Two novel demountable shear connectors for precast steel-concrete composite bridges are presented. The connectors use high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the steel beam with the aid of a special locking configuration that prevents slip of bolts within their holes. Moreover, the connectors promote accelerated construction and overcome typical construction tolerances issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connectors allow bridge disassembly, and therefore, can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow, i.e. (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (3) steel beams can be replaced, while precast

The performance quality and searching speed of Block Matching (BM) algorithm are affected by shapes and sizes of the search patterns used in the algorithm. In this paper, Kite Cross Hexagonal Search (KCHS) is proposed. This algorithm uses different search patterns (kite, cross, and hexagonal) to search for the best Motion Vector (MV). In first step, KCHS uses cross search pattern. In second step, it uses one of kite search patterns (up, down, left, or right depending on the first step). In subsequent steps, it uses large/small Hexagonal Search (HS) patterns. This new algorithm is compared with several known fast block matching algorithms. Comparisons are based on search points and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR). According to resul

The precise classification of DNA sequences is pivotal in genomics, holding significant implications for personalized medicine. The stakes are particularly high when classifying key genetic markers such as BRAC, related to breast cancer susceptibility; BRAF, associated with various malignancies; and KRAS, a recognized oncogene. Conventional machine learning techniques often necessitate intricate feature engineering and may not capture the full spectrum of sequence dependencies. To ameliorate these limitations, this study employs an adapted UNet architecture, originally designed for biomedical image segmentation, to classify DNA sequences.The attention mechanism was also tested LONG WITH u-Net architecture to precisely classify DNA sequences

The pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which represents over 90% of pancreatic cancer cases,
has the highest proliferative and metastatic rate in comparison to other pancreatic cancer compartments. This
study is designed to determine whether small nucleolar RNA, H/ACA box 64 (snoRNA64) is associated with
pancreatic cancer initiation and progression. Gene expression data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO)
repository have shown that snoRNA64 expression is reduced in primary and metastatic pancreatic cancer as
compared to normal tissues based on statistical analysis of the in Silico analysis. Using qPCR techniques,
pancreatic cancer cell lines include PK-1, PK-8, PK-4, and Mia PaCa-2 with differ

Introduction: Methadone hydrochloride (MDN) is an effective pharmacological substitution treatment for opioids dependence, adopted in different countries as methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programmes. However, MDN can exacerbate the addiction problem if it is abused and injected intravenously, and the frequent visits to the MMT centres can reduce patient compliance. The overall aim of this study is to develop a novel extended-release capsule of MDN using the sol-gel silica (SGS) technique that has the potential to counteract medication-tampering techniques and associated health risks and reduce the frequent visits to MMT centres. Methods: For MDN recrystallisation, a closed container method (CCM) and hot-stage method (HSM) were conduc

An encryption system needs unpredictability and randomness property to maintain information security during transmission and storage. Although chaotic maps have this property, they have limitations such as low Lyapunov exponents, low sensitivity and limited chaotic regions. The paper presents a new improved skewed tent map to address these problems. The improved skew tent map (ISTM) increases the sensitivity to initial conditions and control parameters. It has uniform distribution of output sequences. The programs for ISTM chaotic behavior were implemented in MATLAB R2023b. The novel ISTM produces a binary sequence, with high degree of complexity and good randomness properties. The performance of the ISTM generator shows effective s

To perform a secure evaluation of Indoor Design data, the research introduces a Cyber-Neutrosophic Model, which utilizes AES-256 encryption, Role-Based Access Control, and real-time anomaly detection. It measures the percentage of unpredictability, insecurity, and variance present within model features. Also, it provides reliable data security. Similar features have been identified between the final results of the study, corresponding to the Cyber-Neutrosophic Model analysis, and the cybersecurity layer helped mitigate attacks. It is worth noting that Anomaly Detection successfully achieved response times of less than 2.5 seconds, demonstrating that the model can maintain its integrity while providing privacy. Using neutrosophic sim

This work involved the successful synthesis of three new Schiff base complexes, including Ni(II), Mn(II), and Cu(II) complexes. The Schiff base ligand was created by reacting the malonyldihydrazide molecule with naphthaldehyde, and the final step involved reacting the ligand with the corresponding metallic chloride yielding pure target complexes. FTIR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, mass, and UV/Vis spectroscopies were used to comprehensively characterize the produced complexes. These substances have been employed in this study to photo-stabilize polystyrene (PS) and lessen the photo-degradation of its polymeric chains. Several methods, including FTIR, weight loss, viscosity average molecular weight, light and atomic force microscopy, and energy disper

This paper presents L₁-adaptive controller for controlling uncertain parameters and time-varying unknown parameters to control the position of a DC servomotor. For the purpose of comparison, the effectiveness of L₁-adaptive controller for position control of studied servomotor has been examined and compared with another adaptive controller; Model Reference Adaptive Controller (MRAC). Robustness of both L₁-adaptive controller and model reference adaptive controller to different input reference signals and different structures of uncertainty were studied. Three different types of input signals are taken into account; ramp, step and sinusoidal. The L₁-adaptive controller ensured uniformly bounded