HIV-Associated Cancer Biomarkers: A Requirement for Early Diagnosis

Globally, HIV/AIDS and cancer are increasingly public health problems and continue to exist as comorbidities. The sub-Saharan African region has the largest number of HIV infections. Malignancies previously associated with HIV/AIDS, also known as the AIDS-defining cancers (ADCs) have been documented to decrease, while the non-AIDS defining cancer (NADCs) are on the rise. On the other hand, cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease and precision oncology as the most effective cancer therapy is gaining attraction. Among HIV-infected individuals, the increased risk for developing cancer is due to the immune system of the patient being suppressed, frequent coinfection with oncogenic viruses and an increase in risky behavior such as poor lifestyle. The core of personalised medicine for cancer depends on the discovery and the development of biomarkers. Biomarkers are specific and highly sensitive markers that reveal information that aid in leading to the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of the disease. This review focuses mainly on the risk assessment, diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic role of various cancer biomarkers in HIV-positive patients. A careful selection of sensitive and specific HIV-associated cancer biomarkers is required to identify patients at most risk of tumour development, thus improving the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease.     

Trends in reinforced composite design for ionizing radiation shielding applications: a review

This review explored recent developments in reinforced composite design and applications for improved radiation shielding and high percentage attenuation. Radiation energy moves as a wave. Thus unguarded exposure to high-energy radiation is inimical to the human tissue and the overall health standing of individuals which may result in cancer, tumour, skin burns and cardiovascular diseases. Radiation energy is conventionally contained using lead-based shields. However, recent literature has faulted the continued use of lead citing drawbacks such as high toxicity, poisoning, lack of chemical stability, heaviness and hazardous after life handling. Consequently, the trending research evidence has shown mass deviation towards the use of reinforced polymer composite as an alternative to lead due to their light weight, low cost, high resilience, good mechanical tenacity and interesting electrical properties. The present review therefore summarizes the criteria for ionizing radiation shielding material design, mechanism of radiation energy shielding, beam penetration in composite shielding materials, theoretical shielding parameters in the design of radiation protective materials, scheme of reinforced composite material selection for shielding purposes and various control variables in the design of composite for ionizing radiation shielding. In addition, an attempt was made to highlight gaps in research and draw future scope for further studies. It is expected that this review will give some guidance to the future exploration in the design and application of reinforced composite with respect to ionizing radiation shielding processes.

     

Creep-fatigue failure of SAF 2205 and 316 stainless steels in Ar+3%SO2 environment at 700 °C

The creep-fatigue behaviour of SAF 2205 duplex stainless steel and 316 austenitic stainless steel was studied under a sulphur-containing environment of an Ar + 3%SO₂ atmosphere at 700°C. The cyclic loading employed creep-tension and plastic compression following the creep-plasticity (cp)-mode of the strain-range partitioning life-prediction method. The results showed that a premature failure was obtained with both SAF 2205 and 316 stainless steels under the combination of creep-fatigue loading and an SO₂-bearing atmosphere. However, SAF 2205 was significantly more resistant than 316 as far as the number of cycles to failure and the sulphidizing attack at the external surface were concerned. In both materials, the creep-fatigue crack propagation was directly controlled by the environmental attack of the SO₂-containing environment at the region ahead of the crack tip.     

Aging studies on flame retardant treated lignocellulosic fibers

The study deals with chemical and flame retardant (FR) treatment of flax fabric. Sheets of flax fabric were subjected to chemical treatments using NaOH and silane coupling agents. A phosphate‐based flame retardant (DAP) was also applied to improve the flammability of the fabric. The effects of the chemical treatments and FR treatments on flax fabric were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and vertical flame resistance test. Aging studies were carried out by exposing the samples in an environmental chamber at specified conditions for two weeks. The mechanical properties of the fabric, before and after environmental aging, were investigated. Flammability of flax fabric was improved after FR treatment. Thermal studies revealed a shift of decomposition temperature to lower temperatures and an increase in char residue after FR treatment. Despite treatment of the fabric with NaOH and silane, the tensile strength of FR‐treated flax fabric declined by more than 90% after aging for two weeks at 90 °C and 50% RH. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44175.     

Coefficient Diagram Method Based Load Frequency Control for a Modern Power System

With the increasing penetration of renewable energy sources with a wide range of operating conditions causing power system uncertainties, conventional controllers are incapable of providing proper performance to keep the system stable. However, controllable or dispatchable loads such as electric vehicles (EVs) and heat pumps (HPs) can be utilized for supplementary frequency control. This paper shows the ability of plug-in hybrid EVs, HPs, and batteries (BTs) to contribute in the frequency control of an isolated power system. Moreover, we propose a new online intelligent approach by using a coefficient diagram method (CDM) to enhance the system performance and robustness against uncertainties. The performance of the proposed intelligent CDM control has been compared with the proportional-integral (PI) controller and the superiority of the proposed scheme has been verified in Matlab/Simulink programs.     

Coefficient Diagram Method Based Load Frequency Control for a Modern Power System

With the increasing penetration of renewable energy sources with a wide range of operating conditions causing power system uncertainties,conventional controllers are incapable of providing proper performance to keep the system stable.However,controllable or dispatchable loads such as electric vehicles(EVs) and heat pumps(HPs) can be utilized for supplementary frequency control.This paper shows the ability of plug-in hybrid EVs,HPs,and batteries(BTs)to contribute in the frequency control of an isolated power system.Moreover,we propose a new online intelligent approach by using a coefficient diagram method(CDM) to enhance the system performance and robustness against uncertainties.The performance of the proposed intelligent CDM control has been compared with the proportional-integral(PI) controller and the superiority of the proposed scheme has been verified in Matlab/Simulink programs.     

Flame retardant treated flax fibre reinforced phenolic composites: Ageing and thermal characteristics

In this study, flax composites were prepared from flax fabric and phenolic resin. Chemical treatments were imparted to the fabric to improve adhesion between the fabric and the phenolic matrix. Diammonium phosphate was applied to improve the flammability of the composites. The thermal and flammability properties of the untreated, chemically treated, and flame retardant (FR) treated flax fabric reinforced phenolic composites were studied. Ageing studies were carried out by subjecting the composites to varying conditions of temperature and humidity in an environmental chamber for 2 weeks. FR treatment of flax fabric was shown to be very effective in improving flame retardancy of the composites due to decreased peak heat release rate (PHRR) and smoke production rate (SPR). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of composites showed that after FR treatment, the decomposition temperatures shifted to lower temperatures. Ageing studies revealed that the mechanical properties of untreated, chemically treated and FR treated composites decreased with an increase in ageing temperature.