Behavior of Reinforced Wall System During the 1999 Kocaeli (Izmit), Turkey, Earthquake

A four-span bridge together with a 10 m-high and 100 m-long bridge approach fill was one of the highway facilities damaged due to surface faulting along the Trans-European Motorway during 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake (Mw 7.4). The fault rupture crossed beneath an overpass bridge within a few meters away from the bridge abutment while damaging the approach fill which was reinforced with a double-faced mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSEW) system. The faulting-induced excessive tectonic ground deformations including near-field seismic shakings were the main sources of damage in the walls. Such effects, along with the others, caused cracks and panel separations in wall faces as a result of a liquefaction-induced differential settlement in the cross section. The performance of the reinforced walls was satisfactory that there was no significant structural damage despite the total collapse of the bridge decks. The wall system provided a unique case history under extreme loading conditions, while proving that they are flexible and can withstand large ground deformations. This paper discusses how the walls performed based on post-earthquake reconnaissance studies. The faulting activity, geology of the site, strong ground motions and damage states in the reinforced wall are discussed in details

A Numerical Study of the Flexural Behavior of Concrete Beams Reinforced with AFRP Bars

In this study, analytical and numerical investigations were extensively conducted to evaluate the flexural behavior of concrete beams reinforced with aramid fiber-reinforced polymer (AFRP) rebars. The AFRP-reinforced concrete beams were analyzed using the separated finite element method containing different elements for concrete and reinforcement. In addition, this study used two different effective moment of inertia expressions to estimate the load-deflection responses and the service-load deflections of the beams. The service-load deflections of the AFRP-reinforced concrete beams obtained from the finite element analysis were in close agreement with those from the effective moment of inertia expressions. The numerical ultimate moments also correlated well with the analytical values of concrete stress-strain models. Numerical analyses, which hardly predict the sudden reduction in the flexural rigidity of FRPreinforced concrete beams due to the crushing of cover concrete, were shown to provide somewhat conservative deflection estimates.Представлены результаты аналитических и численных исследований, целью которых является определение изгибных характеристик железобетонных балок, упрочненных полимерными стержнями из армированных волокон. С помощью специального метода конечных элементов, включающего различные элементы для процессов бетонирования и армирования, провели анализ железобетонных балок, армированных полимерными стержнями. Для оценки характеристик прогиба под действием нагрузки и прогиба балки под действием рабочей нагрузки использовали два различных уравнения эффективного момента инерции. Значения прогиба железобетонных балок с полимерными стержнями под действием рабочей нагрузки, полученные конечноэлементным методом, хорошо сопоставляются со значениями из уравнений момента инерции. Численные значения разрушающего момента также хорошо согласуются с аналитическими значениями, полученными в результате применения модели зависимости деформации от напряжения для бетона. Для консервативной оценки прогиба представлены результаты численного анализа, которые почти не спрогнозировали внезапное уменьшение показателя жесткости при изгибе железобетонных балок с полимерными стержнями вследствие разрушения защитного слоя бетона.Представлено результати аналітичних і чисельних досліджень, метою яких є визначення згинальних характеристик залізобетонних балок, зміцнених полімерними стрижнями з армованих волокон. За допомогою спеціального методу скінченних елементів, що включає різні елементи для процесів бетонування й армування, проаналізовано залізобетонні балки, армовані полімерними стрижнямі. Для оцінки характеристик прогину під дією навантаження і прогину балки під дією робочого навантаження використовували два різних рівняння ефективного моменту інерції. Значення прогину залізобетонних балок із полімерними стрижнями під дією робочого навантаження, отримані скінченно-елементним методом, добре зіставляються зі значеннями з рівнянь моменту інерції. Числові значення руйнівного моменту також добре узгоджуються з аналітичними значеннями, отриманими по моделі залежності деформації від напруження для бетону. Для консервативної оцінки прогину представлено дані чисельного аналізу, які майже не спрогнозували раптове зменшення показника жорсткості при згині залізобетонних балок із полімерними стрижнями внаслідок руйнування захисного шару бетону

Management of spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with COVID-19.

ObjectivesThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia may cause cystic features of lung parenchyma which can resolve or progress to larger blebs. Pneumothorax was more likely in patients with neutrophilia, severe lung injury and a prolonged clinical course. The timely diagnosis and management will reduce COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality.MethodsWe present 11 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax managed with chest tube thoracostomy or high-dose oxygen therapy. Isolated spontaneous pneumothorax was detected in all cases.ResultsEight cases were male and 3 cases were female. There were bilateral ground-glass opacities or pulmonary infiltrates in the parenchyma of the 10 cases. We detected neutrophilia, lymphopaenia and increased C-reactive protein, Ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, D-Dimer, interleukin-6 levels in almost all cases. Chest tube thoracostomy was sufficient to treat pneumothorax in our 9 of case. In 2 cases, pneumothorax healed with high-dose oxygen therapy. Favipiravir and antibiotic treatment were given to different 10 patients. In our institution, all patients with COVID-19 infection were placed on prophylactic or therapeutic anticoagulation, unless contraindicated. The treatments of patients diagnosed with secondary spontaneous pneumothorax during the pandemic period and those diagnosed with secondary spontaneous pneumothorax in the previous 3 years were compared with the durations of tube thoracostomy performed in both groups.ConclusionsThe increased number of cases of pneumothorax suggests that pneumothorax may be a complication of COVID-19 infection. During medical treatment of COVID-19, pneumothorax may be the only reason for hospitalization. Although tube thoracostomy is a sufficient treatment option in most cases, clinicians should be aware of the difficulties that may arise in diagnosis and treatment

The Teaching and Learning Cultural Competence in a Multicultural Environment (CCMEn) Model

Background: Within the European higher education context, students and lecturers are encouraged to engage in teaching and learning activities abroad. This frequently involves using a second language and being exposed to students and lecturers from culturally different backgrounds. Objective: To design a model for teaching and learning cultural competence in a multicultural environment (CCMEn). Design: Theory development from empirical experience, research, and scholarly works. Method: This model was developed based on our experience of teaching and learning cultural competence in a multicultural environment in a nursing education context; it rests on three pillars, namely, Coyle's Content and Language Integrated Learning educational approach, the concept of social and emotional learning, as defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, and the existing literature surrounding teaching and learning cultural competence in higher education. Results: The CCMEn model is intended to guide the process of teaching and learning cultural competence in a multicultural environment through the use of a second language and has been adapted from existing educational approaches and theory. Conclusion: Teaching and learning in multilingual and multicultural contexts in Europe is becoming more common. Students who learn alongside students and teachers from different cultural backgrounds need to be supported from an academic, linguistic and socioemotional perspective. We believe that the CCMEn model can serve as a guide to enhancing student learning in this context

Nursing students’ experience of learning cultural competence

Introduction European societies are rapidly becoming multicultural. Cultural diversity presents new challenges and opportunities to communities that receive immigrants and migrants, and highlights the need for culturally safe healthcare. Universities share a responsibility to build a fair and equitable society by integrating cultural content in the nursing curricula. This paper aims to analyze European student nurses´ experience of learning cultural competence and of working with patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Materials and methods A phenomenological approach was selected through a qualitative research method. 7 semi-structured focus groups with 5–7 students took place at the participants’ respective universities in Spain, Belgium, Turkey and Portugal. Results 5 themes and 16 subthemes emerged from thematic analysis. Theme 1, concept of culture/ cultural diversity, describes the participants’ concept of culture; ethnocentricity emerged as a frequent element in the students’ discourse. Theme 2, personal awareness, integrates the students’ self-perception of cultural competence and their learning needs. Theme 3, impact of culture, delves on the participants’ perceived impact of cultural on both nursing care and patient outcomes. Theme 4, learning cultural competence, integrates the participants’ learning experiences as part of their nursing curricula, as part of other academic learning opportunities and as part of extra-academic activities. Theme 5, learning cultural competence during practice placements, addresses some important issues including witnessing unequal care, racism, prejudice and conflict, communication and language barriers, tools and resources and positive attitudes and behaviors witnesses or displayed during clinical practice. Conclusion The participants’ perceived level of cultural competence was variable. All the participants agreed that transcultural nursing content should be integrated in the nursing curricula, and suggested different strategies to improve their knowledge, skills and attitudes. It is important to listen to the students and take their opinion into account when designing cultural teaching and learning activities. © 2021 Antón-Solanas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Nursing lecturers’ perception and experience of teaching cultural competence: a european qualitative study

Cultural competence is an essential component in providing effective and culturally responsive healthcare services, reducing health inequalities, challenging racism in health care and improving patient safety, satisfaction and health outcomes. It is thus reasonable that undergraduate nursing students can develop cultural competency through education and training. The aim of this paper was to investigate nursing lecturers’ perception and experience of teaching cultural competence in four undergraduate nursing programs. A phenomenological approach was selected to illicit nursing lecturers’ perception of culture and experience of teaching cultural competence. Semi-struc-tured personal interviews were held with a sample of 24 lecturers from four European universities. The anonymized transcripts were analyzed qualitatively following Braun and Clark’s phases for thematic analysis. Six themes and fifteen subthemes emerged from thematic analysis of the tran-scripts. Cultural competence was not explicitly integrated in the nursing curricula. Instead, the lecturers used mainly examples and case studies to illustrate the theory. The integration of cultural content in the modules was unplanned and not based on a specific model. Nursing programs should be examined to establish how cultural content is integrated in the curricula; clear guidelines and standards for a systematic integration of cultural content in the nursing curriculum should be de-veloped

Wheat and hazelnut inspection with impact acoustics time-frequency patterns

Kernel damage caused by insects and fungi is one of the most common reason for poor flour quality. Cracked hazelnut shells are prone to infection by cancer producing mold. We propose a new adaptive time-frequency classification procedure for detecting cracked hazelnut shells and damaged wheat kernels using impact acoustic emissions recorded by dropping wheat kernels or hazelnut shells on a steel plate. The proposed algorithm is based on a flexible local discriminant bases (F-LDB) procedure. The F-LDB method combines local cosine packet analysis and a frequency axis clustering approach which supports individual time and frequency band adaptation. Discriminant features are extracted from the adaptively segmented acoustic signal, sorted according to a Fisher class separability criterion, post processed by principal component analysis and fed to linear discriminant. We describe experimental results that establish the superior performance of the proposed approach when compared with prior techniques reported in the literature or used in the field. Our approach achieved classification accuracy in paired separation of undamaged wheat kernels from IDK, Pupae and Scab damaged kernels with 96%, 82% and 94%. For hazelnuts the accuracy was 97.1%

Identification of damaged wheat kernels and cracked-shell hazelnuts with impact acoustics time-frequency patterns

A new adaptive time-frequency (t-f) analysis and classification procedure is applied to impact acoustic signals for detecting hazelnuts with cracked shells and three types of damaged wheat kernels. Kernels were dropped onto a steel plate, and the resulting impact acoustic signals were recorded with a PC-based data acquisition system. These signals were segmented with a flexible local discriminant bases (F-LDB) procedure in the time-frequency plane to extract discriminative patterns between damaged and undamaged food kernels. The F-LDB procedure requires no prior knowledge of the relevant time or frequency indices of the impact acoustics signals for classification. The method automatically finds all crucial time-frequency indices from the training data by combining local cosine packet analysis and a frequency axis clustering approach, which supports individual time and frequency band adaptation. Discriminant features are extracted from the adaptively segmented acoustic signal, sorted according to a Fisher class separability criterion, post-processed by principal component analysis, and fed to a linear discriminant classifier. Experimental results establish the superior performance of the proposed approach when compared to prior techniques reported in the literature or used in the field. The new approach separated damaged wheat kernels (IDK, pupal, and scab) from undamaged wheat kernels with 96%, 82%, and 94% accuracy, respectively. It also separated cracked-shell hazelnuts from those with undamaged shells with 97.1% accuracy. The adaptation capability of the algorithm to the time-frequency patterns of signals makes it a universal method for food kernel inspection that can resist the impact acoustic variability between different kernel and damage types. 2008 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers