Flexural and Shear Resistance of High Strength Concrete Beams

In the present paper, an analytical model is proposed that is able to determine the shear resistance of high strength reinforced concrete beams with longitudinal bars, in the presence of transverse stirrups. The model is based on the evaluation of the resistance contribution due to beam and arch actions. For the resistance contribution of the main bars in tension the residual bond adherence of steel bars and the crack spacing of R.C. beams are considered. The compressive strength of the compressed arch is also verified by taking into account of the biaxial state of stresses. The model was verified on the basis of experimental data available in the literature and it is able to include the following variables in the resistance provision: - geometrical percentage of steel bars; - depth-to-shear span ratio; - resistance of materials; - crack spacing; - tensile stress in main bars; - residual bond resistance;- size effects. Finally, some of the more recent analytical expressions able to predict the shear and the flexural resistance of concrete beams are mentioned and a comparison is made with experimental data

Shear design of high strength concrete beams in MRFs

This paper presents the criteria for the shear design of high strength concrete (HSC) beams in moment resisting frames (MRFs). The formulation of an analytical model is provided for the case of beams with longitudinal reinforcement in the presence of transverse stirrups. Themodel is of additive type, in themeaning that the shear resistance of the beamis evaluated as the sumof several contributions. In particular, the contribution of concrete, longitudinal rebars, and transversal reinforcement are taken into account. Furthermore, for assessing the concrete contribution, a classical approach is followed, according to which two effects arise in the shear mechanism: the arc and the beam effect. The features of these two resisting mechanisms are particularized to the case of HSC in steel reinforced beams and the maximum concrete contribution is limited to the maximum compressive strength of the concrete strut in biaxial state of stress. Moreover, for the evaluation of the resistance contribution of the longitudinal steel rebars in tension, the model takes into account the residual bond adherence between HSC and steel reinforcement and the spacing between subsequent cracks. The results are compared with the prescriptions currently provided in the main building codes and with different analytical models existing in the literature. For the comparison, the analytical expressions are applied to a set of experimental data available in the literature and design observations are made on the geometrical percentage of steel bars, the resistance of materials, the residual bond stress and the depth-to-shear span ratio

The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale in Italian adolescent populations: Construct validation and group discrimination in community and clinical eating disorders samples

Anxiety in situations where one’s overall appearance (including body shape) may be negatively evaluated is hypothesized to play a central role in Eating Disorders (EDs) and in their co-occurrence with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Three studies were conducted among community (N = 1995) and clinical (N = 703) ED samples of 11- to 18-year-old Italian girls and boys to (a) evaluate the psychometric qualities and measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) of the Social Appearance Anxiety (SAA) Scale (SAAS) and (b) determine to what extent SAA or other situational domains of social anxiety related to EDs distinguish adolescents with an ED only from those with SAD. Results upheld the one-factor structure and ME/I of the SAAS across samples, gender, age categories, and diagnostic status (i.e., ED participants with and without comorbid SAD). The SAAS demonstrated high internal consistency and 3-week test–retest reliability. The strength of the inter-relationships between SAAS and measures of body image, teasing about appearance, ED symptoms, depression, social anxiety, avoidance, and distress, as well as the ability of SAAS to discriminate community adolescents with high and low levels of ED symptoms and community participants from ED participants provided construct validity evidence. Only SAA strongly differentiated adolescents with any ED from those with comorbid SAD (23.2 %). Latent mean comparisons across all study groups were performed and discussed

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Visceral Adiposity Index Is Associated with Insulin Sensitivity and Adipocytokine Levels in Newly Diagnosed Acromegalic Patients.

Context: The visceral adiposity index (VAI) has proved to be a marker of visceral adipose dysfunction, strongly associated with insulin sensitivity in both the general and specific populations of patients at metabolic risk. Objective: The objective of the study was to test VAI as a useful tool to assess early metabolic risk in acromegaly. Patients: Twenty-four newly diagnosed acromegalic patients (11 women and 13 men, aged 54.9 ± 13.6 yr) were grouped into those with normal (group A, n = 13, 54.2%) and those with high VAI (group B, n = 11, 45.8%). Outcome Measures: Glucose, hemoglobin A1c, nadir and area under the curve (AUC) of GH (AUCGH) during the oral glucose tolerance test, AUCCpeptide during a mixed-meal tolerance test, M value during euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp, oral dispositional index (DIo), each component of the metabolic syndrome, leptin, adiponectin, TNF-α, and IL-6. Results: The VAI value was positively correlated with the age of patients (ρ = 0.408; P = 0.048), tumor volume (ρ = 0.638; P = 0.001), basal GH (ρ = 0.622; P = 0.001), nadir GH (ρ = 0.534; P = 0.007), AUCGH (ρ = 0.603; P = 0.002), IGF-I (ρ = 0.618; P = 0.001), TNF-α (ρ = 0.512; P = 0.010), and AUCCpeptide (ρ = 0.715; p<0.001) and negatively with adiponectin (ρ = −0.766; P < 0.001), M value (ρ = −0.818; P < 0.001), and DIo (ρ = −0.512; P = 0.011). Patients with high VAI showed significantly higher basal GH levels (P = 0.018), AUCGH (P = 0.047), IGF-I (P = 0.047), AUCCpeptide (P = 0.018), lower M value (P < 0.001), DIo (P = 0.006), and adiponectin levels (P < 0.001), despite the absence of a significantly higher prevalence in the overt metabolic syndrome and glucose tolerance abnormalities. AUCGH proved to be the main independent factor influencing VAI. Conclusions: In acromegaly, VAI appears to be associated with disease activity, adiponectin levels, and insulin sensitivity and secretion and is influenced independently by GH levels. VAI could therefore be used as an easy and useful new tool in daily clinical practice for the assessment of early metabolic risk associated with active acromegal

Tutori, ortesi, protesi, ausili. Testo-Atlante per le Professioni dell'Area Sanitaria

“... un testo aggiornato, completo e di rapida consultazione per comprendere indicazioni e modalità di utilizzo di tutori, ortesi, protesi e ausili; una iconografia dettagliata che consente di visualizzare immediatamente forma e impiego degli stessi...” (dalla prefazione del Prof. Giulio Maccauro) Un testo-atlante che non esaurisce la sua funzione didattica al termine del corso di studi, ma che rimane come utile e maneggevole strumento di consultazione e di formazione nella pratica quotidiana di qualsiasi Professionista dell’Area Sanitaria. Con 164 figure a colori. Maggiori dettagli nel PDF scaricabile (indice, prefazione completa, pagine campione) e sul sito dell’editore UniversItalia.Braces, orthoses, prostheses, assistive devices. Text-Atlas for Healthcare Professionals "... an updated, complete and quick reference text to understand indications and methods of use of braces, orthoses, prostheses and assistive devices; a detailed iconography that allows you to immediately visualize their form and use..." (from the preface by Prof. Giulio Maccauro) A text-atlas that does not exhaust its didactic function at the end of the course of study but remains a useful and handy tool for consultation and training in the daily practice of any Healthcare Professional. With 164 colour figures. Further details in the downloadable PDF (index, full preface, sample pages) and on the website of the publisher UniversItalia

Treatment of hepatitis C: critical appraisal of the evidence

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is currently the most common cause of end stage liver disease worldwide. Although the conclusions of the last National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conferences on Hepatitis C have recently been published, several important issues remain unanswered. This paper reviews the available data using an evidence-based approach. Current evidence is sufficient to recommend IFN treatment for all patients with acute hepatitis. A later initiation of therapy yields the same likelihood of response as early treatment. A daily induction dose during month 1 is the best treatment option. The current gold standard of efficacy for treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis C is the combination of pegylated IFN and ribavirin. The overall sustained viral response rate to these regimens is 54 - 56% following a 48-week course of therapy. Patients with genotype 1 infection will have a 42 - 51% likelihood of response to 48weeks of therapy. Those with genotypes 2 or 3 infection will respond to 24weeks in 78 - 82% of cases. Debate continues regarding the optimal dose and duration of peginterferon (PEG-IFN), not only in patients infected with genotype 2 or 3 but also in those infected with genotype 1. The optimal dose of ribavirin has yet to be determined. Available data show the need to give the highest tolerable doses (1000-1200mg/day) to the difficult-to-treat patients (genotype 1, cirrhotics, obese), although there is a greater likelihood of intolerance. Genotypes 2 and 3 may receive 800mg/day, which is also the most appropriate lower dose for those patients who require dosage modification for anaemia or other side effects. Tolerability and compliance to therapy are still a problem, as approximately 15- 20% of patients within trials and > 25% in clinical practice withdraw from therapy. New PEG-IFNs are more effective than conventional IFN in improving liver histology. Monotherapy with PEG-IFN induces a marked reduction in staging in virological sustained responders, and to a lesser degree in relapsers, but provides no benefit to nonresponders after 24-48weeks of treatment. The use of maintenance therapy in virological nonresponders aiming to improve histology should be considered experimental and of unproven benefit. Pooling data from the literature suggests a slight preventive effect of IFN on hepatocellular carcinoma development in patients with HCV-related cirrhosis. The magnitude of this effect is low and the observed benefit may be due to spurious associations. The preventive effect is more evident among sustained responders to IFN

Solitons in the Yakushevich model of DNA beyond the contact approximation

The Yakushevich model of DNA torsion dynamics supports soliton solutions, which are supposed to be of special interest for DNA transcription. In the discussion of the model, one usually adopts the approximation $\ell_0 \to 0$, where $\ell_0$ is a parameter related to the equilibrium distance between bases in a Watson-Crick pair. Here we analyze the Yakushevich model without $\ell_0 \to 0$. The model still supports soliton solutions indexed by two winding numbers $(n,m)$; we discuss in detail the fundamental solitons, corresponding to winding numbers (1,0) and (0,1) respectively

Local Coordination Modulates the Reflectivity of Liquefied Si-Ge Alloys

The properties of liquid Si-Ge binary systems at melting conditions deviate from those expected by the ideal alloy approximation. Particularly, a non-linear dependence of the dielectric functions occurs with the reflectivity of liquid Si-Ge being 10\% higher at intermediate Ge content than in pure Si or Ge. Using \textit{ab initio} methodologies, we revealed a direct correlation between reflectivity and atomic coordination, discovering that Si-Ge's higher local coordination drives the aforementioned optical behavior. These findings extend the physical understanding of liquefied semiconductors and hold the promise of further generalization