Future intelligent civil structures: Challenges and opportunities

An intelligent civil structure offers ultimate protection to its structure, contents and occupants in terms of safety and functionality against undesired dynamic loadings and structural deficiency. In this paper, the concept of the future intelligent civil structure featuring self-adaptive, selfprognostic, self-sensing, self-powering and self-repairing abilities, is proposed. A decade research efforts from Centre for Built Infrastructure Research, University of Technology Sydney, towards the development and concept proof of such intelligent structure is reviewed

Pattern and clinical profile of children with complex cardiac anomaly at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku‑Ozalla, Enugu State, Nigeria

Background: Complex congenital cardiac abnormalities are rare among children and contribute to mortality and morbidity. The prevalence and pattern of presentation vary from lace to place.Materials and Methods: The objective of this study was to determine the clinical profile and pattern of presentation of complex congenital cardiac malformations among children attending a tertiary hospital in Enugu State. A cross‑sectional retrospective study in which a review of the records of children who attended the children outpatient clinic of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku‑Ozalla, Enugu State over a 5‑year period (January 2007‑June 2012) was undertaken.Results: Thirty one thousand seven hundred and ninety‑five (31,795) children attended the outpatient clinic of the hospital over the study period, of these, 65 had cardiac diseases, from which 16 were found to have congenital complex cardiac abnormalities of various types, giving a prevalence of 0.05%. Complex abnormalities seen in these children are Tricuspid atresia with various associations, cor triatriatum, single ventricle, and large ASD (atrio‑septal defect) with complete AVCD, cor triatriatum sinistrum with cardiomyopathy, DORV (double outlet right ventricle) with left sided aorta, hypoplastic tricuspid valve with a PDA (patent ductus artriosus), TOF (tetralogy of fallot), prolapse of aortic valve, and pulmonary regurgitation. One of these complex cardiac anomalies presented with Turner’s syndrome and another with VACTERAL association.Conclusions: The results of this study show that 0.05% of children who presented at cardiology clinic of a teaching hospital in Enugu State had congenital complex cardiac abnormalities and that the commonest forms seen were those with cor triatriatum and TOF.Keywords: Abnormalities, children, complex congenital cardiac, Enugu, presentationNigerian Journal of Clinical Practice • Oct-Dec 2013 • Vol 16 • Issue

Pharmacogenetic GWAS meta-analysis of LDL cholesterol response to statins

Cardiolog

The Magellanic Bridge as a Damped Lyman Alpha System: Physical Properties of Cold Gas Toward PKS 0312-770

We measure the physical properties of a local multicomponent absorption-line system at V-circle dot similar to 200 km s(-1) toward the quasar PKS 0312-770 behind the Magellanic Bridge (MB) using Hubble Space Telescope Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) spectroscopy in conjunction with photoionization modeling. At an impact parameter of similar to 10 kpc from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), this sightline provides a unique opportunity to probe the chemical properties and ionization structure in a nearby absorption line system with a column density of log N-H I similar to 20.2, at the transition between damped Ly alpha (DLA) and sub-DLA systems. We find that metallicity of -1.0 < log(Z/Z(circle dot)) < -0.5 and ionization parameter of -6 < logU < -5 for three low-ionization components and logU similar to -2.6 for one high-ionization component. One component at V-circle dot = 207 km s(-1) shows an alpha-element abundance log( Si/H) similar to -5.0, making it similar to 0.2 dex more metal-rich than both SMC HII regions and stars within the MB and the SMC. The N/Si ratio in this component is log( N/Si)= -0.3 +/- 0.1, making it comparable to other N-poor dwarf galaxies and similar to 0.2 dex lower than Hii regions in the SMC. Another component at V-circle dot = 236 km s(-1) shows a similar Si/H ratio but has log(N/Si) = -1.0 +/- 0.2, indicating a nitrogen deficiency comparable to that seen in the most N-poor DLA systems. These differences imply different chemical enrichment histories between components along the same sightline. Our results suggest that if these absorbers are representative some fraction of DLA systems, then (1) DLA systems along single sightlines do not necessarily represent the global properties of the absorbing cloud, and (2) the chemical composition within a given DLA cloud may be inhomogeneous.ArticleThe Astrophysical Journal. 695:1382-1398 (2009)journal articl

Mobility Support in User-Centric Networks

In this paper, an overview of challenges and requirements for mobility management in user-centric networks is given, and a new distributed and dynamic per-application mobility management solution is presented. After a brief summary of generic mobility management concepts, existing approaches from the distributed and peer-to-peer mobility management literature are introduced, along with their applicability or shortcomings in the UCN environment. Possible approaches to deal with the decentralized and highly dynamic nature of UCNs are also provided with a discussion and an introduction to potential future work

Squamous cell carcinoma of the scrotum in a Nigerian: case report

Squamous cell carcinoma of the scrotum is rare and to the best of our knowledge has never been reported from Nigeria. We report on a case thought to be occupation-related in a 42-year old Nigerian taxi driver who had previously been an automobile mechanic and later a long-haul truck driver. He presented with a stage D disease and only palliation was feasible

Performances agronomiques de la tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.) pour sa resistance a la maladie de l'enroulement jaunissant des feuilles au centre de la C&#244te d'Ivoire

Five tomato varieties, including a local check, were assessed for their resistance to Tomato yellow leaf curl disease, without phyto sanitary treatments, at the Food Crops Research Station of the National AgronomicResearch Centre (CNRA) in Bouaké. Two resistant varieties to the disease (CLN2126B and CLN2123A) were obtained from AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center and the two others (IDSA108 and IDSA109) from CNRA.Results showed that all the assessed varieties presented symptoms characteristic of leaf curl. Mean severity index of this disease, calculated from a given scale of annotation, was greater than 2,6 for all varieties,demonstrating their susceptibilities. For all the sowing dates, mean variety yields varied from 1680 to 6110 kg ha-1 for CLN2116B and the local check, respectively. Fruits weight varied from 17 to 39 g, for CLN2123A and the local check, respectively. Fruits number harvested varied between 27 to 68 for CLN2116B and the local check, respectively. The local check variety was the centre of great interest, due to its performances, which were superior to those of the 4 other varieties. Therefore, it could be recommended in both improvement and selection studies for tomato culture.Cinq variétés de tomate, dont un témoin local, ont été évaluées pour leur résistance à la maladie de l'enroulement foliaire, sans traitements phytosanitaires, à la Station de Recherche sur les Cultures Vivrièresdu Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA) de Bouaké. Deux variétés résistantes au Tomato yellow leaf curl (CLN2126B et CLN2123A), provenaient de l'AVRDC-The World Vegetable Center et les deuxautres (IDSA108, IDSA109) du CNRA. Les résultats montrent que toutes les variétés testées ont présenté des symptômes caractéristiques de la maladie. L'indice moyen de sévérité de la maladie, calculé à partird'une échelle d'annotation, a été supérieur à 2,6 pour toutes les variétés, démontrant, ainsi, leur sensibilité. Sur l'ensemble des semis, les rendements moyens des variétés ont varié entre 1680 et 6110 kg ha-1 pour CLN2116B et le témoin, respectivement. De même, les poids moyens des fruits ont varié entre 17 et 39 g pour CLN2123A et le témoin, respectivement. Le nombre de fruits récoltés a varié, en moyenne, entre 27 et 68, pour CLN2116B et le témoin, respectivement. Le témoin local a ainsi été l'objet d'un regain d'intérêt grâce à ses performances, qui sont supérieures à celles des 4 autres variétés. Le témoin pourrait donc êtrepréconisé dans des études ultérieures d'amélioration et de sélection de variétés tolérantes en culture de tomate.

Cor triatriatum sinistrium in a 10 year old Nigerian: A case report

We present a rare and first case of Cor triatriatum sinistrum (CT) in a patient who presents with dyspnoea, easy fatigability, chest pain, murmurs and typical ECG and 2D-echo findings. The purpose of presenting this casereport is to highlight the distinctive manifestation of Cor triatriatumsinistrum and to provide a concise report of this disease with the hopethat such information will help identify patients earlier in the course of their disease. Surgical correction offers good and long term results for both classicand atypical types. In a resource poor country like ours, high index of suspicion, early diagnosis and timely referral are warranted so as to avert death

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of an antimicrobial protein from Pharbitis nil

An antimicrobial protein from seeds of Pharbitis nil (Pn-AMP) which shows an antifungal activity towards several agriculturally important plant pathogens has been crystallized in the presence of equimolar N-acetylglucosamine with sodium citrate as precipitant. The crystal belongs to the hexagonal space group P6(1)22 (or P6(5)22), with unit-cell parameters a = b = 29.33 (5), c = 133.44 (12) Angstrom. Native data were collected using a crystal at 100 K to a resolution of 1.78 Angstrom.open2