Seismic Failure Probability and Vulnerability Assessment of Steel-Concrete Composite Structures

Building collapse in earthquakes caused huge losses, both in human and economic terms. To assess the risk posed by using the composite members, this paper investigates seismic failure probability and vulnerability assessment of steel-concrete composite structures constituted by rectangular concrete filled steel tube (RCFT) columns and steel beams. To enable numerical simulation of RCFT-structure, the details of components modeling are developed using OpenSEES finite element analysis package and the validation of proposed procedure is investigated through comparisons with available experimental results. The seismic fragility and vulnerability curves of RCFT-structures are created through nonlinear dynamic analysis using an appropriate suite of ground motions for seismic loss assessment. These curves developed for three-, six- and nine-story prototypes of RCFT-structure. Fragility curves are an appropriate tool for representing the seismic failure probabilities and vulnerability curves demonstrate a probability of exceeding loss to a measure of ground motion intensity

Private membership test protocol with low communication complexity

Ramezanian S, Meskanen T, Naderpour M, Junnila V, Niemi V. Private membership test protocol with low communication complexity. Digital Communications and Networks. 2019 May 13.We introduce a practical method to perform private membership tests. In this method, clients are able to test whether an item is in a set controlled by the server without revealing their query item to the server. After executing the queries, the content of the server's set remains secret. One use case for a private membership test is to check whether a file contains any malware by checking its signature against a database of malware samples in a privacy-preserving way. We apply the Bloom filter and the Cuckoo filter in the membership test procedure. In order to achieve privacy properties, we present a novel protocol based on some homomorphic encryption schemes. In our protocol, we rearrange the data in the set into N-dimensional hypercubes. We have implemented our method in a realistic scenario where a client of an anti-malware company wants to privately check whether a hash value of a given file is in the malware database of the company. The evaluation shows that our method is feasible for real-world applications. We also have tested the performance of our protocol for databases of different sizes and data structures with different dimensions: 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, and 4-dimensional hypercubes. We present formulas to estimate the cost of computation and communication in our protocol.Peer reviewe

Private membership test protocol with low communication complexity

We introduce a practical method to perform private membership tests. In this method, clients are able to test whether an item is in a set controlled by the server without revealing their query item to the server. After executing the queries, the content of the server's set remains secret. One use case for a private membership test is to check whether a file contains any malware by checking its signature against a database of malware samples in a privacy preserving way. We apply the Bloom filter and the Cuckoo filter in the membership test procedure. In order to achieve privacy properties, we present a novel protocol based on some homomorphic encryption schemes. In our protocol, we rearrange the data in the set into N -dimensional hypercubes. We have implemented our method in a realistic scenario where a client of an anti-malware company wants to privately check whether a hash value of a given file is in the malware database of the company. The evaluation shows that our method is feasible for real-world applications. We also have tested the performance of our protocol for databases of different sizes and data structures with different dimensions: 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional hypercubes. We present formulas to estimate the cost of computation and communication in our protocol.</p

Ossicular Erosion in Patients Requiring Surgery for Cholesteatoma

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the condition of the ossicular chain in patients requiring surgery for cholesteatoma.  Materials and Methods: In a retrospective analysis, the destruction of the individual and combined bony structures of the ear was described in 166 patients with cholesteatoma who went through surgery in our Otology Center between 2003 and 2009.  Results: Total (55.4%) or partial (30.7%) erosion of the incus was the most common pathology. In some cases, the long process (25.9%) and the body of incus (4.8%) were also involved. Erosion of the stapes superstructure occurred more commonly than a total loss of the bone (40.9% vs. 25.9%). Erosion of the malleus was least common. Completely intact ossicles were present in 5.5% of cases. Total ossicular erosion with an intact footplate (18.7%) and incudostapedial erosion (18%) was the most common combination of ossicular erosion. All patients with incudostapedial erosion had advanced disease (85% with multiple site involvement).  Conclusion: Widespread cholesteatoma results in greater ossicular erosion and poor hearing outcomes

Pleomorphic Adenoma of the Cervical Heterotopic Salivary Gland: A Case Report

Introduction. Although pleomorphic adenoma is the most common neoplasm of the salivary glands, this tumor most commonly involves the minor salivary glands of palatal and rarely occurs in cervical region. Case Report. A 21-year-old female referred to our clinic due to painless mass of right upper region of neck. After paraclinical and pathologic evaluation, it was diagnosed as cervical pleomorphic adenoma. Conclusion. Pleomorphic adenoma may be rarely involving the neck. Although the prognosis is good, the choice treatment is the complete resection of the tumor

Effects of beech and eucalyptus sawdust as a supplementary material to improve the performance of composite panel

The use of wood fibers and recycled paper fibers in cement composites has many advantages. Wood fiber reinforced composites are easy to cast or mold into a desired shape, resistant to fire, as well as being resistant to harmful effects of sunlight, rain, and insects. These composites also have low thermal conductivity, a great degree of processing flexibility, in addition to helping eliminate environmental pollution by recycling wood fiber. The present study seeks to investigate the effect of eucalyptus and beech wood flour on the mechanical properties of wood–cement composites. Five levels of wood (0%, 8%, 20%, 32% and 40%) and one level cement (60%) were used. Totally 15 composites were produced. The composites were manufactured using hot press and tested based on DIN 68763 standard. After preparation of test samples, mechanical properties (bending and hardness) and physical properties (water absorption and thickness swelling) were measured. Results showed that addition of both fillers reduced modulus of rupture and increased modulus of elasticity, water absorption and thickness swelling. The Eucalyptus present in composite wood-cement caused a reduction in mechanical and physical properties can use with Beech wood flour

Value of fine needle aspiration in cytological diagnosis of salivary gland masses

Introduction: Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is one of important diagnostic procedures in evaluation ofmasses of salivary glands which is noteworthy due to its simplicity and cost-effectiveness. This studyaimed at comparing the results of FNA in masses of salivary glands with results of post-excisionalhistological examinations.Materials and Methods: In an analytic-descriptive setting, 51 patients with masses of salivary glandswere recruited during a 30-months period (April 2005- September 2007) in ear, nose and throat andpathology wards of Tabriz Imam Khomeini Hospital (Iran). Firstly, all the patients evaluated with FNAand then, post-excisional histopathological studies were carried out, considering as the final diagnosis.Results: Fifty one patients, 30 females and 21 males with the mean age of 32.87±16.41 (17-80) yearswere enrolled. Forty six masses located in parotid gland, 4 masses in submandibular gland and a mass insublingual gland. Results of FNA were consistent with definite diagnosis in 42 (82.4%) cases. Thisconsistency was 85.2% and 60% for benign and malignant masses, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity,positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of FNA for diagnosis and discriminationof benign masses from malignant ones were 85.4, 30, 83.3, 33.3 and 74.5 percent, respectively.Conclusion: There is a high consistency between the results of FNA and final histopathologicaldiagnosis in masses of salivary glands. Sensitivity of this procedure is high for diagnosis anddiscrimination of benign masses from malignant ones and the related specificity is low