Measuring horizontal stresses during jacked pile installation

Jacking is an installation technique for displacement piles which is commonly used onshore in urban environments owing to its low noise and vibration. During pile jacking, stress changes occur in the soil which are substantial close to the pile, but also extend a significant radial distance. These stresses are difficult to measure accurately owing to arching around stress sensors. In the field, stress measurements are commonly made by means of an adjacent pile whose stiffness changes the stress field within the soil. Accurate measurements of stresses due to the installation of a single pile under laboratory conditions are needed in order to quantify this error. In this paper, null gauges that do not suffer from membrane deflection are used to measure horizontal stress changes during the jacked installation of a cylindrical pile in dry sand. Stresses are measured by means of both an adjacent pre-installed square pile and in-soil sensors. The paper also presents a comparison between the centrifuge results and the radial stress distribution estimated using conventional methods, such as Boussinesq's elastic analysis and elasto-plastic spherical cavity expansion. The research was funded by Giken Ltd. and the Coleman-Cohen Exchange Programme to whom a great acknowledgement is addressedThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ICE via http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/geng.14.0006

Aspergillus section fumigati pneumonia and oxalate nephrosis in a foal

Equine pulmonary aspergillosis is a rare deep mycosis often due to the hematogenous spread of hyphae after gastrointestinal tract disease. We describe herein the main clinic-pathological findings observed in a foal, which spontaneously died after showing diarrhea and respiratory distress. Necropsy and histopathological investigations allowed to diagnose pulmonary aspergillosis, which likely developed after necrotic typhlitis-colitis. Biomolecular studies identified Aspergillus section Fumigati strain as the causative agent. Notably, severe oxalate nephrosis was concurrently observed. Occasionally, oxalate nephropathy can be a sequela of pulmonary aspergillosis in humans. The present case report suggests that the renal precipitation of oxalates can occur also in horses affected by pulmonary aspergillosis and could likely contribute to the fatal outcome of the disease

Isolation of KPC 3-producing Enterobacter aerogenes in a patient colonized by MDR Klebsiella pneumoniae

We describe the interspecies transmission of the plasmid-mediated blaKPC-3 gene, which confers carbapenem resistance, between clinically relevant gram-negative bacteria in a single patient. A KPC-3 producing Enterobacter aerogenes was isolated from a hospitalized patient previously colonized and then infected by a Klebsiella pneumoniae ST101 carrying the blaKPC-3 gene. The strains showed identical plasmids. Since intense horizontal exchanges among bacteria can occur in the gut, clinicians should be aware that patients colonized by carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae could become carriers of other carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. © 2016 by Edimes - Edizioni Internazionali Srl. All rights reserved

Short-term effect of thyroid hormone in prenatal development and cell differentiation

Extranuclear or nongenomic effects of thyroid hormones do not require interaction with the nuclear receptor, but are probably mediated by specific membrane receptors. This review will focus on the extranuclear effects of thyroid hormones on plasma membrane transport systems in non mammalian cells: chick embryo hepatocytes at two different stages of development, 14 and 19 days. At variance with mammals, the chick embryo develops in a closed compartment, beyond the influence of maternal endocrine factors. Thyroid hormones inhibit the Na+/K+-ATPase but stimulate the Na+/H+ exchanger and amino acid transport System A with different dose-responses: a bell-shaped curve in the case of the exchanger and a classic saturation curve in the case of System A. These effects are mimicked by the analog 3,5-diiodothyronine. Signal transduction is mediated by inter-play among kinases, mainly protein kinase C and the MAPK pathway, initially primed by second messengers such as Ca2+, IP3, and DAG as in mammalian cells. Thyroid hormones and 3,5-diiodothyronine stimulate thymidine incorporation and DNA synthesis, associated with the increased levels and activity of cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases involved in the G1/S transition, and also these effects have their starting point at the plasma membrane. Increasing evidence now demonstrates that thyroid hormones act as growth factors for chick embryo hepatocytes and their extranuclear effects are important for prenatal development and differentiation. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc

Durability of the anti-erosive effect of surfaces sealants under erosive abrasive conditions

OBJECTIVE: To test the durability of sealants applied for prevention of erosive dentine mineral loss under erosive/abrasive conditions. METHODS: Forty-eight bovine dentine samples doped with (32)P were randomly allocated to four groups (1-4). All samples performed a de- and remineralizations pre-cycling (6 × 1 min erosion in HCl: pH 3.0, mean time and overnight immersion in artificial saliva) for 1 day. Sealing was done as follows; (1) unsealed, (2) Seal & Protect, (3) K-0184 (experimental sealer) and (4) OptiBond FL. After sealing, samples were immersed in HCl for 3 h (baseline measurement). Then, the following erosive/abrasive and remineralisations cycling was performed for 8 days: 3 h/day erosion with HCl, 600 brushing strokes/day and storage in artificial saliva for the rest of the day. Sealer permeability was evaluated by assignation of (32)P in the acid used for the erosive attacks. RESULTS: At baseline, the significantly highest dentine loss was observed for the unsealed control group, while the mineral loss was not statistically significantly different between the sealed groups 2 and 3. At all days of the erosive/abrasive and remineralizations cycling and cumulatively the significantly highest mineral loss was observed for group 1, while the significantly lowest mineral loss was observed for the samples sealed with Seal & Protect (group 2) and K-0184 (group 3). In all groups, no significant increase in the (32)P release was observed. CONCLUSION: Surface sealants are able to reduce the erosive dentine mineral loss and maintain this erosion-preventing efficacy over the whole duration (simulating 8 month in-vivo) of the erosive/abrasive cycling

Influence of prophylaxis paste treatment on the abrasive wear of surface sealants

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the abrasive wear of surface sealants (Seal&Protect and K-0184 (experimental sealant)) and the influence of pre-treatment with mineral deposit forming prophylaxis pastes (NUPRO Sensodyne and NUPRO) on this wear. METHODS: One hundred and eight bovine dentine samples were randomly allocated to nine groups (1-9). Pre-treatment (10 s): groups 1-3: untreated, groups 4-6: NUPRO, groups 7-9: NUPRO Sensodyne. Sealing: groups 1, 4 and 7: unsealed, groups 2, 5 and 8: Seal&Protect, groups 3, 6 and 9: K-0184 (experimental sealer). Samples were then brushed with 12 000 brushing strokes (BS) with toothpaste slurry in an automatic brushing machine (120 BS/min; F = 2.5 N). Surface profiles were recorded at baseline, after pre-treatment and sealing and after each 2000 BS. RESULTS: Total profile change (wear or gain due to pre-treatment, treatment and 12 000 BS): groups 1, 4 and 7 (no surface sealant) showed a not significantly different wear of 18.48 ± 2.63 µm, 24.98 ± 3.02 µm and 21.50 ± 5.47 µm, respectively. Remaining groups (sealed) showed a gain in height with no significant difference among each other. Wear in sealed groups (2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9) were not significantly different at all numbers of brushing strokes. Starting with 4000 BS, the wear in unsealed groups (1, 4 and 7) was statistically significantly higher compared to all other groups. CONCLUSION: Stability and wear resistance of surface sealants are not affected by pre-treatment of dentine with NUPRO Sensodyne. The surface sealants tested provide a stable protective surface layer on dentine, which lasts for at least 12 000 brushing strokes

Analysis of guazatine mixture by Lc and LC-MS and antimycotic activity determination of principal components

iminodi(octamethylene)diamine, octamethylenebis(imino-octamethylene) diamine and carbamonitrile. In this work, the analysis of guazatine mixture by LC and LC–MS has been treated for the first time. In the guazatine mixture diamine derivatives account for 40% of the constituents of guazatine, triamines for 46%, tetramines for 11% and other amine derivatives for 3%. The most abundant individual components are the fully guanidated triamine (GGG, 30.6%) and the fully guanidated diamine (GG, 29.5%) followed by the monoguanidated diamine (GN, 9.8%) and a diguanidated triamine (GGN, 8.1%). The identification and separation of main components of commercial guazatine was performed through a new LC–MS method. The separation was performed on an Alltima C18 column using linear gradient elution (formic acid in water and acetonitrile) with UV-detection at 200 nm and the identification was performed by ESI+-mass spectrometry analysis. The main components (GN, GG, GNG, GGN, GGG and GGGG) were then purified and separated from the mixture. Antimycotic activity of guazatine derivatives was determined on different species and strains belonging to genus Candida. The results obtained suggest that GNG and GGGG components can further be developed in new antifungal compounds with high potential for the treatment of Candida infections