Site-Specific Earthquake Ground Motions for the 12th Street and 14th Street Viaducts on Route 139 in Jersey City, New Jersey

The 12th and 14th Street Viaducts, which carry Route 139, are located west of the Holland Tunnel in Jersey City, New Jersey. The two viaducts, supported on pile foundations, provide access to and from the Holland Tunnel (which connects New York City and New Jersey) and are considered critical structures. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has selected DMJM+HARRIS to perform design services including rehabilitation and seismic retrofit for the 12th Street and 14th Street Viaducts. The subsurface conditions play a major role in evaluating the structures behavior under a seismic event. At the project site, the subsurface conditions consist of the following six strata: Loose to Medium Dense Sand (Fill), Peat/Organic Silt, Normally Consolidated Silty Clay, Silt/Sand, Weathered Rock and Bedrock. The magnitude of the seismic event will influence the response of these soil strata. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a site-specific earthquake ground motions on rock. A probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) was developed for this site. In addition, the paper will also present the results of site response analysis performed to compute ground motions at footing level and their associated response spectra. Values of soil amplification between the spectral acceleration of the footing level and the bedrock response spectra will be calculated and presented. A comparison of the resulting data to the current design spectra as defined in the 1998 New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) Seismic Design Guidelines is presented. In order to determine the effects of the site soils on bedrock motions, it was required to define a soil profile with layer thickness and dynamic soil properties. The dynamic soil properties for the soil profiles were derived using a correlation with shear wave velocities obtained from cross hole surveys and from a correlation with standard penetration tests. Fourteen (14) soil profiles with two hazard levels having a return period of 500 years (probability of exceedence of 10% in 50 years) and a return period of 2500 years (probability of exceedance of 2% in 50 years) will be compared to the NYCDOT Class C, D and E soil profiles, which are appropriate for this site. The site response spectra were developed for the two level seismic events, using the computer program SHAKE. Nonlinear soil behavior is approximated by equivalent linear techniques implemented in SHAKE

Which route of antibiotic administration should be used for third molar surgery? A split-mouth study to compare intramuscular and oral intake

Objectives. To compare the effectiveness of two different routes of antibiotic administration in preventing septic complications in patients undergoing third molar extraction. Materials and Methods. Twenty-four healthy patients requiring bilateral surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars were successfully enrolled for this study. Depth of impaction, angulation, and relationship of the lower third molars with the mandibular branch had to be overlapping on both sides. A split-mouth design was chosen, so each patient underwent both the first and second surgeries, having for each extraction a different antibiotic route of administration. The second extraction was carried out 1 month later. To compare the effects of the two routes of antibiotic administration, inflammatory parameters, such as edema, trismus, pain, fever, dysphagia and lymphadenopathy were evaluated 2 and 7 days after surgery. Side effects of each therapy were evaluated 48h after surgery. Results. oral and intramuscular antibiotic therapies overlap in preventing post-operative complications in dental surgery (p>0.05), even if the oral intake, seems to promote the onset of significant gastrointestinal disorders (p=0.003). Conclusions. This study could help dentists in their ordinary practice to choose the right route of antibiotic administration in the third molar surgery. At the same effectiveness, the higher cost and the minor compliance of the patient seem not to justify a routine antibiotic intramuscular therapy, reserving it for patients with gastrointestinal disorders

The new IOC and IAAF policies on female eligibility: old Emperor, new clothes?

The Caster Semenya debacle touched off by the 2009 Berlin World Athletics Championships resulted finally in IOC and IAAF abandonment of sex testing, which gave way to procedures that make female competition eligibility dependent upon the level of serum testosterone, which must be below the male range or instrumentally countered by androgen resistance. We argue that the new policy is unsustainable because (i) the testosterone-performance connection it posits is uncompelling; (ii) testosterone-induced female advantage is not ipso facto unfair advantage; (iii) the new policy reflects the gender policing impulses endemic to sport as well as the broader cultural impulses to monstrify women and to doctor women who have nothing wrong with them; (iv) female–male performance disparities are not the only reason for sex-segregated sport, but co-exist with respectable cultural and practical reasons, which (v) provide a powerful case for allowing athletes to compete in the sex category congruent with their gender identity