Suitability of Indian Hot-Rolled Parallel Flange Sections for Use in Seismic Steel Moment Resisting Frames

Use of parallel flange I beam sections is advantageous than tapered flange I beam sections due to, increased lateral stiffness, sections do not have sloping flanges and excessive material in web and easy to weld and bolt. Nowadays the hot rolled parallel flange, narrow parallel flange beams (NPB) and wide parallel flange beams (WPB) sections as per Indian standards, having yield stress, 300 MPa, 350 MPa and 410 MPa are being manufactured. Available range of these sections can be used for steel moment resisting frames (SMRF’s) and prequalified connections as per AISC codes. When the cross section of a steel shape is subjected to large compressive stresses, the thin plates that make up the cross section may buckle before the full strength of the member is attained if the thin plates are too slender. This failure mode may be prevented by selecting suitable width-to-thickness ratios of component plates. In the present exercise, a suitability of NPB and WPB section for use in SMRF’s as per width-to-thickness limitations of AISC 341-2010 and AISC 341-2005 codal provisions is studied

Modern Strengthening Strategies for Steel Moment Resisting Frames: State – of – the – Art –Review

The Northridge (1994) and Kobe (1995) earthquakes caused widespread brittle fracture in the connections of steel moment-resisting frames. As a response to this unexpected damage, a variety of new designs have been proposed. Among many connections investigated recently, two categories of connections are mostly used to enhance ductility under severe earthquake loads. One of the two categories is the reinforced connections, in which the cover plate or haunch are used to strengthen the connections. The other category is the reduced beam section (RBS) connections. In present paper recent studies of strengthening strategies or reinforced connections are discussed. In this design philosophy, the portion of the beam adjacent to the column, where the maximum moment occurs during seismic loading, is strengthened. This will force the plastic hinge to form away from the joint. The strengthening may be done using: haunches cover plates, rib plates, side plates…etc. Keywords: Strengthening schemes, reinforced connections, cover plates, rib plates, side plates, haunche

Prospective observational cohort study on grading the severity of postoperative complications in global surgery research

Background The Clavien–Dindo classification is perhaps the most widely used approach for reporting postoperative complications in clinical trials. This system classifies complication severity by the treatment provided. However, it is unclear whether the Clavien–Dindo system can be used internationally in studies across differing healthcare systems in high- (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This was a secondary analysis of the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), a prospective observational cohort study of elective surgery in adults. Data collection occurred over a 7-day period. Severity of complications was graded using Clavien–Dindo and the simpler ISOS grading (mild, moderate or severe, based on guided investigator judgement). Severity grading was compared using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Data are presented as frequencies and ICC values (with 95 per cent c.i.). The analysis was stratified by income status of the country, comparing HICs with LMICs. Results A total of 44 814 patients were recruited from 474 hospitals in 27 countries (19 HICs and 8 LMICs). Some 7508 patients (16·8 per cent) experienced at least one postoperative complication, equivalent to 11 664 complications in total. Using the ISOS classification, 5504 of 11 664 complications (47·2 per cent) were graded as mild, 4244 (36·4 per cent) as moderate and 1916 (16·4 per cent) as severe. Using Clavien–Dindo, 6781 of 11 664 complications (58·1 per cent) were graded as I or II, 1740 (14·9 per cent) as III, 2408 (20·6 per cent) as IV and 735 (6·3 per cent) as V. Agreement between classification systems was poor overall (ICC 0·41, 95 per cent c.i. 0·20 to 0·55), and in LMICs (ICC 0·23, 0·05 to 0·38) and HICs (ICC 0·46, 0·25 to 0·59). Conclusion Caution is recommended when using a treatment approach to grade complications in global surgery studies, as this may introduce bias unintentionally

Critical care admission following elective surgery was not associated with survival benefit: prospective analysis of data from 27 countries

This was an investigator initiated study funded by Nestle Health Sciences through an unrestricted research grant, and by a National Institute for Health Research (UK) Professorship held by RP. The study was sponsored by Queen Mary University of London

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32–0.77); P\u3c0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88–1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62–0.92); P\u3c0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61–0.88); P\u3c0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine