Design and Data Modelling of Fibre Optic Systems to Monitor Reinforced Concrete Structural Elements

Structural monitoring of built assets, performed to ensure safety, usability, and to better understand the assets’ structural behaviour, is becoming common practice. One method to monitor structural behaviour is to use fibre optic systems to measure temperature and strain in structural elements. Fibre optic systems are relatively inexpensive, easy to install, versatile, and widely applicable. However, all the data acquired by monitoring systems are meaningless if they lack context within the built asset, and they are of little use if they cannot be appropriately exchanged and visualised. This paper presents an extension to the IFC data model standard for structural monitoring systems. The extension allows (1) to model structural monitoring systems, (2) to store and retrieve acquired data, and (3) to visualise the data directly on the BIM model. The James Dyson Building at the University of Cambridge is used as a case study, in which selected reinforced concrete columns, beams, and slabs have been instrumented with two types of fibre optic sensors. The case study demonstrates that the extension is able to fully describe the fibre optic monitoring system and that it can aid in its design, deployment, and further operation.The authors would like to acknowledge funding from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Innovate UK. This research was carried out under EPSRC grant no. EP/I019308/1. Acknowledgements also go to several people who contributed to, or facilitated the fibre optic sensor installations in the James Dyson Building: Cedric Kechavarzi, David Rodenas Herráiz, Jason Shardelow, Jules Birks, Pasquale Ponterosso and Peter Knott from CSIC; Greg Smith and Toby Lucas from Morgan Sindall.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Society of Civil Engineers via https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784479827.22

Mesenteric panniculitis with pedal edema in a 33-year-old Pakistani man: a case report and literature review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Mesenteric panniculitis is a rare pathology of unknown etiology characterized by inflammation and fibrosis in the mesentery. Its protean clinical and radiological manifestations make it a diagnostic challenge. There is no established treatment available for its management. The clinical outcome is inconsistent, with the prognosis ranging from complete resolution without any treatment to rapid progression culminating in death.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 33-year-old Pakistani man presented with vague abdominal pain, an ill-defined epigastric mass and bilateral pedal edema. A detailed review of his history and laboratory investigations did not point to any diagnosis. The patient underwent an exploratory laparotomy based on the finding of mesenteric soft-tissue density on computed tomography. The laparotomy did not prove to be of any diagnostic or therapeutic value. Upon review of the pre-operative computed tomographic scan at our institution, a diagnosis of mesenteric panniculitis was made. An acceptable resolution of abdominal pain and pedal edema was attained after a 4-week trial of immunosuppressive therapy. This is the first reported case of mesenteric panniculitis with pedal edema as part of its presentation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An increased awareness may lead to the development of a less invasive diagnostic approach and optimal treatment for this rarely recognized condition.</p

Artificial intelligence in the construction industry: A review of present status, opportunities and future challenges

© 2021 The Authors. The growth of the construction industry is severely limited by the myriad complex challenges it faces such as cost and time overruns, health and safety, productivity and labour shortages. Also, construction industry is one the least digitized industries in the world, which has made it difficult for it to tackle the problems it currently faces. An advanced digital technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), is currently revolutionising industries such as manufacturing, retail, and telecommunications. The subfields of AI such as machine learning, knowledge-based systems, computer vision, robotics and optimisation have successfully been applied in other industries to achieve increased profitability, efficiency, safety and security. While acknowledging the benefits of AI applications, numerous challenges which are relevant to AI still exist in the construction industry. This study aims to unravel AI applications, examine AI techniques being used and identify opportunites and challenges for AI applications in the construction industry. A critical review of available literature on AI applications in the construction industry such as activity monitoring, risk management, resource and waste optimisation was conducted. Furthermore, the opportunities and challenges of AI applications in construction were identified and presented in this study. This study provides insights into key AI applications as it applies to construction-specific challenges, as well as the pathway to realise the acrueable benefits of AI in the construction industry.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK (Grant Reference No. EP/S031480/

Clinical Presentation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) in Asian-Americans Versus Non-Asian-Americans

The incidence of HCC is rising worldwide. Studies on ethnicity-based clinical presentation of HCC remain limited. The aim is to compare the clinical presentation and stage of HCC between Asian-Americans and non-Asian-Americans. This retrospective study assessed ethnicity-based differences in HCC presentation, including demographics, laboratory results, diagnosis of underlying liver disease, and stage of HCC. Of 276 patients, 162 were Asian-Americans and 114 were non-Asian-Americans. Compared to non-Asian-Americans, Asian-Americans had a significantly higher incidence of history of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (55.0% vs. 4.9%, P < 0.001), family history of HBV infection (12.5% vs. 0.0%, P < 0.001) and HCC (15.2% vs. 2.9%, P = 0.002), but lower incidence of history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (37.5% vs. 61.6%, P < 0.001). At diagnosis of HCC, Asian-American patients had a significantly lower frequency of hepatic encephalopathy (8.9% vs. 29.3%, P = 0.001), and ascites (26.7% vs. 57.3%, P < 0.001). Asian-Americans had lower Child-Pugh scores (class A: 62.0% vs. 31.4%, P < 0.001), and MELD scores (9.2 ± 4.4 vs. 12.0 ± 6.4, P = 0.02), and presented with a lower stage of HCC by Okuda staging (I: 43.8% vs. 22.8%, P = 0.001). Asian-American patients with HCC presented with a higher incidence of history and family history of HBV infection, lower incidence of hepatic decompensation, lower Child and MELD scores, and an early stage HCC disease

Ramucirumab in combination with pembrolizumab in treatment-naïve advanced gastric or gej adenocarcinoma: Safety and antitumor activity from the phase 1a/b jvdf trial

Ramucirumab (anti-VEGFR2) plus pembrolizumab (anti-PD1) demonstrated promising antitumor activity and tolerability among patients with previously treated advanced cancers, supporting growing evidence that combination therapies modulating the tumor microenvironment may expand the spectrum of patients who respond to checkpoint inhibitors. Here we present the results of this combination in first-line patients with metastatic G/GEJ cancer. Twenty-eight patients (≥18 years) with no prior systemic chemotherapy in the advanced/metastatic setting received ramucirumab (8 mg/kg days 1 and 8) plus pembrolizumab (200 mg day 1) every 3 weeks as part of JVDF phase 1a/b study. The primary endpoint was safety. Secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate (ORR), and overall survival (OS). Tumors were PD-L1-positive (combined positive score ≥ 1) in 19 and-negative in 6 patients. Eighteen patients experienced grade 3 treatment-related adverse events, most commonly hypertension (14%) and elevated alanine/aspartate aminotransferase (11% each), with no grade 4 or 5 reported. The ORR was 25% (PD-L1-positive, 32%; PD-L1-negative, 17%) with duration of response not reached. PFS was 5.6 months (PD-L1-positive, 8.6 months; PD-L1-negative, 4.3 months), and OS 14.6 months (PD-L1-positive, 17.3 months; PD-L1-negative, 11.3 months). Acknowledging study design limitations, ramucirumab plus pembrolizumab had encouraging durable clinical activity with no unexpected toxicities in treatment-naïve biomarker-unselected metastatic G/GEJ cancer, and improved outcomes in patients with PD-L1-positive tumors

Clinical characteristics of ovarian cancer classified by BRCA1, BRCA2, and RAD51C status.

We evaluated homologous recombination deficient (HRD) phenotypes in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) considering BRCA1, BRCA2, and RAD51C in a large well-annotated patient set. We evaluated EOC patients for germline deleterious mutations (n = 899), somatic mutations (n = 279) and epigenetic alterations (n = 482) in these genes using NGS and genome-wide methylation arrays. Deleterious germline mutations were identified in 32 (3.6%) patients for BRCA1, in 28 (3.1%) for BRCA2 and in 26 (2.9%) for RAD51C. Ten somatically sequenced patients had deleterious alterations, six (2.1%) in BRCA1 and four (1.4%) in BRCA2. Fifty two patients (10.8%) had methylated BRCA1 or RAD51C. HRD patients with germline or somatic alterations in any gene were more likely to be high grade serous, have an earlier diagnosis age and have ovarian and/or breast cancer family history. The HRD phenotype was most common in high grade serous EOC. Identification of EOC patients with an HRD phenotype may help tailor specific therapies.This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01-CA122443, P50-CA136393, P30-CA15083, and the Fred C. and Katherine B. Andersen Foundation. We thank Gary Kenney, M.D. for pathology review of tumor tissue. We thank Craig Luccarini, Caroline Baynes from University of Cambridge for assisting our sample sequencing

The Day-to-Day Impact of Urogenital Aging: Perspectives from Racially/Ethnically Diverse Women

Urogenital symptoms affect up to half of women after menopause, but their impact on women’s day-to-day functioning and wellbeing is poorly understood. Postmenopausal women aged 45 to 80 years reporting urogenital dryness, soreness, itching, or pain during sex were recruited to participate in in-depth focus groups to discuss the impact of their symptoms. Focus groups were homogenous with respect to race/ethnicity and stratified by age (for White or Black women) or language (for Latina women). Transcripts of sessions were analyzed according to grounded theory. Six focus groups were conducted, involving 44 women (16 White, 14 Black, 14 Latina). Five domains of functioning and wellbeing affected by symptoms were identified: sexual functioning, everyday activities, emotional wellbeing, body image, and interpersonal relations. For some participants, symptoms primarily affected their ability to have and enjoy sex, as well as be responsive to their partners. For others, symptoms interfered with everyday activities, such as exercising, toileting, or sleeping. Participants regarded their symptoms as a sign that they were getting old or their body was deteriorating; women also associated symptoms with a loss of womanhood or sexuality. Additionally, participants reported feeling depressed, embarrassed, and frustrated about their symptoms, and expressed reluctance to discuss them with friends, family, or health care providers. Urogenital symptoms can have a marked impact on sexual functioning, everyday activities, emotional wellbeing, body image, and interpersonal relations after menopause. Clinicians may need to question women actively about these symptoms, as many are reluctant to seek help for this problem

Relationship of problematic cannabis use among youth in Spain with perceived risk, environmental factors and sociodemographic factors

This is the final version. Available on open access from Socidrogalcohol via the DOI in this record. The relationship of problematic cannabis consumption with perceived risk, socioenvironmental and sociodemographic factors among youth in Spain is not well known. The aims of this study are: 1) to describe the patterns of cannabis consumption (problematic and non-problematic) in Spanish youth, and 2) to explore whether problematic cannabis consumption is related to perceived risk, environmental factors and individual sociodemographic characteristics. A cross-sectional design based on data from the 2015/16 Spanish Household Survey on Alcohol and Drugs (EDADES) was performed. Individuals between 15 and 35 years old having used cannabis during the last year with a complete Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) were included (N = 1,674). Problematic consumption (CAST >= 7) was considered as dependent variable. Perceived risk, environmental factors (availability of the substance and exposure to consumption situations) and sociodemographic factors were taken as independent variables. Descriptive analyses of consumption patterns were performed and univariable and multivariable Poisson regression models were done. All analyses were stratified by gender. Problematic cannabis consumption was more frequent among men (38.9 %) than among women (23.2 %). While among men, problematic use was related to environmental factors and educational level, among women it was associated with perceived risk and unemployment. Problematic cannabis consumption among Spanish youth is associated with different types of gender-related factors. Due to its representativeness at the population level and the validity of the measures, these results might have important implications on the development of prevention strategies targeted at problematic cannabis consumptionCIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP

Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use.

Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders1. They are heritable2,3 and etiologically related4,5 behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts6-11. In sample sizes up to 1.2 million individuals, we discovered 566 genetic variants in 406 loci associated with multiple stages of tobacco use (initiation, cessation, and heaviness) as well as alcohol use, with 150 loci evidencing pleiotropic association. Smoking phenotypes were positively genetically correlated with many health conditions, whereas alcohol use was negatively correlated with these conditions, such that increased genetic risk for alcohol use is associated with lower disease risk. We report evidence for the involvement of many systems in tobacco and alcohol use, including genes involved in nicotinic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic neurotransmission. The results provide a solid starting point to evaluate the effects of these loci in model organisms and more precise substance use measures