Seismic Response of Underground Lifeline Systems

This paper presents and discusses the recent developments related to seismic performance and assessment of buried pipelines. The experience from the performance of pipelines during last earthquakes provided invaluable information and lead to new developments in the analysis and technologies. Especially, the pipeline performance during Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand is taken as a case study here. The data collected for the earthquake sequence are unprecedented in size and detail, involving ground motion recordings from scores of seismograph stations, high resolution light detection and ranging (LiDAR) measurements of vertical and lateral movements after each event, and detailed repair records for thousands of km of underground pipelines with coordinates for the location of each repair. One of the important learnings from the recent earthquakes is that some earthquake resistant design and technologies proved to be working. This provides a motivation to increase international exchange and cooperation on earthquake resistant technologies. Another observation is that preventive maintenance is important to reduce the pipeline damage risk from seismic and other hazards. To increase the applicability and sustainability, seismic improvements should be incorporated into the pipe replacement and asset management programs as part of the preventive maintenance concept. However, it is also important to put in the most proper pipeline from the start as replacing or retrofitting the pipelines later requires substantial investment. In this respect, seismic considerations should be taken into account properly in the design phase

Finite Fault Analysis and Near Field Dynamic Strains and Rotations due to the 11/05/2011 (Mw5.2) Lorca Earthquake, South-Eastern Spain

The 11/5/2011 Lorca, Spain earthquake (Mw5.2) and related seismicity produced extensive damage in the town of Lorca and vicinity. During these earthquakes, evidence of rotations and permanent deformations in structures were observed. To analyze these aspects and study the source properties from the near field, the displacement time histories were obtained including the static component at Lorca station. Displacement time histories were computed by an appropriate double time integration procedure of accelerograms. Using these data, the foreshock and mainshock slip distributions were calculated by means of a complete waveform kinematic inversion. To study the dynamic deformations, the 3D tensor of displacement gradients at Lorca station was first estimated by a single station method. Using the finite fault inversion results and by means of a first order finite difference approach, the dynamic deformations tensor at surface was calculated at the recording site. In order to estimate the distribution of the peak dynamic deformations, the calculation was extended to the close neighboring area of the town. The possible influence of the near-field deformations on the surface structures was analyzed.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure

Extended Thromboprophylaxis with Betrixaban in Acutely Ill Medical Patients

Background Patients with acute medical illnesses are at prolonged risk for venous thrombosis. However, the appropriate duration of thromboprophylaxis remains unknown. Methods Patients who were hospitalized for acute medical illnesses were randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous enoxaparin (at a dose of 40 mg once daily) for 10±4 days plus oral betrixaban placebo for 35 to 42 days or subcutaneous enoxaparin placebo for 10±4 days plus oral betrixaban (at a dose of 80 mg once daily) for 35 to 42 days. We performed sequential analyses in three prespecified, progressively inclusive cohorts: patients with an elevated d-dimer level (cohort 1), patients with an elevated d-dimer level or an age of at least 75 years (cohort 2), and all the enrolled patients (overall population cohort). The statistical analysis plan specified that if the between-group difference in any analysis in this sequence was not significant, the other analyses would be considered exploratory. The primary efficacy outcome was a composite of asymptomatic proximal deep-vein thrombosis and symptomatic venous thromboembolism. The principal safety outcome was major bleeding. Results A total of 7513 patients underwent randomization. In cohort 1, the primary efficacy outcome occurred in 6.9% of patients receiving betrixaban and 8.5% receiving enoxaparin (relative risk in the betrixaban group, 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65 to 1.00; P=0.054). The rates were 5.6% and 7.1%, respectively (relative risk, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.98; P=0.03) in cohort 2 and 5.3% and 7.0% (relative risk, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.63 to 0.92; P=0.006) in the overall population. (The last two analyses were considered to be exploratory owing to the result in cohort 1.) In the overall population, major bleeding occurred in 0.7% of the betrixaban group and 0.6% of the enoxaparin group (relative risk, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.67 to 2.12; P=0.55). Conclusions Among acutely ill medical patients with an elevated d-dimer level, there was no significant difference between extended-duration betrixaban and a standard regimen of enoxaparin in the prespecified primary efficacy outcome. However, prespecified exploratory analyses provided evidence suggesting a benefit for betrixaban in the two larger cohorts. (Funded by Portola Pharmaceuticals; APEX ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01583218. opens in new tab.

Injerto columelar extendido angulado. Método para prevenir la rotación cefálica y lateral de los injertos de cartílago en la punta nasal Angulated extended collumelar graft. A method to prevent the cephalic and lateral rotation of the cartilage graft in the nasal tip

El paciente mestizo generalmente posee una nariz pequeña, de base ancha, con fosas nasales redondas y dorso convexo. Los cartílagos alares son débiles, delgados y cortos, proporcionando un soporte estructural deficiente y pobre definición de la punta nasal. Los injertos de cartílago de la punta nasal se usan frecuentemente para corregir esta condición; sin embargo un problema común es la rotación cefálica, caudal y lateral de estos cartílagos. Empleamos un injerto columelar extendido angulado (ICEA) para proporcionar elongación y soporte columelar; la extensión angulada nos brinda a su vez un mejor control y predicción de la posición de los injertos de la punta nasal al prevenir su desplazamiento cefálico y lateral. El protocolo quirúrgico empleado incluyó historia clínica completa, desarrollo de un plan quirúrgico mediante análisis de la deformidad y fotografías pre y postoperatorias para el control de los pacientes a medio y largo plazo. Tratamos 95 pacientes usando este procedimiento; 75 con rinoplastia abierta y 20 con técnica cerrada. El rango del periodo de seguimiento fue de 6 meses a 4 años. Los resultados obtenidos fueron satisfactorios, mostrando mejor control y predicción de la forma de la punta nasal. En conclusión, creemos que el injerto columelar extendido angulado proporciona un mejor control de la proyección y angularidad de los injertos colocados en la punta nasal.The mestizo patient usually has a small nose, with wide base, round nostrils and convex dorsum. The alar cartilages are weak, thin and short, providing a deficient structural support and poor definition of the nasal tip. Cartilage graft in the nasal tip are very often used to correct this condition, but a commun problem of this procedure is the cephalic or lateral rotation of these grafts. We used an angulated extended collumalar graft to give collumelar support and elongation. The angulated extension of the graft provides a better control and prediction of the position of the grafts of the nasal tip preventing the lateral and cephalic displacement. The surgical protocol included a medical history, development of a surgical plan by analysis of the deformity and the use of pre/and postoperative photographs taken at both intermediate and long time, and long/term follow-up visits for evaluation of the results. Ninety-five patients underwent surgery using this procedure: 75 whit an open technique and 20 with a closed technique. Follow/up ranged from 6 months to 4 years. The results obtained were satisfactory, showing better control and prediction of the shape of the nasal tip. As a conclusion, in our experiencie, the angulated extended collumelar graft provides better control of the proyection and angularity of cartilage grafts pleced in the nasal tip

Programa UMBRALES. CICDE

En este programa UMBRALES, de la Vicerrectoría de Investigación de la Universidad Estatal a Distancia se da a conocer el CICDE. El Centro de Investigación en Cultura y Desarrollo toma aquellos temas sociales en los cuales hay un vacío de información y los promueve para la investigació

First international workshop of the ATM and cancer risk group (4-5 December 2019)

The first International Workshop of the ATM and Cancer Risk group focusing on the role of Ataxia-Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) gene in cancer was held on December 4 and 5, 2019 at Institut Curie in Paris, France. It was motivated by the fact that germline ATM pathogenic variants have been found to be associated with different cancer types. However, due to the lack of precise age-, sex-, and site-specific risk estimates, no consensus on management guidelines for variant carriers exists, and the clinical utility of ATM variant testing is uncertain. The meeting brought together epidemiologists, geneticists, biologists and clinicians to review current knowledge and on-going challenges related to ATM and cancer risk. This report summarizes the meeting sessions content that covered the latest results in family-based and population-based studies, the importance of accurate variant classification, the effect of radiation exposures for ATM variant carriers, and the characteristics of ATM-deficient tumors. The report concludes that ATM variant carriers outside of the context of Ataxia-Telangiectasia may benefit from effective cancer risk management and therapeutic strategies and that efforts to set up large-scale studies in the international framework to achieve this goal are necessary