Lightweight vehicles in indirect structural health monitoring: Current advances and future prospects

Recent research has explored the potential of using the dynamic response of passing vehicles to conduct Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) efficiently. Various types of vehicles, including cars, vans, trucks, and even manually propelled carts, have been employed in this approach, with different configurations of exciters and receivers. A noteworthy development in this field involves the inclusion of lightweight vehicles like bicycles and scooters. Lightweight vehicles offer several advantages, including their affordability, sustainability, and minimal environmental impact. These vehicles have a negligible impact on the dynamic behavior of structures due to their low speeds and negligible mass, making them ideal for monitoring structures that are challenging to access, such as footbridges. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent literature on the application of lightweight vehicles in SHM of urban bridges. It emphasizes the potential benefits and current challenges associated with these applications while offering insights into future research directions

The benefit of permanent monitoring for seismic emergency management

In this paper, a framework based on Value of Information (VoI) theory from pre-posterior Bayesian decision analysis is applied to the case of post-earthquake emergency management of traffic restrictions for a bridge. The decision context is the following: the operator of a bridge is concerned about the use of the structure in post-earthquake scenarios and wishes to know if it is worth to install a Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system which gives information about the state of the bridge. The possible choices about traffic restrictions after the seismic event are Open or Close the bridge. The benefit of SHM is computed based on VoI and the influence of significant variables involved in the decisional framework is investigated

Mitochondrial mutation in adult patient with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and renal failure

Background: Mitochondrial diseases (MDs) (1:5000-10000) represents a wide group of human disorders associated with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variations causing defect of oxidative phosphorylation system, whereas nuclear genome mutations are somewhat rare. The extremely heterogeneous clinical phenotype, extending from oligosymptomatic condition to complex syndromes involving neurological, ophtalmological, gastroenterological and endocrine features, depends to the involved tissue well as to the specific mtDNA mutations and their heteroplasmic level. Diabetes and deafness are common features of mitochondrial diseases, while renal alterations are rarely reported, especially in adults, probably because of lack of association to mitochondrial conventional phenotypes. Case Presentation: We investigated a 62 years old male affected by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and renal failure that caused already a bilateral transplantation. Pathological anamnesis revealed also diabetes, deafness and Crohn disease. Family history of cardiomyopathy showed a strong mitochondrial involvement. The proband's mother, three brothers (one of which died of renal failure at 26 years), the sister and her child were affected. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNA from peripheral blood and buccal cells was extracted with the Kit-Nucleon-BACC2 (Illustra DNA-Extraction Kit-BACC2-GE Healthcare, UK) and the whole mitochondrial genome was amplified by two pair of primers designed in our laboratory to generate two overlapping fragments. The PCR products were then sequenced and compared to mitochondrial reference sequence (rCRS NC_012920). Results and Discussion: In both biological samples the mtDNA analysis showed the heteroplasmic A3243G mutation in the tRNALeu (UUR), frequently associated with MDs. A cardiological involvement leading to hypertrophic remodelling, caused to mitochondria intermyofibrillar proliferation, occurs up to 40% of patients with mtDNA disease. Molecular backgrounds of mitochondrial cardiomyopathy of adult age are still quite poorly known and the A3243G mutation in tRNA Leu(UUR) of mtDNA has been reported in 40-60% of patients with HCM. The interesting finding presented here support the knowledge that mitochondrial gene altertation represents a possible etiology in cardiological patients with unexplained renal failure. This is particularly true, as in this case, when other associated symtoms linked with dysfunctional oxidative phosphorylation are present. The case presented in this report further suggests that a differential diagnosis in presence of HCM should be solved by a multidisciplinary approach together with mutation analysis of mitochondrial DNA

The main phenolic compounds responsible for the antioxidant capacity of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) pulp

The antioxidant capacity of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) pulp extracts is strictly related to the phenolic content, starting from the fact that the higher content of phenolic compounds corresponds to the higher antioxidant indexes. This work aims to assess which compounds characterized three cultivars, namely Ferrovia, Sweetheart, and Lapins grown in Southern Italy and mainly influenced the antioxidant capacity of their extracts. HPLC–MS/MS analyses were conducted to identify and quantify 17 flavonoids and 25 hydroxicinnamates derivatives. A significant influence of cultivar was revealed from one-way MANOVA (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the extracts were tested for their radical scavenging activity (DPPH and ABTS assays) and reducing power using the Folin–Ciocalteau method. Lapins and Sweetheart extracts, richer in phenolic compounds, returned the highest reducing power and radical scavenging capacity. Finally, a Factorial Analysis was applied to the collected data allowing reliable correlations between phenolics and antioxidant indexes

A Case of Osteonecrosis of the Jaw in a Patient with Crohn's Disease Treated with Infliximab

Background: Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a severe adverse drug reaction, occurring in patients undergoing treatments with antiresorptive or antiangiogenic agents, such as bisphosphonates, denosumab, or bevacizumab, for different oncologic and non-oncologic diseases. The aim of this study was to report a case of MRONJ in a patient taking infliximab, an anti-TNF-alpha antibody used to treat Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and plaque psoriasis. Case Report: A 49-year-old female patient affected by Crohn's disease, who had been undergoing 250 mg intravenous infliximab every six weeks for 12 years, with no history of antiresorptive or antiangiogenic agent administration, came to our attention for post-surgical MRONJ, associated with a wide cutaneous necrotic area of her anterior mandible. Following antibiotic cycles, the patient underwent surgical treatment with wide bone resection and debridement of necrotic tissues; after prolonged follow-up (16 months), the patient completely healed without signs of recurrence. Conclusions: Prevention of MRONJ by dental check-up before and during treatments with antiresorptive treatments (bisphosphonates or denosumab) is a well-established procedure. Although further studies are required to confirm the role of infliximab in MRONJ, based on the results of this study, we propose that patients who are going to be treated with infliximab should also undergo dental check-up before starting therapy, to possibly avoid MRONJ onset

Risk-based bridge scour management:a survey

Scour is one of the major causes of bridge failure worldwide and results in significant economic losses through disruption to operation. This phenomenon naturally affects bridges with underwater foundations and is exacerbated during high river and/or turbulent flows (e.g. due to extreme events). When scour reaches the bottom or undermines shallow foundations it is likely to trigger various damage mechanisms that may in-fluence the safety of the structure and force asset managers to reduce traffic capacity. Currently, assessing risk of scour is a heuristic process, heavily reliant on qualitative approaches and expert opinion (e.g. visual inspections). These types of assessments typically suffer from insufficient knowledge of influencing factors (e.g. hydraulic parameters) and the requirement to rely on several assumptions (e.g. foundation depth). As a result, current scour assessment and bridge management practices do not provide reliable solutions for ad-dressing the potential risk of bridge failures. In this paper, cross-cutting needs and challenges related to the development of decision support tools for scour-risk management are highlighted and some preliminary re-sults of a literature survey are reported. The review has been performed with several objectives: (i) identify-ing scour-risk indicators describing hydrodynamic actions and the asset condition; (ii) defining indirect and direct consequences needed to assess the risks associated to different decision alternatives related to scour management; and (iii) identifying existing approaches to scour inspections and monitoring as support tools for informed decisions. The results of this survey will serve as a base for future research aimed to develop an informed decision support tool to manage scour risk at both the bridge and at the network level

Septal ablation versus surgical myomectomy for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy

Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) who have left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) often experience severe symptoms and functional limitation. Relief of LVOTO can be achieved by two invasive interventions, i.e., surgery myectomy and alcohol septal ablation (ASA), leading in experienced hands to a dramatic improvement in clinical status. Despite extensive research, however, the choice of the best option in individual patients remains challenging and poses numerous clinical dilemmas

Prevalence and direct costs of patients with neuromyelitis optica: data from Campania region in southern Italy

The study aimed to estimate the prevalence and direct costs of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) patients in Campania, Italy. Materials & methods: We retrospectively evaluated 53 NMO patients (mean age: 50.9 ± 16.5 years; 34% men) from the Campania Region administrative databases identified through disease exemption codes in 2018 and analyzed the incidence of NMO among the Campania region population and the disease-related cost. Results: The prevalence of NMO was 0.91 per 100,000 individuals. The average regional cost per NMO patient was 10,836.2 euros. The highest cost was related to drugs (60.6%), followed by hospitalizations (32.7%), diagnostics (4.8%) and laboratory tests (1.0%). Conclusion: NMO is an extremely rare disease with an annual disease-related cost of 0.005% of public health expenditur