Girder–Deck Interface: Partial Debonding, Deck Replacement, and Composite Action

Results are reported from tests of three precast, prestressed concrete girders under fatigue-type cyclic and monotonic loading conducted after deck removal and replacement. Although deck demolition altered the top surface of the girders, the girder–deck interfaces exhibited shear strengths greater than their nominal strength (based on the 2012 AASHTO LRFD Specification) after 2 × 106 cycles of loading to 45 and 30% of their nominal strength for troweled and roughened interfaces, respectively. A partially debonded detail was used for two of the girders to protect the girder top flange, which was wide and thin, during deck demolition. The roofing felt used to debond the girder–deck interface over the flanges reduced the effort required for deck removal by 65%, compared with the typical detail, eliminated chipping hammer–induced damage to the girder flanges, and still resulted in sustained composite action under 2 × 106 cycles of loading. The width of the bonded interface had little effect on girder stiffness and no observed effect on the width of deck effective in bending

First Report of the Mayan Cichlid, Cichlasoma urophthalmus (Günther 1862) Collected in the Southern Littoral Zone of Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Here we report the collection of five juvenile Mayan cichlids in Lake Okeechobee, a large, shallow subtropical lake (26°60\u27N, 80°50\u27W). These specimens were collected on 4 and 10 November 2003 in the southern littoral zone of Lake Okeechobee at a site off the southwest tip of Torry Island (26°42\u27N, 80°44\u27W). The lake stage of this densely vegetated area is highly variable. Nico (in press) reported a single collection of 16 juvenile Mayan cichlids in 2001 from a backwater area in the rim-canal along the NE portion of Lake Okeechobee; an area that is hydrologically isolated from the lake proper, except for several navigation locks and water control structures

Wireless Content Caching for Small Cell and D2D Networks

The fifth generation wireless networks must provide fast and reliable connectivity while coping with the ongoing traffic growth. It is of paramount importance that the required resources, such as energy and bandwidth, do not scale with traffic. While the aggregate network traffic is growing at an unprecedented rate, users tend to request the same popular contents at different time instants. Therefore, caching the most popular contents at the network edge is a promising solution to reduce the traffic and the energy consumption over the backhaul links. In this paper, two scenarios are considered, where caching is performed either at a small base station, or directly at the user terminals, which communicate using Device-to-Device (D2D) communications. In both scenarios, joint design of the transmission and caching policies is studied when the user demands are known in advance. This joint design offers two different caching gains, namely, the pre-downloading and local caching gains. It is shown that the finite cache capacity limits the attainable gains, and creates an inherent tradeoff between the two types of gains. In this context, a continuous time optimization problem is formulated to determine the optimal transmission and caching policies that minimize a generic cost function, such as energy, bandwidth, or throughput. The jointly optimal solution is obtained by demonstrating that caching files at a constant rate is optimal, which allows reformulation of the problem as a finite-dimensional convex program. The numerical results show that the proposed joint transmission and caching policy dramatically reduces the total cost, which is particularised to the total energy consumption at the Macro Base Station (MBS), as well as to the total economical cost for the service provider, when users demand economical incentives for delivering content to other users over the D2D links

Derivation of the freshwater fish fauna of Central America revisited: Myers\u27s hypothesis in the twenty-first century

© The Willi Hennig Society 2014. Although attempts to understand Central American freshwater fish provincialism date to the 1960s, early efforts lacked the wealth of distributional data now available. Biogeographic work on Central American freshwater fishes has been largely descriptive and regional, and lacked a broader synthesis. Here we use parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) to elucidate faunistic relationships between major drainages and to delineate areas of endemism. We then perform a Brooks parsimony analysis (BPA) on the resulting areas. The PAE recovered a primary division between four Pacific and six Atlantic slope areas of endemism. In contrast, the BPA recovered two Central American geographic clades, one sharing a history with North America and the other with South America. Fish diversity is uneven across Central America, with greater diversity in areas adjacent to the more species-rich regions of North and South America. In northern and nuclear Central America, the paucity of ostariophysan freshwater fishes such as catfishes and characins (groups that dominate adjacent regions) contrasts with high species richness of poeciliids and cichlids. Results of this study are consistent with Myer\u27s hypothesis that poeciliids and cichlids dispersed to Northern or Nuclear Middle America early in the Cenozoic, long before the Plio-Pleistocene rise of the Isthmus of Panama

Homecare physiotherapy in the iberian peninsula public health system

Objetivos - Conocer los principales servicios de fisioterapia domiciliaria que oferta el Sistema Sanitario Público para las personas mayores dependientes de la Península Ibérica (España y Portugal). Estrategia de búsqueda - Revisión bibliográfica actualizada y exhaustiva sobre los estudios previos; estancia de investigación en Hospitales, Centros de Salud y organismos financiados por la Administración Pública en ambos países; entrevistas en profundidad a informantes estratégicos. Síntesis de los resultados - Se describe la situación de la fisioterapia domiciliaria en España, desde el año 1987 hasta agosto de 2008. Se detecta que en Portugal la fisioterapia domiciliaria está recogida en la cartera de servicios de atención primaria (Decreto-Ley no 28/2008, del 22 de febrero). Conclusiones - Existen pocas investigaciones a nivel de la Península que ofrezcan datos objetivos basados en la evidencia científica sobre la efectividad de estos servicios de fisioterapia, la satisfacción del usuario y las repercusiones que producen con respecto a otros tratamientos; sin embargo, estos estudios son necesarios para la evaluación de las políticas sanitarias, la distribución adecuada de recursos, la revisión de los programas, la metodología de actuación, etc.ABSTRACT - Objectives: To become acquainted with the principal homecare physiotherapy services that are offered by the Public Health System for dependent elderly patients in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Methods: A thorough and updated review of the literature regarding previous studies, research stays in Hospitals, Primary Health Care Centers and Public Health institutions in both countries financed by the Public Health Administration; in-depth interviews with specific informants. Results: The situation of homecare physiotherapy in Spain from the year 1987 to the August 2008 is described. In Portugal, these services are established within the services regulated by Primary Health Care (Decree-Law no. 28/2008, of February 22). Conclusions: There are few studies in the Iberian Peninsula that offer scientific evidence-based information on the effectiveness of these physiotherapy services, user satisfaction and the effect they have in relation to other treatments. However, these studies are needed in order to evaluate the current health legislation, appropriate distribution of resources, to review the clinical programs, clinical action methodologies, etc.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Climate change models predict decreases in the range of a microendemic freshwater fish in Honduras

Despite their incredible diversity, relatively little work has been done to assess impacts of climate change on tropical freshwater organisms. Chortiheros wesseli is a species of Neotropical cichlid (Cichlidae: Cichlinae) restricted to only a few river drainages in the Caribbean-slope of Honduras. Little is known about this species and few specimens had been collected until recently; however, our work with this species in the wild has led to a better understanding of its ecology and habitat preferences making it an excellent model for how freshwater fishes can be affected by climate change. This study assesses the distribution and habitats of Chortiheros wesseli using a combination of field data and species distribution modeling. Results indicate this species is largely limited to its current range, with no realistic suitable habitat nearby. Empirical habitat data show that this species is limited to narrow and shallow flowing waters with rapids and boulders. This habitat type is highly influenced by precipitation, which contributed the greatest influence on the models of present and future habitat suitability. Although several localities are within boundaries of national protected areas, species distribution models all predict a reduction in the range of this freshwater fish based on climate change scenarios. The likelihood of a reduced range for this species will be intensified by adverse changes to its preferred habitats

Mixed Ti-Zr metal-organic-frameworks for the photodegradation of acetaminophen under solar irradiation

Mixed Ti-Zr metal-organic-frameworks (MOFs)have been synthesized and tested as photocatalysts under solar-simulated radiation using acetaminophen (ACE)as target pollutant. These materials were obtained upon partial substitution of Ti by Zr atoms in the crystalline structure of NH2-MIL-125(Ti)MOF. The effect of the Ti:Zr molar ratio on their characteristics and catalytic behaviour has been analysed. Materials with high Zr relative amount (60–80%)showed amorphous structure and low solar-photocatalytic activity. In contrast, lower Zr proportions resulted in new MOFs with well-defined crystalline structure and high activity for the solar photocatalytic degradation of ACE, even higher than that of the bare Ti MOF. Results with scavengers allowed concluding that O2[rad]− radicals are the main reactive species, although photogenerated [rad]OH radicals and electrons also contribute to the degradation. The stability of the most active photocatalyst was confirmed upon three successive runsThe authors acknowledge the financial support from Spanish MINECO (project CTQ2016-78576-R). M. Peñas-Garzón thanks Spanish MECD for FPU16/00576 grant. Authors thank the Research Support Services of the University of Extremadura (SAIUEx) for its technical and scientific support. We also thank to Dr. Juan Cabanillas for his help with PL measurement

Tecnologías de la información y comunicación vs. enfoques tradicionales dirigidas a padres para mejorar alimentación saludable o índice de masa corporal de preescolares: una revisión sistemática

Introduction: Preschool age is a critical period for learning healthy habits and, in the face of technological advances, innovative ways to improve health have emerged. This study aims to compare interventions that use Information and Communication Technologies tools in comparison with traditional approaches, targeted to parents, to improve healthy diet and weight in preschoolers. Specifically, to know its effectiveness, which tools have been used and the main success factors in the interventions. Methods: Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted in the PubMed, Scopus, SpringerLink and Cochrane Library databases. The protocol was registered (PROSPERO ID. CRD42021251037). Intervention studies to promote healthy diet and weight in preschoolers and one or both parents were included. The authors assessed risk of bias separately assigning scores with specific tools such as PRISMA or CONSORT. The results were synthesized in Excel tables according to the results sought such as the use of technology, characteristics of the intervention, weight results, and healthy eating. Results: A total of eight studies were included. Two studies showed positive effects, for both: healthy diet and Body Mass Index. Most of them used mixed tools, with predominant use of traditional approaches. The most frequent technological tool was telephony and, as a traditional approach, direct contact. The success factors seemed to be fictional characters to inspire healthy behaviors, home settings and daily dose of intervention. Conclusions: Mixing both types of tools was effective in the studies, although the low use of Information and Communication Technologies in the interventions was reflected. In addition, the results increase the evidence that they may be more effective in reducing the consumption of non-recommended food groups and in overweight or obese children.Introducción: La edad preescolar es un período crítico para el aprendizaje de hábitos saludables y, ante los avances tecnológicos, han surgido formas innovadoras para mejorar la salud. El objetivo fue comparar las intervenciones que utilizan herramientas de Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación en comparación con los enfoques tradicionales, dirigidos a los padres, para mejorar la dieta y peso saludables en preescolares. En concreto, conocer su eficacia, qué herramientas se han utilizado y los principales factores de éxito de las intervenciones. Metodología: Siguiendo las guías PRISMA, se realizó una revisión sistemática en las bases de datos PubMed, Scopus, Springer Link y Cochrane Library. El protocolo fue registrado (PROSPERO ID. CRD42021251037). Se incluyeron estudios de intervención para promover dieta y peso saludables en preescolares y uno o ambos padres. Los autores evaluaron el riesgo de sesgo por separado asignando puntajes con herramientas como PRISMA y CONSORT. Los resultados se sintetizaron en tablas de Excel registrando los resultados de tecnología, características de la intervención, resultados de peso y alimentación saludable. Resultados: Se incluyeron un total de ocho estudios. Dos estudios mostraron efectos positivos, tanto para: dieta como para Índice de Masa Corporal saludables. La mayoría utilizó herramientas mixtas, con uso predominante de enfoques tradicionales. La herramienta tecnológica más utilizada fue la telefonía y, como enfoque tradicional, el contacto directo. Los factores de éxito parecían ser personajes ficticios para inspirar comportamientos saludables, entornos domésticos y dosis diaria de intervención. Conclusiones: Mezclar ambos tipos de herramientas fue efectivo en los estudios, aunque se reflejó el escaso aprovechamiento y medición del efecto del uso de las Tecnologías de Información y Comunicación en las intervenciones. Los resultados aumentan la evidencia de que las tecnologías pueden ser más efectivas para reducir el consumo de grupos de alimentos no recomendados en preescolares con sobrepeso u obesidad.