Dynamic soil-structure interaction

The dynamic response of a structure placed on a deformable soil medium subjected to seismic excitation is studied. The basic phenomena of soil-structure interaction was investigated by several analytical models supplemented by experimental observations; a brief review of literature in this discipline is also included. Among the physical phenomena investigated: the effects caused by local topography, the interaction -with other structures, and the dissipation of dynamic energy through the soil medium were described by exact series solutions. Foundations of arbitrary shape, however, were modeled by using an approximate integral representation. This latter method utilizes the principle of superposition and provides flexibility in analyzing numerically the three-dimensional disc foundations placed on the soil surface. The results indicate that the detailed description for the shape of a rigid foundation placed on a deformable soil medium is not essential in the overall response of the superstructure, but the stress distribution under the disc foundation is quite sensitive to these changes in detail. In this thesis, several methods for the calculation of foundation compliances for several types of foundation models were discussed, some of which have direct practical applications. The importance of the base input motion induced by incident seismic waves is also stressed, because the seismic input, along with the foundation compliances, are necessary for a complete analysis of this problem

A concepção de tempo no Confucionismo Clássico:: a correspondência e interação entre o tempo da história e o tempo da ética

This article focuses on the two types of conception of time, namely, the time of history and the time of ethics. The former is a conception of time that one views or situates one’s lifetime in or with history, whereas the latter a time of our personal lifetime interrupted by the intervention of the other and the accompanied ethical significance. This article argues that Classical Confucianism has interesting specifications of these two conceptions of time. In particular, it shows a correspondence and interaction between the two. Then, it is not difficult to catch up with what our tradition has been aiming at through ethical practices, and the tradition in turn prompts us to be ethical.Este artigo aborda os dois tipos de concepção do tempo, a saber, o tempo da história e o tempo da ética. A primeira é uma concepção de tempo que se vê ou situa a própria vida na ou com a história, enquanto a segunda é um tempo da nossa vida pessoal interrompida pela intervenção do outro e pelo significado ético que o acompanha. Este artigo argumenta que o confucionismo clássico tem especificações interessantes dessas duas concepções de tempo. Em particular, mostra uma correspondência e interação entre os dois. Então, não é difícil alcançar o que nossa tradição tem buscado por meio de práticas éticas, e a tradição, por sua vez, nos incita a sermos éticos.Este artigo aborda os dois tipos de concepção do tempo, a saber, o tempo da história e o tempo da ética. A primeira é uma concepção de tempo que se vê ou situa a própria vida na ou com a história, enquanto a segunda é um tempo da nossa vida pessoal interrompida pela intervenção do outro e pelo significado ético que o acompanha. Este artigo argumenta que o confucionismo clássico tem especificações interessantes dessas duas concepções de tempo. Em particular, mostra uma correspondência e interação entre os dois. Então, não é difícil alcançar o que nossa tradição tem buscado por meio de práticas éticas, e a tradição, por sua vez, nos incita a sermos éticos

An integrated approach to feature selection and classification for microarray data with outlier detection

postprintThe 8th Annual International Conference on Computational Systems Bioinformatics (CSB 2009), Stanford University, 10-13 August 2009

A multiple-filter-multiple-wrapper approach to gene selection and microarray data classification

Filters and wrappers are two prevailing approaches for gene selection in microarray data analysis. Filters make use of statistical properties of each gene to represent its discriminating power between different classes. The computation is fast but the predictions are inaccurate. Wrappers make use of a chosen classifier to select genes by maximizing classification accuracy, but the computation burden is formidable. Filters and wrappers have been combined in previous studies to maximize the classification accuracy for a chosen classifier with respect to a filtered set of genes. The drawback of this single-filter-single-wrapper (SFSW) approach is that the classification accuracy is dependent on the choice of specific filter and wrapper. In this paper, a multiple-filter-multiple-wrapper (MFMW) approach is proposed that makes use of multiple filters and multiple wrappers to improve the accuracy and robustness of the classification, and to identify potential biomarker genes. Experiments based on six benchmark data sets show that the MFMW approach outperforms SFSW models (generated by all combinations of filters and wrappers used in the corresponding MFMW model) in all cases and for all six data sets. Some of MFMW-selected genes have been confirmed to be biomarkers or contribute to the development of particular cancers by other studies. © 2006 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Behavioral Health Disorders and the Quality of Diabetes Care: A Dissertation

Both diabetes and behavioral health disorders (mental and substance use disorders) are significant health issues in the United States. While previous studies have shown worse health outcomes in people with diabetes and co-occurring behavioral health disorders (BHDs) than those with diabetes alone, it is unclear whether the quality of diabetes care was poorer in the presence of co-occurring BHDs. Although previous research has observed a trend of positive outcomes in people with comprehensive diabetes care, there is a lack of evidence about whether that mode of care delivery can improve outcomes in people with co-occurring BHDs. Therefore, further studies are necessary. Using a combined dataset from Medicare and Medicaid claims for Massachusetts residents, this study compared the quality of diabetes care (e.g., having at least 1 hemoglobin A1c test) and diabetes outcomes (e.g., eye complications) among Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with diabetes and co-occurring BHDs to those with diabetes alone in Massachusetts in 2005. The results showed a mixed picture on the relationships between BHDs and diabetes outcomes. While substance use disorders had adverse impact on adherence to quality measures (e.g., 20% less likely to attain full adherence, p0.05). Findings from this dissertation research suggest that disparities exist in the quality of diabetes care and health outcomes between people with substance use disorders and those without. The mode of care delivery needs to be further examined so that interventions can be designed to improve the outcomes of people with diabetes

Modifications of β-glucuronidase as a reporter gene for protein sorting in saccharomyces cerevisiae

Several carboxypeptidase Y-/3-glucuronidase (CPY-GUS) plasmids were expressed in yeast. The CPY-GUS fusion proteins were inactivated during passage through the secretory pathway. This work was done in an attempt to recover GUS activity in yeast. CPY-GUS plasmids were transformed to protease-deficient yeast strains so as to test whether the low GUS activity was due to the degradation by intracellular proteases. The results failed to show this because of the problems associated with the western blots. Tunicamycin, a drug that inhibits glycosylation, was added to the yeast culture in order to recover GUS activity. The results show that a short term treatment could increase GUS activity by about 10%. In a long term treatment, tunicamycin was found to affect the normal growth of yeast adversely and reduce the GUS activity by 90%. Site-directed in vitro mutagenesis was employed to remove the two cryptic N-glycosylation sites within GUS. Two single mutants (160Mu and 16lMu) and one double mutant (l60+161)Mu were created. They were cloned in E.coli TG2 and their enzymatic activities were tested. The results show that all the mutated GUS (160Mu, 161Mu and (160+161Mu)) had higher enzymatic activities than the wild type GUS

Investigation on the Deformation of Cutaneous Blood Vessel in Relation to Pressure Ulcer Formation by Computational Modelling

Pressure ulcer is a serious injury which affects the skin integrity of patients and is a financial burdens to healthcare providers worldwide. Pressure ulcers are usually caused either by excessive stress or ischemia which appears as deep tissue injury and superficial pressure ulcers respectively. Some of the pressure ulcers are known to be caused by the application of medical devices. These medical device related pressure ulcers are usually superficial and contribute to a significant numbers of the total number of pressure ulcers. The engineering community often focuses on the aetiology of excessive stress by developing computational models and investigating the in vivo conditions when a patient is subject to high loads. Limited attempts have been made on developing computational models for the aetiology of ischemia. Hence, it is the aim of the study to develop computational model to investigate the deformation of the cutaneous blood vessels in relation to the formation of superficial pressure ulcers. This study provides information on the magnitudes of interface pressure experienced by patients in clinical setting experimentally by using pressure mapping system on both static and dynamic mattresses. Computational models are developed to demonstrate the in vivo cutaneous conditions and the relationship of mechanical loadings and the deformation of cutaneous blood vessels is established. The computational results is further correlated to a set of physiological data acquired by using laser Doppler technique to enhance the clinical relevance. The computational models and the established correlation is applied in three situations including; evaluating the effect of oxygen facial delivery masks on patients’ skin; understanding the effect of same magnitude mechanical load on different skin conditions, and converting an external parameter, interface pressure from mattresses testing, into a physiological parameter. The overall study provides a novel tool for the medical device developers in evaluating the effects of their devices on patients’ skin in relation to the formation of superficial pressure ulcers. The computational models and the established correlation with the physiological data allows the clinicians to understanding the in vivo cutaneous conditions of patients rather than just evaluating an external parameter

Validating the Chinese-translated version of the Spiritual Health and Life-orientation Measure (SHALOM) amongst the Chinese youth populations in 2010 and 2018

This cross-sectional study validated the Chinese-translated version of the Spiritual Health and Life-orientation Measure (SHALOM) in two samples of university students in Hong Kong. The first sample comprised 546 Chinese university students who were educated under the old educational system (i.e. 3 + 2 + 2 + 3 scheme) and are known as ‘Generation Y’. Data for this sample were collected in 2010 for Fisher and Wong. The second sample involved 474 Chinese university students educated after educational reform in 2009 (i.e. 3 + 3 + 4 scheme) collected in 2018. Results in both years revealed high internal consistency. Whereas the SHALOM model proposes four domains of spirituality (personal, communal, environmental and transcendental), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a three-factor model provided the best fit to the data, with the personal and communal domains combined as one domain. This three-factor model was identified in both the 2010 and 2018 samples, and in both males and females. Findings indicated that compared to non-religious participants, religious participants had significantly higher scores in the transcendental domain of spiritual health on both the ideal values and lived experience subscales. The results are discussed in relation to Confucian philosophy. Future research on the spiritual health of youth in Hong Kong is suggested