Cross-project simulation of construction productivity for caisson fabrication

The aims are to (a) predict crew productivity improvement due to the repetitive nature of caisson fabrication as the result of on the job learning and (b) validate the previously specially built simulation platform CaissonSim' in different projects. More specifically, two such marine projects one in Greece and one in Cyprus have been studied

Additively manufacturable micro-mechanical logic gates.

Early examples of computers were almost exclusively based on mechanical devices. Although electronic computers became dominant in the past 60 years, recent advancements in three-dimensional micro-additive manufacturing technology provide new fabrication techniques for complex microstructures which have rekindled research interest in mechanical computations. Here we propose a new digital mechanical computation approach based on additively-manufacturable micro-mechanical logic gates. The proposed mechanical logic gates (i.e., NOT, AND, OR, NAND, and NOR gates) utilize multi-stable micro-flexures that buckle to perform Boolean computations based purely on mechanical forces and displacements with no electronic components. A key benefit of the proposed approach is that such systems can be additively fabricated as embedded parts of microarchitected metamaterials that are capable of interacting mechanically with their surrounding environment while processing and storing digital data internally without requiring electric power

Safety and patient outcomes with lubiprostone for up to 52 weeks in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90244/1/apt4983.pd

Hereditary spastic paraplegia in Greece: characterisation of a previously unexplored population using next-generation sequencing

Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) is a syndrome characterised by lower limb spasticity, occurring alone or in association with other neurological manifestations, such as cognitive impairment, seizures, ataxia or neuropathy. HSP occurs worldwide, with different populations having different frequencies of causative genes. The Greek population has not yet been characterised. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical presentation and molecular epidemiology of the largest cohort of HSP in Greece, comprising 54 patients from 40 families. We used a targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) approach to genetically assess a proband from each family. We made a genetic diagnosis in >50% of cases and identified 11 novel variants. Variants in SPAST and KIF5A were the most common causes of autosomal dominant HSP, whereas SPG11 and CYP7B1 were the most common cause of autosomal recessive HSP. We identified a novel variant in SPG11, which led to disease with later onset and may be unique to the Greek population and report the first nonsense mutation in KIF5A. Interestingly, the frequency of HSP mutations in the Greek population, which is relatively isolated, was very similar to other European populations. We confirm that NGS approaches are an efficient diagnostic tool and should be employed early in the assessment of HSP patients

The position of a duodenal diverticulum in the area of the major duodenal papilla and its potential clinical implications

Background: Although duodenal diverticula are associated with less frequent pathology than the colonic diverticula in the large intestine, their periampullary position may have significant clinical implications. The aim of the study was to identify any possible correlation between the type of localisation of the major duodenal papilla, duodenal diverticula, and some particular clinical issues. Materials and methods: In total, 628 patients (408 females and 220 males; aged 21–91 years), who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups: a study group comprising 66 (10.5%) patients with periampullary position of diverticula (group A), and a control group comprising 562 (89.5%) patients without diverticula (group B). Results: A duodenal diverticulum was diagnosed in the periampullary position in 66/628 (10.5%) patients: 41 women (aged 52–91 years) and 25 men (aged 54–83 years). Conclusions: Three types of localisation were observed for the major duodenal papilla with regard to the diverticula, with the most common type being next to each other (type III). In patients with diverticula, similar frequencies of gallstone occurrence are observed in men and women. Patients with papilla in the diverticulum who underwent cholecystectomy are more prone to develop lithiasis

Support for Whole-Program Analysis and the Verification of the One-Definition Rule in C++

We present a compact and accurate representation of a whole-program abstract syntax tree, and use it to detect a specific security vulnerability in C++ programs known as a One-Definition Rule (ODR) violation. The ODR states that types and functions appearing in multiple compilation units must be defined identically. However, no current compiler can enforce ODR because doing so requires the ability to see the full application source at once; where ODR is violated, the program is incorrect. Moreover, a lack of ODR enforcement makes a program vulnerable to the so-called VPTR exploit, in which an object's virtual function table is replaced by malicious code. Our representation of the whole program preserves all features of the source for analysis and transformation, and permits a million-line application to fit entirely in the memory of a workstation with 1 GB of RAM