Geotechnical remediation of transportation infrastructures: nondestructive evaluation of bridge substructures and stabilization of soft foundation soils

According to the National Research Council (2006), the field of infrastructure development and rehabilitation is one of seven critical categories that require attention of geotechnical researchers and practitioners. Therefore, in this dissertation, two topics related to infrastructure development were selected and studies. These topics were performance of granular shoulders and nondestructive evaluation of low volume road bridge substructures. The first topic investigated common problems associated with granular shoulders, evaluation of several test sections stabilized with selected chemical and mechanical stabilization techniques, laboratory box model, where mechanically stabilized shoulders were tested under cyclic loading, and simple design charts that can help design stable shoulder sections. The second topic evaluates the effectiveness of using nondestructive ultrasonic stress wave tests to determine the internal timber piles conditions and correlate it to capacity of in-service piles. Also, the results of a destructive static load are presented. During this test, the timber piles at one abutment, instrumented with strain gages and load cells, were consecutively damaged to simulate different scenarios of pile deterioration. The influence of this deterioration on the bridge substructure behavior was evaluated

Strain comparisons in aquaculture species: a manual

When different strains or breeds of a particular species are available, the best choice is seldom immediately obvious for producers. Scientists are also interested in the relative performance of different strains because it provides a basis for recommendations to producers and it often stimulates the conduct of work aimed at unraveling the underlying biological mechanisms involved in the expression of such differences. Hence, strain or breed comparisons of some sort are frequently conducted. This manual is designed to provide general guidelines for the design of strain comparison trials in aquaculture species. Example analyzes are provided using SAS and SPSS. The manual is intended to serve a wide range of readers from developing countries with limited access to information. The users, however, are expected to have a basic knowledge of quantitative genetics and experience in statistical methods and data analysis as well as familiarity with computer software. The manual mainly focuses on the practical aspects of design and data analysis, and interpretation of results

A Randomized Clinical Trial: The Efficacy of Hypochlorous Acid on Septic Traumatic Wound.

Background: Hypochlorous acid is a highly microbiocidal active agent against a broad spectrum of microorganisms. It achieved a marked reduction in the bacterial burden in a septic wound. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Hypochlorous acid as a wound care agent in a septic traumatic wound. Materials and Method: Design: The current study used a randomized clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of Hypochlorous acid as a wound care agent in a septic traumatic wound. Setting: trauma unit at Assiut university hospital was the setting of the study. Subjects: A random selection of 60 patients was done. Then a random distribution of the subjects to study group and control group, (30 subjects each) was done. Methods: The 30 subjects of the study group received Hypochlorous Acid for daily washing a septic wound for 3 to 5 minute, while the 30 subjects of the control group received  Povidine Iodine and the results were compared. Bacterial count and culture were done before start washing, after one week, and two weeks in the two groups. Results: wound pain, odor, discharge and bacterial count were dramatically reduced by using as a disinfectant agent compared to the use of Povidine Iodine. Conclusion: Hypochlorous Acid appears to be inexpensive, easy to perform, painless and effective as a potent wound care dressing against a wide range of microorganisms. Hypochlorous Acid controls the tissue bacterial bio-burden without inhibiting the wound healing process, rapidly relieves pain and the area well prepared to skin flap or graft. Recommendation: The study recommended the use of Hypochlorous Acid as a potent wound care dressing. Further research is needed on a larger scale to validate the effectiveness of Hypochlorous acid as a wound care agent in a septic traumatic wound. Keywords: Efficacy, Hypochlorous acid, Septic wound, Bacterial burden

Aortic valve repair in patients with ventricular septal defect or subaortic membrane

Background: The delay in the surgical intervention of subaortic ventricular septal defect (VSD) and subaortic membrane leads to significant damage in the aortic valve, and multiple surgical interventions may be needed. We aimed to describe the pathology of the aortic valve in patients with subaortic membrane or VSD and different surgical strategies to manage the aortic regurgitation in those patients. Methods: The study included patients who had surgery for subaortic membrane or VSD from 2017 to 2021. We reviewed strategies and surgical techniques to deal with aortic regurgitation in patients with subaortic membrane or VSD and the short and midterm outcomes. Results: Twelve cases were included in the study; 5 cases had subaortic membrane, and 7 cases had subaortic VSD. The age ranged from 1.5 to 10 years old. Postoperative follow-up ranged from 1 to 3.5 years. We performed sub-commissural stitches and peeling of the leaflets to correct residual regurgitation. Four patients with subaortic membrane achieved satisfactory outcomes, and one patient had severe aortic regurgitation. Two patients with VSD had progression of the aortic regurgitation. Patients with failed repair had severe prolapse and thickening of the valve. Conclusion: Severe prolapse and dense thickening of the valve were difficult pathologies to repair. The sub-commissural stitches could be mandatory to achieve good midterm results. Complete freeing and peeling of the leaflets till restoring the natural appearance is crucial

Estudios ultraestructurales de las variaciones morfológicas de la superficie y envolturas del huevo de pez-gato africano Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) antes y después de la fertilización, con una discusión de los mecanismos de fertilización

Much of the existing knowledge of the mechanisms involved in teleost fertilisation is based on a few small model species that have no commercial value. Research is therefore urgently required to address mechanisms involved in fertilisation in species of great commercial value. In this study, the ultrastructural morphological variations in the surface of the egg of Clarias gariepinus were recorded before and after fertilisation by using electron microscopy. The outer surface of the unfertilised egg was smooth, whereas the fertilised egg acquired a network of projections on the vegetal hemisphere. Moreover, different patterns of ornamentation on the egg surface were evident. This pattern of ornamentation varied with the progress of embryonic development. The micropyle of the C. gariepinus egg consisted of a funnel-shaped vestibule, from the bottom of which a cylindrical micropylar canal extended. The micropylar canal decreased in diameter after completion of fertilisation, forming a micropylar disc. The sperm behaviour on the egg surface was oriented towards any depression on the chorion surface. The chorion of ovulated eggs consisted of one layer. After fertilisation the chorion was differentiated into three layers: the double-layered coat, the zona radiata externa and the zona radiata interna. Four protein subunits of the chorion of C. gariepinus were identified by SDS-PAGE. IR-spectra obtained from C. gariepinus chorion revealed that the vibration of chorion proteins exhibited different weak activities in the IR-spectra with minor difference between pre- and post-fertilisation chorion proteins.Gran parte del conocimiento existente sobre los mecanismos de fertilización en teleósteos se basa en unas pocas especies modelo, que no tienen valor comercial. Por ello, se requiere investigación dirigida a conocer los mecanismos involucrados en la fertilización de especies de gran valor comercial. En el presente estudio, mediante el uso del Microscopio Electrónico, se obtuvieron imagines de las variaciones en la morfología ultraestructural de la superficie de los huevos de Clarias gariepinus antes y después de la fertilización. La superficie externa de los huevos infertilizados era lisa, mientras que la de los huevos fertilizados adquiría una red de proyecciones en el hemisferio vegetativo. Además, fueron evidentes diferentes patrones de ornamentación de la superficie del huevo. Este patrón de ornamentación varió a lo largo del desarrollo embrionario. El micropilo de los huevos de C. gariepinus consistió en un vestíbulo con forma de embudo desde la base del cual se extendía un canal micropilar cilíndrico. El diámetro de dicho canal disminuía tras la finalización de la fertilización, formándose el disco micropilar. El comportamiento del esperma en la superficie de los huevos se orientaba hacia cualquier depresión de la superficie del corion. El corion de los ovocitos consistió en una sola capa. Tras la fertilización, el corion se diferenció en tres capas: la capa double-acodada, la zona radiada externa and y la zona radiada interna. Mediante SDS-PAGE se identificaron cuatro subunidades de proteínas en el corion de los huevos de C. gariepinus. Los espectros IR obtenidos del corion revelaron que la vibración de las proteínas del corion exhibía diversas débiles actividades en el espectro IR con menores diferencias entre pre- y post-fertilización proteínas del corion

HAX1 Augments Cell Proliferation, Migration, Adhesion, and Invasion Induced by Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptor

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is a cell surface receptor which has a multifunctional task in the process of tumorigenesis including cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, and invasion. Many of the biological functions of uPAR necessitate interactions with other proteins. We have shown previously that uPAR interacts with HAX1 protein (HS-1-associated protein X-1). In the current study, to gain insight into the possible role of HAX1 overexpression in regulation of uPAR signal transduction pathway, several function assays were used. We found that, upon stimulation of uPAR, HAX1 colocalizes with uPAR suggesting a physiological role for HAX1 in the regulation of uPAR signal transduction. HAX1 overexpression augments cell proliferation and migration in uPAR-stimulated cells. Moreover, HAX1 over-expression augmented uPAR-induced cell adhesion to vitronectin as well as cellular invasion. Our results suggest that HAX1 over-expression may underlay a novel mechanism to regulate uPAR-induced functions in cancer cells

Sibship assignment to the founders of a Bangladeshi Catla catla breeding population

Catla catla (Hamilton) fertilised spawn was collected from the Halda, Jamuna and Padma rivers in Bangladesh from which approximately 900 individuals were retained as ‘candidate founders’ of a breeding population. These fish were fin-clipped and genotyped using the DArTseq platform to obtain, 3048 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 4726 silicoDArT markers. Using SNP data, individuals that shared no putative parents were identified using the program COLONY, i.e. 140, 47 and 23 from the Halda, Jamuna and Padma rivers, respectively. Allele frequencies from these individuals were considered as representative of those of the river populations, and genomic relationship matrices were generated. Then, half-sibling and full-sibling relationships between individuals were assigned manually based on the genomic relationship matrices. Many putative half-sibling and full-sibling relationships were found between individuals from the Halda and Jamuna rivers, which suggests that catla sampled from rivers as spawn are not necessarily representative of river populations. This has implications for the interpretation of past population genetics studies, the sampling strategies to be adopted in future studies and the management of broodstock sourced as river spawn in commercial hatcheries. Using data from individuals that shared no putative parents, overall multi-locus pairwise estimates of Wright’s fixation index (FST) were low (≤ 0.013) and the optimum number of clusters using unsupervised K-means clustering was equal to 1, which indicates little genetic divergence among the SNPs included in our study within and among river populations

Investigation of Steel-Stringer Bridges: Superstructures and Substructures, Volume II

Problems with unknown bridge foundations in Iowa are often associated with timber substructures. Timber piles are subject to biological and physical deterioration, which makes quantifying in-service pile capacity difficult. Currently there are no reliable means to estimate the residual carrying capacity of an in-service deteriorated pile; and thus, the overall safety of the bridge cannot be determined. The lack of reliable evaluation methods can lead to conservative and costly maintenance practices. This research study was undertaken to investigate procedures for assessing bridge substructures, and evaluating procedures for rehabilitating/strengthening/replacing inadequate substructure components. The report includes an extensive literature review, a field reconnaissance study of 49 bridges, a survey of substructure problems from the perspective of County Engineers, a laboratory study aiming to correlate nondestructive tests to residual pile strength and stiffness values, nondestructive and destructive load tests for 6 bridges with poor substructures, and finally a laboratory study evaluating selected repair methods

Comparison of Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate Using Five Equations to Predict Acute Kidney Injury Following Total Joint Arthroplasty

Introduction: Primary total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is one of the most common procedures in the United States, and as the incidence of this surgery increases, identifying methods for improving outcomes and reducing complications is essential. Acute kidney injury (AKI) following TJA is a potential source of morbidity and mortality. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is used as an indicator of renal function. Several equations are commonly used to calculate eGFR. The purpose of this study was 1) to evaluate the agreement between five equations in calculating eGFR, and 2) to confirm which equation can best predict AKI in patients undergoing TJA. Methods: 497,261 cases of TJA were queried from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) from 2012 to 2019. Preoperative eGFR was calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault, Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) II, re-expressed MDRD II, Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration, and Mayo quadratic (Mayo) equations. The primary outcome measure was acute kidney injury (AKI). These cohorts were compared based on demographic and preoperative factors. Multivariate regression analysis was used to evaluate independent associations between preoperative eGFR and postoperative renal outcomes. Results: Seven hundred seventy-seven (0.16%) patients experienced AKI after TJA. The Cockcroft-Gault equation yielded the highest mean eGFR (98.6 ± 32.7), while the Re-expressed MDRD II equation yielded the lowest mean eGFR (75.1 ± 28.8). Multivariate regression analysis showed that a decrease in preoperative eGFR was independently associated with an increased risk of postoperative AKI in all five equations. The Akaike information criterion (AIC) was the lowest in the Mayo equation (6546). Conclusions: Preoperative decrease in eGFR in all five equations was independently associated with increased risk of postoperative AKI. The Mayo equation had the highest predictive ability of acquiring postoperative AKI following TJA