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The efficiency of load transfer between the concrete surface and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is greatly influenced by the adhesive agent used in any composite system. This study investigates the effects of using nano montmorillonite clay (nC) as a toughening agent with the epoxy adhesive, to improve the confinement efficiency of CFRP-wrapped stay-in-place (SIP) composite column. Twenty scaled columns were tested under axial compressive load including, unwrapped (reference columns) and wrapped with one layer (1 L) or two layers (2 L) of CFRP. Two cross-section column shapes, square and circular, were evaluated based on their nC-modified adhesive efficiency. Results revealed that SIP columns made with nC-modified epoxy adhesive showed superior compressive behavior, stress, and strain capacity, compared to unmodified composite columns, even when wrapped with 2 L of CFRP. Using 1 L and 2 L of CFRP bonded with unmodified adhesive of circular specimens, increased the confinement efficiency (CE) by about 134 % and 183 % respectively. However, the improvements for the circular specimens with nC-modified epoxy adhesive were higher by up to 15 % than their counterparts’ ones made with unmodified adhesive. For square specimens, the use of nC-modified adhesive improved the CE by up to 16 % as compared with their counterparts’ specimens made with unmodified adhesive.Scanning electronic images revealed that using adhesive modified with nC induces several shorter microcracks, instead of a few wide cracks appearing in the unmodified adhesive. This toughening mechanism as well as the enhancement in the IZ between the adhesive matrix and the fabric yarns, explain the improvements in the ultimate strain capacity of the column specimens made with modified adhesive.

Sehar-un-Nisa Hassan,1,2 Aqeela Zahra,3 Nuzhat Parveen,4 Naveed Iqbal,4 Sarwat Mumtaz,5 Asma Batool6 1Department of Public Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, 81451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Behavioral Sciences, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan; 3Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, 81451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, 81451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Health Management, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, 81451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 6Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternity and Children Hospital Ha’il, Ha’il, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Sehar-un-Nisa Hassan, Department of Public Health, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, 81451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Tel +966 5576 629 275, Email s.nisa@uoh.edu.sa; sehar_nisa@hotmail.com Nuzhat Parveen, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, 81451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Email n.parveen@uoh.edu.saAbstract: Background: Treatment tolerability and treatment environment are two major spheres of infertility care that may associate with women’s emotional health and coping mechanisms.Aim: The present study aimed at assessing the relationship between infertility treatment quality and various aspects of emotion-focus coping, problem-focus coping, and avoidance coping mechanisms.Method: The study was completed by using standardized tools and data from this descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational study were collected from 350 women undergoing infertility treatments in private reproductive healthcare centers in Quetta, Pakistan.Findings: Treatment tolerability was found to be positively associated with positive reframing (p < 0.02) and negatively associated with the use of emotional support (p < 0.03); acceptance (p < 0.01); humor (p < 0.03); behavioral disengagement (p < 0.01) and venting (p < 0.01). The quality of the treatment environment demonstrated a negative correlation between religious coping (p < 0.02) and behavioral disengagement (p < 0.01), whereas it showed a positive correlation with active coping (p < 0.03) and planning (p < 0.02). The linear regression analysis demonstrated that treatment tolerability significantly increased with positive reframing (R2 = 0.118, F(304) = 2.22, p < 0.03). Behavioral disengagement significantly decreased with better treatment environment (R2 = 0.111, F(304) = 2.09, p < 0.02).Discussion: We discussed the findings keeping in view the role of social, cultural, and economic factors related to infertility care in the context South-Asian culture, and recommendations are made to promote women’s mental health and coping by improving some specific aspects of infertility treatment quality.Conclusions: High treatment tolerability may associate with some useful aspects of emotion-focus coping, such as positive reframing, whereas low treatment tolerability may associate with avoidance coping, such as behavioral disengagement and venting. Besides, the quality of the infertility treatment environment enables women to use problem-focus coping mechanisms, such as planning and active coping.Keywords: infertility, treatment quality, FertiQol, coping mechanisms, mental health, reproductive healthcare, treatment tolerability, treatment environment, psychological well-being

I-Hua Chen,1,&ast; Pei-Ling Wu,2,3,&ast; Cheng-Fang Yen,4– 6,&ast; Irfan Ullah,7 Sheikh Shoib,8 Shafi Ullah Zahid,9 Aadil Bashir,10 Naved Iqbal,11 Frimpong-Manso Addo,12 Emma Sethina Adjaottor,12 Gifty Boakye Amankwaah,12 Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu,13 Mark D Griffiths,14 Chung-Ying Lin,15– 18 Amir H Pakpour19 1Chinese Academy of Education Big Data, Qufu Normal University, Qufu City, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Medicine, College of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 3Department of Pediatrics, E-Da Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; 4Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan; 5Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, 80756, Taiwan; 6College of Professional Studies, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, 91201, Taiwan; 7Kabir Medical College, Gandhara University, Peshawar, Pakistan; 8Sheikh Shoib Department of Psychiatry, Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital, Srinagar, India; 9Department of Neurosurgery, Jamhuriat hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan; 10Department of Social Work, University of Kashmir, Kashmir, India; 11Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India; 12Department of Behavioural Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; 13Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong; 14International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK; 15Institute of Allied Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; 16Biostatistics Consulting Center, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; 17Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; 18Department of Public Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan; 19Department of Nursing, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Emma Sethina Adjaottor; Chung-Ying Lin, Tel +233 20 816 85080 ; +886-6-2353535-5106, Fax + 886-6-2367981, Email eadjaottor.chs@knust.edu.gh; cylin36933@gmail.comPurpose: The percentage of individuals who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 was 53% worldwide, 62% in Asia, and 11% in Africa at the time of writing (February 9, 2022). In addition to administrative issues, vaccine hesitancy is an important factor contributing to the relatively low rate of vaccination. The Motors of COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance Scale (MoVac-COVID19S) was developed to assess COVID-19 vaccination acceptance levels. However, it has only been tested among Taiwanese, mainland Chinese, and Ghanaian populations (Chen et al, 2021; Fan et al, 2021; Yeh et al, 2021). Therefore, the present study examined the construct validity and measurement invariance of the MoVac-COVID19S among individuals from five countries (ie, Taiwan, mainland China, India, Ghana, and Afghanistan).Participants and Methods: A cross-sectional survey study recruited 6053 participants across five countries who completed the survey between January and March 2021. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) fit indices were used to examine factor structure and measurement invariance across the five countries.Results: The fit indices of the CFA were relatively good across the countries except for the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Moreover, the four-factor structure (either nine or 12 items) had a better fit than the one-factor structure. However, the four-factor model using nine MoVac-COVID19S items was the only model that had measurement invariance support for both factor loadings and item intercepts across the five countries.Conclusion: The present study confirmed that the MoVac-COVID19S has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used to assess an individual’s willingness to get COVID-19 vaccination.Keywords: factor structure, vaccine hesitancy, young adults

Herein, we present a practical, more efficient, environmentally friendly method for the synthesis of 1,5-benzodiazepine via condensation of benzene-1,2-diamine with commercially available ketones. The reaction was performed using various heterogeneous clay based catalysts, including Montmorillonite-K10, Montmorillonite-KSF, Kaoline, and bentonite, and also other clay supported transition metals based catalysts such as, Cu(II)-clay, Pd/Montmorillonite-KSF, Ni/Montmorillonite-KSF, Co/Montmorillonite-KSF, Sn/KSF, and Zn/Montmorillonite-KSF. Among various metal-clay based catalysts tested, Copper (II) adsorbed on clay nanocatalyst was found to be very efficient and showed promising activity for the formation of nitrogen containing heterocycle compound i.e. 1,5-benzodiazepine with excellent yields. An assortment of structurally diverse 1,5-benzodiazepine was prepared in good to excellent yields from easily available starting materials by using this protocol. The catalyst was found to be applicable to aromatic, heteroaryl and aliphatic ketone such as cyclic ketones as well as acyclic ketones. Keywords: Cu-clay, Nanocatalyst, Benzodiazepine, Microwave, Recyclable

A simple and efficient BF3-OEt2 promoted C3-alkylation of indole has been developed to obtain3-indolylsuccinimidesfrom commercially available indoles and maleimides, with excellent yields under mild reaction conditions. Furthermore, anti-proliferative activity of these conjugates was evaluated against HT-29 (Colorectal), Hepg2 (Liver) and A549 (Lung) human cancer cell lines. One of the compounds, 3w, having N,N-Dimethylatedindolylsuccinimide is a potent congener amongst the series with IC50 value 0.02 µM and 0.8 µM against HT-29 and Hepg2 cell lines, respectively, and compound 3i was most active amongst the series with IC50 value 1.5 µM against A549 cells. Molecular docking study and mechanism of reaction have briefly beendiscussed. This method is better than previous reports in view of yield and substrate scope including electron deficient indoles.

This research describes the production of lightweight cement mortar using four types of fine aggregates including chopped rubber tires, chopped plastic wastes, a mixture from the previous types by 1:1, and a mixture composed from substitution of 10% from the previous type by natural sand. Theuseofthese wastes has rolein getting rid oftheir hugequantitieswhich constitute a fundamentalenvironmental problembecause of the difficulty of itsdegradation.Four, cement to aggregate ratios have been used. They are1:0.5, 1:0.7, 1:1, and 1:1.2 for each aggregate type mentioned above, with changing w/c ratio and superplasticizer content to have a constant flow of about 23%. Also, the effect of curing samples by different methods, including continuous submerge in water, autoclave curing for 3 hours, and carbonation curing by 50% and 100% CO2 at 75oC for 90 minutes, was studied.The results indicated that it is possible to produce lightweight cement mortar, using any type of aggregates mentioned above, with compressive strength satisfying the requirements of clay brick class C of Iraqi Standard, that used in partitions, for a mix proportion of 1:1, except when using chopped rubber tires that need using mix proportion of 1:0.5 to satisfy the strength requirements, where the use of this aggregate type needs higher w/c ratio and superplasticizer content to get the required flow, which leads to lower strength in comparison with the other types. As for chopped plastic aggregate, although it needs lower water and superplasticizer content to get the required flow and strength, care should be taken to balance betweenthe amount of waterand superplasticizer addedto avoidthe possibility of segregation in it. So it was found that using the mixture of chopped plastic and rubber aggregate give the best properties.Results also indicated that using all aggregate typeswith cement: aggregate mix proportion 1:1 satisfy the flexural strength requirements of American Standards for cellulosic fiber insulating boards, and were with thermal conductivity valueslower than that for brick and concrete having density lower than 2000 kg/m3. The results indicated that partial replacement of 10% mixed waste aggregates by normal sand cause increase in strength but in the same time increase density and thermal conductivity for the produced mortar.Results also indicated that curing by autoclave or curing with 50% or 100% CO2 cause increase in the 7 days strength compared with those cured by water but they show almost the same strength at 28 days age.

This research concerned studying the combined effect of using nano-silica and/ or hybrid fibers on key mechanical properties of self-consolidating concrete SCC. A comprehensive experimental work has been carried out, using steel fiber (SF) with volume fraction (0, 0.5% and 1.5%), polypropylene fiber (PPF) (0%, 0.05% and 0.15%) and SiO2 nanoparticles (0%, 2% and 4%) by weight of powdered material (silica fume- Sf ) with constant w/c ratio (0.48) to produce eleven different mixtures and tested at different ages (7, 28 and 90 days). Results showed that adding fibers adversely affect SCC workability and thus more dosage of super plasticizer (SP) should be added to stay within the standard limits. comparable to conventional concretes, the presence of steel fibers with SCC provide slight increase in compressive strength at 28 days, (up to 11%), while significant enhancement in tensile properties were observed (up to 24% and 32% for splitting and flexural strength respectively). Polypropylene or hybrid fibers however, provide lower enhancement compared with steel fibers. In contrast, implementation of nanosilica leads to significant improvement in concrete strengths particularly at 4% dosage. Combined effect of 4% nanosilica and 1.5% of steel fibers provide the superior hardening effect on the flexural performance compared with softening effect provided by other added dosages. Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM) images confirm the matrix densification effect due to nanosilica adding. Flexural strength of SCCs without nanosilica was generally higher than splitting testing results. This fact does not change even with the presence of nanosilica and/ or fibers.

Nayyar Iqbal,1 Elsie Allen,1 Peter Öhman2 1Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ, USA; 2AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE, USA Background: Treatment decisions for older patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus must balance glycemic control and adverse event risk. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of saxagliptin 5 mg as add-on therapy to common antihyperglycemic drugs in patients aged ≥65 years and

Marion L Vetter1,2,3, Alisha Wade1, Leslie G Womble3, Cornelia Dalton-Bakes1, Thomas A Wadden3, Nayyar Iqbal1,21Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 2Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 3Department of Psychiatry, Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USAAbstract: The effect of dietary macronutrient composition on adipokine concentrations remains unclear. Greater reductions in leptin have been reported in participants who followed low-carbohydrate versus low-fat diets, although these studies did not adjust for the important effects of weight loss on adipokines. We investigated the effect of macronutrient composition on adipokine levels in 144 obese, diabetic participants who were randomly assigned to a low-carbohydrate ( 0.05 for all variables). However, significant changes in leptin and adiponectin occurred over time (P < 0.001 and P < 0.012, respectively). Modest weight loss, rather than macronutrient composition, likely accounted for the favorable changes observed in leptin and adiponectin over time.Keywords: diet, adipokine, obesity, diabetes, carbohydrate, hormone

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