A Parametric Study of Piled Raft Foundation in Clay Subjected to Concentrated Loading

The use of piled raft foundation in building and infrastructure constructions is increasingly popular because of its effectiveness in reducing overall and differential settlements. Parameters influencing the performance of the piled raft foundation need to be comprehended in order to optimize the design of the piled raft system. Most of the current available literature focused on the piled raft foundation subjected to a uniform distributed load in sandy material.  This parametric study aims to provide insights into the performance of the piled raft foundations subjected to concentrated loading in clay. A series of 2D finite element analyses were performed to investigate the influencing parameters affecting the load distribution and settlement behaviour of the piled raft. The results suggested that increases in both pile length and raft thickness, as well as a decrease in pile spacing would reduce the differential settlement of the piled raft. Comparatively, raft thickness was the most significant controlling parameter affecting the differential settlement. The study also revealed the importance of placing the pile nearer to the location of concentrated load as it would yield a more uniform load distribution, and hence a lower differential settlement

Bowel movement tracking raised students’ awareness for healthy eating

The condition of a bowel movement is closely reflective of a person's current diet. The Tech-I/O Project utilized the OSU MyPlate smartphone/website application designed to raise awareness of dietary intake and output among college students at OSU

Bowel movement tracking raised students’ awareness for healthy eating

The condition of a bowel movement is closely reflective of a person's current diet. The Tech-I/O Project utilized the OSU MyPlate smartphone/website application designed to raise awareness of dietary intake and output among college students at OSU

Amelioration of photic injury in rat retina by ascorbic acid: a histopathologic

It has been postulated that ascorbic acid may help to protect the retina from oxidative insult by light. To confirm this hypothesis, the authors compared light-damaged retinas of rats with or without ascorbate supplement by morphologic and morphometric studies at different time periods after light exposure. No dramatic morphologic differences were observed in the photoreceptor-retinal pigment epithelium complex between the two groups six hr after light exposure to 200 to 250-foot candles of visible light. Six to 13 days after 24 hr of exposure, the retina of rats that received ascorbate supplement showed significantly less severe damage than the retina of unsupplemented rats. The superior and temporal quadrants of the retina appeared to be most susceptible to the light damage when comparing rats with or without ascorbate supplement. These findings suggested that ascorbate ameliorates the photic injury in rat retina. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 26: [1589][1590][1591][1592][1593][1594][1595][1596][1597][1598] 1985 Although the mechanisms of photic injury to the retina have not been determined definitely, oxidative reaction is believed to play an important role. 1 ' 2 Light acts on some photo-excitable components in the retina to produce superoxide radicals, which may induce plasma membrane injury. It is postulated that, as a natural antioxidant, ascorbic acid may neutralize these superoxide radicals and provide protection for the retina 3 " 5 and other tissues such as lens and brain, which contain abundant ascorbic acid. 6 ' 7 In a previous report, we exposed guinea pig and baboon retinas to light and observed that the reduced ascorbate in the retina was decreased, Materials and Methods Sixteen 21-day-old albino rats were kept in a 12-hr cycle of 5-foot candle light and darkness and were fed a normal diet adlibitum for 30 days before the experiment. Before exposure to intense visible light, rats were dark adapted for 16 to 18 hr. Eight rats were injected intraperitoneally with a dose of 0.5 g/kg of ascorbic acid 24 hr before and just before intense light exposure. Six rats fed a normal diet and six rats that received ascorbic acid supplement were exposed to green-filtered fluorescent light (Plexiglas #2092 filter; Polycast Technology Corp.; Stamford; CT) of 200 to 250 foot candles for 24 hr. Normal rat were paired with ascorbate-treated rat during light exposure. Following light exposure, the animals were returned to a totally dark environment. Four rats, two fed a normal diet and two that received ascorbic acid supplement, were kept in a cyclic light environment as controls. The rats were killed six hr, six days, and 13 days after light exposure. The right eyes were removed for rhodopsin measurement

Application of artificial intelligence in measuring novel pH-impedance metrics for optimal diagnosis of GERD

Novel metrics extracted from pH-impedance monitoring can augment the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Artificial intelligence (AI) is being widely used to improve the diagnostic capabilities of various diseases. In this review, we update the current literature regarding applications of artificial intelligence in measuring novel pH-impedance metrics. AI demonstrates high performance in the measurement of impedance metrics, including numbers of reflux episodes and post-reflux swallow-induced peristaltic wave index and, furthermore, extracts baseline impedance from the entire pH-impedance study. AI is expected to play a reliable role in facilitating measuring novel impedance metrics in patients with GERD in the near future

Seminar Report From the 2014 Taiwan Society of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (TSIBD) Spring Forum (May 24th, 2014): Crohn's Disease Versus Intestinal Tuberculosis Infection

Since Taiwan is an endemic area for tuberculosis (TB), differential diagnosis between the intestinal TB and Crohn's disease is an important issue. The steering committee of Taiwan Society of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (TSIBD) has arranged a seminar accordingly on May 24th, 2014 and the different point of views by gastroenterologist, radiologist, pathologist and infectious disease specialist were suggested to help the proper diagnosis and management of these two diseases

Dynamics of multiple resistance mechanisms in plasma DNA during EGFR-targeted therapies in non-small cell lung cancer.

Tumour heterogeneity leads to the development of multiple resistance mechanisms during targeted therapies. Identifying the dominant driver(s) is critical for treatment decision. We studied the relative dynamics of multiple oncogenic drivers in longitudinal plasma of 50 EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer patients receiving gefitinib and hydroxychloroquine. We performed digital PCR and targeted sequencing on samples from all patients and shallow whole-genome sequencing on samples from three patients who underwent histological transformation to small-cell lung cancer. In 43 patients with known EGFR mutations from tumour, we identified them accurately in plasma of 41 patients (95%, 41/43). We also found additional mutations, including EGFR T790M (31/50, 62%), TP53 (23/50, 46%), PIK3CA (7/50, 14%) and PTEN (4/50, 8%). Patients with both TP53 and EGFR mutations before treatment had worse overall survival than those with only EGFR Patients who progressed without T790M had worse PFS during TKI continuation and developed alternative alterations, including small-cell lung cancer-associated copy number changes and TP53 mutations, that tracked subsequent treatment responses. Longitudinal plasma analysis can help identify dominant resistance mechanisms, including non-druggable genetic information that may guide clinical management.We would like to acknowledge the support of The University of Cambridge, Cancer Research UK (grant numbers A11906, A20240) (to N.R.), the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007- 2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. 337905 (to N.R.), and Hutchison Whampoa Limited (to N.R.