Static assessment of plain/notched polylactide (PLA) 3D-printed with different in-fill levels: equivalent homogenised material concept and Theory of Critical Distances

A novel approach based on the equivalent homogenised material concept and the theory of critical distances is formulated to perform static assessment of plain/notched objects of polylactide (PLA) when this polymer is additively manufactured with different infill levels. The key idea is that the internal net structure resulting from the 3D‐printing process can be modelled by keeping treating the material as linear elastic, continuum, homogenous, and isotropic, with the effect of the internal voids being taken into account in terms of change in mechanical/strength properties. This idea is initially used to assess the detrimental effect of the manufacturing voids on the static strength of the plain (ie, unnotched) material. This is done by addressing this problem in a Kitagawa‐Takahashi setting via the Theory of Critical Distances. Subsequently, this approach is extended to the static assessment of notched components of 3D‐printed PLA; ie, it is used to take into account simultaneously the effect of both manufacturing voids and macroscopic geometrical features. The accuracy and reliability of this design methodology were checked against a large number of experimental data generated by testing, under axial loading, plain specimens, as well as notched samples (including open notches) of PLA. These specimens were manufactured by making the infill level vary in the rage 10% to 90%. This validation exercise allowed us to demonstrate that the proposed approach is highly accurate, returning estimates falling within an error interval of ±20%. This remarkable level of accuracy strongly supports the idea that static assessment of 3D‐printed materials with complex geometries and manufactured with different infill levels can be performed by simply post‐processing conventional linear elastic finite element (FE) solid models, ie, without the need for modelling explicitly the detrimental effect of the manufacturing voids

Video summarisation: A conceptual framework and survey of the state of the art

This is the post-print (final draft post-refereeing) version of the article. Copyright @ 2007 Elsevier Inc.Video summaries provide condensed and succinct representations of the content of a video stream through a combination of still images, video segments, graphical representations and textual descriptors. This paper presents a conceptual framework for video summarisation derived from the research literature and used as a means for surveying the research literature. The framework distinguishes between video summarisation techniques (the methods used to process content from a source video stream to achieve a summarisation of that stream) and video summaries (outputs of video summarisation techniques). Video summarisation techniques are considered within three broad categories: internal (analyse information sourced directly from the video stream), external (analyse information not sourced directly from the video stream) and hybrid (analyse a combination of internal and external information). Video summaries are considered as a function of the type of content they are derived from (object, event, perception or feature based) and the functionality offered to the user for their consumption (interactive or static, personalised or generic). It is argued that video summarisation would benefit from greater incorporation of external information, particularly user based information that is unobtrusively sourced, in order to overcome longstanding challenges such as the semantic gap and providing video summaries that have greater relevance to individual users

Simulations of a Variable Friction Device for Multihazard Mitigation

This paper investigates the performance of a novel semiactive damping device at mitigating nonsimultaneous multihazard loads. The device, termed modified friction device (MFD), has been previously proposed by the authors. It consists of a variable friction system based on automotive drum brake technology. The device has been demonstrated in a laboratory environment, and its dynamic behavior has been modeled. This model is used to conduct numerical simulations on two representative structures, one short building located in Japan and the other tall building located in Boston, MA. Simulated hazards include wind, blast, and seismic loads. Various control cases are considered, including semiactive control under five different sets of control weights, and passive viscous and passive friction to benchmark performance. Results show that the semiactive control cases outperforms all of the other cases for the vast majority of hazards and performance indices, provided that the right control weights are utilized

Neurological status of low-risk Vietnamese newborns: a comparison with a British newborn cohort.

A shortened version of the Dubowitz newborn neurological examination, recently reassessed in rural Thailand, was applied to a group of 58 Vietnamese newborns. The aim was to establish the neurological status of newborns in this population for use in further studies and to compare with groups previously studied. Compared to the original British cohort, the Vietnamese newborns showed significantly lower scores in 10 of 25 items, including several related to truncal tone. Evidence was sought of thiamine and long-chain fatty acid deficiency as a possible cause for these findings, but no correlation was found between the neurological status and the maternal or infant blood levels of these nutritional indicators. The findings suggest that the neurological status of low-risk Vietnamese newborns appears to lie between that of British newborns and those ethnic minority Karen newborns in refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border tested previously. Although no specific nutritional cause has been identified in the study, the findings may still reflect sub-optimal intake of some important nutrients

Area-level socioeconomic characteristics, prevalence and trajectories of cardiometabolic risk

This study examines the relationships between area-level socioeconomic position (SEP) and the prevalence and trajectories of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and the count of its constituents (i.e., disturbed glucose and insulin metabolism, abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension). A cohort of 4,056 men and women aged 18+ living in Adelaide, Australia was established in 2000-2003. MetS was ascertained at baseline, four and eight years via clinical examinations. Baseline area-level median household income, percentage of residents with a high school education, and unemployment rate were derived from the 2001 population Census. Three-level random-intercepts logistic and Poisson regression models were performed to estimate the standardized odds ratio (SOR), prevalence risk ratio (SRR), ratio of SORs/SRRs, and (95% confidence interval (CI)). Interaction between area- and individual-level SEP variables was also tested. The odds of having MetS and the count of its constituents increased over time. This increase did not vary according to baseline area-level SEP (ratios of SORs/SRRs ≈ 1; p ≥ 0.42). However, at baseline, after adjustment for individual SEP and health behaviours, median household income (inversely) and unemployment rate (positively) were significantly associated with MetS prevalence (SOR (95%CI) = 0.76 (0.63-0.90), and 1.48 (1.26-1.74), respectively), and the count of its constituents (SRR (95%CI) = 0.96 (0.93-0.99), and 1.06 (1.04-1.09), respectively). The inverse association with area-level education was statistically significant only in participants with less than post high school education (SOR (95%CI) = 0.58 (0.45-0.73), and SRR (95%CI) = 0.91 (0.88-0.94)). Area-level SEP does not predict an elevated trajectory to developing MetS or an elevated count of its constituents. However, at baseline, area-level SEP was inversely associated with prevalence of MetS and the count of its constituents, with the association of area-level education being modified by individual-level education. Population-level interventions for communities defined by area-level socioeconomic disadvantage are needed to reduce cardiometabolic risks.Anh D. Ngo, Catherine Paquet, Natasha J. Howard, Neil T. Coffee, Anne W. Taylor, Robert J. Adams, and Mark Danie

Efficacy and safety of lumasiran for infants and young children with primary hyperoxaluria type 1: 12-month analysis of the phase 3 ILLUMINATE-B trial

BACKGROUND: Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is a rare genetic disease that causes progressive kidney damage and systemic oxalosis due to hepatic overproduction of oxalate. Lumasiran demonstrated efficacy and safety in the 6-month primary analysis period of the phase 3, multinational, open-label, single-arm ILLUMINATE-B study of infants and children < 6 years old with PH1 (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03905694 (4/1/2019); EudraCT: 2018–004,014-17 (10/12/2018)). Outcomes in the ILLUMINATE-B extension period (EP) for patients who completed ≥ 12 months on study are reported here. METHODS: Of the 18 patients enrolled in the 6-month primary analysis period, all entered the EP and completed ≥ 6 additional months of lumasiran treatment (median (range) duration of total exposure, 17.8 (12.7–20.5) months). RESULTS: Lumasiran treatment was previously reported to reduce spot urinary oxalate:creatinine ratio by 72% at month 6, which was maintained at 72% at month 12; mean month 12 reductions in prespecified weight subgroups were 89%, 68%, and 71% for patients weighing < 10 kg, 10 to < 20 kg, and ≥ 20 kg, respectively. The mean reduction from baseline in plasma oxalate level was reported to be 32% at month 6, and this improved to 47% at month 12. Additional improvements were also seen in nephrocalcinosis grade, and kidney stone event rates remained low. The most common lumasiran-related adverse events were mild, transient injection-site reactions (3 patients (17%)). CONCLUSIONS: Lumasiran treatment provided sustained reductions in urinary and plasma oxalate through month 12 across all weight subgroups, with an acceptable safety profile, in infants and young children with PH1. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information

O222 Treatment interruption in children with chronic HIV-infection: the results of the paediatric European network for treatment of AIDS (PENTA) 11 trial

ss Open Acce Oral presentation O222 Treatment interruption in children with chronic HIV-infection: the results of the paediatric European network for treatment of AIDS (PENTA) 11 trial DM Gibb*1, A Compagnucci2, H Green3, M Lallemant4, Y Saidi2, N NgoGiang-Huong4, C Taylor3, L Mofenson5, F Monpoux6, MIG Tome7, M Marczynska8, D Nadal9, U Wintergerst10, S Kanjavanit11, H Lyall12, C Giaquinto13 and J Moye

RadB acts in homologous recombination in the archaeon Haloferax volcanii, consistent with a role as recombination mediator

Homologous recombination plays a central role in the repair of double-strand DNA breaks, the restart of stalled replication forks and the generation of genetic diversity. Regulation of recombination is essential since defects can lead to genome instability and chromosomal rearrangements. Strand exchange is a key step of recombination – it is catalysed by RecA in bacteria, Rad51/Dmc1 in eukaryotes and RadA in archaea. RadB, a paralogue of RadA, is present in many archaeal species. RadB has previously been proposed to function as a recombination mediator, assisting in RadA-mediated strand exchange. In this study, we use the archaeon Haloferax volcanii to provide evidence to support this hypothesis. We show that RadB is required for efficient recombination and survival following treatment with DNA-damaging agents, and we identify two point mutations in radA that suppress the ΔradB phenotype. Analysis of these point mutations leads us to propose that the role of RadB is to act as a recombination mediator, which it does by inducing a conformational change in RadA and thereby promoting its polymerisation on DNA