FIELD TRIAL AND NUMERICAL BACK-ANALYSIS OF SUCTION CAISSON EXTRACTION IN HONG KONG

ABSTRACT An in-situ push-out test was carried out on a 3.4m diameter, 12m high trial suction caisson to determine the ultimate uplift capacity and, in particular, the shaft friction that could be generated along the walls of the caisson. The test was performed in the south-eastern waters of Hong Kong in ground conditions comprising soft clay with alluvial sand at the caisson tip. Numerical back-analysis of test reveal that considerable suction was generated at the caisson base due to a combination of the relatively high rate of loading adopted in the test and the silty nature of the alluvium. Inferred friction values generated on the outside wall of the caisson are found to be in line with existing data reported in the literature

Engineering geological characterisation of the Barzaman Formation, with reference to coastal Dubai, UAE

This paper describes the pedogenically altered fluvial deposits comprising the Barzaman Formation, UAE. This formation is composed of a sequence of rocks dominated by variably cemented conglomerates thought to be middle Miocene to Pliocene in age. The well-established descriptive scheme currently used for describing the formation is reviewed and a simple visual descriptive lithological classification is proposed based on the three principal lithological components visible in a hand specimen: mottled white calcisiltite matrix/cement, palygorskite rich marl and clasts derived from the Oman Mountains (gabbro, chert and weathered ultramafic rock). Data on the mineralogy and microstructure of the rock constituents is presented and some implications for the geotechnical characterisation of the formation are briefly discussed

The Impact Of Diagnostic Criteria For Neuromyelitis Optica In Patients With Ms: A 10-year Follow-up Of The South Atlantic Project

Background: It is recognized that there is a particular geographic and ethnic distribution of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) among Caucasian and non-Caucasian populations. Objective: To review the diagnoses of patients whom were enrolled in the South Atlantic Project, a Brazilian multiple sclerosis (MS) survey performed from 1995-1998, and to identify NMO and MS case frequencies. Methods: We reviewed the data from a 10-year follow-up of MS patients. To apply the current diagnostic criteria, the neurologists were asked to collect clinical and laboratory data from the medical records of study patients treated from 1999-2009. Results: The spectrum of inflammatory demyelinating disease in 322 patients (67% white; 33% African-Brazilian) was: 49 (15%) with NMO; 14 (4%) with NMO syndromes; 10 (3%) with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM); one isolated tumefactive brain lesion; 249 (77%) with MS (151 with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 70 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and 27 with primary progressive MS (PPMS)). Disability was more severe in NMO and PPMS. One-third of the NMO patients had died. Conclusions: The frequency of NMO was 6.8% in São Paulo and 20.5% in Rio de Janeiro, and mainly seen in persons of African descent, which strengthens the hypothesis of there being an ethnic association of this disease. We recommend that epidemiological studies on MS that were performed previously be reviewed again, to ensure more accurate diagnoses. © 2014 The Author(s).203374381Weinshenker, B.G., Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis Neurol Clin, 14 (1996), pp. 291-308Wingerchuk, D.W., Weinshenker, B.G., Raine, C.S., McFarland, H.F., Hohlfeld, R., (2008) Multiple Sclerosis: A Comprehensive Text, , Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier;McDonald, W.I., Compston, A., Edan, G., Recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: Guidelines from the international panel on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (2001) Ann Neurol, 50, pp. 121-127Polman, C.H., Reingold, S.C., Edan, G., Filippi, M., Hartung, H.-P., Kappos, L., Lublin, F.D., Wolinsky, J.S., Diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: 2005 Revisions to the McDonald Criteria (2005) Annals of Neurology, 58 (6), pp. 840-846. , DOI 10.1002/ana.20703Polman, C.H., Reingold, S.C., Banwell, B., Diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: 2010 revisions to the McDonald criteria (2010) Ann Neurol, 69, pp. 292-302Miller, D.H., Weinshenker, B.G., Filippi, M., Differential diagnosis of suspected multiple sclerosis: A consensus approach (2008) Mult Scler, 14, pp. 1157-1174Mandler, R.N., Davis, L.E., Jeffery, D.R., Kornfeld, M., Devic's neuromyelitis optica: A clinicopathological study of 8 patients (1993) Annals of Neurology, 34 (2), pp. 162-168O'Riordan, J.I., Gallagher, H.L., Thompson, A.J., Howard, R.S., Kingsley, D.P.E., Thompson, E.J., McDonald, W.I., Miller, D.H., Clinical, CSF, and MRI findings in Devic's neuromyelitis optica (1996) Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 60 (4), pp. 382-387Wingerchuk, D.M., Hogancamp, W.F., O'Brien, P.C., Weinshenker, B.G., The clinical course of neuromyelitis optica (Devic's syndrome) (1999) Neurology, 53 (5), pp. 1107-1114Papais-Alvarenga, R.M., Miranda-Santos, C.M., Puccioni-Sohler, M., Optic neuromyelitis syndrome in Brazilian patients (2002) J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 73, pp. 429-435De Seze, J., Stojkovic, T., Ferriby, D., Gauvrit, J.-Y., Montagne, C., Mounier-Vehier, F., Verier, A., Vermersch, P., Devic's neuromyelitis optica: Clinical, laboratory, MRI and outcome profile (2002) Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 197 (1-2), pp. 57-61. , DOI 10.1016/S0022-510X(02)00043-6, PII S0022510X02000436Wingerchuk, D.M., Lennon, V.A., Pittock, S.J., Lucchinetti, C.F., Weinshenker, B.G., Revised diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica (2006) Neurology, 66 (10), pp. 1485-1489. , DOI 10.1212/01.wnl.0000216139.44259.74, PII 0000611420060523000008Lennon, P.V.A., Wingerchuk, D.M., Kryzer, T.J., Pittock, S.J., Lucchinetti, C.F., Fujihara, K., Nakashima, I., Weinshenker, B.G., A serum autoantibody marker of neuromyelitis optica: Distinction from multiple sclerosis (2004) Lancet, 364 (9451), pp. 2106-2112. , DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17551-X, PII S014067360417551XLennon, V.A., Kryzer, T.J., Pittock, S.J., Verkman, A.S., Hinson, S.R., IgG marker of optic-spinal multiple sclerosis binds to the aquaporin-4 water channel (2005) Journal of Experimental Medicine, 202 (4), pp. 473-477. , http://www.jem.org/cgi/reprint/202/4/473, DOI 10.1084/jem.20050304Kira, J.-I., Multiple sclerosis in the Japanese population (2003) Lancet Neurology, 2 (2), pp. 117-127. , DOI 10.1016/S1474-4422(03)00308-9Cabre, P., Gonzalez-Quevedo, A., Lannuzel, A., Descriptive epidemiology of neuromyelitis optica in the Caribbean Basin (2002) Rev Neurol, 165, pp. 676-683Cabrera-Gomez, J.A., Kurtzke, J.F., Gonzalez-Quevedo, A., An epidemiological study of neuromyelitis optica in Cuba (2009) J Neurol, 256, pp. 35-44Asgari, N., Lillevang, S.T., Hpb, S., A population-based study of neuromyelitis optica in Caucasians (2011) Neurology, 76, pp. 1589-1595Cossburn, M., Tackley, G., Baker, K., The prevalence of neuromyelitis optica in South East Wales Eur J Neurol Eur J Neurol, 19, pp. 655-659Cabre, P., Heinzlef, O., Merle, H., Buisson, G.G., Bera, O., Bellance, R., Vernant, J.C., Smadja, D., MS and neuromyelitis optica in Martinique (French West Indies) (2001) Neurology, 56 (4), pp. 507-514Rivera, J.F., Kurtzke, J.F., Booth, V.J., Characteristics of Devic's disease (neuromyelitis optica) in Mexico (2008) J Neurol, 255, pp. 710-715Wu, J.S., Zhang, M.N., Carroll, W.M., Characterization of the spectrum of demyelinating disease in Western Australia (2008) J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 79, pp. 1022-1026Bizzoco, E., Lolli, F., Repice, A.M., Prevalence of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and phenotype distribution (2009) J Neurol, 256, pp. 1891-1898Papais-Alvarenga, R.M., Leon Alves, S., Tilbery, C.P., (2002) Esclerosis Multipla - Una Mirada Ibero Latino Americana, pp. 35-45. , Nogales-Gaete CARJ, ed. New York: DEMOS;Papais-Alvarenga, R.M., Leon Alves, S., Tilbery, C.P., SIAPEM: A Brazilian software database for multiple sclerosis research in tropical countries (2003) African J Neurol SciKurtzke, J.F., Rating neurologic impairment in multiple sclerosis: An expanded disability status scale (EDSS) (1983) Neurology, 33 (11), pp. 1444-1452Corona, T., Roman, G.C., Multiple sclerosis in Latin America (2006) Neuroepidemiology, 26 (1), pp. 1-3. , DOI 10.1159/000089230Melcolm Cristiano, E., Patrucco, L., Rojas, J.I., A systematic review of the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in South America (2008) Eur J Neurol, 15, pp. 1273-1278Asgari, N., Owens, T., Frokiaer, J., Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) (2011) Acta Neurol Scand, 123, pp. 369-384Collongues, N., De Seze, J., Current and future treatment approaches for neuromyelitis optica (2011) Adv Neurol Disord, 4, pp. 111-121Rubiera, M., Rio, J., Tintore, M., Nos, C., Rovira, A., Tellez, N., Montalban, X., Neuromyelitis optica diagnosis in clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of multiple sclerosis (2006) Neurology, 66 (10), pp. 1568-1570. , DOI 10.1212/01.wnl.0000216233.56611.c2, PII 000061142006052300002

The impact of diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica in patients with MS: a 10-year follow-up of the South Atlantic Project

It is recognized that there is a particular geographic and ethnic distribution of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) among Caucasian and non-Caucasian populations. To review the diagnoses of patients whom were enrolled in the South Atlantic Project, a Brazilian multiple sclerosis (MS) survey performed from 1995-1998, and to identify NMO and MS case frequencies. We reviewed the data from a 10-year follow-up of MS patients. To apply the current diagnostic criteria, the neurologists were asked to collect clinical and laboratory data from the medical records of study patients treated from 1999-2009. Results: The spectrum of inflammatory demyelinating disease in 322 patients (67% white; 33% African-Brazilian) was: 49 (15%) with NMO; 14 (4%) with NMO syndromes; 10 (3%) with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM); one isolated tumefactive brain lesion; 249 (77%) with MS (151 with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 70 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and 27 with primary progressive MS (PPMS)). Disability was more severe in NMO and PPMS. One-third of the NMO patients had died. Conclusions: The frequency of NMO was 6.8% in Sao Paulo and 20.5% in Rio de Janeiro, and mainly seen in persons of African descent, which strengthens the hypothesis of there being an ethnic association of this disease. We recommend that epidemiological studies on MS that were performed previously be reviewed again, to ensure more accurate diagnoses20337438

The Brazilian database on pregnancy in multiple sclerosis

Objectives: To report the results from the Brazilian database on multiple sclerosis (MS) and pregnancy. Methods: Retrospective data from MS patients who became pregnant at any time of their disease were sent to a Brazilian database, using a specific file for this purpose. Results: Data on 128 women (142 pregnancies) from 30 neurologists working in 21 cities in Brazil were collected. Patients' average age at pregnancy was 29.8 years (range 16-42). EDSS at start of pregnancy was 1.5 +/- 1.4; and the relapse rate in the year preceding pregnancy was 1.2 +/- 1.5. Exposure to medication at any time during pregnancy was high (69.7%): 48.6% to interferon beta; 14.1% to glatiramer acetate; and 7% to other immunomodulatory and immunosuppressive drugs. There was a significant decrease in relapse rate during pregnancy. The prevalence of complications was relatively low, with 4.9% of obstetric and 1.4% neonatal unfavorable outcomes. Conclusions: Our patients had low degrees of disability, short histories of disease, high drug exposure, and relatively high relapse rate in the year previous to pregnancy. Obstetric and neonatal outcomes were successful in over 90% of our patients. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.113427728