Liquefaction induced displacement and rotation of structures with wide basements

Earthquake induced liquefaction can cause structures with shallow foundations to experience large settlement and rotation, and can cause subsurface structures to uplift. The performance of structures with basements, which intuitively combine these two problems, is not understood. In this paper, data from three dynamic centrifuge tests on structures with wide basements are examined. The ratio of upward to downward vertical forces was varied, and a symmetric and asymmetric superstructure was tested. Digital image correlation was used to capture the soil displacements, providing novel insight into the co-seismic soil-structure interaction. The inclusion of wide basements was shown to reduce the overall settlement of structures by providing an increased uplift force during the liquefi ed period. For symmetric structures, symmetric soil displacements occurred around the basement during consecutive half-cycles of sinusoidal shaking, resulting in negligible accumulation of rotation. In contrast, significant rotation was accumulated for an asymmetric structure as a result of the P -delta effect due to the eccentric mass.The first author would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC), United Kingdom, for their financial support through a Doctoral Training Account (DTA) studentship

Predictors of risky alcohol consumption in schoolchildren and their implications for preventing alcohol-related harm

BACKGROUND: While alcohol-related health and social problems amongst youths are increasing internationally, both consumption and associated harms are particularly high in British youth. Youth drinking patterns, including bingeing, frequent drinking and drinking in public spaces, are associated with increased risks of acute (e.g. violence) and long-term (e.g. alcohol-dependence) health problems. Here we examine economic, behavioural and demographic factors that predict these risky drinking behaviours among 15-16 year old schoolchildren who consume alcohol. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among schoolchildren in North West England (n = 10,271) using an anonymous questionnaire delivered in school settings. Analysis utilised logistic regression to identify independent predictors of risky drinking behaviour. RESULTS: Of all respondents, 87.9% drank alcohol. Of drinkers, 38.0% usually binged when drinking, 24.4% were frequent drinkers and 49.8% drank in public spaces. Binge, frequent and public drinking were strongly related to expendable income and to individuals buying their own alcohol. Obtaining alcohol from friends, older siblings and adults outside shops were also predictors of risky drinking amongst drinkers. However, being bought alcohol by parents was associated with both lower bingeing and drinking in public places. Membership of youth groups/teams was in general protective despite some association with bingeing. CONCLUSION: Although previous studies have examined predictors of risky drinking, our analyses of access to alcohol and youth income have highlighted eradicating underage alcohol sales and increased understanding of children's spending as key considerations in reducing risky alcohol use. Parental provision of alcohol to children in a family environment may also be important in establishing child-parent dialogues on alcohol and moderating youth consumption. However, this will require supporting parents to ensure they develop only moderate drinking behaviours in their children and only when appropriate

The Law and Policy of Child Maltreatment

Each year in the United States some four million children are reported to child protective services and hundreds of thousands of children are confirmed victims of maltreatment. This chapter provides a brief overview of the civil and criminal law’s response to child abuse and neglect. It summarizes the major federal statutes that provide funding to the states to support both civil and criminal law responses to maltreatment. It discusses the division of responsible for responding to child maltreatment between the federal and state governments (federalism). It also provides a summary of the constitutional framework for handling both civil and criminal child maltreatment cases

Cost of non-persistence with oral bisphosphonates in post-menopausal osteoporosis treatment in France

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During the last decade, oral bisphosphonates (BP) became the most widely prescribed pharmacologic class for post-menopausal osteoporosis. However, many surveys revealed the important issue of poor persistence with those drugs resulting in a failure of treatment to reduce fracture risk sufficiently. Using a published Markov model, this study analyses the economic impact of non-persistence with bisphosphonates in the context of the introduction of generics in France.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Direct costs of vertebral, hip and wrist fracture were assessed and included in an existing 10-year Markov model developed to analyse consequences of non-persistence. Three alternatives of comparison were set: no treatment, real-world persistence, and ideal persistence. Simulated patients' characteristics matched those from a French observational study and the real-world adherence alternative employed persistence data from published database analysis. The risk of fracture of menopausal women and the risk reduction associated with the drugs were based on results reported in clinical trials. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated first between real-world adherence and no treatment alternatives, and second between ideal and real-world persistence alternatives. The cost of non-persistence was defined as the difference between total cost of ideal and real-world persistence alternatives.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Within fractured women population, mean costs of 10-year management of fracture were significantly different between the three alternatives with €7,239 (± €4,783), €6,711 (± €4,410) and €6,134 (± €3,945) in the no-treatment, the real-world and ideal persistence alternatives, respectively (p < 0.0001). Cost-effectiveness ratio for real-world treatment persistence compared with no-treatment alternative was found dominant and as well, alternative of ideal persistence dominated the former. Each ten percentage point of persistence gain amounted to €58 per patient, and extrapolation resulted in a global annual cost of non-persistence of over €30 million to the French health care system, with a substantial transfer from hospital to pharmacy budgets.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Within term, improving persistence with oral bisphosphonates should be economically dominant on levels currently known in real-world. Given this potential savings, ambitious adherence-enhancing interventions should be considered in osteoporotic patients.</p

GABA-A receptor differences in schizophrenia: a positron emission tomography study using [C-11]Ro154513

A loss of GABA signaling is a prevailing hypothesis for the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Preclinical studies indicate that blockade of the α5 subtype of the GABA receptor (α5-GABAARs) leads to behavioral phenotypes associated with schizophrenia, and postmortem evidence indicates lower hippocampal α5-GABAARs protein and mRNA levels in schizophrenia. However, it is unclear if α5-GABAARs are altered in vivo or related to symptoms. We investigated α5-GABAARs availability in antipsychotic-free schizophrenia patients and antipsychotic-medicated schizophrenia patients using [11C]Ro15-4513 PET imaging in a cross-sectional, case–control study design. Thirty-one schizophrenia patients (n = 10 antipsychotic free) and twenty-nine matched healthy controls underwent a [11C]Ro15-4513 PET scan and MRI. The α5 subtype GABA-A receptor availability was indexed using [11C]Ro15-4513 PET imaging. Dynamic PET data were analyzed using the two-tissue compartment model with an arterial plasma input function and total volume of distribution (VT) as the outcome measure. Symptom severity was assessed using the PANSS scale. There was significantly lower [11C]Ro15-4513 VT in the hippocampus of antipsychotic-free patients, but not in medicated patients (p = 0.64), relative to healthy controls (p < 0.05; effect size = 1.4). There was also a significant positive correlation between [11C]Ro15-4513 VT and total PANSS score in antipsychotic-free patients (r = 0.72; p = 0.044). The results suggest that antipsychotic-free patients with schizophrenia have lower α5-GABAARs levels in the hippocampus, consistent with the hypothesis that GABA hypofunction underlies the pathophysiology of the disorder

Measurement of the Negative Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment to 0.7 ppm

The anomalous magnetic moment of the negative muon has been measured to a precision of 0.7 parts per million (ppm) at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron. This result is based on data collected in 2001, and is over an order of magnitude more precise than the previous measurement of the negative muon. The result a_mu= 11 659 214(8)(3) \times 10^{-10} (0.7 ppm), where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is sytematic, is consistend with previous measurements of the anomaly for the positive and negative muon. The average for the muon anomaly a_{mu}(exp) = 11 659 208(6) \times 10^{-10} (0.5ppm).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters, revised to reflect referee comments. Text further revised to reflect additional referee comments and a corrected Fig. 3 replaces the older versio

Specific inhibition of the endothelin A receptor with ZD4054: clinical and pre-clinical evidence

Activation of the endothelin A receptor (ETA) by endothelin-1 (ET-1) mediates events that regulate mitogenesis, apoptosis, angiogenesis and metastasis in tumours. Specific blockade of ETA may have anticancer effects, while retaining beneficial endothelin B receptor (ETB)-mediated effects such as apoptosis and clearance of ET-1. ZD4054 is an orally active, specific ETA antagonist in clinical development. In receptor-binding studies, ZD4054 specifically bound to ETA with high affinity; no binding was detected at ETB. In a randomised placebo-controlled trial in eight healthy volunteers, a single oral dose of ZD4054 reduced forearm vasoconstriction in response to brachial artery infusion of ET-1, thus providing clinical evidence of ETA blockade. ETB blockade was assessed in an ascending, single-dose, placebo-controlled trial in 28 volunteers. For all doses of ZD4054, mean plasma ET-1 concentrations measured at 4 and 24 h were within the placebo reference range (a rise in ET-1 would indicate ETB blockade) and there was no evidence of dose-related changes. These data confirm the specificity of ZD4054 for ETA, with no activity at ETB in a clinical or preclinical setting. As a result of this specificity, ZD4054 has the potential to block multiple ETA-induced pathological processes, while allowing beneficial ETB-mediated processes to continue, which may, in turn, lead to an effective cancer therapy

Effectiveness of intensive group and individual interventions for smoking cessation in primary health care settings: a randomized trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>Primary: To compare the effectiveness of intensive group and individual interventions for smoking cessation in a primary health care setting; secondary: to identify the variables associated with smoking cessation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three-pronged clinical trial with randomisation at the individual level. We performed the following: an intensive individual intervention (III), an intensive group intervention (IGI) and a minimal intervention (MI). Included in the study were smokers who were prepared to quit smoking. Excluded from the study were individuals aged less than 18 years or with severe mental conditions or terminal illnesses. The outcome measure was continued abstinence at 12 months confirmed through CO-oximetry (CO). The analysis was based on intention to treat.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In total, 287 smokers were recruited: 81 in the III, 111 in the IGI, and 95 in the MI. Continued abstinence at 12 months confirmed through CO was 7.4% in the III, 5.4% in the IGI, and 1% in the MI. No significant differences were noted between III and MI on the one hand, and between IGI and MI on the other [RR 7.04 (0.9-7.2) and RR 5.1 (0.6-41.9), respectively]. No differences were noted between IGI and III [RR 0.7 (0.2-2.2)]. In multivariate analysis, only overall visit length showed a statistically significant association with smoking cessation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The effectiveness of intensive smoking interventions in this study was lower than expected. No statistically significant differences were found between the results of individual and group interventions.</p> <p>Trial registration number</p> <p>ISRCTN32323770</p