Geotechnical Forensic Investigation of Observed Cracks on a Building in Tallahassee, Florida

In July 2010, two vapor extraction wells were installed about 15 feet from a building at an angle of 50 degrees to the horizontal using rotosonic drilling technique (RDT). In June 2011, a crack approximately 0.5 inch wide on the wall of the building was reported. Several other small cracks were observed on the building following inspection by the authors. The owner of the building expressed concerns that the rotosonic drilling was the cause of the cracks and wanted assurance that subsequent drillings would not exacerbate the problem. Geotechnical forensic investigation was performed to evaluate the potential cause(s) of cracking in the building and whether future drilling would impact the building and the foundation structure system. The investigations involved performing site reconnaissance surveys, site-specific field investigations, real-time vibration monitoring, crack monitoring, and geotechnical laboratory analyses. This paper presents the results from the forensic investigations. Based on these results, potential causes for the development of cracks in the wall of the building and recommended repair measures are discussed

Thyroid hormones enhance mitochondrial function in human epidermis

Since it is unknown whether thyroid hormones (THs) regulate mitochondrial function in human epidermis, we treated organ-cultured human skin, or isolated cultured human epidermal keratinocytes, with triiodothyronine (100 pmol/L) or thyroxine (100 nmol/L). Both THs significantly increased protein expression of the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome C oxidase I (MTCO1), complex I activity, and the number of perinuclear mitochondria. Triiodothyronine also increased mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) protein expression, and thyroxine stimulated complex II/IV activity. Increased mitochondrial function can correlate with increased reactive oxygen species production, DNA damage, and accelerated tissue aging. However, THs neither raised reactive oxygen species production or matrix metalloproteinase-1, -2 and -9 activity nor decreased sirtuin1 (Sirt1) immunoreactivity. Instead, triiodothyronine increased sirtuin-1, fibrillin-1, proliferator-activated receptor-gamma 1-alpha (PGC1 alpha), collagen I and III transcription, and thyroxine decreased cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (p16(ink4)) expression in organ-cultured human skin. Moreover, TH treatment increased intracutaneous fibrillin-rich microfibril and collagen III deposition and decreased mammalian target of rapamycin (mTORC1/2) expression ex vivo. This identifies THs as potent endocrine stimulators of mitochondrial function in human epidermis, which down-regulates rather than enhance the expression of skin aging-related biomarkers ex vivo. Therefore, topically applied THs deserve further exploration as candidate agents for treating skin conditions characterized by reduced mitochondrial function

Preprocessing and Hybrid Biochemical/Thermochemical Conversion of Short Rotation Woody Coppice for Biofuels

Preprocessing with air classification, followed by a hybrid biochemical/thermochemical conversion scheme, was utilized to improve the quality of short rotation woody coppice (SRWC) for biofuels production. Air classification improved sugar release during enzymatic hydrolysis by 6–12% for poplar and willow coppice respectively. Total theoretical sugar release for these hardwood coppices was ~70%, which suggests that they could be utilized for biochemical conversion. Improved sugar yields after air classification were tied to compositional changes of reduced ash and extractives which can neutralize dilute acid pretreatment and inhibit fermentation. However, air classification was shown to have little to no effect on pyrolytic thermochemical conversion as it removed material without returning a significant improvement in liquid yield. It was also shown that pyrolysis of biochemical conversion lignin rich residue gives liquid yields comparable to whole tree (without any fractionation) pyrolysis, with a higher quality oil that has ~60% reduced total acid number. Using this combined biochemical/thermochemical conversion strategy can improve yields of fermentable sugars and pyrolysis liquid above 80%, instead of the 60% yield of sugars or bio-oil when using a single conversion strategy. Overall, it has been shown that preprocessing and hybrid conversion pathways are a viable strategy for maximizing biorefinery viability

SOX17 Enhancer Variants Disrupt Transcription Factor Binding And Enhancer Inactivity Drives Pulmonary Hypertension

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease characterized by remodeling of the pulmonary arteries, increased vascular resistance, and right-sided heart failure. Genome-wide association studies of idiopathic/heritable PAH established novel genetic risk variants, including conserved enhancers upstream of transcription factor (TF) SOX17 containing 2 independent signals. SOX17 is an important TF in embryonic development and in the homeostasis of pulmonary artery endothelial cells (hPAEC) in the adult. Rare pathogenic mutations in SOX17 cause heritable PAH. We hypothesized that PAH risk alleles in an enhancer region impair TF-binding upstream of SOX17, which in turn reduces SOX17 expression and contributes to disturbed endothelial cell function and PAH development. METHODS: CRISPR manipulation and siRNA were used to modulate SOX17 expression. Electromobility shift assays were used to confirm in silico–predicted TF differential binding to the SOX17 variants. Functional assays in hPAECs were used to establish the biological consequences of SOX17 loss. In silico analysis with the connectivity map was used to predict compounds that rescue disturbed SOX17 signaling. Mice with deletion of the SOX17 signal 1 enhancer region (SOX17-4593/enhKO) were phenotyped in response to chronic hypoxia and SU5416/hypoxia. RESULTS: CRISPR inhibition of SOX17-signal 2 and deletion of SOX17signal 1 specifically decreased SOX17 expression. Electromobility shift assays demonstrated differential binding of hPAEC nuclear proteins to the risk and nonrisk alleles from both SOX17 signals. Candidate TFs HOXA5 and ROR-α were identified through in silico analysis and antibody electromobility shift assays. Analysis of the hPAEC transcriptomes revealed alteration of PAH-relevant pathways on SOX17 silencing, including extracellular matrix regulation. SOX17 silencing in hPAECs resulted in increased apoptosis, proliferation, and disturbance of barrier function. With the use of the connectivity map, compounds were identified that reversed the SOX17-dysfunction transcriptomic signatures in hPAECs. SOX17 enhancer knockout in mice reduced lung SOX17 expression, resulting in more severe pulmonary vascular leak and hypoxia or SU5416/hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Common PAH risk variants upstream of the SOX17 promoter reduce endothelial SOX17 expression, at least in part, through differential binding of HOXA5 and ROR-α. Reduced SOX17 expression results in disturbed hPAEC function and PAH. Existing drug compounds can reverse the disturbed SOX17 pulmonary endothelial transcriptomic signature

Improving the Interprofessional Practice, Knowledge, and Skills of Health Professions Students through an Interactive Course in Gerontology

Interprofessional, collaborative health care is the ideal standard in geriatrics. Students’ interprofessional practice skills are limited in typical siloed education. An experiential, team-based geriatrics course was designed to improve health professions (HP) students’ perceived knowledge, skills, and attitudes about interprofessional practice. Students (n=209) from dentistry, medicine, nursing, nutrition, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physician assistant, social work, and speech-language pathology were assigned to interprofessional (IP) and medical-student only teams. The Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey-Revised (ICCAS-R) was administered pre- and post-course, along with program evaluations. Seventy percent of students completed both pre- and post-surveys. ICCAS-R scores were analyzed comparing the impact of training for medical students (n=78) on IP teams and remaining HP students (n=58). Students rated themselves as improved on all six ICCAS-R subscales (paired t-tests, p < 0.05). Sixty-nine percent rated themselves as better able to collaborate interprofessionally. A competitive team-based learning exercise using gamification was rated as the most authentic skill-building interprofessional activity. Experiential learning where students worked with the same team helped to build interprofessional and teamwork skills. Findings will be used to improve authenticity of the clinical and teamwork content, increase the use of gamification as a teaching technique, and refine students’ practice of IP teamwork competencies

ANALISIS QOS VIDEO STREAMING DAN VOIP DENGAN METODE PCQ MENGGUNAKAN ROUTER MIKROTIK RB952Ui-5ac2Nd

Masalah yang sering kali dihadapi ketika mengakses video streaming dan VOIP adalah ketersediaan bandwidth untuk masing-masing pengguna. Keterbatasan ini disebabkan karna kurangnya manajemen bandwidth untuk dibagikan kepada pengguna. Untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut, maka akan dilakukan manajemen bandwidth menggunakan metode Per Connection Queue (PCQ). PCQ adalah metode yang berfungsi untuk membagi bandwidth secara merata kepada setiap pengguna. Kemudian akan dilakukan pengukuran berdasarkan parameter yang dimiliki QOS (Quality of Service) antara lain delay, throughput, packet loss dan jitter. Penelitian ini juga menggunakan metode Study Literature sebagai metode pengumpulan data dan metode Action Research sebagai metode yang digunakan untuk pengerjaan penelitian ini. Hasil yang didapatkan dari penelitian ini adalah lebih meratanya pembagian bandwidth kepada setiap pengguna. Pengaruh yang dibawa oleh PCQ berdampak sesuai dengan fungsi asli dari PCQ itu sendiri. Kemudian packet loss dapat ditekan dapat dilihat dari perbandingan 1 dan 4, packet loss tertinggi sebelum diterapkan PCQ mencapai 81.6% dan mencapai persentase terendah mencapai 73%. Pengukuran jitter meraih hasil terbaik yaitu 0ms. Bandwidth 1 Mbps dapat menampung 32 pengguna dengan baik ketika menjalankan VOIP. Butuh lebih dari 4 Mbps untuk menjalankan video streaming untuk 32 pengguna dengan baik

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M&gt;70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0&lt;e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM