An outbreak of hemorrhagic septicemia in a vaccinated herd of domestic water buffalo in Thi Qar province, Iraq: Clinical and pathological observations

An outbreak of hemorrhagic septicemia (HS) with a 100% morbidity and 27.5% mortality was reported in a herd of domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) at Qar / the south west of Iraq. This herd was vaccinated against the disease 45 days prior to transportation into Thi Qar province. The disease was diagnosed based on clinical signs (fever, nasal and ocular mucus discharges, profuse salivation, dyspnea, abnormal respiratory sounds “rales” and restlessness). Pasteurella multocida was isolated from the lungs of dead animals. The postmortem examination revealed edematous swelling of the neck, brisket and sub-mandibular regions; frothy exudate in congested trachea; widely distributed petechial hemorrhages; blood-tinged fluid in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, in addition, to enlargement and hyperemia of kidney. Histopathologically, there were distention of alveolar spaces and inter-alveolar connective tissue septa by inflammatory exudate consisting mainly of fibrin, edematous fluid, RBCs and inflammatory cells particularly polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs). In addition, the bronchial and bronchiolar lumens were filled with mucinous exudate and inflammatory cells. Thickening of pleura was also observed due to the pleuritis as indicated by the presence of sub-mesothelial fibrinous exudate, inflammatory cells and blood vessels congestion

The PROVENT-C19 registry: A study protocol for international multicenter SIAARTI registry on the use of prone positioning in mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19 ARDS

Background The worldwide use of prone position (PP) for invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19 is progressively increasing from the first pandemic wave in everyday clinical practice. Among the suggested treatments for the management of ARDS patients, PP was recommended in the Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 guidelines as an adjuvant therapy for improving ventilation. In patients with severe classical ARDS, some authors reported that early application of prolonged PP sessions significantly decreases 28-day and 90-day mortality. Methods and analysis Since January 2021, the COVID19 Veneto ICU Network research group has developed and implemented nationally and internationally the "PROVENT-C19 Registry", endorsed by the Italian Society of Anesthesia Analgesia Resuscitation and Intensive Care. . .'(SIAARTI). The PROVENT-C19 Registry wishes to describe 1. The real clinical practice on the use of PP in COVID-19 patients during the pandemic at a National and International level; and 2. Potential baseline and clinical characteristics that identify subpopulations of invasively ventilated patients with COVID-19 that may improve daily from PP therapy. This web-based registry will provide relevant information on how the database research tools may improve our daily clinical practice. Conclusions This multicenter, prospective registry is the first to identify and characterize the role of PP on clinical outcome in COVID-19 patients. In recent years, data emerging from large registries have been increasingly used to provide real-world evidence on the effectiveness, quality, and safety of a clinical intervention. Indeed observation-based registries could be effective tools aimed at identifying specific clusters of patients within a large study population with widely heterogeneous clinical characteristics. Copyright

New technique for strengthening squarereinforced concrete columns by the circularisation with reactive powder concrete and wrapping with fibre-reinforced polymer

This paper presents a new strengthening technique for square-reinforced concrete (RC) columns by circularisation with reactive powder concrete (RPC) and wrapping with fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP). RC column specimens were tested, divided into four groups of four specimens based on the strengthening technique: four reference square specimens (150mm side length) without any strengthening, four were wrapped with two layers of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and the remaining eight were strengthened by changing the square cross-section to a 240mm diameter circle with RPC jacket. Four of the RPC jacketed specimens were left unwrapped, while the last four were wrapped with two layers of CFRP. From each group, one specimen was tested under concentric axial load, two were tested under eccentric axial load and one was tested under four-point bending. It was found that using the RPC for circularisation and strengthening of existing square RC columns is an effective technique to significantly increase their axial carrying capacity, ultimate flexural load and energy absorption. Wrapping the circularised RC columns with CFRP prevented the failure of the RPC jacket at the corners of the existing square RC columns under the axial load, and improved the ultimate load as well as the energy absorption of the circularised RC columns

Analytical investigation on the behavior of circular and square RC columns strengthened with RPC and wrapped with FRP under uniaxial compression

This paper presents an analytical approach to predict the uniaxial compression behavior of circular and square reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened with reactive powder concrete (RPC) jackets and wrapped with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP). The analytical axial load-axial strain responses of the strengthened RC columns were compared with experimental axial load-axial strain responses. The analytical approach presented in this study conservatively predicted the ultimate axial load of the strengthened RC columns. Also, a parametric study was carried out to investigate key factors that influence the axial load-axial strain response of the strengthened RC columns. It was found that the ratio of the RPC jacket thickness to the diameter or side length of the base RC column significantly influenced the service axial load, ultimate axial load and ductility of a strengthened RC column

Mechanical properties of steel, glass, and hybrid fiber reinforced reactive powder concrete

This study examines the properties of fiber-reinforced reactive powder concrete (FR-RPC). Steel fibers, glass fibers, and steel-glass hybrid fibers were used to prepare the FR-RPC. The non-fibrous reactive powder concrete (NF-RPC) was prepared as a reference mix. The proportion of fibers by volume for all FR-RPC mixes was 1.5%. Steel fibers of 13 mm length and 0.2 mm diameter were used to prepare the steel fiber-reinforced RPC (SFR-RPC). Glass fibers of 13 mm length and 1.3 mm diameter were used to prepare the glass fiber-reinforced RPC (GFR-RPC). The hybrid fiber-reinforced RPC (HFR-RPC) was prepared by mixing 0.9% steel fibers and 0.6% glass fibers. Compressive strength, axial load-axial deformation behavior, modulus of elasticity, indirect tensile strength, and shear strength of the RPC mixes were investigated. The results showed that SFR-RPC achieved higher compressive strength, indirect tensile strength and shear strength than NF-RPC, GFR-RPC, and HFR-RPC. Although the compressive strengths of GFR-RPC and HFR-RPC were slightly lower than the compressive strength of NF-RPC, the shear strengths of GFR-RPC and HFR-RPC were higher than that of NF-RPC

Axial and flexural behaviour of circular reinforced concrete columns strengthened with reactive powder concrete jacket and fibre reinforced polymer wrapping

This paper investigates axial and flexural behaviour of circular reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened with reactive powder concrete (RPC) jacket and fibre reinforced polymer wrapping. The experimental results of 16 circular RC column specimens have been presented. The specimens were divided into four groups of four specimens. Column specimens of the first group were the reference RC specimens without any strengthening, specimens of the second group were strengthened by wrapping with two layers of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP), specimens of the third group were jacketed with a 25 mm thick layer of RPC and specimens of the fourth group were jacketed with a 25 mm thick layer of RPC then wrapped with a single layer of CFRP. Test results demonstrated that jacketing with a thin layer of the RPC enhanced significantly the ultimate axial and flexural loads as well as energy absorption of circular RC column specimens. Wrapping the RPC jacketed specimens with CFRP improved the ultimate axial load, ductility and energy absorption of the specimens