Monetary and Financial Integration in North America

Trafikverket förfogar över närmare 4000 järnvägsbroar i olika skick och ålder runt om i landet. Beståndet är i ständigt behov av underhåll och erfordrar kontinuerliga kontroller. Den här rapporten är utformad som en skadeutredning på en enkelspårig järnvägsbro söder om Solvarbo i Säter kommun. Järnvägsbron är i drift och här passerar över 10 000 tåg/år. Allt från snabbtåg till godståg. Bron är av typ balkbro, fritt upplagd över väg. Rapporten är gjord i samråd med företaget Reinertsen Sverige AB. En utredning av bron utfördes 2013 av Reinertsen Sverige AB i vilken beskrivs att ena landfästet kläms mot överbyggnaden till följd av rörelse. De skador som då noterades var att de rörliga lagren var kraftigt snedställda, överbyggnaden var i kontakt med grusskifte samt att en avsevärd uppsprickning av landfäste hade skett. Skadorna bedömdes påverka konstruktionens funktion och ansågs behöva en fortsatt utredning där brons rörelser och skador studeras mera för att kunna ta ställning till framtida åtgärder. Målet med detta arbete är att analysera hur bron har förändrats sedan upprättandet samt att besvara vad som kan ha föranlett förändringarna. Rapporten tas fram som underlag för att kunna ta ställning till framtida åtgärder enligt ovanstående. För att fastställa hur bron rört sig utfördes en inmätning med en totalstation. Därefter upprättades aktualiserade ritningar över bron som sedan jämfördes med befintliga originalritningarna. För att visa vad som kan föranlett förflyttningen gjordes en glidningskontroll med olika laster. Utöver det utfördes en kartläggning av skador på konstruktionen som sedan utvärderades. Jämförelsen visar en kraftig förflyttning av det östra landfästet mot det västra. Rörelsen av landfästet har gjort att de båda frontmurarna lutar i vertikalled.  Glidningskontrollen slår fast att det inte föreligger risk för glidning av enbart jordtryck men att det föreligger risk för glidning vid belastning av tåg samt bromskraft från tåg. På grund av slitage samt bristande underhåll har skador åsamkats på konstruktionen. De synliga skador som återfunnits på bron är sprickor, kalkutfällningar, snedställning av lager samt korrosion av lager och synlig armering. Det som kunde fastställas är hur bron har förflyttat sig i horisontal- och vertikalled och att en orsak till det östra landfästets förflyttning är de horisontella krafter som de passerande tågen för med sig. Genom att undersöka de skador som uppkommit på bron och jämföra dessa med de krav som Trafikverket har på sina broar kunde det fastställas att några av dessa skador beror på bristande underhåll.The Swedish Transport Administration manage nearly 4,000 railway bridges in different condition and age around the country. These bridges is in constant need of maintenance and requires continuous inspections. This thesis is designed as a damage investigation on a single-track railway bridge south of Solvarbo in Säter municipality. The railway bridge is in operation and serves over 10,000 trains a year, everything from speed trains to freight trains. The bridge is built as a beam bridge, simply supported over a road. The report is made in consultation with the company Reinertsen Sweden AB. An investigation of the bridge was carried out in 2013 by Reinertsen Sweden AB, which describes that the abutments lean onto the superstructure due to motion. The damage noted was that the movable bearings are seriously tilted, the superstructure is in contact with the breast wall and several cracks were found on the abutment. These damages were considered to affect the function of the structure and found needing further investigation to consider possible future actions. The objective of this thesis is to analyze how the bridge has changed since it was built and to find what may be the underlying causes to these changes. The report is aimed to constitute a foundation and a decision basis for further measures. To determine how the bridge has moved a surveying with a total station was performed. Thereafter updated drawings of the bridge were established and later compared with the existing original drawings. To understand why the bridge has moved a sliding control was performed with different loads. In addition an inspection of structural damages was carried out and evaluated. Comparing the drawings showed a significant displacement of the eastern abutment towards the western. The movement of the abutment has made the two bearing walls tilt. The sliding control showed that there is no risk of sliding when only earth pressure is considered, but when loads of the trains are applied there is a risk of sliding. Wear of the bridge has caused several damages in the bridge structure. The visible damages found were cracks, efflorescence, bearing misalignment and corrosion of bearings and visible reinforcement. What could be determined was that the bridge has moved horizontally and vertically and one reason for the movement in the eastern abutment could be the horizontal forces brought by a passing train. By examining the damage caused to the bridge and compare them with the requirements of the Swedish Transport Administration it could be established that some of these damages have raised due to lack of maintenance

Removable partial dentures: The clinical need for innovation

Statement of problem: The number of partially dentate adults is increasing, and many patients will require replacement of missing teeth. Although current treatment options also include fixed partial dentures and implants, removable partial dentures (RPDs) can have advantages and are widely used in clinical practice. However, a significant need exists to advance materials and fabrication technologies because of the unwanted health consequences associated with current RPDs. Purpose: The purpose of this review was to assess the current state of and future need for prosthetics such as RPDs for patients with partial edentulism, highlight areas of weakness, and outline possible solutions to issues that affect patient satisfaction and the use of RPDs. Material and methods: The data on treatment for partial edentulism were reviewed and summarized with a focus on currently available and future RPD designs, materials, means of production, and impact on oral health. Data on patient satisfaction and compliance with RPD treatment were also reviewed to assess patient-centered care. Results: Design, materials, ease of repair, patient education, and follow-up for RPD treatment all had a significant impact on treatment success. Almost 40% of patients no longer use their RPD within 5 years because of factors such as sociodemographics, pain, and esthetics. Research on RPD-based treatment for partial edentulism for both disease-oriented and patient-centered outcomes is lacking. Conclusions: Future trials should evaluate new RPD materials and design technologies and include both long-term follow-up and health-related and patient-reported outcomes. Advances in materials and digital design/production along with patient education promise to further the application of RPDs and improve the quality of life for patients requiring RPDs

Performance of novel VUV-sensitive Silicon Photo-Multipliers for nEXO

Liquid xenon time projection chambers are promising detectors to search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0$\nu \beta \beta$), due to their response uniformity, monolithic sensitive volume, scalability to large target masses, and suitability for extremely low background operations. The nEXO collaboration has designed a tonne-scale time projection chamber that aims to search for 0$\nu \beta \beta$ of \ce{^{136}Xe} with projected half-life sensitivity of $1.35\times 10^{28}$~yr. To reach this sensitivity, the design goal for nEXO is $\leq$1\% energy resolution at the decay $Q$-value ($2458.07\pm 0.31$~keV). Reaching this resolution requires the efficient collection of both the ionization and scintillation produced in the detector. The nEXO design employs Silicon Photo-Multipliers (SiPMs) to detect the vacuum ultra-violet, 175 nm scintillation light of liquid xenon. This paper reports on the characterization of the newest vacuum ultra-violet sensitive Fondazione Bruno Kessler VUVHD3 SiPMs specifically designed for nEXO, as well as new measurements on new test samples of previously characterised Hamamatsu VUV4 Multi Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs). Various SiPM and MPPC parameters, such as dark noise, gain, direct crosstalk, correlated avalanches and photon detection efficiency were measured as a function of the applied over voltage and wavelength at liquid xenon temperature (163~K). The results from this study are used to provide updated estimates of the achievable energy resolution at the decay $Q$-value for the nEXO design

An integrated online radioassay data storage and analytics tool for nEXO

Large-scale low-background detectors are increasingly used in rare-event searches as experimental collaborations push for enhanced sensitivity. However, building such detectors, in practice, creates an abundance of radioassay data especially during the conceptual phase of an experiment when hundreds of materials are screened for radiopurity. A tool is needed to manage and make use of the radioassay screening data to quantitatively assess detector design options. We have developed a Materials Database Application for the nEXO experiment to serve this purpose. This paper describes this database, explains how it functions, and discusses how it streamlines the design of the experiment