Increasing the Capacity of Existing Bridges by Using Unbonded Prestressing Technology: A Case Study

External posttensioning or unbonded prestressing was found to be a powerful tool for retrofitting and for increasing the life extension of existing structures. Since the 1950s, this technique of reinforcement was applied with success to bridge structures in many countries, and was found to provide an efficient and economic solution for a wide range of bridge types and conditions. Unbonded prestressing is defined as a system in which the post-tensioning tendons or bars are located outside the concrete crosssection and the prestressing forces are transmitted to the girder through the end anchorages, deviators, or saddles. In response to the demand for a faster and more efficient transportation system, there was a steady increase in the weight and volume of traffic throughout the world. Besides increases in legal vehicle loads, the overloading of vehicles is a common problem and it must also be considered when designing or assessing bridges. As a result, many bridges are now required to carry loads significantly greater than their original design loads; and their deck results still deteriorated by cracking of concrete, corrosion of rebars, snapping of tendons, and so forth. In the following, a case study about a railway bridge retrofitted by external posttensioning technique will be illustrated

Performance evaluation of a new on-demand molecular test for the rapid identification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in pediatric and adult patients

The rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has increased the need to identify additional rapid diagnostic tests for an accurate and early diagnosis of infection. Here, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of the cartridge-based reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test STANDARD M10 SARS-CoV-2 (SD Biosensor Inc., Suwon, South Korea), targeting the ORF1ab and E gene of SARS-CoV-2, and which can process up to eight samples in parallel in 60 min. From January 2022 to March 2022, STANDARD (TM) M10 assay performance was compared with Xpert (R) Xpress SARS-CoV-2 (Cepheid, Sunnyvale CA) on 616 nasopharyngeal swabs from consecutive pediatric (N = 533) and adult (N = 83) patients presenting at the "Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico" (IRCCS) Ospedate Pediatrico Bambino Gesu, Roma. The overall performance of STANDARD M10 SARS-CoV-2 was remarkably and consistently comparable to the Xpert (R) Xpress SARS-CoV-2 with an overall agreement of 98% (604/616 concordant results), and negligible differences in time-to-result (60 min vs. 50 min, respectively). When the Xpert (R) Xpress SARS-CoV-2 results were considered as the reference, STANDARD (TM) M10 SARS-CoV-2 had 96.5% sensitivity and 98.4% specificity. STANDARD M10 SARS-CoV2 can thus be safely included in diagnostic pathways because it rapidly and accurately identifies SARS-CoV-2 present in nasopharyngeal swabs

Zephyr: The Fourth Issue

This is the fourth issue of Zephyr, the University of New England\u27s journal of creative expression. Since 2000, Zephyr has published original drawings, paintings, photography, prose, and verse created by current and former members of the University community. Zephyr\u27s Editorial Board is made up exclusively of matriculating students.https://dune.une.edu/zephyr/1003/thumbnail.jp

Characterization of a novel linalool-metabolizing enzyme in Castellaniella defragrans 65 Phen

Isoprenoids, also known as terpenoids, are naturally occurring hydrocarbons. To date, more than 60000 different compounds have been discovered, mainly due to a great potential for enzymatic derivatization starting from a common scaffold. Monoterpenes constitute a class of terpenoids with ten carbon atoms synthesized mainly by plants and microorganisms. They possess a peculiar scent and their properties including antimicrobial, anti-herbivore, antioxidant and antitumor find a plethora of applications, for instance in cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical industries. The monoterpene biosynthesis involves the presence of a class of enzymes called terpene synthases, which are widely distributed in plant, fungal and bacterial species. Among them, terpene cyclases catalyze the transformation of an acyclic pyrophosphate into a cyclic compound. Below toxic concentrations, bacteria can use monoterpenes as source of carbon and energy. Under anaerobic and denitrifying conditions, the betaproteobacterium Castellaniella defragrans 65 Phen is capable of metabolizing monoterpenes as sole carbon and energy source. The linalool dehydratase/isomerase is an enzyme with a crucial role in the metabolism of acyclic monoterpenes in C. defragrans, catalyzing the hydration of myrcene to linalool and the isomerization of linalool to geraniol. The deletion mutant C. defragrans 65 Phen Δldi failed to grow on myrcene or geraniol, in contrast to the wildtype. But the mutant strain grew on linalool, suggesting the presence of a hitherto unknown enzyme utilizing linalool. In this study, the metabolic fate of linalool was explored. C. defragrans 65 Phen Δldi was grown on linalool and nitrate in a multiple-fed batch fermentation. In cell-free protein extracts, the formation of two monocyclic monoterpenes, α-terpinene and terpinolene, was detected. The transformation required ATP – likely for the activation of the substrate - and divalent cations. The novel enzyme was shown to be a soluble protein. It did not require other low molecular weight cofactors and was stable after 24 hours at 4°C. The novel enzyme was partly purified by size exclusion chromatography and ion exchange chromatography. Size exclusion chromatography revealed a molecular weight of 200 kDa for the enzyme. The optimal incubation time for the partly-purified protein was shown to be 4 hours. During this time the enzyme activity was unchanged. Furthermore, the magnesium-manganese dependence was characterized. The enzyme achieved a much higher activity when just magnesium Mg2+ was supplemented as metal cofactor and ATP as a cosubstrate. The suggested mechanism starts with the activation of linalool to linalyl-pyrophosphate as intermediate, proceeds with the cyclization to the α-terpinyl carbocation and ends with a deprotonation leading to the two final products, α-terpinene and terpinolene. In summary, the enzyme activity was partially purified, the apparent molecular weight was determined and magnesium ions as sole cofactor were identified. This will enable in the future a purification via several chromatographies to yield highly pure enzyme, hopefully few protein bands in the SDS PAGE gel. These proteins may be analyzed by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization – time of flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-ToF). Characterizing the oligopeptide sequence of the protein, this technique will identify the gene(s) corresponding to the active protein bands. The genes can be subsequently overexpressed. This information can be also used to compare obtained sequence with those already available in public databases and will confirm the novelty of this putative monoterpene cyclase. The so-far-obtained insights on the chemical characterization and from the purification not only enrich our knowledge of the partially characterized novel enzyme, but also confirm that many monoterpene synthases work better in presence of magnesium only as divalent cofactor. Additional modeling through X-ray crystallography or small angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) will provide us insights on the structure and on the potential interactions with unknown cofactors, substrates and metal cations

Il captatore informatico nel vortice dei maquillage legislativi.

Il captatore informatico è uno strumento utilizzato dalla polizia giudiziaria per aggirare le difficoltà d'intercettazione generate dalle nuove tecnologie; si tratta di un virus che viene inoculato nel dispositivo target e consente di accedere all'amministrazione del sistema operativo, così da acquisire il pieno controllo dello stesso. Le ampie potenzialità applicative di tale strumento comportano una penetrante ingerenza del potere pubblico nella sfera privata dell'individuo, ciò rende necessaria un'analisi dello stesso alla luce dei principi fondamentali ex art. 13, 14, 15 Cost. Il captatore quale strumento investigativo è stato oggetto di diversi interventi giurisprudenziali, fino ad approdare alle Sezioni Unite (sent.n°26889/2016-Scurato). Tale intervento ha ispirato il legislatore nell'emanazione della riforma Orlando (d.lgs. 216/2017) che modifica e integra diverse disposizioni del codice di procedura penale con l’obiettivo di regolamentare le intercettazioni tramite captatore informatico. Gli interventi legislativi disorganici e nebulosi hanno reso necessario ulteriori interventi normativi auspicati e suggeriti da più parti, che si sono concretizzati: con la legge cd. Spazzacorrotti (n° 3/2019), con cui si ha l’equiparazione dei delitti di criminalità organizzata e terrorismo, ex art. 51, commi 3-bis e 3-quater c.p.p,. e i gravi delitti dei pubblici ufficiali contro la pubblica amministrazione tramite l'estensione del regime speciale dei primi in tema di intercettazioni effettuate mediante virus informatico; e la legge n° 7/2020 (conversione in legge del d.l. 161/2019) emanata con il duplice di obiettivo di raggiungere il corretto bilanciamento tra esigenze investigative e tutela dei diritti fondamentali e di portare a conclusione l'ampliamento del regime speciale previsto per i reati di criminalità organizzata e terrorismo ai reati commessi dagli incaricati di pubblico servizio

OCR_cable_bacteria

This dataset contains the raw images used for calculation of the individual and per-cell oxygen consumption rates of the paper 'Oxygen Consumption of Individual Cable Bacteria'. Each folder represents a distortion, and contains figures in .TIFF format of the 10x and 40x magnification. Additionally, video time series of the oxic-anoxic interface recorded in the trench slide set-up are provided (S6 and S7)

Effect of fish farming wastes on sedimentary and particulate organic matter origin in a Southern Mediterranean area (Gulf of Castellammare, Sicily): a multiple stable isotope study (delta13C and delta15N)

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was used to investigate the dispersion area of waste material coming from fish farming activities in the western Mediterranean. Tests were conducted to see if uneaten feed and faecal material isotopic signals, originating from fish farms, could be detected in particulate organic matter (POM) and sedimentary organic matter (SOM). The detectable dispersion distance (from under cages as far as 1000 m) of cage-derived organic material was also examined. To do this, carbon (d13C) and nitrogen (d15N) composition in POM and SOM collected around the cages, in some control areas and in the waste material, was measured. Mean POM d13C was delta22.9F0.2x, while SOM d13C was 22.1F0.1x, and did not show significant differences along a distance gradient. Mean POM d15N was 3.9F1.0x, while SOM d15N was 3.4F1.3x, showing significant differences between 15N-enriched sites positioned near the cages and 15N-depleted sites positioned at about 1000 m from the cages. The mixing model applied to each reservoir (POM and SOM) as targets showed an incidence of autochthonous carbon (mostly phytoplankton in the particulate and sand microflora in the sediments) of about 24% in POM and of about 19% in SOM. Terrigenous carbon, which represented 37% in POM and 33% in SOM, increased in moving from sites nearby cages to more distant sites. Farming waste carbon represented 39% in POM and 48% in SOM. The inputs of autochthonous N represented about 24% in POM and about 18% in SOM, and with terrigenous N (representing 62% and 70%, respectively, in POM and SOM) showed higher contribution than cage-derived nitrogen. On average, farming waste nitrogen in POM was 15%, while it was 11% in SOM. d15NPOM showed a significant difference between cage sites and sites positioned at about 300 m. The latter was similar to sites located at 1000 m from the cages. Results indicate that in a Mediterranean oligotrophic area, with a bottom about 25 m deep and a mean current speed of 10–12 cm s 1, the influence of carbon and nitrogen from farming waste can be isotopically detected both in the particulate matter and the sediments in a wide area around fish farming cages. Sediments around the cages have been observed to be organic-enriched at about 1,000 m from cages. Dispersion of cage waste by hydrodynamic advection, consumption and defecation by wild fish, and resuspension from the bottom currents were invoked as three combined factors to explain the greater impact area found in this study than has been previously reported in the literature