Behavior Of Spandrel Beams Strengthened With Steel Fibers Under Combined Loading

Anggota konkrit mengalami kilasan diiringi juga dengan lenturan dan ricihan. Sehingga kini, kod amalan reka bentuk anggota-anggota konkrit bertetulang menganggap bahawa kesan kilasan dapat dielakkan dengan selamat disebabkan faktor keselamatan yang tinggi digunakan dalam lenturan dan ricihan. Justeru itu, gabungan beban terhadap anggota-anggota tidak diberi perhatian yang serius. Namun demikian, andaian ini sudah tidak boleh diaplikasi lagi kerana isu kilasan kini merupakan perkara biasa dan memainkan peranan yang signifikan dalam struktur, contohnya rasuk spandrel. Rasuk spandrel atau dikenali juga sebagai rasuk-L, amat bergantung pada perimeter bangunan. Sebarang kegagalan pada rasuk spandrel boleh menjadi serius sehingga mencacatkan papak, sumbungan tiang-rasuk dan tebukan plat rata konkrit. Dengan mencampurkan gentian keluli sebagai bahan tambahan, ia boleh meningkatkan kekuatan kilasan rasuk spandrel di bawah beban gabungan dan prestasi struktur konkrit seperti beban maksimum, kemuluran dan rintangan retak. Gentian keluli boleh merintangi gabungan beban seperti rakap dan tetulang membujur, namun penyelidikan di dalam bidang ini masih samar dan terhad. Lebih-lebih lagi kepentingan menggunakan bertetulang gentian dalam struktur konkrit untuk diaplikasi dalam infrastruktur awam telah meningkat. Oleh yang demikian, pengetahuan sedia ada tentang konkrit gentian keluli sepaiknya digabungjalinkan dalam kod amalan reka bentuk. Eksperimen dijalankan untuk menilai perlakuan rasuk spandrel gentian yang diperkukuh dengan gentian keluli tertakluk pada gabungan kilasan, lenturan dan ricihan. Sejumlah 18 rasuk spandrel disediakan dan diuji dengan dua gabungan beban biasa i.e. kilasan tinggi terhadap nisbah lenturan dan kilasan rendah terhadap nisbah lenturan. Sampel rasuk dibahagikan kepada tiga kumpulan, iaitu rasuk konkrit biasa, spesimen dengan tetulang pengukuh memanjang, dan spesimen dengan tertulang dan rakap. Semua kes dikaji dengan pecahan isipadu gentian keluli 0%, 1%, dan 1.5%. Rasuk konkrit bertetulang gentian mempamerkan prestasi keseluruhan yang baik berbanding dengan rasuk kawalan tanpa gentian. Diperhatikan sumbangan utama daripada gentian keluli ke atas tingkah laku kilasan adalah terhadap keretakan konkrit. Penambahan gentian keluli adalah penting untuk rasuk tanpa tetulang keluli konvensional, penambahan ini terbukti mampu meningkatkan kapasiti semasa kilasan. Di samping itu, analisis berangka melalui kaedah elemen terhingga dilakukan terhadap data eksperimen untuk meramalkan tingkah laku struktur rasuk spandrel. Satu teknik baru diutara untuk mengambilkira kesan gentian keluli dalam elemen konkrit dan kesan titik lembut konkrit dalam mampatan dan tegangan. Kelakuan umum model unsur terhingga yang diwakili plot kilas-piuh dan plot bebanlenturan menunjukkan hubungan yang baik dengan data ujian daripada rasuk kawalan dan rasuk spandrel. Walau bagaimanapun, model unsur terhingga menunjukkan kekukuhan yang tinggi berbanding dengan data ujian dalam julat tidak linear untuk rasuk tanpa tetulang keluli. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Important concrete members are subjected to significant torsion accompanied by bending and shear. Until recent years, the design codes of reinforced concrete members assumed that the effects of torsion could be safely neglected due to high safety factors for shear and bending moment. Thus, members under combined loading were not treated with serious attention. However, this assumption cannot be applied anymore as torsion issues become common and play a significant role in structural members, such as spandrel beams. The spandrel beam, or the L-beam, lies on the perimeter of buildings. Any failure in spandrel beams can seriously damage slabs, beam-column connections, and punch concrete flat-plates. By incorporating steel fibers, it can enhance torsional behavior of spandrel beam under combined load in addition to the structural performance such as maximum load, ductility and cracking resistance. Steel fibers may provide resistance to combined loading as stirrups and longitudinal bars, this investigation is still scare and limited. Moreover, a worldwide interest in utilizing fiber reinforced concrete structures for civil infrastructure applications has increased. This study presents the advantage of using steel fiber concrete in strengthening spandrel beams under different reinforcement and loading cases. An experimental investigation was conducted to assess the behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete spandrel beams subjected to combined torsion, bending, and shear. A total of 18 spandrel beams were prepared and tested with two common loading combinations i.e. high torque to bending ratio and low torque to bending ratio. All beams were divided into three groups, namely, plain concrete beams, specimens with longitudinal reinforcing bars and specimens with bars and stirrups. All cases were examined with 0%, 1%, and 1.5% steel fiber volume fractions. Fibrous concrete beams exhibited improved overall torsional performance with respect to the corresponding non-fibrous control beams. The main contribution of steel fibers on the torsional behavior is mainly observed after concrete cracking. The addition of steel fibers was essential to the beams without conventional steel reinforcement since fibers were the only reinforcement and proved capable to provide enhanced torsional moment capacities. Besides, a numerical analysis by finite element method was suggested against the experimental data to predict the structural behavior of spandrel beams. A new technique was presented to incorporate the effects of steel fibers within concrete element and the softening effect of concrete in compression and tension. The general behavior of the finite element model represented by the torque-twist plot and load-deflection plots show good agreement with the test data from the plain and fiber reinforced spandrel beam. However, the finite element models show higher stiffness than the test data in the nonlinear ranges for beams without steel reinforcement

A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis to Evaluate a System Change in Mental Healthcare in the Netherlands for Patients with Depression or Anxiety

Over the last decade, the Dutch mental healthcare system has been subject to profound policy reforms, in order to achieve affordable, accessible, and high quality care. One of the adjustments was to substitute part of the specialized care for general mental healthcare. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared the cost-effectiveness of patients in the new setting with comparable patients from specialized mental healthcare in the old setting. Results showed that for this group of patients the average cost of treatment was significantly reduced by, on average, €2132 (p < 0.001), with similar health outcomes as in the old system

Proyecto eMadrid: metodologías educativas, ludificación y calidad

Esta comunicación presenta un conjunto de trabajos de investigación sobre metodologías docentes, ludificación y calidad realizados en el seno del proyecto eMadrid, de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. En primer lugar se resumen los trabajos realizados en los dos primeros años del proyecto. Posteriormente se presentan las líneas de trabajo previstas para los dos años restantesEstos trabajos se han financiado parcialmente por el proyecto eMadrid (S2013/ICE-2715) de la Comunidad de Madrid, los proyectos FLEXOR (TIN2014-52129-R), RESET (TIN2014-53199-C3-1-R) e iProg (TIN2015-66731-C2-1-R) del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, y el proyecto “Adaptación de la metodología PhyMEL a la formación clínica mediante el uso de simuladores” financiado por la empresa Medical Simulato

Podoconiosis in East and West Gojam Zones, Northern Ethiopia

Background: Podoconiosis is a neglected tropical disease (NTD) that is prevalent in red clay soil-covered highlands of tropical Africa, Central and South America, and northern India. It is estimated that up to one million cases exist in Ethiopia. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of podoconiosis in East and West Gojam Zones of Amhara Region in northern Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings: A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in Debre Eliyas and Dembecha woredas (districts) in East and West Gojam Zones, respectively. The survey covered all 17,553 households in 20 kebeles (administrative subunits) randomly selected from the two woredas. A detailed structured interview was conducted on 1,704 cases of podoconiosis identified in the survey. Results: The prevalence of podoconiosis in the population aged 15 years and above was found to be 3.3% (95% CI, 3.2% to 3.6%). 87% of cases were in the economically active age group (15–64 years). On average, patients sought treatment five years after the start of the leg swelling. Most subjects had second (42.7%) or third (36.1%) clinical stage disease, 97.9% had mossy lesions, and 53% had open wounds. On average, patients had five episodes of acute adenolymphangitis (ALA) per year and spent a total of 90 days per year with ALA. The median age of first use of shoes and socks were 22 and 23 years, respectively. More men than women owned more than one pair of shoes (61.1% vs. 50.5%; x2 = 11.6 p = 0.001). At the time of interview, 23.6% of the respondents were barefoot, of whom about two-thirds were women. Conclusions: This study showed high prevalence of podoconiosis and associated morbidities such as ALA, mossy lesions and open wounds in northern Ethiopia. Predominance of cases at early clinical stage of podoconiosis indicates the potential for reversing the swelling and calls for disease prevention interventions

Burden of podoconiosis in poor rural communities in Guliso woreda, western Ethiopia

Background. Podoconiosis is an environmental lymphoedema affecting people living and working barefoot on irritant red clay soil. Podoconiosis is relatively well described in southern Ethiopia, but remains neglected in other parts of the Ethiopian highlands. This study aimed to assess the burden of podoconiosis in rural communities in western Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulliso woreda (district), west Ethiopia. A household survey in the 26 rural kebeles (villages) of this district was conducted to identify podoconiosis patients and to measure disease prevalence. A more detailed study was done in six randomly selected kebeles to describe clinical features of the disease, patients’ experiences of foot hygiene, and shoe wearing practice. 1,935 cases of podoconiosis were registered, giving a prevalence of 2.8%. The prevalence was higher in those aged 15 – 64 years (5.2%) and in females than males (prevalence ratio 2.6:1). 90.3% of patients were in the 15 – 64 year age group. In the detailed study, 335 cases were interviewed and their feet assessed. The majority of patients were farmers, uneducated, and poor. Two-third of patients developed the disease before the age of thirty. Almost all patients (97.0%) had experienced adenolymphangitis (ALA - red, hot legs, swollen and painful groin) at least once during the previous year. Patients experienced an average of 5.5 ALA episodes annually, each of average 4.4 days, thus 24 working days were lost annually. The incidence of ALA in podoconiosis patients was higher than that reported for filariasis in other countries. Shoe wearing was limited mainly due to financial problems. Conclusions. We have documented high podoconiosis prevalence, frequent adenolymphangitis and high disease-related morbidity in west Ethiopia. Interventions must be developed to prevent, treat and control podoconiosis, one of the core neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia

Фізико-хімічна геотехнологія

Розглянуто принципові засади геотехнологічного видобування різнома- нітних корисних копалин. Викладено питання розкриття та підготовки родовищ за допомогою свердловинної розробки, проаналізовано способи буріння і кріп- лення геотехнологічних свердловин, а такж застосоване обладнання. Розкрито сутність технологічних процесів, які виконуються при диспергуванні гірських порід, розчиненні солей, вилуговуванні металів, підземній виплавці сірки і га- зифікації вугілля, видобуванні в’язкої нафти та сланцьового газу. Навчальний посібник призначений для студентів, які навчаються за спе- ціальністю «Розробка родовищ та видобування корисних копалин», а також для студентів інших спеціальностей гірничих вузів і факультетів та інженерно- технічних працівників підприємств і проектних організацій гірничовидобувних галузей промисловості України

The burden of neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia, and opportunities for integrated control and elimination

Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of chronic parasitic diseases and related conditions that are the most common diseases among the 2·7 billion people globally living on less than US$2 per day. In response to the growing challenge of NTDs, Ethiopia is preparing to launch a NTD Master Plan. The purpose of this review is to underscore the burden of NTDs in Ethiopia, highlight the state of current interventions, and suggest ways forward. Results: This review indicates that NTDs are significant public health problems in Ethiopia. From the analysis reported here, Ethiopia stands out for having the largest number of NTD cases following Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ethiopia is estimated to have the highest burden of trachoma, podoconiosis and cutaneous leishmaniasis in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the second highest burden in terms of ascariasis, leprosy and visceral leishmaniasis, and the third highest burden of hookworm. Infections such as schistosomiasis, trichuriasis, lymphatic filariasis and rabies are also common. A third of Ethiopians are infected with ascariasis, one quarter is infected with trichuriasis and one in eight Ethiopians lives with hookworm or is infected with trachoma. However, despite these high burdens of infection, the control of most NTDs in Ethiopia is in its infancy. In terms of NTD control achievements, Ethiopia reached the leprosy elimination target of 1 case/10,000 population in 1999. No cases of human African trypanosomiasis have been reported since 1984. Guinea worm eradication is in its final phase. The Onchocerciasis Control Program has been making steady progress since 2001. A national blindness survey was conducted in 2006 and the trachoma program has kicked off in some regions. Lymphatic Filariasis, podoconiosis and rabies mapping are underway. Conclusion: Ethiopia bears a significant burden of NTDs compared to other SSA countries. To achieve success in integrated control of NTDs, integrated mapping, rapid scale up of interventions and operational research into co implementation of intervention packages will be crucial

The Impact of Different Types of Assistive Devices on Gait Measures and Safety in Huntington's Disease

BACKGROUND: Gait and balance impairments lead to frequent falls and injuries in individuals with Huntington's disease (HD). Assistive devices (ADs) such as canes and walkers are often prescribed to prevent falls, but their efficacy is unknown. We systematically examined the effects of different types of ADs on quantitative gait measures during walking in a straight path and around obstacles. METHODS: Spatial and temporal gait parameters were measured in 21 subjects with HD as they walked across a GAITRite walkway under 7 conditions (i.e., using no AD and 6 commonly prescribed ADs: a cane, a weighted cane, a standard walker, and a 2, 3 or 4 wheeled walker). Subjects also were timed and observed for number of stumbles and falls while walking around two obstacles in a figure-of-eight pattern. RESULTS: Gait measure variability (i.e., coefficient of variation), an indicator of fall risk, was consistently better when using the 4WW compared to other ADs. Subjects also walked the fastest and had the fewest number of stumbles and falls when using the 4WW in the figure-of-eight course. Subjects walked significantly slower using ADs compared to no AD both across the GAITRite and in the figure-of-eight. Measures reflecting gait stability and safety improved with the 4WW but were made worse by some other ADs

Individual correlates of podoconiosis in areas of varying endemicity: a case-control study

BACKGROUND Podoconiosis is a non-filarial form of elephantiasis resulting in lymphedema of the lower legs. Previous studies have suggested that podoconiosis arises from the interplay of individual and environmental factors. Here, our aim was to understand the individual-level correlates of podoconiosis by comparing 460 podoconiosis-affected individuals and 707 unaffected controls. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS This was a case-control study carried out in six kebeles (the lowest governmental administrative unit) in northern Ethiopia. Each kebele was classified into one of three endemicity levels: 'low' (prevalence 5%). A total of 142 (30.7%) households had two or more cases of podoconiosis. Compared to controls, the majority of the cases, especially women, were less educated (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.3 to 2.2), were unmarried (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 2.6-4.6) and had lower income (t = -4.4, p<0.0001). On average, cases started wearing shoes ten years later than controls. Among cases, age of first wearing shoes was positively correlated with age of onset of podoconiosis (r = 0.6, t = 12.5, p<0.0001). Among all study participants average duration of shoe wearing was less than 30 years. Between both cases and controls, people in 'high' and 'medium' endemicity kebeles were less likely than people in 'low' endemicity areas to 'ever' have owned shoes (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4-0.7). CONCLUSIONS Late use of shoes, usually after the onset of podoconiosis, and inequalities in education, income and marriage were found among cases, particularly among females. There were clustering of cases within households, thus interventions against podoconiosis will benefit from household-targeted case tracing. Most importantly, we identified a secular increase in shoe-wearing over recent years, which may give opportunities to promote shoe-wearing without increasing stigma among those at high risk of podoconiosis

Revised American Thyroid Association Management Guidelines for Patients with Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Background: Thyroid nodules are a common clinical problem, and differentiated thyroid cancer is becoming increasingly prevalent. Since the publication of the American Thyroid Association's guidelines for the management of these disorders was published in 2006, a large amount of new information has become available, prompting a revision of the guidelines. Methods: Relevant articles through December 2008 were reviewed by the task force and categorized by topic and level of evidence according to a modified schema used by the United States Preventative Services Task Force. Results: The revised guidelines for the management of thyroid nodules include recommendations regarding initial evaluation, clinical and ultrasound criteria for fine-needle aspiration biopsy, interpretation of fine-needle aspiration biopsy results, and management of benign thyroid nodules. Recommendations regarding the initial management of thyroid cancer include those relating to optimal surgical management, radioiodine remnant ablation, and suppression therapy using levothyroxine. Recommendations related to long-term management of differentiated thyroid cancer include those related to surveillance for recurrent disease using ultrasound and serum thyroglobulin as well as those related to management of recurrent and metastatic disease. Conclusions: We created evidence-based recommendations in response to our appointment as an independent task force by the American Thyroid Association to assist in the clinical management of patients with thyroid nodules and differentiated thyroid cancer. They represent, in our opinion, contemporary optimal care for patients with these disorders.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78131/1/thy.2009.0110.pd