Tessier number 30 clefts with congenital heart defects

Introduction: Midline cleft of mandible, classified as Tessier 30 clefts is extremely rare, with less than 100 reported cases in the latest studies. Variations in severity and associated malformations have been reported before. Case Presentation: In this report, we present the first documented Iranian case of Tessier 30 with median cleft of lower lip and bifid tongue concomitant with congenital heart defects. Conclusions: We explain embryologic origin, differential diagnosis, other associated anomalies and its treatment by reviewing literature. © 2015, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Shape optimization of two-dimensional anisotropic structures using the boundary element method

A shape optimization procedure is developed, using the boundary element method, for two-dimensional anisotropic structures to minimize weight while satisfying certain constraints upon stresses and geometry. A directly differentiated form of boundary integral equation with respect to geometric design variables is used to calculate shape design sensitivities of anisotropic materials. The boundary element method is very suitable for shape optimization and in comparison with the finite element method needs much fewer data, related only to the boundary of the structure being considered. Because a directly differentiated form of the boundary integral equation can be used to determine the derivatives of the objective and constraint functions, the accuracy of computation is very high, Because of the non-linear nature of weight and stresses, the numerical optimization method used in the program is the feasible direction approach, together with the golden section method for the one-dimensional search. Three example problems with anisotropic material properties are presented to demonstrate the applications of this general-purpose program

Logarithmic two-point correlators in the Abelian sandpile model

We present the detailed calculations of the asymptotics of two-site correlation functions for height variables in the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model. By using combinatorial methods for the enumeration of spanning trees, we extend the well-known result for the correlation $\sigma_{1,1} \simeq 1/r^4$ of minimal heights $h_1=h_2=1$ to $\sigma_{1,h} = P_{1,h}-P_1P_h$ for height values $h=2,3,4$. These results confirm the dominant logarithmic behaviour $\sigma_{1,h} \simeq (c_h\log r + d_h)/r^4 + {\cal O}(r^{-5})$ for large $r$, predicted by logarithmic conformal field theory based on field identifications obtained previously. We obtain, from our lattice calculations, the explicit values for the coefficients $c_h$ and $d_h$ (the latter are new).Comment: 28 page

Numerical analysis of stresses at oblique holes in plates subjected to tension and bending

Stress analysis of a series of thick, wide, flat plates with oblique holes subjected to uniaxial tension and out-of-plane bending has been carried out using the finite element method (FEM), and in some cases the boundary element method (BEM). Different plate thickness-hole diameter ratios, angles of hole obliquity and orientation have been considered to provide stress concentration factors at such holes. The work covers plate thickness-hole diameter ratios from 1.3 to 3.0, hole obliquity angles from 0 to 60° and orientation of the major axis of the surface ellipse relative to the applied load direction of 0 to 90°. The results for uniaxial tension have been compared with those determined using the photoelastic frozen-stress technique in order to verify the finite element models before proceeding to the bending cases, which provide new data

The validity of a scoring system in predicting intravenous immunoglobulin treatment failure in children with kawasaki disease

Background: Between 10 and 20 of children with Kawasaki disease (KD) will not respond to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment, and are prone to coronary abnormalities. A variety of predicting scoring systems, including the Kobayashi system, have been proposed, but have not yet been evaluated using Iranian patients. Objectives: To evaluate the Kobayashi scoring system with regard to predicting response to IVIG treatment in Iranian children. Patients and Methods: All patients who received a final diagnosis of KD at Aliasghar children�s hospital between 1982 and 2013, and who met the inclusion criteria, were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. We excluded patients with missing data, abnormal echocardiographic finding on admission, late admission, atypical or afebrile cases, and those who had received an insufficient amount of IVIG. We compared demographic and echocardiographic data before IVIG, and within 7 days of treatment, as well as C reactive protein (CRP), sodium, aspartate aminotransferase, platelet levels, neutrophil percentage, age of patients, and duration of fever before IVIG administration, in treatment responders and non-responders. Results: Of the 141 cases, 97 patients met the criteria and were enrolled. Of these, 19 (19.6) did not respond to IVIG. A total of 61.8 of patients were male, and the mean patient age was 36.9 months (SD = 32.1 months). Echocardiographic evaluation revealed early coronary involvement in 15.3 of patients, and coronary abnormalities were diagnosed in 10 of patients within the first 10 days of presentation and concurrent with their IVIG treatment. A between-groups comparison of quantitative CRP, absolute neutrophil count, and platelet count showed that platelet count alone was significantly higher in nonresponders (P = 0.04). With regard to items of Kobayashi scoring system, data were present for just 41 cases, but a significant difference between the two groups was shown, with the treatment-refractory group having a significantly higher score (P = 0.002). Receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the optimum cut-off point for our population would be 2, which makes the sensitivity of the test equal to 75, with a specificity of 60. Conclusions: This preliminary study showed that patients with KD and a high Kobayashi score are at greater risk of being unresponsive to IVIG treatment. Further studies, preferably multicenter evaluations, are required in order to understand the exact application of various scoring systems in the management of people with KD in Iran. © 2016, Pediartric Infections Research Center

Emergence of protective behaviour under different risk perceptions to disease spreading

The behaviour of individuals is a main actor in the control of the spread of a communicable disease and, in turn, the spread of an infectious disease can trigger behavioural changes in a population. Here, we study the emergence of individuals protective behaviours in response to the spread of a disease by considering two different social attitudes within the same population: concerned and risky. Generally speaking, concerned individuals have a larger risk aversion than risky individuals. To study the emergence of protective behaviours, we couple, to the epidemic evolution of a susceptible-infectedsusceptible model, a decision game based on the perceived risk of infection. Using this framework, we find the effect of the protection strategy on the epidemic threshold for each of the two subpopulations (concerned and risky), and study under which conditions risky individuals are persuaded to protect themselves or, on the contrary, can take advantage2022 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. © 2022 Royal Society Publishing. All rights reserved

Experimental Evaluation of Geocell and EPS Geofoam as Means of Protecting Pipes at the Bottom of Repeatedly Loaded Trenches

© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers. With growing populations and continuing urban development, embedding pipes in the ground that are then overrun by traffic is inevitable. This paper describes full-scale prototype tests on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) flexible pipes (of 250 mm diameter), buried at shallow depth, under simulated traffic loading. The paper studies the effect of surface load diameter (0.6×, 0.8×, and 1× pipe diameter) and the amplitude of repeated load (400 or 800 kPa) on pipe behavior. The effects of expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam blocks of various densities and also of geocells as a three-dimensional (3D) reinforcement in reducing the pressure transferred to the pipe, the deformation of the pipe, and the surface settlement of the backfill were investigated. The results show that, with an increase in loading surface diameter, the pipe's vertical diametral strain, the pressure transferred to the pipe, and the surface settlement grow significantly, irrespective of applied pressure. Using an EPS block over the pipe increases the soil settlement but reduces transferred pressure onto the pipe and, consequentially, results in lower pipe deformations. The increase in density of an EPS block helps improve response but was still found to be insufficient to prevent increase in surface deflections. The use of geocell reinforcement beneath the loading surface not only reduces the pressure transferred to the pipe and decreases its deformation but also significantly negates the tendency of the EPS block to increase the soil surface settlement. Thus, a geocell reinforcement layer placed over two EPS geofoam blocks (with total thickness 0.3× and width 1.5× the pipe diameter) all above a pipe buried at a depth of twice the pipe diameter, was found to deliver an acceptable, stable response. By these means, the vertical pipe strain, transferred pressure over the pipe, and soil surface settlement were reduced, respectively, by 0.45, 0.37, and 0.53× those obtained for the comparable unmodified buried pipe installation and are within allowable limits