A Damage Mechanics Approach to Life Prediction for a Salt Structure

Excavated rooms in natural bedded salt formations are being considered for use as repositories for nuclear waste. It is presumed that deformation of the rooms by creep will lead to loss of structural integrity and affect room life history and seal efficiency. At projected repository temperatures, two possible fracture mechanisms in salt are creep-induced microcracking in triaxial compression and cleavage in tension. Thus, an accurate prediction of room life and seal degradation requires a reliable description of the creep and damage processes. While several constitutive models that treat either creep or fracture in salt are available in the literature, very few models have considered creep and damage in a coupled manner. Previously, Munson and Dawson formulated a set of creep equations for salt based on the consideration of dislocation mechanisms in the creep process. This set of creep equations has been generalized to include continuum, isotropic damage as a fully coupled variable in the response equation. The extended model has been referred to as the Multimechanism Deformation Coupled Fracture (MDCF) model. A set of material constants for the creep and damage terms was deduced based on test data for both clean and argillaceous salt. In this paper, the use of the MDCF model for establishing the failure criteria and for analyzing the creep response of a salt structure is demonstrated. The paper is divided into three parts. A summary of the MDCF model is presented first, which is followed by an evaluation of the MDCF model against laboratory data. Finally, finite-element calculations of the creep and damage response of a salt structure are presented and compared against in-situ field measurements

Feasibility, validity and reliability of the Dutch translation of INCRESE (INCRESE-NL) inventory to characterize mental health recovery narratives

Objective: Characterizing mental health recovery narratives is needed to select helpful narratives to support the recovery process of other people. The Inventory of Characteristics of Recovery Stories (INCRESE) is an existing English-language tool to characterize recovery narratives, which is not available in Dutch. The aims of this study were to create a Dutch translation of INCRESE and to evaluate the feasibility of sustained and routine use, as well as its validity and reliability.Research design and methods: INCRESE was translated into Dutch (INCRESENL) using an established translation methodology. Six coders with different professional backgrounds rated 30 purposively selected narratives using INCRESENL and then completed an evaluation survey. Feasibility was rated qualitatively and content validity was assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The Gwet’s AC1 agreement coefficient was used to calculate the intercoder reliability.Results: Coders evaluated INCRESE-NL as a suitable instrument to capture important characteristics of recovery narratives with an acceptable administrative burden. The content validity index was sufficient for 5/7 sections of INCRESE-NL. Most items were found to be clear and suitable to capture the corresponding characteristic and some missed strict coding rules or clear descriptions, especially in section 4 about narrative characteristics. The Gwet’s AC1 could be calculated for 67/77 items, of which 62 scored sufficient and five scored below threshold. TheGwet’s AC1 coefficients corresponded well with the original INCRESE Fleiss Kappa values.Conclusions: INCRESE-NL has sufficient feasibility, validity and reliability and canbe used to characterize Dutch recovery narratives

Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Identifies Four New Disease-Specific Risk Loci

Rationale: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a complex disease with both genetic and environmental risk factors. Together, 6 previously identified risk loci only explain a small proportion of the heritability of AAA. Objective: To identify additional AAA risk loci using data from all available genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Methods and Results: Through a meta-analysis of 6 GWAS datasets and a validation study totalling 10,204 cases and 107,766 controls we identified 4 new AAA risk loci: 1q32.3 (SMYD2), 13q12.11 (LINC00540), 20q13.12 (near PCIF1/MMP9/ZNF335), and 21q22.2 (ERG). In various database searches we observed no new associations between the lead AAA SNPs and coronary artery disease, blood pressure, lipids or diabetes. Network analyses identified ERG, IL6R and LDLR as modifiers of MMP9, with a direct interaction between ERG and MMP9. Conclusions: The 4 new risk loci for AAA appear to be specific for AAA compared with other cardiovascular diseases and related traits suggesting that traditional cardiovascular risk factor management may only have limited value in preventing the progression of aneurysmal disease

რ. გედევანიშვილი

რ. გედევანიშვილი - თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტის ფილოლოგიის ფაკულტეტის ქართული განყოფილების VI გამოშვების კურსდამთავრებული

Recovering Context in Psychiatry: What Contextual Analysis of Service Users' Narratives Can Teach About Recovery Support

Aim: Enhancement of recovery-oriented care in psychiatry requires insight into the personal meaning and context of recovery. The Psychiatry Story Bank is a narrative project, designed to meet this need, by collecting, sharing and studying the narratives of service-users in psychiatry. Our study was aimed at expanding insight into personal recovery through contextual analysis of these first-person narratives. Methods: We analyzed 25 narratives, as collected through research interviews. To capture the storied context on both a personal, interpersonal and ideological level we combined several forms of qualitative analysis. A total of 15 narrative characteristics were mapped and compared. Results: Through comparative analysis we identified four narratives genres in our sample: Lamentation (narratives about social loss), Reconstruction (narratives about the impact of psychosis), Accusation (narratives about injustice in care), and Travelogue (narratives about identity transformation). Each genre provides insight into context-bound difficulties and openings for recovery and recovery-support. Conclusion: A contextual approach to studying personal recovery offers insights that can help attune recovery support in psychiatry. Important clues for recovery support can be found in people's narrated core struggle and the associated desire to be recognized in a particular way. Our results also indicate that familiarity with different ways of understanding mental distress, can help people to express and reframe their struggles and desires in a helpful way, thereby facilitating recognition