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 (

In this paper the experimentally obtained conditions for the fusion splicing with photonic crystal fibers (PCF) having large mode areas were reported. The physical mechanism of the splice loss and the microhole collapse property of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) were studied. By controlling the arc-power and the arc-time of a conventional electric arc fusion splicer (FSM-60S), the minimum loss of splicing for fusion two conventional single mode fibers (SMF-28) was (0.00dB), which has similar mode field diameter. For splicing PCF (LMA-10) with a conventional single mode fiber (SMF-28), the loss was increased due to the mode field mismatch.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate serum levels of clusterin (CLU) in type 2 diabetics with and without cardiovascular disease and to explore possible correlations with insulin resistance and related progression of cardiovascular disease in Iraqi men.

Methods: Sixty-three T2DM patients, including forty-two with cardiovascular disease (CVD), were divided into three subgroups; twenty-one with myocardial infraction (MI), twenty-one with other CVD, and twenty-one without any cardiac complication. In addition, a group of twenty-one men served as healthy controls (HCs) for comparison purposes. The four groups were analyzed for parameters that included fasting serum glucose (FSG), l

Background: Osteoporosis is a progressive systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass and micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue spatially in postmenopausal women and its major complication fractures.
Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the significance of serum OC and serum OPN levels with the incidence of osteoporosis and its major complication (fractures).
Patients and Methods: Eighty-five postmenopausal women (PMW) whose ages were fifty years and over categorized into three groups: osteoporosis PMW without VFs (n=30), osteoporosis PMW with VFs (n=28), and healthy PMW (n=27). Sera samples were analyzed for alkaline phosphatase, calcium and phosphorous by using spectrophotometric kit. Serum OC

This work concerns the thermal and sound insulation as well as the mechanical properties of polymer matrix composite reinforced with glass fibers. These fibers may have dangerous effect during handling, for example the glass fibers might cause some damage to the eyes, lungs and even skin. For this reason the present work, investigates the behavior of polymer composite reinforced with natural fibers (Plant fibers) as replacement to glass fibers. Unsaturated Polyester resin was used as matrix material reinforced with two types of fibers, one of them is artificial (Glass fibers) and the other type is natural (Jute, Fronds Palm and Reed Fibers) by hand lay-up technique. All fibers are untreated with any chemical solvent. The Percentage of mi

        IGF-1  is a protein  produced  by  the liver in  response  to  growth hormone   stimulus.One important  key in effectively  preventing  and   treating  osteo arthritis, is establishing a healthy balance of IGF-1.    Leptin is a hormone  produced   by  adipose tissue,   acting as a  sensor  of  fat  mass in  part  of   a negative   feedback   loop   that maintains  a  set  point  for  body  fat  stores.  Leptin  plays  an important  role  in &nbs