Early Traumatic Experiences and Their Relationship With the Emergence of Depressive Symptoms in Adulthood

The aim of this study was the exploration of early traumatic experiences related to emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional and physical neglect, as well as the connection of the dimensions of these early traumatic experiences with the experiencing of depressive symptoms in adulthood. A sample of 331 University students in Tirana, 60 males (N = 60) or 18.1% and 271 females (N = 271) or 81.9% completed the online Beck Inventory for Depression (BDI), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF). The minimum age of the youth participating in the study was 18 years and the maximum age was 32 years, with an average of 20 years (M = 20.07) and the standard deviation (SD = 1.5). Descriptive, correlational and linear regression analysis were used for data processing through the SPSS 22. The study confirmed the connection between early traumatic experiences and the appearance of depressive symptoms in adulthood (r(329) = .333, p < .001). Among the dimensions of early traumatic experiences, it seems that a stronger connection with the occurrence of depressive symptoms relates to the size of emotional trauma. The size of child sexual trauma is connected to feelings of punishment and suicidal thoughts in adulthood. Early traumatic experiences seem to have a significant impact on how adults express themselves and choose to interact with their environment. Coping with problems of mental health and depression today can be closely related to the early traumatic experiences of juveniles and adults

Pushover Analysis Method for Performance Based Seismic Design

In this paper is describes a non-linear static (pushover) analysis method for reinforced concrete structures that predicts real nonlinear (both material and geometrical) behavior including all stages of loading, starting from the initial application of loads up to and beyond the collapse of building. In other words from appearance of first plastic hinge until last hinge which represent collapse of building. Some important aspects which are implemented in EC8, FEMA-273/356 and ATC-40 documents regarding to pushover analysis and performance evaluation of buildings are discussed. Modeling of structural elements is made by linear elements approach. Nonlinear behavior of structural elements is made by plastic hinges when inelastic behavior is concentrated at plastic hinge locations in both ends of elements. For monitoring structural degradation of beams, bilinear Moment-Rotation relationship is considered. For monitoring structural degradation of columns, PMM interaction surface is considered. Nonlinear geometrical effects are taken into account by incorporating both local (P-δ) and global (P-Δ) in analysis. An eight story reinforced concrete building is analyzed. Distribution of lateral loads is accepted by first mode of free vibration. Results are given in terms of Global Capacity Curve, sequences of plastic hinge formation, plastic hinge distribution in structure, performance levels in terms of local behavior of structural elements and global behavior of structure

Seismic analysis of structural building with reinforced concrete shear walls according to the European Standards

A big research effort has been made on the prediction of earthquakes in the last decades, and in fact the exploration of the new techniques aiming to foresee the occurrence of seismic events is in a continuous progress. Several analytical tools have been developed around the world in order to estimate, with different degrees of accuracy, the vulnerability of buildings and the probable loss of lives and economic resources, due to the occurrence of an earthquake. Those tools are intended to be used by government agencies, and even by insurance companies, as a mean for planning of emergency preparedness procedures and response strategies, and also for the reconstruction phases. Nonetheless, most of the current available tools require a large amount of resources, in terms of money, time and computational effort, in order to be properly implemented and effectively used. The paper presents the basic requirements and procedures for the seismic design of Reinforced Concrete Structure of buildings with non-connected shear walls according to the European Code for Seismic Design of Buildings, Eurocode 8. For the many cases, lifelong and Sustainability of the Structure are depends from the earthquake action, type of structure, quality of materials, height, shape of building etc. Based on devastating effects data from the earthquake strike in recently time for the all around and South East European Countries the Structural type has a prime role for the building capability. Type of structure with structural members shear walls are most sustainable for the resistance of horizontal forces coming from earthquake strikes. The treatment of those structural members such are the shear wall their shape, methodology of reinforced have been give a good performances in capacity of Structure. In the height story buildings the usability of shear walls are very preferable because in one side they are decrease the horizontal deformation

Imperfection impact on behavior of the secondary nonstructural elements and vertical non precise erection of members

In this paper of works will be try to present the fundamental computation referring to the imperfection impacts phenomena of non-precise erection effects of the structural members as are vertical columns. Depends from the structural type, the structure should have a vertical structural members with the enough vertical and shear capacity provoked from horizontal action of earthquake, wind, dead and imposed vertical loads. The structural designers, during the structural computation are improve the several approximations creating the dynamic modeling, having into the consideration of structural elements classification in the prior and secondary structural elements. It is very none that the structural vertical elements have a designed capacity from the horizontal actions, the nonstructural elements has the indirect impact on the structural behavior at all. Also the non-precise erection phenomena or imperfection of the vertical structural members is very important in the structural behavior

Activity Following Total Hip Arthroplasty: Which Patients Are Active, and Is Being Active Safe?

BACKGROUND Younger and physically active patients demand a return to sport after total hip arthroplasty (THA). However, because of the risk of implant wear and loosening, high-impact activities are often not recommended. The current study evaluates predictive factors and revision rates in patients with higher activity levels. METHODS This retrospective study included 4152 hips in 3828 patients aged 45-75 that underwent primary THA for primary osteoarthritis between 2009 and 2019 with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Pain and Lower Extremity Activity Scale (LEAS) were assessed before and 2 years after surgery. Activity was classified as low (LEAS 1-6), moderate (LEAS 7-13), or high (LEAS 14-18). RESULTS Pain and LEAS improved from preoperative to 2-years postoperative (p < 0.001). The activity level was low in 6.2%, moderate in 52.9%, and high in 40.9% of the patients. Younger age, lower BMI, ASA, and CCI, male sex, and higher preoperative LEAS correlated with higher activity at 2 years (p < 0.001). The predicted revision-free survival rates between the activity groups were better for more highly active patients (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS High physical activity 2 years following THA, with participating in sports like jogging several times a week, did not increase the risk of revision surgery. THA patients should not be prevented from a highly active lifestyle

Biomarkers to assess right heart pressures in recipients of a heart transplant: a proof-of-concept study

Background: This proof-of-concept study investigated the feasibility of using biomarkers to monitor right heart pressures (RHP) in heart transplanted (HTx) patients. Methods: In 298 patients, we measured 7.6 years post-HTx mean pressures in the right atrium (mRAP) and pulmonary artery (mPAP) and capillaries (mPCWP) along with plasma high-sensitivity troponin T (hsTnT), a marker of cardiomyocyte injury, and the multidimensional urinary classifiers HF1 and HF2, mainly consisting of dysregulated collagen fragments. Results: In multivariable models, mRAP and mPAP increased with hsTnT (per 1-SD, +0.91 and +1.26 mm Hg; P &lt; 0.0001) and with HF2 (+0.42 and +0.62 mm Hg; P ≤ 0.035), but not with HF1. mPCWP increased with hsTnT (+1.16 mm Hg; P &lt; 0.0001), but not with HF1 or HF2. The adjusted odds ratios for having elevated RHP (mRAP, mPAP or mPCWP ≥10, ≥24, ≥17 mm Hg, respectively) were 1.99 for hsTnT and 1.56 for HF2 (P ≤ 0.005). In detecting elevated RHPs, areas under the curve were similar for hsTnT and HF2 (0.63 vs 0.65; P = 0.66). Adding hsTnT continuous or per threshold or HF2 continuous to a basic model including all covariables did not increase diagnostic accuracy (P ≥ 0.11), whereas adding HF2 per optimized threshold increased both the integrated discrimination (+1.92%; P = 0.023) and net reclassification (+30.3%; P = 0.010) improvement. Conclusions: Correlating RHPs with noninvasive biomarkers in HTx patients is feasible. However, further refinement and validation of such biomarkers is required before their clinical application can be considered