Seismic analysis of a mixed timber-masonry structure: West Mill in Smiths Falls, Canada

Timber and masonry are among the first building materials to be used internationally and are still being used in new construction today. It is evident that many mixed timber-masonry structures exist in zones of high seismicity such as Southern Europe and North America. Seismicity is and has been a universal problem for structural engineers all over the world. As some of the earliest structures were constructed with timber and masonry, it is important to look at the seismic vulnerabilities of such constructions and find efficient and sustainable ways to mitigate them. Mixed timber-masonry structures are important to the history of construction worldwide and should be conserved for such a reason. The work presented in this thesis aims at gaining a better understanding of the behaviour of mixed timber-masonry structures through a case study using numerical simulation. The case study will focus on a mixed timber—masonry structure in Eastern Ontario, Canada called The West Mill. The West Mill in Smiths Falls, Canada was built in the 1850s as part of the grain milling industry of Eastern Ontario. It is within the nationally designated Wood’s milling complex, which received its designation for its capability of demonstrating the development of the grain milling industry in Eastern Ontario through the 19th century. The West Mill itself consists of two joint structural systems. Four exterior limestone masonry walls make up the envelope of the building while the interior and the roof comprise of a heavy timber structure. A numerical model of the West Mill was created using the Finite Element Modelling (FEM) software DIANA. The numerical models used hinges and springs to represent the timber-timber and timber- masonry joints within the building. Shell elements were used to represent the masonry, and beam elements were used to represent the timber elements. Two numerical models were created to simulate the behaviour of the building. A pushover analysis was run on both models in the X and Y directions to capture the envelope of the seismic response for the structure. A parametric analysis was also conducted on the spring model by varying the stiffness of the springs used to model the connections between the timber-timber joints, and by varying the properties of the masonry. This study was conducted to explore the effects material properties have on the seismic response of the structure. The results developed from this thesis are a starting point for further research into the seismic response of the mixed timber-masonry structure, The West Mill.La madera y la mampostería se encuentran entre los primeros materiales de construcción utilizados internacionalmente y todavía se utilizan actualmente para nuevas construcciones. Es evidente que existen muchas estructuras mixtas de madera y mampostería en zonas de alta sismicidad como el sur de Europa y América del Norte. La sismicidad es y ha sido un problema universal para los ingenieros estructurales de todo el mundo. Como algunas de las primeras estructuras se construyeron con madera y mampostería, es importante observar las vulnerabilidades sísmicas de tales construcciones y encontrar formas eficientes y sostenibles de mitigarlas. Las estructuras mixtas de madera y mampostería son importantes para la historia de la construcción en todo el mundo y deben conservarse por tal motivo. El trabajo presentado en esta tesis tiene como objetivo comprender mejor el comportamiento de las estructuras mixtas de madera y mampostería a través de un estudio de caso mediante simulación numérica. El estudio de caso se centrará en una estructura mixta de madera y mampostería situada en el este de Ontario, Canadá, llamada The West Mill. El West Mill en Smiths Falls, Canadá, fue construido en la década de 1850 como parte de la industria de molienda de granos del este de Ontario. Está dentro del complejo Wood's Milling, designado a nivel nacional, que recibió su designación por su capacidad de demostrar el desarrollo de la industria de molienda de granos en el este de Ontario durante el siglo XIX. El West Mill consta de dos sistemas estructurales conjuntos. Cuatro muros exteriores de mampostería de piedra caliza forman la envolvente del edificio, mientras que el interior y la cubierta forman parte de una estructura de madera. Como parte del presente trabajo, se ha creado un modelo numérico del West Mill utilizando el software de modelado de elementos finitos (FEM) DIANA. En los modelos numéricos se han utilizado rótulas y muelles para representar las juntas madera-madera y madera-mampostería dentro del edificio. Se han utilizado elementos de lámina para representar la mampostería y elementos de vigas para representar los elementos de madera. Se han creado dos modelos numéricos para simular el comportamiento del edificio. Se ha ejecutado un análisis de tipo ‘pushover’ en ambos modelos, en las direcciones X e Y, para capturar la envolvente de la respuesta sísmica de la estructura. También se ha realizado un análisis paramétrico en el modelo de muelles variando la rigidez de los muelles utilizados para modelar las conexiones entre las uniones madera-madera y variando las propiedades de la mampostería. Este estudio se ha realizado para investigar los efectos que tienen las propiedades de los materiales en la respuesta sísmica de la estructura. Los resultados desarrollados a partir de esta tesis son un punto de partida para futuras investigaciones sobre la respuesta sísmica de la estructura mixta de madera y mampostería, The West Mill

Effective Continuous Student Assessment using Statistical Methods

The need of the hour is to impart knowledge to students especially those who are below average and help them gain foot in competing with confidence and vigor. Engineering courses are no cake walk however; a sense of enthusiasm can be developed in such students to partake later in the conglomeration of experts on completion of their course. For this to happen, proper assessment and evaluation of subjective content during the course must be done. A proper and effective assessment process should facilitate in timely identification of the student�s weak topics in a subject during the course. In this paper, we discuss about direct assessment technique that starts with the preparation of the question paper, pertaining to the subject, topic-wise. The assessment of the student�s answers shall be done and marks of the subject shall be entered topic-wise. When marks obtained for a particular topic of a subject is below a certain threshold, it acts as an alarm to notify the student of their weak topic that requires immediate attention

Flood vulnerability and risk assessment of historic urban areas: Vulnerability evaluation, derivation of depth‐damage curves and cost–benefit analysis of flood adaptation measures applied to the historic city centre of Tomar, Portugal

Around 45% of natural hazards reported worldwide are related to floods, andcurrent indications show that exposure to floods and inherent losses will keepescalating. Historic centres are particularly vulnerable in this context due tothe structural and material characteristics of the buildings and because theyembrace social and cultural values that must be safeguarded. This article aimsto contribute to this research area by presenting and discussing the applicationof an index-based methodology specifically tailored to assess flood risk in his-toric urban centres. The historic city centre of Tomar, Portugal, an area thatencompasses over 500 buildings and has a rich history of floods, is used hereas a case study. Vulnerability data resulting from the application of the vulner-ability assessment approach are then combined with flood hazard—that is,water velocity and depth obtained from flood peaks estimated for 20- and100-year periods of return—and used to identify the buildings at risk. Finally,a set of depth-damage curves is derived and used here to carry out a cost–benefit analysis for different flood adaptation measures.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Flood vulnerability and risk assessment of historic urban areas: Vulnerability evaluation, derivation of depth-damage curves and cost–benefit analysis of flood adaptation measures applied to the historic city centre of Tomar, Portugal

Around 45% of natural hazards reported worldwide are related to floods, and current indications show that exposure to floods and inherent losses will keep escalating. Historic centres are particularly vulnerable in this context due to the structural and material characteristics of the buildings and because they embrace social and cultural values that must be safeguarded. This article aims to contribute to this research area by presenting and discussing the application of an index-based methodology specifically tailored to assess flood risk in historic urban centres. The historic city centre of Tomar, Portugal, an area that encompasses over 500 buildings and has a rich history of floods, is used here as a case study. Vulnerability data resulting from the application of the vulnerability assessment approach are then combined with flood hazard—that is, water velocity and depth obtained from flood peaks estimated for 20- and 100-year periods of return—and used to identify the buildings at risk. Finally, a set of depth-damage curves is derived and used here to carry out a cost–benefit analysis for different flood adaptation measures

Polygenic Parkinson's Disease Genetic Risk Score as Risk Modifier of Parkinsonism in Gaucher Disease

Background: Biallelic pathogenic variants in GBA1 are the cause of Gaucher disease (GD) type 1 (GD1), a lysosomal storage disorder resulting from deficient glucocerebrosidase. Heterozygous GBA1 variants are also a common genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). GD manifests with considerable clinical heterogeneity and is also associated with an increased risk for PD. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the contribution of PD risk variants to risk for PD in patients with GD1. Methods: We studied 225 patients with GD1, including 199 without PD and 26 with PD. All cases were genotyped, and the genetic data were imputed using common pipelines. Results: On average, patients with GD1 with PD have a significantly higher PD genetic risk score than those without PD (P = 0.021). Conclusions: Our results indicate that variants included in the PD genetic risk score were more frequent in patients with GD1 who developed PD, suggesting that common risk variants may affect underlying biological pathways. © 2023 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA

Nephrotic syndrome following COVID-19 vaccination: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection has caused significant morbidity and mortality. Vaccines produced against this virus have proven highly effective. However, adverse events following vaccination have also been reported. One of them is nephrotic syndrome, that can be associated with different pathologic pictures. This review aims to provide a wider understanding of incidence, etiopathogenesis, and management of nephrotic syndrome following vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. METHODS AND RESULTS: A literature search was undertaken using appropriate keywords in various databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, Europe PMC, and Science Direct. Twenty-one articles were included following qualitative assessment. Data of 74 patients from these articles were included. DISCUSSION: The pathogenesis of nephrotic syndrome following COVID vaccination has been widely attributed to the activation of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptors, leading to podocyte effacement. Relapses have also been reported in patients with prior history of nephrotic syndrome following COVID-19 vaccination. A renal biopsy is necessary to identify the histopathological picture. Management of COVID-19 vaccine-induced nephrotic syndrome was mainly reported as successfully attainable with corticosteroids and supportive management. CONCLUSION: Further investigations will help in establishing an early diagnosis and salvaging kidney function

Short-Term Outcomes of Atrial Flutter Ablation.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the factors associated with early readmissions following atrial flutter (AFL) ablation is critical to reduce the cost and improving the quality of life in AFL patients. METHOD: The study cohort was derived from the National readmission database 2013-14. International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9-CM) diagnosis code 427.32 and procedure code 37.34 were used to identify AFL and catheter ablation respectively. The primary and secondary outcomes were 90-day readmission and complications including in-hospital mortality. Cox proportional regression and hierarchical logistic regression were used to generate the predictors of primary and secondary outcomes respectively. Readmission causes were identified by ICD-9-CM code in primary diagnosis field of readmissions. RESULT: Readmission rate of 18.19% (n = 1010 with1396 readmissions) was noted among AFL patients (n = 5552). Common etiologies for readmission were heart failure (12.23%), atrial fibrillation (11.13%), atrial flutter (8.93%), respiratory complications (9.42%), infections (7.4%), bleeding (7.39%, including GI bleed - 4.09% and Intracranial bleed - 0.79%) and stroke/TIA (1.89%). Multivariate predictors of 90-day readmission (Hazard ratio, 95% confidence interval, p-value) were preexisting heart failure (1.30, 1.13-1.49, p CONCLUSION: Cardiac etiologies remain the most common reason for the readmission after AFL ablation. Identifying high risk patients, careful discharge planning and close follow-up post-discharge can potentially reduce readmission rates in AFL ablation patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

The Foundational Data Initiative for Parkinson Disease: Enabling efficient translation from genetic maps to mechanism

The Foundational Data Initiative for Parkinson Disease (FOUNDIN-PD) is an international collaboration producing fundamental resources for Parkinson disease (PD). FOUNDIN-PD generated a multi-layered molecular dataset in a cohort of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines differentiated to dopaminergic (DA) neurons, a major affected cell type in PD. The lines were derived from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative study, which included participants with PD carrying monogenic PD variants, variants with intermediate effects, and variants identified by genome-wide association studies and unaffected individuals. We generated genetic, epigenetic, regulatory, transcriptomic, and longitudinal cellular imaging data from iPSC-derived DA neurons to understand molecular relationships between disease-associated genetic variation and proximate molecular events. These data reveal that iPSC-derived DA neurons provide a valuable cellular context and foundational atlas for modeling PD genetic risk. We have integrated these data into a FOUNDIN-PD data browser as a resource for understanding the molecular pathogenesis of PD