. Its structural stability and efficient absorbent ability were proved after four times absorption–desorption cycles. After these times, the uptake capacity decreased from 698.8 to 343.8 for copper and from 466 to 226.9 for lead, which are still high values for uptake capacity, and therefore this nanopolymer can be used in repeated absorption–desorption cycles. This nanochitosan is able to treat and absorb lead and copper from dense aqueous solutions with low amount of biosorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lifetime performance index is widely used as process capability index to evaluate the performance and potential of a process. In manufacturing industries, the lifetime of a product is considered to be conforming if it exceeds a given lower threshold value, so nonconforming products are those that fail to exceed this value. Nonconformities are so important that affect the safe or effective use of the products. This article deals with the processes that the products' lifetime is related to a two-component system, distributed as Farlie-Gumbel-Morgenstern (FGM) copula-based bivariate exponential and presents the probability of non-conforming products. Also, bootstrap upper confidence bounds are constructed and their performance are investigated in simulation study. In addition, Monte Carlo scheme is applied to do hypothesis testing on it. Finally, two example sets are presented to demonstrate the application of the proposed index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a mass timber product that has recently garnered considerable attention for lateral-force resisting system (LFRS) applications. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the rocking behavior of a high-aspect-ratio (height/width) CLT shear wall without post-tensioning, and to validate a finite-element (FE) model based on the cyclic and dynamic response of the wall. To this point, high-aspect-ratio walls in the literature have primarily been post-tensioned. The testing component of this study included connector tests, quasistatic cyclic shear wall tests, and shake-table tests under four different ground motions scaled to design earthquake (DE)- and maximum considered earthquake (MCE)-level intensities. A generic shear connector was used for this study to allow for proprietary and other systems to demonstrate equivalence. The connectors were tested under shear and uplift, and shear-wall tests were performed using the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE) displacement protocol, which has been widely used for light-frame wood structures. Interstory drift (ISD) ratios in the shake-table tests ranged from 0.97% to 2.02%, and the tests demonstrated the system's ability to resist seismic loading. An FE model of the CLT wall was developed that showed good agreement with the cyclic and shake-table tests. The difference between the ISD ratios in the numerical model and the shake-table tests ranged from 5.4% to 31.3%, with an average of 17.9%, which was in good accordance with the accuracy of the existing CLT models. This system can be utilized as a retrofit option, in conjunction with light-frame wood shear walls, where lack of space may be a challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research is an interdisciplinary endeavor to develop a necessary tool in preclinical protein studies of diseases or disorders through western blotting. In the era of digital transformation and open access principles, an interactive cloud-based database called East–West Blot (https://rancs-lab.shinyapps.io/WesternBlots) is designed and developed. The online interactive subject-specific database built on the R shiny platform facilitates a systematic literature search on the specific subject matter, here set to western blot studies of protein regulation in the preclinical model of TBI. The tool summarizes the existing publicly available knowledge through a data visualization technique and easy access to the critical data elements and links to the study itself. The application compiled a relational database of PubMed-indexed western blot studies labeled under HHS public access, reporting downstream protein regulations presented by fluid percussion injury model of traumatic brain injury. The promises of the developed tool include progressing toward implementing the principles of 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) for humane experiments, cultivating the prerequisites of reproducible research in terms of reporting characteristics, paving the ways for a more collaborative experimental design in basic science, and rendering an up-to-date and summarized perspective of current publicly available knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The well-known Marshall–Olkin model is known for its extension of exponential distribution preserving lack of memory property. Based on shock models, a new generalization of the bivariate Marshall–Olkin exponential distribution is given. The proposed model allows wider range tail dependence which is appealing in modeling risky events. Moreover, a stochastic comparison according to this shock model and also some properties, such as association measures, tail dependence and Kendall distribution, are presented. The new shock model is analytically quite tractable, and it can be used quite effectively, to analyze discrete–continuous data. This has been shown on real data. Finally, we propose the multivariate extension of the Marshall–Olkin model that has some intersection with the well-known multivariate Archimax copulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being introduced in Europe nearly 20 years ago, cross-laminated timber (CLT) is still not widely used in North America, and it has only recently garnered attention as a new construction material in the US. One primary reason for this is because of a lack design procedures for CLT as a lateral force resisting system for seismically active regions of the US. A CLT subassembly that has not been fully investigated is a horizontal diaphragm for floors, roofs, or bridge decks. The purpose of this study was to investigate CLT diaphragm behavior through a series of large-scale cyclic loading tests. A 5×4.27 m (16 ft 5 in.×14 ft) CLT diaphragm was tested in a cantilever configuration in which the assembly was subjected to the Consortium Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE) (reversed cyclic) loading protocol applied under displacement control. These diaphragm tests illustrated the rigid behavior of the CLT panels and the ability of the shear connectors between CLT panels to dissipate energy. These tests highlighted possible failure mechanisms and the importance of chord strength on the CLT diaphragm load-deflection performance. The failure mechanism observed and load-deflection results from this experimental study provide information for the development of design procedures for CLT diaphragms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper will present the results of a shake table experimental test program that focuses on the testing of a one-story full-scale wood shear wall system composed of a post-tensioned rocking cross-laminated timber (CLT) wall panel and conventional light-frame wood shear (LiFS) wall panels. The concept of post-tensioning mass timber, such as CLT, has been adopted from post-tensioned concrete systems that are believed to be able to enable the development of seismically resilient mass timber structures that can undergo multiple earthquakes and continue to recenter. LiFS wall panels act as energy dissipaters by dissipating the energy through sheathing nail withdrawal. The objective of this paper is to combine the positive aspects of these two lateral load resisting systems and develop a shear resisting system for wood structures. The test structure will be subjected to the 1989 Loma Prieta ground motion scaled to different intensities and the final test will use 85% of the original 1994 Northridge Rinaldi (near fault) ground motion. The test results demonstrate the ability of the post-tensioned CLT wall panel to recenter the structure after 5% interstory drifts were observed and the final test series of repeated shakes demonstrate the collapse mechanism of a post-tensioned CLT wall system, which has not been observed in a shake table test to date, to the best of the authors' knowledge. This system could potentially be utilized in tall wood buildings as a seismic force resistant system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is the most widely used platform of the point-of-care (POC) detection. Since the most important factor in deciding the results of this technique is the visual quality of the test, it should be at its optimum. To address this issue, the present study examines optimising critical parameters to improve the quality of LFIA performance. In this regard the penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a) in methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was selected as a bacterial model. The targeted parameters included a) size of gold nanoparticles (AuNP), b) antibody conjugation conditions with AuNP, c) antibody concentrations in the capturing zones, d) the effects of blocking substances and different chemical buffers for pre-treatment of the strips. Visual quality of different manufactured strips revealed that the diameter of 14 ± 2, PH = 9.5 was the optimum for improvement of MRSA detection quality. The optimum concentration of labelling antibody in conjugate pad and concentration of the capturing antibody in the test band were 40 µg/ml and 1.1 µg/μl in PBS buffer (pH 7.4) respectively. In conclusion by finding the critical factors affecting the detection limit of lateral flow and optimising them, the visual quality of LFIA results can be increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real time topology knowledge is essential for situational awareness of power distribution networks. Line outages change the topology of a distribution network. Hence, outage detection is an important task. Most of the existing outage detection algorithms are centralized, in which sensors communicate their data to a control center which performs outage detection using the received data. However, with the increasing size of the distribution network and with different areas of the network being monitored by different operators, communication is a bottleneck and scalability is a major concern. To address these issues, we propose a novel outage detection algorithm using a divide and conquer approach. First, we divide a distribution network into sub-networks, such that outage detection can be run in parallel in each sub-network independently ensuring scalability to large networks. Further, to reduce the latency, bandwidth and attenuation challenges associated with communications in a large network, we divide each sub-network into multiple control areas which communicate only with their neighbors. We employ a distributed iterative load estimation across the control areas of each sub-network and then use the load estimate for local outage detection in each control area. The performance of our algorithm is evaluated for multiple feeder models and compared against traditional centralized outage detection algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inverse modeling is a relatively complex procedure that allows quick estimation of soil hydraulic properties, yielding parameters for both soil water retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function from a single experiment. The purpose of this research was to evaluate saline water effect on unsaturated hydraulic properties of clay loamy nonsaline-sodic soil layers and estimate these properties inversely from infiltration data using a double-ring infiltrometer.Three levels of water salinity (EC) 1.1, 2.2 and 5.8 dS/m were used for each treatment (T1, T2, and T3, respectively). Soil samples at three depths (0–20, 20–40 and 40–60 cm) were taken to measure Mualem–van Genuchten (MVG) hydraulic parameters (θr, residual water content, θs, saturated water content, α and n, shape parameters, and Ks, lab saturated hydraulic conductivity). Soil hydraulic parameters were estimated with an inverse solution using HYDRUS-1D model and infiltration data. Besides, the most sensitive MVG parameters to infiltration data (n, θs, and Ks) were inversely estimated due to difficulty in estimating several parameters simultaneously. Results showed that salinity had no significant effect on soil water infiltration and soil hydraulic conductivity changes in the specified salinity range according to the variance analyses (ANOVA).The Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (Ce) between simulated (HYDRUS) and measured values of cumulative infiltration data was about 0.998, indicating an excellent match. Soil water retention, as well as unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity, were optimized with reasonable accuracy when the soil profile was assumed to be homogenous. In addition, simulated soil-water contents were quite similar to the measured values in which the values of Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (Ce) for T1, T2, and T3 were 0.83, 0.85, and 0.85, respectively. In conclusion, the soil hydraulic parameters can be inversely estimated using the measured infiltration data through the double ring method if the soil is homogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the effect of irradiation of cold plasma on the skin for healing of injured tissue, which is located inside a body (such as tendon), is evaluated. Cold plasma was applied to the rabbits skin after suturing and continued for 21 days. After 21 days the tendon tissue was considered histological. The results show that cold plasma treatment led to reduction of the inflammatory cells and acceleration of the recovery phase by increase neovascularization and collagen production. At the non-touching cold plasma production of ultraviolet, neutral radicals, and electric fields led to some effect on cells. To find the effect of electric fields, ultra violet, and reactive oxygen species, the indirect plasma treatment compared to direct treatment. To produce indirect plasma, a grounded mesh was put as a second electrode. The results of this study confirm that the cold plasma treatment of skin has positive effect on healing of tissue inside a body. The electric fields has no effect on the healing process. Results of this study show that reactive oxygen species is the parameters that causes healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Rapid growth of electric vehicles (EVs) has necessitated the devolvement of sustainable and easily accessible charging stations. Transport sector electrification and increased popularity of EVs make researcher to search for charging stations. In this paper, a new methodology regarding electric vehicle charging spot is proposed. In the study, allocation of the parking lot and capacitor is suggested for congestion management along with reactive power compensation. To this end, sensitivity analysis is performed by evaluating the inverse Jacobian matrix from the power flow studies. In order to optimally determine the size of parking lot, biogeography‐based optimization (BBO) technique is adopted. The effectiveness of the anticipated technique is tested on adapted IEEE 34‐bus distribution network. The outcome attained by BBO technique is equated with particle swarm optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic force resisting systems based on cross-laminated timber (CLT) shear walls have garnered considerable attention for in mid-rise construction around the world. The purpose of this study was to determine seismic performance factors for CLT shear wall systems in platform type construction. These factors, namely, the response modification factors, R, overstrength factor, Ωo and deflection amplification factor, Cd , have been developed in this study for CLT walls and proposed for inclusion in ASCE 7. The study follows the FEMA P695 methodology that incorporates testing, evaluating a design methodology, defining the design space representative of typical construction, and comprehensive performance evaluation. The testing phase of the project consisted of connector testing and CLT shear wall testing, all with nonproprietary generic connectors to facilitate building code recognition. The design methodology and archetype development process are also discussed in this paper. A total of nine index buildings were developed from which 72 archetypes were extracted for this study. The archetypes were designed based on the design methodology and assessed with nonlinear pushover analysis and incremental dynamic analysis. Based on the required collapse margin, an R factor of 3 is proposed for CLT shear wall systems with 2∶1 or mixed aspect ratio panels up to 4∶1 , and an R factor of 4 is proposed for CLT shear wall systems made up of only 4∶1 aspect ratio panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to its favorable low permeability, high swelling potential, and high retention capacity for radionuclides, the compacted bentonite has been considered as suitable buffer/backfill materials for construction of deep geological repository for disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). However, prior to placing the compacted bentonite brick around the canister, several months to several years may elapse, which could affect the swelling behavior. In this study, the aging effect was experimentally investigated by performing a series of swelling tests on the compacted bentonite samples (prepared at both dry and wet sides with different water contents) that had been aged for 0, 7, 14, 30, 60, and 90 days. The microstructure features prior to wetting were also investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), together with the determination of the electrical conductivity (EC) value. Results showed the axial strain and the swelling pressure decreased as the aging time increased for samples prepared at both dry and wet sides. Moreover, the EC value decreased as the aging time increased. These phenomena could be explained by the new bonding between soil particles created by aging, which was confirmed by the SEM observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional wood-based composites contain an unreacted free formaldehyde, which causes a cancerous effect on humans. To overcome this problem, citric-acid-modified corn and oil palm starches are proposed as ecobinders for wood-based composites in this study. Experimental rubber-wood panels were made using the ecobinders. The panels were subjected to FT-IR, TGA, DSC, and X-ray diffraction analyses, and then their modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, bond strength, water absorption, and thickness swelling were determined experimentally. The results obtained are shown in figures and tables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corrosion inhibition properties of benzotriazole were studied in 0.1 M hydrochloric acid solution for copper samples with different roughness levels using open-circuit potential, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance, and weight loss measurements. According to the results, inhibition properties were improved because of an increase in surface roughness leading to an increase in inhibition efficiency (up to 99 and 91% for the rough and smooth surfaces, respectively). Adsorption of benzotriazole on copper surfaces follows Langmuir isotherm. Due to roughening, the adsorption free energy changed from ‒25.9 kJ mol–1 for the polished samples to –27.6 kJ mol–1 for the rough sample. Adsorption of the inhibitor on both surfaces was mainly physisorption. Adsorption entropy values for polished and shot-peened samples were 11.4 and 13 J mol–1 K–1, respectively. All data obtained from weight loss, Tafel polarization, and EIS tests were in good agreement. FTIR test, showed a peak between 740 and 745 cm–1 that is associated with C–H bonds. The intensity of peak was higher in the case of shot-peened samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate topology information is critical for effective operation of power distribution networks. Line outages change the operational topology of a distribution network. Hence, outage detection is an important task. Power distribution networks are operated as radial trees and are recently adopting the integration of advanced sensors to monitor the network in real time. In this paper, a dynamic-programming-based minimum cost sensor placement solution is proposed for outage identifiability. A novel formulation of the sensor placement as a cost optimization problem involving binary placement decisions is proposed, along with a dynamic programming algorithm to solve it in polynomial time. Our sensor placement solution provides a set of locations in a distribution network where sensor placement is mandatory for outage identifiability. We also extend our sensor placement optimization problem and dynamic programming algorithm to the case in which the number of measurement channels of sensors are limited. The advantage of placement strategies are that they incorporate various types of sensors, have a polynomial execution time, are cost effective and ensure outage identifiability for any arbitrary values of loads. Numerical results illustrating the proposed sensor placement solutions are presented under different scenarios for multiple feeder models including standard IEEE test feeders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Storage at temperatures as low as −80 °C and below (cryopreservation) is considered a method for long-term preservation of cells and tissues, and especially blood vessel segments, which are to be used for clinical operations such as transplantation. However, the freezing and thawing processes themselves can induce injuries to the cells and tissue by damaging the structure and consequently functionality of the cryopreserved tissue. In addition, the level of damage is dependent on the rate of cooling and warming used during the freezing-thawing process. Current methods for monitoring the viability and integrity of cells and tissues after going through the freezing-thawing cycle are usually invasive and destructive to the cells and tissues. Therefore, employing monitoring methods which are not destructive to the cryopreserved tissues, such as bioimpedance measurement techniques, is necessary. In this study we aimed to design a bioimpedance measurement setup to detect changes in venous segments after freezing-thawing cycles in a noninvasive manner. Approach: A bioimpedance spectroscopy measurement technique with a two-electrode setup was employed to monitor ovine jugular vein segments after each cycle during a process of seven freezing-thawing cycles. Main results: The results demonstrated changes in the impedance spectra of the measured venous segments after each freezing-thawing cycle. Significance: This indicates that bioimpedance spectroscopy has the potential to be developed into a novel method for non-invasive and non-destructive monitoring of the viability of complex tissue after cryopreservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We give a set of axioms for the notion of locally compact hypergroupoids, as an extension of both groupoids and hypergroups, and study their basic properties. We show that, adding a natural condition on the continuity of support, one of the axioms assumed by Renault on the left Haar system automatically follows. We show that an irreducible representation of a compact hypergroupoid is fiberwise finite dimensional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have used first-principles calculations based on density functional theory to study point defects in CdO within the local density approximation and beyond (LDA+U). Hydrogen interstitials and oxygen vacancies are found to act as shallow donors and can be interpreted as the cause of conductivity in CdO. Hydrogen can also occupy an oxygen vacancy in its substitutional form and also acts as a shallow donor. Similar to what was found for ZnO and MgO, hydrogen creates a multicenter bond with its six oxygen neighbors in CdO. The charge neutrality level for native defects and hydrogen impurities has been calculated. It is shown that in the case of native defects, it is not uniquely defined. Indeed, this level depends highly on the chemical potentials of the species and one can obtain different values for different end states in the experiment. Therefore, a comparison with experiment can only be made if the chemical potentials of the species in the experiment are well defined. However, for the hydrogen interstitial defect, since this level is independent of the chemical potential of hydrogen, one can obtain a unique value for the charge neutrality level. We find that the Fermi level stabilizes at 0.43 eV above the conduction band minimum in the case of the hydrogen interstitial defect, which is in good agreement with the experimentally reported value of 0.4 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory symptoms were present in 294 patients (76%); 167 patients (43%) experienced constitutional signs and symptoms; 29 (7.5%) had cutaneous involvement in the presence of COVID-19 infection; 15 cases (3.9%) had dermatological symptoms before and 14 patients (3.6%) during hospitalization. Cutaneous manifestations of patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Moreover, four patients (1.0%) developed skin symptoms before, 12 (3.1%) during and 13 (3.4%) after presentation of other clinical symptoms of COVID-19 infection. [Extracted from the article]

Let T be a tilting module. In this paper, Gorenstein π[T ]-projective modules are introduced and some of their basic properties are studied. Moreover, some characterizations of rings over which all modules are Gorenstein π[T]-projective are given. For instance, on the T-cocoherent rings, it is proved that the Gorenstein π[T]-projectivity of all R-modules is equivalent to the π[T]-projectivity of σ[T ]-injective as a module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Detecting and accurate determining of vascular embolism dimensions are considered as a challenging issue in CT imaging. Present study aimed to enhance the accuracy of vascular embolism volumetry in managing a proper diagnosis and treatment of the disease. METHODS: In this non experimental quantitative study, firstly we simulated coronary and aorta arteries with normal dimensions in a 4D extended NURBS based cardiac-torso phantom in a matrix sizes of 512×512 with slice thickness of 0.116 mm. Then, twenty five venous thromboembolisms with the diameters ranged 0.1-5 and 5-20 mm were created in the coronary arteries and aorta of the Phantom, respectively. The Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit was used for localization and volume measurement of the produced venous thromboembolisms on the CT images. Finally, Accuracy of the measured data was compared with the simulated measures in the phantom. FINDINGS: The difference on measures with the software was obtained 0.03±0.021 for embolies less than 4.64 mm (0.1 ml), (r=0.67, p=0.02), and 0.02±0.008 mm for embolies greater than 4.64 mm (r=0.99, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: According to the acceptable volumetry accuracy of Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit especially for volumes greater than 0.1 ml, may be used for an accurate thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]