Shear capacity evaluation of reinforced concrete beams: finite element simulation

The shear performance of reinforced concrete beams with rectangle cross-section and two different continuous rectangular spiral shear reinforcement under monotonous loading is numerically evaluated. Further, the behaviour of two continuous shear reinforcement systems named, “Single Square Spring Shear Resistance System” (SSSSRS) and “Double Square Spring Shear Resistance System” (DSSSRS) as transverse reinforcements are compared with conventional discontinuous system “Stirrups”. The finite element study includes three (3) beams. The results clearly show that the application of continuous shear reinforcement system delivered improved shear behaviour and enhanced bearing capacity in beams. Beams with Single Square Spring Shear Resistance System (SSSSRS) and Double Square Spring Shear Resistance System (DSSSRS) exhibited 14.4% and 19.8% increased shear performance in comparison with conventional control beam. It was concluded that under the same deflection higher forces was achieved for “Single Square Spring Shear Resistance System” (SSSSRS) and “Double Square Spring Shear Resistance System” (DSSSRS) compared to control specimens

Assessing sex differential in COVID-19 mortality rate by age and polymerase chain reaction test results: an Iranian multi-center study

Background The aim of this study is to evaluate the sex differential effect in the COVID-19 mortality by different age groups and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results. Research design In a multicenter cross-sectional study from 55 hospitals in Tehran, Iran, patients were categorized as positive, negative, and suspected cases. Results A total of 25,481 cases (14,791 males) were included in the study with a mortality rate of 12.0%. The mortality rates in positive, negative, and suspected cases were 20.55%, 9.97%, and 7.31%, respectively. Using a Cox regression model, sex had a significant effect on the hazard of death due to COVID-19 in adult and senior male patients having positive and suspected PCR test results. However, sex was not found as significant factor for mortality in patients with a negative PCR test in different age groups. Conclusions Regardless of other risk factors, we found that the effect of sex on COVID-19 mortality varied significantly in different age groups. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be designed to protect adult and senior males from this deadly infectious disease. Furthermore, owing to the considerable death rate of COVID-19 patients with negative test results, new policies should be launched to increase the accuracy of diagnosis tests

The global, regional, and national burden of cirrhosis by cause in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases (collectively referred to as cirrhosis in this paper) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally, although the burden and underlying causes differ across locations and demographic groups. We report on results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 on the burden of cirrhosis and its trends since 1990, by cause, sex, and age, for 195 countries and territories. Methods We used data from vital registrations, vital registration samples, and verbal autopsies to estimate mortality. We modelled prevalence of total, compensated, and decompensated cirrhosis on the basis of hospital and claims data. Disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were calculated as the sum of years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability. Estimates are presented as numbers and age-standardised or age-specific rates per 100 000 population, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). All estimates are presented for five causes of cirrhosis: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcohol-related liver disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and other causes. We compared mortality, prevalence, and DALY estimates with those expected according to the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) as a proxy for the development status of regions and countries. Findings In 2017, cirrhosis caused more than 1.32 million (95% UI 1.27-1.45) deaths (440000 [416 000-518 000; 33.3%] in females and 883 000 [838 000-967 000; 66.7%] in males) globally, compared with less than 899 000 (829 000-948 000) deaths in 1990. Deaths due to cirrhosis constituted 2.4% (2.3-2.6) of total deaths globally in 2017 compared with 1.9% (1.8-2.0) in 1990. Despite an increase in the number of deaths, the age-standardised death rate decreased from 21.0 (19.2-22.3) per 100 000 population in 1990 to 16.5 (15.8-18-1) per 100 000 population in 2017. Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest age-standardised death rate among GBD super-regions for all years of the study period (32.2 [25.8-38.6] deaths per 100 000 population in 2017), and the high-income super-region had the lowest (10.1 [9.8-10-5] deaths per 100 000 population in 2017). The age-standardised death rate decreased or remained constant from 1990 to 2017 in all GBD regions except eastern Europe and central Asia, where the age-standardised death rate increased, primarily due to increases in alcohol-related liver disease prevalence. At the national level, the age-standardised death rate of cirrhosis was lowest in Singapore in 2017 (3.7 [3.3-4.0] per 100 000 in 2017) and highest in Egypt in all years since 1990 (103.3 [64.4-133.4] per 100 000 in 2017). There were 10.6 million (10.3-10.9) prevalent cases of decompensated cirrhosis and 112 million (107-119) prevalent cases of compensated cirrhosis globally in 2017. There was a significant increase in age-standardised prevalence rate of decompensated cirrhosis between 1990 and 2017. Cirrhosis caused by NASH had a steady age-standardised death rate throughout the study period, whereas the other four causes showed declines in age-standardised death rate. The age-standardised prevalence of compensated and decompensated cirrhosis due to NASH increased more than for any other cause of cirrhosis (by 33.2% for compensated cirrhosis and 54.8% for decompensated cirrhosis) over the study period. From 1990 to 2017, the number of prevalent cases snore than doubled for compensated cirrhosis due to NASH and more than tripled for decompensated cirrhosis due to NASH. In 2017, age-standardised death and DALY rates were lower among countries and territories with higher SDI. Interpretation Cirrhosis imposes a substantial health burden on many countries and this burden has increased at the global level since 1990, partly due to population growth and ageing. Although the age-standardised death and DALY rates of cirrhosis decreased from 1990 to 2017, numbers of deaths and DALYs and the proportion of all global deaths due to cirrhosis increased. Despite the availability of effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B and C, they were still the main causes of cirrhosis burden worldwide, particularly in low-income countries. The impact of hepatitis B and C is expected to be attenuated and overtaken by that of NASH in the near future. Cost-effective interventions are required to continue the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis, and to achieve early diagnosis and prevention of cirrhosis due to alcohol-related liver disease and NASH. Copyright (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Frege's Criticism of Psychologism

According to psychologism, laws of logic and mathematics are not anything except generalized accounts of thought patterns which govern human's mind. Therefore, the content of laws of logic is merely subjective idea created by the human mind. If the structure of the mind was different from our actual structure, then the laws of logic would be something different from the laws existing now. For Frege, this theory is on the basis of the conceptualism and idealism of the meaning of the words. Frege believes that the meanings of propositions, which he called "Thought", are a distinct matter from "Ideas", which exist in every individual's mind. Frege's arguments endeavor to prove it via two basic reasonings, as stated in this article. The absence of common discourse, which changes language to an individual matter, as well as the presentation of "epistemological relativism" are two vicious consequences, which is the course of accepting the matter that there is no distinction between "Thought" and "Idea". In Frege’s view, if psychologism were true, everything would be reduced to "Idea". And if everything reduces to "Idea", "Thought" will be "Idea" as well; however, "Thought" is not "Idea". Therefore, psychalogism is void. When Frege tries to explain why Thought is not the same as Idea, he starts with the Idea properties. Frege believes that Ideas are dependent on individual (Individual-dependent), and are always dependent, hence, cannot exist without their owner independently. Each Idea only belongs to one person (individual) can never be the owner of another’s Idea. Our own Ideas naturally and essentially are so related to our consciousness realm that each Idea owned by every person is distinct from our own Idea only belonging to ours. If two persons have one Idea, it is necessary that Ideas exist independently from them, which is in contrast to the hypothesis and essence of Idea.  In his first arguments, Frege declares that if Thought is the same as Idea, it would not be possible to have common perception about one Thought, therefore, identical meaning, and as a result conversation (common discourse), would not exist. So, language would change into an individual private matter. This outcome is a result of individual-dependent (relative to subjects) relative to characteristic of Idea.  His second argument is in the same direction as the first one, stating that if Thought is the same as Idea, contradiction between two Thoughts would not be possible. Because there is no identical criterion by which people (person who are communicating) could evaluate their perception, verify the validity of their viewpoints, and discover the contradiction of their thoughts toward others. Also, dispute over Truth would be vain. It is like the quarrel between two persons who fight over being an original 100 Marks banknote in their pocket. Each of them believes that only the banknote in his/her own pocket is original, then all the science would not be only as superstition.  Frege in his second arguments illustrate that epistemological relativism and individualism are vicious consequents of psychologism.  This research investigates the criticism of some classic logicians and contemporary thinkers on Islamic philosophy. They have declared that Frege does not distinguish between conceptualism and psychologism and also between existence of Idea and its indication. Moreover, they criticize Frege's affirmative theory about grasping of thought. In this research, it becomes clear that Frege's objections to conceptualism (psychological individualism) are still valid. There is no convincing reply to these objections yet. The approach of this research concentrates on the Frege's negative reasoning in the criticism of psychologism, not on the Frege’s affirmative views on the manner of Thought perceptions

Seismic performance of ductility classes medium RC beam-column connections with continuous rectangular spiral transverse reinforcements

The seismic performance of RC columns can considerably be improved through the use of continuous spiral reinforcement in terms of ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Since the beamcolumn connections were subjected to brittle failure after earthquakes, the simultaneous application of this method in both beams and columns could greatly improve the seismic behaviour of such connections. In this investigation, a new proposed detail for beam to column connection introduced as “twisted opposing rectangular spiral” was investigated both experimentally and numerically and its seismic performance was verified through comparison with normal rectangular spiral and conventional shear reinforcement systems. In this research, three full scale beam to column connections were first designed according to Eurocode (EC8-04) for Medium ductility classes and then tested by quasi-static cyclic loading suggested by ACI Building Code (ACI 318-08). Finally, numerical methods were hired to validate the experimental results. The results indicated that the ultimate lateral resistance, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the connection could be improved using the new proposed connection

Seismic assessment of RC frames with setbacks

Behavior assessment of reinforced concrete frame structures with irregularities in elevation compared to regular ones is the objective of this study. Multi-story Reinforced Concrete (RC) frame buildings either regular or irregular in elevation are presented in this paper. The regulations of the International Building Code (IBC 2009) were incorporated in the design of several multi-story Reinforced Concrete Moment Resisting Frames (RCMRFs) with different types of setbacks along with regular frames in elevation. Ten input motions were assigned to all frames to perform nonlinear time history analyses using IDARC 2d v7. Drift ratios and plastic hinge rotations, based on FEMA 356, were the criteria for investigation of seismic performance of all frames. It is concluded from the results that life safety (LS) level requirements in terms of occurrence of setback in elevation will not be satisfied. Also, maximum damage will occur near the setback elements. Hence, strengthening such elements through the use of improved criteria in IBC 2009 [16] along with defining and proposing new indicators and methods that could predict the seismic behavior of vertically irregular buildings is of great importance

Global Trend on Machine Learning in Helicobacter within One Decade: A Scientometric Study

Purpose. This study aims to create a science map, provide structural analysis, investigate evolution, and identify new trends in Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) research articles. Methods. All Helicobacter publications were gathered from the Web of Science (WoS) database from August 2010 to 2021. The data were required for bibliometric analysis. The bibliometric analysis was performed with Bibliometrix R Tool. Bibliometric data were analyzed using the Bibliometrix Biblioshiny R-package software. Results. A total of 17,413 articles were reviewed and analyzed, with descriptive characteristics of the H. pylori literature included. In journals, 21,102 keywords plus and 20,490 author keywords were reported. These articles were also written by 56,106 different authors, with 262 being single-author articles. Most authors’ abstracts, titles, and keywords included “Helicobacter-pylori.” Since 2010, the total number of H. pylori-related publications has been decreasing. Gut, PLOS ONE, and Gastroenterology are the most influential H. pylori journals, according to source impact. China, the United States, and Japan are the countries with most affiliations and subjects. In addition, Seoul National University has published the most articles about H. pylori. According to the cloud word plot, the authors’ most frequently used keywords are gastric cancer (GC), H. pylori, gastritis, eradication, and inflammation. “Helicobacter pylori” and “infection” have the steepest slopes in terms of the upward trend of words used in articles from 2010 to 2021. Subjects such as GC, intestinal metaplasia, epidemiology, peptic ulcer, eradication, and clarithromycin are included in the diagram’s motor theme section, according to strategic diagrams. According to the thematic evolution map, topics such as Helicobacter pylori infection, B-cell lymphoma, CagA, Helicobacter pylori, and infection were largely discussed between 2010 and 2015. From 2016 to 2021, the top topics covered included Helicobacter pylori, H. pylori infection, and infection

Transcutaneous induction of stimulus timing dependent plasticity in dorsal cochlear nucleus

The cochlear nucleus (CN) is the first site of multisensory integration in the ascending auditory pathway. The principal output neurons of the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), fusiform cells, receive somatosensory information relayed by the CN granule cells from the trigeminal and dorsal column pathways. Integration of somatosensory and auditory inputs results in long-term enhancement or suppression in a stimulus timing dependent manner. Here we demonstrate that stimulus timing dependent plasticity (STDP) can be induced in DCN fusiform cells using paired auditory and transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the face and neck to activate trigeminal and dorsal column pathways to the CN, respectively. Long-lasting changes in fusiform cell firing rates persisted for up to two hours after this bimodal stimulation, and followed Hebbian or anti-Hebbian rules, depending on tone duration, but not somatosensory stimulation location: 50 ms paired tones evoked predominantly Hebbian, while 10 ms paired tones evoked predominantly anti-Hebbian plasticity. The tone-duration dependent STDP was strongly correlated with first inter-spike intervals, implicating intrinsic cellular properties as determinants of STDP. This study demonstrates that transcutaneous stimulation with precise auditory-somatosensory timing parameters can non-invasively induce fusiform cell long-term modulation, which could be harnessed in the future to moderate tinnitus-related hyperactivity in DCN