Unreinforced and TRM-reinforced masonry building subjected to pseudo-dynamic excitations: numerical and experimental insights

[EN] This paper contains a numerical study based on tests carried out at the Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) on a U-shaped unreinforced and TRM-reinforced masonry building structure subjected to horizontal loads. The masonry was composed of clay bricks with 10 mm thick mortar joints arranged in an English bond manner. The prototype was tested by applying pseudo-dynamic displacement-driven cycles and varying cyclic amplitudes and frequencies in two different stages: (i) on the as-built structure and (ii) after the repair and the application of Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) material. A series of non-linear numerical simulations were performed adopting the ABAQUS/Explicit FE software. The FE calibration was carried out using the results obtained during ambient vibration tests. Simulations were then used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed TRM technique to increasing the strength of low-rise old masonry building structures.The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness for the funding provided (BIA 2014-59036-R-AR), and also to the Grupo Mapei and Grupo Puma for their invaluable assistance during the experimental tests.Giordano, E.; Bertolesi, E.; Clementi, F.; Buitrago, M.; Adam, JM.; Ivorra Chorro, S. (2021). Unreinforced and TRM-reinforced masonry building subjected to pseudo-dynamic excitations: numerical and experimental insights. Journal of Engineering Mechanics. 147(12):04021107-1-04021107-15. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0002017S04021107-104021107-151471

Virgin oil polyphenols prevent UVB-induced keratinocyte cell death

Food compounds, in particular hydroxytyrosol (HyT), hydroxytyrosol laurate (L-HyT) and tyrosol (Tyr), polyphenols present in virgin oil, have attracted much interest because of their potential use in new preventive, protective, and therapeutic strategies for chronic skin degenerative disorders, including erythema, inflammation and aging (Lahtz et al., 2013). In our previous studies HyT and L-HyT antiapoptotic effects, against pro-oxidant agents in different cell models, have been demonstrated (Burattini et al., 2013). Here, the potential protective actions of antioxidant compounds against UV-induced apoptosis were investigated in human keratinocytes (HaCaT). The cell line was pre-treated with antioxidants before UVB exposure and their effect evaluated by means of ultrastructural and molecular analyses. After UVB radiation typical morphological apoptotic features appeared and their significant down regulation could be observed when polyphenols were administrated before cell death induction. These data have been confirmed by molecular analyses. In fact, both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways appeared activated after UVB radiation. When antioxidants were added to samples before cell death induction, an evident caspase activation decrease could be revealed. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that polyphenols are able to prevent in vitro apoptotic cell death in human keratinocytes exposed to UVB, encouraging their use in vivo as potential sun damagepreventing molecules

Effects of an intensive inpatient rehabilitation program in elderly patients with obesity

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the short-term effectiveness of an intensive inpatient multidimensional rehabilitation program (MRP), including diet, exercise, and behavioral therapy, in elderly patients with severe obesity. Methods: Forty-four elderly patients (old; age 69.3 \ub1 3.5 years, BMI 41.9 \ub1 14.9) were analyzed against 215 younger patients (young; age 48.2 \ub1 18.5 years, BMI 43.9 \ub1 9.4), who were used as controls. All patients underwent MRP, based on group therapy guided by a multidisciplinary team (physicians, dietitians, exercise trainers, psychologists). We evaluated changes in anthropometry, cardiovascular risk factors, physical fitness, quality of life, and eating behavior. Results: After 3 weeks of MRP, we observed a reduction in body weight (old -3.8%, young -4.3%), BMI (old -3.9%, young -4.4%), waist circumference (old -3.4%, young -4.1%), total cholesterol (old -14.0%, young -15.0%), and fasting glucose (old -8.3%, young -8.1%), as well as improved performance in the Six-Minute-Walk Test (old +28.7%, young +15.3%), chair-stand test (old +24.8%, young +26.9%), and arm-curl test (old +15.2%, young +27.3%). Significant improvement was registered in all other analyzed domains. Conclusion: Our 3-week MRP provided significant clinical and functional improvement, which was similar between elderly and younger patients with severe obesity. In the long-term, this may be translated into better quality of life, through better management of obesity-associated morbidities and reduced frailty

Assessment of DNA damages in lymphocytes of agricultural workers exposed to pesticides by comet assay in a cross-sectional study

Purpose: To assess the predictive power of the comet assay in the context of occupational exposure to pesticides. Materials and methods: The recruited subjects completed a structured questionnaire and gave a blood sample. Exposure to pesticides was measured by means of an algorithm based on Dosemeci’s work (Agricultural Health Study). Approximately 50 images were analyzed for each sample via fluores- cence microscopy. The extent of DNA damage was estimated by tail moment (TM) and is the product of tail DNA (%) and tail Length. Results: Crude significant risks (odds ratios, ORs) for values higher than the 75th percentile of TM were observed among the exposed subjects (score>1). The frequency of some confounding factors (sex, age and smoking) was significantly higher among the exposed workers. A significant dose–effect relationship was observed between TM and exposure score. Significant high-risk estimates (ORs), adjusted by the studied confounding factors, among exposure to pesticides and TM, % tail DNA and tail length were confirmed using unconditional logistic regression models. Conclusions: The adjusted associations (ORs) between the comet parameters and exposure to pesti- cides were significant. The sensitivity of the comet test was low (41%), the specificity (89%) and the predictive positive value (0.77) were found acceptable

Immune-Complexome Analysis Identifies Immunoglobulin-Bound Biomarkers That Predict the Response to Chemotherapy of Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDA) is an aggressive malignancy with a very poor outcome. Although chemotherapy (CT) treatment has poor efficacy, it can enhance tumor immunogenicity. Tumor-Associated Antigens (TAA) are self-proteins that are overexpressed in tumors that may induce antibody production and can be PDA theranostic targets. However, the prognostic value of TAA-antibody association as Circulating Immune Complexes (CIC) has not yet been elucidated, mainly due to the lack of techniques that lead to their identification. In this study, we show a novel method to separate IgG, IgM, and IgA CIC from sera to use them as prognostic biomarkers of CT response. The PDA Immune-Complexome (IC) was identified using a LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometer followed by computational analysis. The analysis of the IC of 37 PDA patients before and after CT revealed differential associated antigens (DAA) for each immunoglobulin class. Our method identified different PDA-specific CIC in patients that were associated with poor prognosis patients. Finally, CIC levels were significantly modified by CT suggesting that they can be used as effective prognostic biomarkers to follow CT response in PDA patients