The MIRACLE trial (MERS-CoV Infection tReated with A Combination of Lopinavir/ritonavir and intErferon-β1b) investigates the efficacy of a combination therapy of lopinavir/ritonavir and recombinant interferon-β1b provided with standard supportive care, compared to placebo provided with standard supportive care, in hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed MERS. The MIRACLE trial is designed as a recursive, two-stage, group sequential, multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized controlled trial. The aim of this article is to describe the statistical analysis plan for the MIRACLE trial. The primary outcome is 90-day mortality. The primary analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle. The MIRACLE trial is the first randomized controlled trial for MERS treatment.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02845843. Registered on 27 July 2016.

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Raw sewage sludge was characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and TGA techniques and incinerated in temperature range 650-950• C for 2 h. The effect of incineration temperature on the microstructure and pozzolanic activity of the resultant ash was investigated by techniques mentioned above as well as Chapelle test. It was concluded that incineration of sewage sludge affects the microstructure and pozzolanic activity of the resultant ash. During incineration at temperatures lower than 800• C, amorphous silica captures fixed carbon resulting from incomplete combustion conditions whereas at higher temperatures crystallization of amorphous silica was enhanced. Hydration products formed from hydrothermal treatment of silica fume with lime is amorphous whereas that of sewage sludge ash is fibrous. Hence, incineration of sewage sludge ash must be optimized at 800• C to preserve the pozzolanic activity of the resultant ash.

e aim of the present study is to investigate the hydration characteristics and the �re resistance of sewage sludge ash blended cement pastes by the determination of compressive strength, bulk density, and total porosity in addition to XRD and SEM techniques. Sewage sludge ash modi�es the hydration of cement because of its pozzolanic reaction with portlandite favoring the formation of crosslinked �brous calcium silicate of low Ca/Si ratio. Hence, it was concluded that thermal damage of cement pastes a�er the exposure to high treatment temperatures (i.e., crack formation and loss of mechanical properties) was effectively reduced with sewage sludge as content up to 20 wt% because of that the presence of crosslinked �brous calcium silicate strengthens the cement matrix.