Influence of Anchorage on the Behavior of CFRP RC Beams in Flexure

This research study involves experimental and theoretical investigations of thebehavior of flexural debonding of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminateswith steel anchorages. A total of nine reinforced concrete beam specimens with crosssection of (150mm width by 250mm height and 2000mm length) were investigated inthis study to observe the flexural strength of each one. Eight beam specimens werestrengthened with CFRP laminates and one beam specimen was tested withoutstrengthening. The experimental results showed that the use of CFRP strips as externalstrengthening has significant positive effect on ultimate loads, crack patterns anddeflections. The percent of increasing of the ultimate load capacity can be increased byabout 65% when using two layers of CFRP strips instead of one layer. The ultimateload is increased by about 118% for the beams strengthened with bonded CFRP andexternal anchorage with respect to the reference beam. Three-dimensional nonlinearfinite element analysis (i.e. ANSYS - version 9.0 computer program ) is used toinvestigate the performance of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with CFRP.The comparison between the numerical and the experimental results asserted that goodvalidity of the numerical analysis and the methodology developed in this study

Behavior of Short Span Composite Beams Strengthened with CFRP Strips

The experimental program in this paper is divided into two groups: the firstone consists of seven composite beams; six of them were strengthened with oneand two CFRP strips and with three different percentages of full beam length(40%, 60%, and 100%). The second group consists of five composite beamsstrengthened at the face of the bottom flange with CFRP strips fastened to the steelsection by steel bolts with two different length proportion of CFRP strips to beamsoffit (60%, and 100%).The analytical investigation included the use of three dimensionalnonlinear finite elements to model the performance of the composite beams using(ANSYS 8.0) computer program

Prenatal diagnosis of Neu-Laxova syndrome: a case report

BACKGROUND: Neu-Laxova syndrome is a rare congenital abnormality involving multiple systems. We report a case of Neu-Laxova syndrome (NLS) diagnosed prenatally by ultrasound examination. CASE PRESENTATION: A 29-year-old gravida 3, para 2 woman was first seen in our antenatal clinic at 38 weeks' pregnancy. Except for the consanguinity and two previous abnormal stillborn babies her medical history was unremarkable. On ultrasound examination microcephaly, flat forehead, micrognathia, intrauterine growth restriction, generalized edema of the skin, hypoplastic chest, excessive soft tissue deposition of hands and feet, joint contractures and a penis without scrotal sacs were detected. She delivered a 2000 g male fetus. He died five minutes after delivery. Postmortem examination confirmed the diagnosis of Neu-Laxova syndrome. CONCLUSION: Because of the autosomal recessive inheritance of Neu-Laxova syndrome genetic counseling and early-serial ultrasound examination should be performed at risk families. Early diagnosis of the disease may offer termination of the pregnancy as an option

Poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma with sternal invasion. A case report and review of the literature

INTRODUCTION: Surgical resection of poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma with direct invasion of the sternum has not been previously reported. Only 4 cases of concomitant thyroidectomy and sternal resection and reconstruction for sternal metastases have been published. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 66-year-old female with a poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma and direct sternal invasion underwent total thyroidectomy and resection of the manubrium and both clavicular heads, and chest wall reconstruction with polypropylene mesh and bilateral myocutaneous pectoralis major muscle flaps. Postoperatively, the patient received radioactive iodine ablation. She developed a local recurrence, requiring additional ablation with radioactive iodine and external beam radiation therapy. Although there was no clinical or radiographic evidence of recurrent disease 5-years postoperatively, a possible local recurrence was discovered 4 months later. DISCUSSION: In previous case reports the sternal metastases were not in continuity with the thyroid tumor. In our patient, however, there was evidence of direct extension between the thyroid tumor and the sternal mass that were connected together with cords of tumor. CONCLUSION: In our patient with poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma invading the sternum, total thyroidectomy and resection of the manubrium with sternal reconstruction, combined with adjuvant radioactive iodine ablation and external beam radiation therapy was associated with prolonged survival after 5 years despite a small local recurrence