Pseudo-static pile load test: expirience on pre-bored and large diameter piles

Pseudostatic load test is usually employed as an alternative to the conventional static load test for piles. Recent developments showed that the well developed Statnamic tests can be substantially simplified by using a hanging weight falling over a cushion system that allows increasing the time length of the generated stress pulse. This work describes the design of the test method and a recently experience related to the application of the pseudostatic load test used to evaluate the bearing capacity of large diameter piles. The performed test showed that using moderate loads from 10 to 20 tons falling from 10 cm to 120 cm and cushions prepared at varied stiffness allowed to reach more than 800 tons of loading and the fully mobilization of the pile ultimate capacity. The main advantages of the proposed pseudostatic tests respect to the conventional Statnamic tests is the possibility to apply load increments by steps, the repeatability of each loading step and the simpler test setup required by the former.Fil: Rinaldi, V. A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Viguera, R. CIM SRL consultants; Argentina.Ingeniería de la Construcció

Endothelin-1 amplifies ventricular repolarization heterogeneities in chronic myocardial infarction pigs

Introduction: Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a vasoconstrictor peptide secreted by endothelial cells and cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts. It is involved in oxidative stress, apoptosis regulation and ventricular remodeling processes associated with heart failure and ischemic cardiomyopathy, including myocardial hypertrophy, fibrosis and impaired conduction. ET-1 has been shown to influence cardiac electrophysiology by modulation of calcium and potassium currents and to contribute to arrhythmogenesis and sudden cardiac death. Purpose: We aim to characterize the functional role of ET-1 in the electrophysiology of healed myocardial infarction (MI) by analysis of porcine ventricular slices as a highly representative model of ventricular tissue with preserved cellular cross-talks and architecture. Methods: Domestic pigs (60–80 kg, n = 3) were infarcted by temporal occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. 8-12 weeks after infarct induction, animals were cardioplegically arrested under deep anesthesia and sacrificed. All animal procedures conformed to the guidelines from Directive 2010/63/EU and were approved by local authorities. 350 µm-thick ventricular slices were produced from transmural tissue blocks of healed MI ventricles. Tissue blocks were taken from remote, adjacent and border zones of the infarct area. Slices were optically mapped within 8 hours after tissue collection to record transmembrane potential and intracellular calcium. Action Potential Duration (APD) and Calcium Transient Duration (CaTD) were measured at 80% repolarization for 0.5, 1 and 2 Hz pacing frequencies in the presence and absence of 100 nM ET-1. The notation n/N is used to denote n tissue slices from N pigs. Results: ET-1 prolonged the APD at all frequencies in remote zones, with mean prolongation percentages of 30.5%, 32%, 26.2% at 0.5, 1 and 2 Hz, respectively, n/N=7/3. However, only minor effects were observed in adjacent (mean APD prolongation of 3.3%, 4.9% and 10.7%, n/N=5/3) and border zones (7%, 4% and 3.6%, n/N=5/3). ET-1 caused an increase in CaTD at 1 Hz in the three zones, with no significant regional differences in the amount of CaTD increase: mean prolongation of 14.1% (n/N=7/3) in the remote zone, 12.4 % (n/N=5/3) in the adjacent zone and 20.9% (n/N=4/3) in the border zone. Conclusions: In chronic MI pigs, ET-1 induces strong APD and moderate CaTD prolongation of remote normal myocardium at low (0.5 Hz) to high (2 Hz) frequencies. The ET-1-induced effects on the AP of normal tissue, but not on CaT, are disrupted in the border zones of the infarct area and in its proximity. Our results point to ET-1 acting to enhance ventricular repolarization dispersion in chronic MI pigs, which might contribute to increased arrhythmia vulnerability

Model vine solutions: Caffeic acid is not an important factor in colour and composition changes during red wine aging

Research NoteThe effect of caffeic acid and SO, on the interaction between malvidin 3-glucoside, (+)-catechin and acetaldehyde was investigated in model wine systems. Reactions were monitored by HPLC, spectrophotometry and tristimulus colorimetry. Caffeic acid had only a marginal effect on the reactions involving the other components in these model wine solutions

Sequencing of folding events in Go-like proteins

We have studied folding mechanisms of three small globular proteins: crambin (CRN), chymotrypsin inhibitor 2 (CI2) and the fyn Src Homology 3 domain (SH3) which are modelled by a Go-like Hamiltonian with the Lennard-Jones interactions. It is shown that folding is dominated by a well-defined sequencing of events as determined by establishment of particular contacts. The order of events depends primarily on the geometry of the native state. Variations in temperature, coupling strengths and viscosity affect the sequencing scenarios to a rather small extent. The sequencing is strongly correlated with the distance of the contacting aminoacids along the sequence. Thus $\alpha$-helices get established first. Crambin is found to behave like a single-route folder, whereas in CI2 and SH3 the folding trajectories are more diversified. The folding scenarios for CI2 and SH3 are consistent with experimental studies of their transition states.Comment: REVTeX, 12 pages, 11 EPS figures, J. Chem. Phys (in press

Nuclear localization of the CK2a-subunit correlates with poor prognosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Protein kinase CK2a, one of the two catalytic isoforms of the protein kinase CK2 has been shown to contribute to tumor development, tumor proliferation and suppression of apoptosis in various malignancies. We conducted this study to investigate CK2 expression in different subtypes of Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) and in the benign oncocytoma. qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses revealed that CK2a expression was significantly increased at the mRNA and protein levels in clear cell RCC (ccRCC). Also the kinase activity of CK2 was significantly increased in ccRCC compared to normal renal cortex. Nuclear protein expression of CK2a correlated in univariate analysis with poor Progression Free Survival (HR = 8.11, p = 0.016). Functional analyses (cell proliferation assay) revealed an inhibitory effect of Caki-2 cell growth following CK2 inhibition with CX-4945. Our results suggest that CK2a promotes migration and invasion of ccRCC and therefore could serve as a novel prognostic biomarker and molecular therapeutic target in this type of cancer

Natural bioactive compounds from winery by-products as health promoters: A review

The relevance of food composition for human health has increased consumers’ interest in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as foods enriched in bioactive compounds and nutraceuticals. This fact has led to a growing attention of suppliers on reuse of agro-industrial wastes rich in healthy plant ingredients. On this matter, grape has been pointed out as a rich source of bioactive compounds. Currently, up to 210 million tons of grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) are produced annually, being the 15% of the produced grapes addressed to the wine-making industry. This socio-economic activity generates a large amount of solid waste (up to 30%, w/w of the material used). Winery wastes include biodegradable solids namely stems, skins, and seeds. Bioactive compounds from winery by-products have disclosed interesting health promoting activities both in vitro and in vivo. This is a comprehensive review on the phytochemicals present in winery by-products, extraction techniques, industrial uses, and biological activities demonstrated by their bioactive compounds concerning potential for human health. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work was supported by national funds from FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the projects PEst-OE/AGR/UI4033/2014 and Project INNOFOOD-INNovation in the FOOD sector through the valorization of food and agro-food by-products-NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-0000029, financed by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (ON.2–O Novo Norte) under the National Strategic Reference Framework (QREN), through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). The authors also express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the funding through the CICYT project AGL2011-23690, and the CYTED Program (Ref. 112RT0460) CORNUCOPIA Thematic Network [192]. We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)Peer Reviewe

Tomografía sísmica de refracción para diseño de viaducto sobre el Río Chagres- República de Panamá

Se llevó a cabo un estudio geofísico de refracción para evaluar el fallamiento del techo de roca que se presenta en el cruce del Rio Chagres a la salida del vertedero y las exclusas del lago Gatun del canal de Panamá en direccion hacia el océano Atlántico; en la República de Panamá. La estratificación geológica en la zona de estudio es dominada por sedimentos marinos y fluviales no consolidados de limos y arcillas arenosas con elevado contenido orgánico denominados Atlantic Muck que yacen sobre la Formación Gatún que puede describirse en formagenérica como una arcilita a limolita con cementacion variable en donde aparecen en forma aislada niveles muy debiles. El ambiente muestra sitomas de tectonismo con fallas en dirección predominante NO-SE [1].Fil: Rinaldi, V. A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Geotecnia; Argentina.Fil: Imhof, A.L. Instituto Geofísico S. Volponi; Argentina.Fil: Imhof, A.L. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Geofísica; Argentina.Fil: Viguera, R.F. CIM GROUP Inc; Argentina.Fil: Ibarra, H. LOUIS BERGER GROUP Inc; Panamá.Otras Ingeniería Civi