Flow field control to mitigate airborne sea salt adhesion on bridge girders

In order to realise effective maintenance and enhanced durability of structures, it is important to also reduce corrosion of bridges by airborne sea salt. The objective of this study is to reduce airborne sea salt adhesion amount on steel girder bridges by employing aerodynamic countermeasures. The study bridge is a typical metropolitan highway bridge with 8 I-shaped steel girders located in Japan. Aerodynamic countermeasure devices are employed to change the flow field around the bridge structure in an attempt to reduce wind velocity normal to the bridge girders. Devices existing on urban bridges such as noise barriers, median barriers, and facilities for passage of drainage pipes and electric cables, modelled as horizontal plates, are modified and investigated for their ability to reduce airborne sea salt adhesion amount. As additional devices, vertical plates are installed to change the flow separation and their applicability is also studied. Computational fluid dynamics is employed for flow field simulations and airborne sea salt adhesion amount is estimated by the improved concentration flux method. Findings indicate that horizontal plates and vertical plates significantly reduce airborne sea salt adhesion amount. Noise barriers and median barriers can also reduce airborne sea salt adhesion amount

Review Article : Feudalism or Absolute Monarchism?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68809/2/10.1177_009770049001600304.pd

Determinants of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity in a Japanese population: a cohort study.

Arterial stiffness is one of the biggest predictors of coronary heart disease (CHD). We evaluated whether brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and augmentation index (AI) are correlated with risk factors of CHD. All of the 528 participants (270 males and 258 females) in this study were healthy workers aged from 36 to 69 (mean age: 47.9 ± 8.1 years). The Framingham Risk Score (FRS) showed a good correlation with baPWV (r = 0.53, p < 0.01), indicating that FRS is also applicable as an index of arterial stiffness in Japanese people. Blood pressures were well controlled in patients with medical treatment for hypertension; however, vessels remained relatively still stiff, whereas the AI was considerably low. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that factors of such as FRS, body mass index, alcohol consumption and AI P75 were significantly correlated with baPWV

肝外側区域が脱出した腹壁瘢痕ヘルニアの1例

腹壁瘢痕ヘルニアは開腹術後合併症の1つで,通常診療でもよく経験する.今回,腹壁瘢痕ヘルニアの内容物としては稀な肝外側区域が脱出した症例を経験したので報告する.症例は80歳代,女性.腹部膨隆を主訴に受診した. 30年前に胆石で開腹手術の既往があった.CT検査を行ったところ上腹部に2ヵ所の腹壁瘢痕ヘルニアを認め,肝外側区域と横行結腸が脱出していた.疼痛など症状は認めなかったが嵌頓のリスクがあり手術となった.全身麻酔下腹腔鏡下手術が施行された.術中所見では肝円索が腹壁および脱出していた横行結腸間膜と癒着していた.乏しい三角間膜形成により肝外側区域が肝円索に引っ張られるように吊り上がり脱出したと考えられた.2ヵ所のヘルニア門に対し各々メッシュを用い修復術が行われた.近年腹腔鏡を用いたメッシュによる修復術が増加しており,利点として腹腔内の詳細な観察が可能,術後の感染や疼痛が少ないなどの利点があげられる.今回の症例においても2ヵ所のヘルニア門の位置関係などの詳細な観察が可能であり腹腔鏡下手術は有用であった.Abdominal incisional hernia is a frequent complication of open abdominal surgery. We herein report a rare case in which the left lateral segment of the liver prolapsed as the contents of an abdominal incisional hernia.The patient was a woman in her 80s whose chief complaint was abdominal protrusions. She had undergone abdominal surgery for gallstones 30 years ago. Computed tomography revealed abdominal incisional hernias in the upper abdomen, from which the left lateral segment of the liver and the transverse colon had prolapsed. Laparoscopic hernia repair surgery was performed under general anesthesia. The intraoperative findings showed the adhesion of the round ligament of the liver to the abdominal wall and transverse mesocolon. The prolapsed left lateral segment of the liver appeared as if being pulled upward by the round ligament of the liver and the poor formation of the triangle ligament. Two hernia orifices were repaired using two meshes. Recently, laparoscopic hernia repair surgery is increasing. Laparoscopic hernia repair surgery is useful to observe the abdominal cavity, details of hernia orifice and content, and the check of repair’s completion