Intestinal perforation due to adult tapeworm of Taenia: a case report and review of the literature

Taeniasis is an intestinal helminth infection due to adult tapeworms belonging to the genus Taenia. Taeniasis remains a major burden in low-income countries in Asia. We present a case of intestinal perforation caused by adult tapeworm of Taenia in a 50-year-old Nepali male. The patients presented to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and intermittent vomiting. Following clinical presentations and imaging features, gastrointestinal perforation was suspected. Surgical removal of adult tapeworm of Taenia, suspected to be T. saginata or T. asiatica, was carried out during exploratory laparotomy, which was followed by an uneventful postoperative period. In addition to case presentation, we systematically review published case reports on taeniasis-related intestinal perforation. A learning point from this case is clinician should maintain a clinical suspicion of taeniasis as a possible cause of intestinal perforation in endemic areas

Some remarks on the cyclic response of non-plastic and high-plasticity natural silty soils of the Kathmandu valley (Nepal)

This note presents the results of constant-volume equivalent-undrained cyclic simple shear tests performed on saturated natural silty soils obtained from two different locations in the Kathmandu valley (Nepal) and characterized by different plasticity. Two simple shear devices were employed: the DSDSS (Double Specimen Cyclic Simple Shear) device and a modified NGI-type DSS device. The above two types of tests complemented each other and jointly covered a wide range of cyclic shear strains amplitudes. Nonlinear soil behavior (i.e. variation of shear stiffness and damping with shear strain level) and liquefaction resistance of the non-plastic silty soil were investigated. The results of the experimental investigation presented in this paper, albeit limited, increase the knowledge on the cyclic response of natural silty soils, especially those of very low plasticity, and provide first geotechnical data on the soft fluvio-lacustrine deposits of the Kathmandu Valley, responsible for site effects and liquefaction phenomena during the 2015 Mw=7.8 Gorkha earthquake

Earthquake geotechnical engineering aspects: the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake (Italy)

On May 20, 2012 an earthquake of magnitude ML=5.9 struck the Emilia Romagna Region of Italy and a little portion of Lombardia Region. Successive earthquakes occurred on May 29, 2012 with ML=5.8 and ML=5.3. The earthquakes caused 27 deaths, of which 13 on industrial buildings. The damage was considerable. 12,000 buildings were severely damaged; big damages occurred also to monuments and cultural heritage of Italy, causing the collapse of 147 campaniles. The damage is estimated in about 5-6 billions of euro. To the damage caused to people and buildings, must be summed the indirect damage due to loss of industrial production and to the impossibility to operate for several months. The indirect damage could be bigger than the direct damage caused by the earthquake. The resilience of the damaged cities to the damage to the industrial buildings and the lifelines was good enough, because some industries built a smart campus to start again to operate in less of one month and structural and geotechnical guidelines were edited to start with the recovering the damage industrial buildings. In the paper a damage survey is presented and linked with the ground effects. Among these, soil amplification and liquefaction phenomena are analyzed, basing on the soil properties evaluation by field and laboratory tests. Particular emphasis is devoted to the damaged suffered by the industrial buildings and to the aspects of the remedial work linked with the shallow foundation inadequacy and to the liquefaction mitigation effects

Earthquake geotechnical engineering aspects: the 2012 Emilia-Romagna earthquake (Italy)

On May 20, 2012 an earthquake of magnitude ML=5.9 struck the Emilia Romagna Region of Italy and a little portion of Lombardia Region. Successive earthquakes occurred on May 29, 2012 with ML=5.8 and ML=5.3. The earthquakes caused 27 deaths, of which 13 on industrial buildings. The damage was considerable. 12,000 buildings were severely damaged; big damages occurred also to monuments and cultural heritage of Italy, causing the collapse of 147 campaniles. The damage is estimated in about 5-6 billions of euro. To the damage caused to people and buildings, must be summed the indirect damage due to loss of industrial production and to the impossibility to operate for several months. The indirect damage could be bigger than the direct damage caused by the earthquake. The resilience of the damaged cities to the damage to the industrial buildings and the lifelines was good enough, because some industries built a smart campus to start again to operate in less of one month and structural and geotechnical guidelines were edited to start with the recovering the damage industrial buildings. In the paper a damage survey is presented and linked with the ground effects. Among these, soil amplification and liquefaction phenomena are analyzed, basing on the soil properties evaluation by field and laboratory tests. Particular emphasis is devoted to the damaged suffered by the industrial buildings and to the aspects of the remedial work linked with the shallow foundation inadequacy and to the liquefaction mitigation effects

Earthquake loss estimation for the Kathmandu Valley

Kathmandu Valley is geologically located on lacustrine sediment basin, characterized by a long history of destructive earthquakes. The past events resulted in large structural damage, loss of human life’s and property, and interrupted the social development. In recent years, the earthquake risk in this area has significantly increased due to uncontrolled development, poor construction practices with no earthquake safety provisions, and lack of awareness amongst the general public and government authorities. In this context, this study explores the realistic situation of earthquake losses due to future earthquakes in Kathmandu Valley. To this end, three municipalities: (a) Kathmandu Metropolitan City, (b) Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City and (c) Bhaktapur Municipality are selected for a case study. The earthquake loss estimation in the selected municipalities is performed through the combination of seismic hazard, structural vulnerability, and exposure data. Regarding the seismic input, various earthquakes scenario considering four seismic sources in Nepal are adopted. For what concerns the exposure, existing literature describing the construction typologies and data from the recent national census survey of 2011 are employed to estimate ward level distribution of buildings. The economic losses due to the earthquake scenarios are determined using fragility functions. Finally, the ward level distribution of building damage and the corresponding economic losses for each earthquake scenario is obtained using the OpenQuake-engine. The distribution of building damage within the Kathmandu Valley is currently being employed in the development of a shelter model for the region, involving various local authorities and decision makers