Research achievements in under-deck and combined cable-stayed bridges

Under-deck cable-stayed bridges and combined cable-stayed bridges constitute two innovative bridge types that have been designed and built on only a few occasions over the last thirty years by outstanding structural engineers, such as Leonhardt, Schlaich, Menn, Virlogeux, Manterola, and Cremer. In these bridge types, the stay cables have unconventional layouts: below the deck, in the case of under-deck cable-stayed bridges, and above and below the deck, in the case of combined cable-stayed bridges. Over the last few years, major research advances related to these bridge types have been made to the point that now research dictates the development of these new bridge typologies. In this communication, a general overview of the current state-of-art will be set out; addressing issues related to built bridges, research developments, structural behaviour, design criteria and potential applications for these innovative bridge types. Major attention will be paid to their highly-efficient structural behaviour, that allows a significant reduction in the amounts of materials in comparison with conventional bridges, leading to sustainable design. Other advantages of these structural types, such as the numerous construction possibilities, aesthetical properties, and broad range of potential applications, will also be stressed

El puente con pretensado extradosado. Un nuevo tipo estructural

La idea de estos puentes y su denominación proviene de Mathivat quien, en 1988, propone comosolución de concurso del viaducto de L'Arret-DarréW1 puente con esta tipología, que se caracterizapor disponer el pretensado, sobre las secciones de apoyo en pila, exteriormente al canto de lasección y por la pane superior del tablero, intentando ganar excentricidad. Resulta, así, unaespecie de puente de tirantes con pila baja y canto holgado, que busca, además de la compensaciónde cargas, que la variación de tensión en el acero de los tendones extradosados, debida a lasobrecarga, sea lo suficientemente baja para que no se requieran los caros anclajes resistentes afatiga empleados en los puentes de tirantes. El artículo ilustra la concepción y desarrollo de este tipo de puente a partir de la evolución delconcepto de compensación de cargas mediante el pretensado con tendones de acero y de laconstrucción por avance en voladizo. Hace una presentación de los puentes construidos o enfase de construcción que pueden ser catalogados dentro de esta tipología de puentes. Además, ydado que la filosofía de diseño de este tipo de puentes busca agotar las posibilidades de laresistencia afatiga de los tendones de pretensado exterior, se presenta un resumen de la revisiónbibliográfica existente sobre fatiga en tendones y tirantes de acero y sus dispositivos de apoyo yanclaje. Por último, se establecen las principales conclusiones de la investigación.The idea of ​​these bridges and their designation comes from Mathivat who, in 1988, proposes as a solution to the L'Arret-DarréW1 viaduct bridge with this typology, which is characterized by the provision of prestressing, on the support sections in stack , Externally to the edge of the section and to the upper part of the board, trying to gain eccentricity. Thus, it is a kind of tie-rod bridge with low pile and loose edge, which seeks, besides the compensation of loads, that the variation of stress in the steel of the extrados tendons, due to the overload, is sufficiently low so that the expensive fatigue resistant anchors used in the jumpers are not required. The article illustrates the conception and development of this type of bridge from the evolution of the concept of load compensation by prestressing with steel tendons and the construction by cantilever advancement. It gives a presentation of the bridges built or under construction that can be cataloged within this type of bridge. In addition, given that the design philosophy of this type of bridges seeks to exhaust the possibilities of fatigue resistance of the external prestressing tendons, a summary of the existing literature review on fatigue in tendons and steel straps and their devices Support and anchorage. Finally, the main conclusions of the investigation are establishe

Conformal TiO2_2 aerogel-like films by plasma deposition: from omniphobic antireflective coatings to perovskite solar cells photoelectrodes

The ability to control porosity in oxide thin films is one of the key factors that determine their properties. Despite the abundance of dry processes for the synthesis of oxide porous layers, the high porosity range is typically achieved by spin-coating-based wet chemical methods. Besides, special techniques such as supercritical drying are required to replace the pore liquid with air while maintaining the porous network. In this study, we propose a new method for the fabrication of ultra-porous titanium dioxide thin films at room or mild temperatures (T lower or equal to 120 degrees Celsius) by the sequential process involving plasma deposition and etching. These films are conformal to the substrate topography even for high-aspect-ratio substrates and show percolated porosity values above 85 percent that are comparable to advanced aerogels. The films deposited at room temperature are amorphous. However, they become partly crystalline at slightly higher temperatures presenting a distribution of anatase clusters embedded in the sponge-like structure. Surprisingly, the porous structure remains after annealing the films at 450 degrees Celsius in air, which increases the fraction of the embedded anatase nanocrystals. The films are antireflective, omniphobic, and photoactive becoming super-hydrophilic subjected to UV light irradiation The supported percolated nanoporous structure can be used as an electron-conducting electrode in perovskite solar cells. The properties of the cells depend on the aerogel film thickness reaching efficiencies close to those of commercial mesoporous anatase electrodes. This generic solvent-free synthesis is scalable and is applicable to ultra-high porous conformal oxides of different compositions with potential applications in photonics, optoelectronics, energy storage, and controlled wetting.Comment: 31 pages, 10 Figs. plus Supporting Information 7 pags, 6 figs. Full Pape

IL28B SNP rs8099917 Is Strongly Associated with Pegylated Interferon-α and Ribavirin Therapy Treatment Failure in HCV/HIV-1 Coinfected Patients

Recent genome-wide association studies report that the SNP rs8099917, located 8.9 kb upstream of the start codon of IL28B, is associated with both disease chronicity and therapeutic response to pegIFN-α and RBV in patients infected with genotype 1 HCV. To determine the effect of rs8099917 variation on the response of HCV to therapy, we genotyped this variant in a cohort of 160 HCV/HIV-1 coinfected patients in our clinic unit who received combined peg-IFN-α/RBV therapy. The rs8099917 T/G or G/G genotypes were observed in 56 patients (35%). Treatment failure occurred in 80% of G-allele carriers versus 48% of non-carriers (P<0.0001). This result reveals that the G allele was strongly associated with treatment failure in this patient cohort. Importantly, a highly significant association was found between the G-allele and response to therapy in HCV genotype 1-infected patients (P<0.0001) but not in HCV genotype 3-infected patients. Multivariate analysis (odds ratio; 95% confidence interval; P value) indicated that the rs8099917 TT genotype was a strong predictor of treatment success (5.83; 1.26–26.92; P = 0.021), independent of baseline plasma HCV-RNA load less than 500 000 IU/ml (4.85; 1.18–19.95; P = 0.025) and absence of advanced liver fibrosis (5.24; 1.20–22.91; P = 0.025). These results reveal the high prevalence of the rs8099917 G allele in HCV/HIV-1 coinfected patients as well as its strong association with treatment failure in HCV genotype 1-infected patients. rs8099917 SNP genotyping may be a valid pre-treatment predictor of which patients are likely to respond to treatment in this group of difficult-to-treat HCV/HIV-infected patients

TLR7 gain-of-function genetic variation causes human lupus

Although circumstantial evidence supports enhanced Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) signalling as a mechanism of human systemic autoimmune disease evidence of lupus-causing TLR7 gene variants is lacking. Here we describe human systemic lupus erythematosus caused by a TLR7 gain-of-function variant. TLR7 is a sensor of viral RNA and binds to guanosine. We identified a de novo, previously undescribed missense TLR7Y264H variant in a child with severe lupus and additional variants in other patients with lupus. The TLR7Y264H variant selectively increased sensing of guanosine and 2',3'-cGMP1 and was sufficient to cause lupus when introduced into mice. We show that enhanced TLR7 signalling drives aberrant survival of B cell receptor (BCR)-activated B cells, and in a cell-intrinsic manner, accumulation of CD11c+ age-associated B cells and germinal centre B cells. Follicular and extrafollicular helper T cells were also increased but these phenotypes were cell-extrinsic. Deficiency of MyD88 (an adaptor protein downstream of TLR7) rescued autoimmunity, aberrant B cell survival, and all cellular and serological phenotypes. Despite prominent spontaneous germinal-centre formation in Tlr7Y264H mice, autoimmunity was not ameliorated by germinal-centre deficiency, suggesting an extrafollicular origin of pathogenic B cells. We establish the importance of TLR7 and guanosine-containing self-ligands for human lupus pathogenesis, which paves the way for therapeutic TLR7 or MyD88 inhibition

Sedentary behavior among Spanish children and adolescents: findings from the ANIBES study

Background: An increase of sedentary behaviors far from the Mediterranean lifestyle is happening in spite of the impact on health. The aims of this study were to describe sedentary behaviors in children and adolescents. Methods: A representative sample of 424 Spanish children and adolescents (38% females) involved in the ANIBES study was analyzed regarding their sedentary behaviors, together with the availability of televisions, computers, and consoles by means of the HELENA sedentary behavior questionnaire. Results: For the total sample of children, 49.3% during weekdays and 84% during weekends did not meet the recommendation of less than 2 hours of screen viewing per day. The use of TV was higher during weekdays (p < 0.05) and there were significant differences between adolescents and children (16.9 vs. 25.1%, p < 0.05). The use of computer, console games and of internet for non-study reasons was higher during weekends (p < 0.001). Adolescents played more computer games and used more internet for non-study reasons than children during both weekdays and weekends (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). The use of internet for academic reasons was lower in children (p < 0.001) than adolescents during weekends; however, no significant differences were found between sexes. In addition, more than 30% of the children and adolescents had at least one electronic device in their bedrooms. Conclusions: Spanish children and adolescents are not meeting the recommendations regarding the maximum of screen viewing (<2 h/day), especially during the weekend, for all of sedentary behaviors. Urgent strategies and intervention studies are needed to reduce sedentary behavior in young people.The ANIBES study was financially supported by a grant from Coca-Cola Iberia through an agreement with the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN). The funding sponsors had no role in the design of the study, in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of the data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

The bridge with extradosado prestressed. A new structural type

La idea de estos puentes y su denominación proviene de Mathivat quien, en 1988, propone comosolución de concurso del viaducto de L'Arret-DarréW1 puente con esta tipología, que se caracterizapor disponer el pretensado, sobre las secciones de apoyo en pila, exteriormente al canto de lasección y por la pane superior del tablero, intentando ganar excentricidad. Resulta, así, unaespecie de puente de tirantes con pila baja y canto holgado, que busca, además de la compensaciónde cargas, que la variación de tensión en el acero de los tendones extradosados, debida a lasobrecarga, sea lo suficientemente baja para que no se requieran los caros anclajes resistentes afatiga empleados en los puentes de tirantes. El artículo ilustra la concepción y desarrollo de este tipo de puente a partir de la evolución delconcepto de compensación de cargas mediante el pretensado con tendones de acero y de laconstrucción por avance en voladizo. Hace una presentación de los puentes construidos o enfase de construcción que pueden ser catalogados dentro de esta tipología de puentes. Además, ydado que la filosofía de diseño de este tipo de puentes busca agotar las posibilidades de laresistencia afatiga de los tendones de pretensado exterior, se presenta un resumen de la revisiónbibliográfica existente sobre fatiga en tendones y tirantes de acero y sus dispositivos de apoyo yanclaje. Por último, se establecen las principales conclusiones de la investigación.The idea of ​​these bridges and their designation comes from Mathivat who, in 1988, proposes as a solution to the L'Arret-DarréW1 viaduct bridge with this typology, which is characterized by the provision of prestressing, on the support sections in stack , Externally to the edge of the section and to the upper part of the board, trying to gain eccentricity. Thus, it is a kind of tie-rod bridge with low pile and loose edge, which seeks, besides the compensation of loads, that the variation of stress in the steel of the extrados tendons, due to the overload, is sufficiently low so that the expensive fatigue resistant anchors used in the jumpers are not required. The article illustrates the conception and development of this type of bridge from the evolution of the concept of load compensation by prestressing with steel tendons and the construction by cantilever advancement. It gives a presentation of the bridges built or under construction that can be cataloged within this type of bridge. In addition, given that the design philosophy of this type of bridges seeks to exhaust the possibilities of fatigue resistance of the external prestressing tendons, a summary of the existing literature review on fatigue in tendons and steel straps and their devices Support and anchorage. Finally, the main conclusions of the investigation are establishe