A rare case of Enchondromatosis of the knees and hands with involvement of Hoffa's fat pad and peri-articular soft-tissues

We report a case of a 56-year old man with chronic pain in both knees for several years. This patient had already undergone surgery on his left knee in 2002 after an x-ray showed multiple lytic and well margined lesions in the distal femur and proximal tibia with ground-glass matrix, involving Hoffa's fat pad and the patellar ligament. Histology was consistent with an enchondroma. The most recent MRI examination showed enchondromatosis involving both knees with bilateral extension into Hoffa's fat pad and the patellar ligament. Subsequently, we performed an additional radiographic examination of the hands and feet, as well as an MRI of both hands to identify other possible enchondromas in the most common sites for this disease. Enchondromatosis with soft tissue involvement is extremely rare, and involvement of Hoffa's fat pad has not been reported in the scientific literature. The clinical presentation of this case and the general aspects of Enchondromatosis are discussed

IMPA versus Cloud Analysis and IDA: Different Methods to Evaluate Structural Seismic Fragility

Well-known methods for seismic performance assessment, such as incremental dynamic analysis (IDA), multi-stripes analysis (MSA) and the cloud method, involve nonlinear response time-history analyses to characterize the relationship between the chosen damage measure versus intensity measure. Over the past two decades, many authors have proposed simplified procedures or nonlinear static approaches to develop fragility. In these procedures, the capacity of the system is evaluated by nonlinear static procedures (i.e., the capacity spectrum method (CSM), the N2 method, modal pushover analysis (MPA)) and the demand is derived by response spectra. In addition to the familiar ones, incremental modal pushover analysis (IMPA) is a novel nonlinear static procedure proposed in recent years, and it is used in this research to present an IM-based fragility estimation. The accuracy and effectiveness of different methods to assess vulnerability are investigated by comparing fragility curves derived by MPA-based cloud analysis, IMPA and cloud analysis against IDA. The comparison gives valuable insights on the influence of scaling on different sets of records; however, a more extended validation is needed to confirm the obtained results and draw more general conclusions. Results arise from two relatively small bins of record motions differing by ranges of Joyner-Boore distance and scattered in a range of magnitude are presented

A cross-sectional questionnaire-based descriptive study exploring the presence of behavioral risk factors for infection with Zika virus among students and employees at an institution of higher education in South Florida.

In 2016 and 2017, South Florida was involved in an outbreak of locally-transmitted Zika virus. This questionnaire- based descriptive pilot study demonstrated the presence of behaviors that may be associated with increased risk of Zika transmission in a sample of respondents selected from an institution of higher education in the region. The majority of the 101 respondents living in Miami-Dade County reported inconsistent or no use of mosquito bite prevention methods, over one third (38.6%) traveled to local areas of active transmission, and almost two thirds (64.7%) of those reporting that their sexual partners traveled to local zones of viral transmission did not use barrier protection. The majority of all respondents reported awareness that the virus can be spread by mosquito-borne and sexual transmission (99.0%), and that infection can be avoided by preventing mosquito bites (98.0%) and sexual transmission (96.0%). Over half (52.5%) did not believe they were at risk of infection. South Florida remains at risk of outbreaks due to ongoing travel between the area and regions reporting continued Zika transmission, year-round presence of the vector, and the virus’ ability transmit sexually. Further analysis is needed to determine whether findings are reproducible in the South Florida community

Long-term safety of PEG 4000 in children with chronic functional constipation: A biochemical perspective

PurposeTo evaluate the long-term safety of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 in children with constipation, particularly the biochemical aspects of safety.MethodsMedical records were evaluated, and 100 children, who had been taking PEG 4000 for more than 6 months, and who had been under clinical and biochemical monitoring, were enrolled. Ages; 6.11±3.12 years, Duration of therapy; 16.93±7.02 months, dose of PEG 4000; 0.72±0.21 g/kg/d.ResultsNone of the children complained of clinical adverse effect. The first biochemical test was performed at 8.05 months after beginning of PEG 4000. Serum phosphate (SP) value was high in 10 children, and leucopenia was noted in one child. The second test was performed in 44 children at 7.57 months after the first test. The SP value was high in four children, including the three children whose initial SP value was high and one new child. Six out of 10 children with high initial SP value became normal and one was lost. Hypernatremia was noted in one child. The third test was done in 15 children at 7.5 months after the second test. The SP value of the new child from the second test was high, but became normal after finishing treatment. Two out of 3 children with high SP value at the second test became normal and one was lost. The fourth test was done in 2 children few months after the third test. All of the results were normal. There were no relation between duration of therapy and hyperphosphatemia, or between dose of PEG 4000 and hyperphosphatemia.ConclusionsPEG 4000 is safe for long-term therapy in children with constipation with respect to biochemical parameters

IMPA versus Cloud Analysis and IDA: Different Methods to Evaluate Structural Seismic Fragility

Well-known methods for seismic performance assessment, such as incremental dynamic analysis (IDA), multi-stripes analysis (MSA) and the cloud method, involve nonlinear response time-history analyses to characterize the relationship between the chosen damage measure versus intensity measure. Over the past two decades, many authors have proposed simplified procedures or nonlinear static approaches to develop fragility. In these procedures, the capacity of the system is evaluated by nonlinear static procedures (i.e., the capacity spectrum method (CSM), the N2 method, modal pushover analysis (MPA)) and the demand is derived by response spectra. In addition to the familiar ones, incremental modal pushover analysis (IMPA) is a novel nonlinear static procedure proposed in recent years, and it is used in this research to present an IM-based fragility estimation. The accuracy and effectiveness of different methods to assess vulnerability are investigated by comparing fragility curves derived by MPA-based cloud analysis, IMPA and cloud analysis against IDA. The comparison gives valuable insights on the influence of scaling on different sets of records; however, a more extended validation is needed to confirm the obtained results and draw more general conclusions. Results arise from two relatively small bins of record motions differing by ranges of Joyner-Boore distance and scattered in a range of magnitude are presented

Chinese high rise reinforced concrete building retrofitted with clt panels

Cross laminated timber (CLT) panels have been gaining increasing attention in the construction field as a diaphragm in mid-to high-rise building projects. Moreover, in the last few years, due to their seismic performances, low environmental impact, ease of construction, etc., many research studies have been conducted about their use as infill walls in hybrid construction solutions. With more than a half of the megacities in the world located in seismic regions, there is an urgent need of new retrofitting methods that can improve the seismic behavior of the buildings, upgrading, at the same time, the architectural aspects while minimizing the environmental impact and costs associated with the common retrofit solu-tions. In this work, the seismic, energetic, and architectural rehabilitation of tall reinforced concrete (RC) buildings using CLT panels are investigated. An existing 110 m tall RC frame building located in Hui-zhou (China) was chosen as a case study. The first objective was to investigate the performances of the building through the non-linear static analysis (push-over analysis) used to define structural weaknesses with respect to earthquake actions. The architectural solution proposed for the building is the result of the combination between structural and architectonic needs: internal spaces and existing facades were re-designed in order to improve not only the seismic performances but also energy efficiency, quality of the air, natural lighting, etc. A full explanation of the FEM modeling of the cross laminated timber panels is reported in the following. Non-linear FEM models of connections and different wall configurations were validated through a comparison with available lab tests, and finally, a real application on the existing 3D building was discussed

Chinese High Rise Reinforced Concrete Building Retrofitted with CLT Panels

Cross laminated timber (CLT) panels have been gaining increasing attention in the construction field as a diaphragm in mid- to high-rise building projects. Moreover, in the last few years, due to their seismic performances, low environmental impact, ease of construction, etc., many research studies have been conducted about their use as infill walls in hybrid construction solutions. With more than a half of the megacities in the world located in seismic regions, there is an urgent need of new retrofitting methods that can improve the seismic behavior of the buildings, upgrading, at the same time, the architectural aspects while minimizing the environmental impact and costs associated with the common retrofit solutions. In this work, the seismic, energetic, and architectural rehabilitation of tall reinforced concrete (RC) buildings using CLT panels are investigated. An existing 110 m tall RC frame building located in Huizhou (China) was chosen as a case study. The first objective was to investigate the performances of the building through the non-linear static analysis (push-over analysis) used to define structural weaknesses with respect to earthquake actions. The architectural solution proposed for the building is the result of the combination between structural and architectonic needs: internal spaces and existing facades were re-designed in order to improve not only the seismic performances but also energy efficiency, quality of the air, natural lighting, etc. A full explanation of the FEM modeling of the cross laminated timber panels is reported in the following. Non-linear FEM models of connections and different wall configurations were validated through a comparison with available lab tests, and finally, a real application on the existing 3D building was discussed