A novel demountable shear connector for precast steel-concrete composite bridges is presented. The connector uses high-strength steel bolts, which are fastened to the top flange of the steel beam with the aid of a special locking nut configuration that prevents bolts from slipping within their holes. Moreover, the connector promotes accelerated construction and overcomes the typical construction tolerance issues of precast structures. Most importantly, the connector allows bridge disassembly. Therefore, it can address different bridge deterioration scenarios with minimum disturbance to traffic flow including the following: (1) precast deck panels can be rapidly uplifted and replaced; (2) connectors can be rapidly removed and replaced; and (

Soil improvement has developed as a realistic solution for enhancing soil properties so that structures can be constructed to meet project engineering requirements due to the limited availability of construction land in urban centers. The jet grouting method for soil improvement is a novel geotechnical alternative for problematic soils for which conventional foundation designs cannot provide acceptable and lasting solutions. The paper's methodology was based on constructing pile models using a low-pressure injection laboratory setup built and made locally to simulate the operation of field equipment. The setup design was based on previous research that systematically conducted unconfined compression testing (U.C.Ts.). Th

Castellated columns are structural members that are created by breaking a rolled column along the center-line by flame after that rejoining the equivalent halves by welding such that for better structural strength against axial loading, the total column depth is increased by around 50 percent. The implementation of these institutional members will also contribute to significant economies of material value. The main objectives of this study are to study the enhancement of the load-carrying capacity of castellated columns with encasement of the columns by Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC) and lacing reinforcement, and serviceability of the confined castellated columns. The Castellated columns with RPC and Lacing Reinforcement improve com

           In this paper, the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) is presented for treating a linear system of second-kind mixed Volterra-Fredholm integral equations. The method is based on constructing the series whose summation is the solution of the considered system. Convergence of constructed series is discussed and its proof is given; also, the error estimation is obtained. Algorithm is suggested and applied on several examples and the results are computed by using MATLAB (R2015a). To show the accuracy of the results and the effectiveness of the method, the approximate solutions of some examples are compared with the exact solution by computing the absolute errors.

Background: The most crucial mechanism of genetic variation in N. meningitidis is the slipped strand mispairing, this mechanism generates Phase variation using simple sequence repeat (SSR) and is commonly used by the N. meningitidis to escape the immune system despite its function in eradicating the pathogenic and commensal bacteria. Some of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) that located within the genome works as phase variation while other SSRs have no role in generating phase variation mechanisms. Therefore, Aim: the main goal of the current in silico study was to detect the probability of SSR to enroll with phase variation for the entire N. meningitidis genome. Methods: Different criteria were used to judge SSR as

Conditional logistic regression is often used to study the relationship between event outcomes and specific prognostic factors in order to application of logistic regression and utilizing its predictive capabilities into environmental studies. This research seeks to demonstrate a novel approach of implementing conditional logistic regression in environmental research through inference methods predicated on longitudinal data. Thus, statistical analysis of longitudinal data requires methods that can properly take into account the interdependence within-subjects for the response measurements. If this correlation ignored then inferences such as statistical tests and confidence intervals can be invalid largely.