Post on the Issue of Safety of Steel Structures of Hot Dip Galvanized Structural Components

AbstractWorldwide, the majority of newly built steel structures are protected against corrosion by hot dip galvanizing. The coating is applied by immersion of steel parts in molten zinc at a temperature around 450°C. Components supplied for coating are characterized by the presence of residual stress inserted into them during their manufacture, from the rolling process, through the forming and welding, optionally through the subsequent straightening. During immersion in molten zinc are the parts exposed to a sudden uneven heating inducting some variable tension usually reaching the yield point of steel. In extreme cases, these effects lead to a disruption of the material integrity. The safety of the steel structures is one of priority questions to which should be found a reliable answer. Detailed knowledge of the stress state of steel exposed to uneven heating from the gradual immersion in molten zinc and of the changes induced in the structure of the material is essential for a thorough analysis of the issue in all the physical and metallurgical patterns and contexts and to formulate reliable conditions under which the risk of crazing relevant reducing the carrying capacity with the dip galvanized steel building components could be eliminated

Health insurance reform and bankruptcy

Abstract Medical bankruptcy was at the heart of the health care reform debate. According to Himmelstein et al. (2009), 62.1 percent of bankruptcies in the United States in 2007 were due to medical reasons. At the same time over 15 percent of Americans had no health insurance. The 2010 health care reform was designed to address the lack of health coverage and medical bankruptcies. In this paper, we employ a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium overlapping generations model with incomplete markets to quantitatively evaluate the impact of the health care reform on the health insurance market and the bankruptcy rate. We find that (i) the reform fails to address the bankruptcy problem as it cuts the bankruptcy rate by only 0.06 percentage point to 0.94 percent and the medical bankruptcy rate by 0.07 percentage point to 0.70 percent; (ii) the reform succeeds in providing almost universal insurance coverage with only 4.1 percent remaining uninsured; (iii) the average tax rate has to increase by 1.1 percent to finance the reform; (iv) the reform increases welfare by 5.2 percent; (v) the redistribution component of the reform drives the welfare gain by 5.8 percent, and the insurance market restructuring decreases welfare by 1.6 percent

Strukturanalyse der spezifischen Inaktivierung des Toll-ähnlichen Rezeptors 2

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are critical receptors for pathogen detection following microbial infections. In addition, they participate in responding to a variety of tissue damage-derived endogenous molecules. In both processes, binding of a ligand induces the dimerization of two TLRs and stimulates cellular immune responses. Occasionally, however, the activation of TLRs can also result in chronic inflammation diseases. This happens in situations where control over the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines is lost. Possible treatments include the usage of antagonistic drugs that inhibit the TLR-based immune response. The monoclonal antibody OPN-305, an efficient inhibitor of TLR2, has successfully been used to treat septic shock and rheumatoid arthritis in mice and ischemia/reperfusion injury in humans. However, whereas the efficacy of the antibody was well established, its molecular mechanism remained unexplained. In this thesis, the complex between the extracellular domain of murine TLR2 and the fragment antigen-binding domain of OPN-305 was generated and purified. A first structural description of this complex was achieved by negative stain electron microscopy (EM) at a resolution of ~22 Å. The three-dimensional reconstruction reveals that the antibody binds laterally within the TLR1/TLR6 dimerization interface. The results indicate that the leucine rich repeats 11 to 14 are involved in the protein-protein interaction allowing ten amino acids on the surface of TLR2 to be identified as constituting the probable, highly discontinuous epitope. These results immediately suggest the mechanism of TLR2 inhibition and the antagonistic property of OPN-305 to derive from its ability to block the heterodimerization of TLR2 resulting in silencing of downstream signaling cascades.Die Toll-ähnlichen Rezeptoren (TLRs) sind entscheidende Rezeptoren bei der Erregererkennung nach mikrobiellen Infektionen. Darüber hinaus sind sie in der Reaktion auf eine Vielzahl durch Gewebeschäden freigesetzter endogener Moleküle beteiligt. In beiden Prozessen induziert die Bindung eines Liganden die Dimerisierung zweier TLRs und stimuliert zelluläre Immunantworten. Gelegentlich kann jedoch eine Überaktivierung von TLRs chronische Entzündungen hervorrufen. Dies geschieht in Situationen, in denen die Kontrolle über die Freisetzung pro-inflammatorischer Zytokine verloren geht. Eine mögliche Behandlung ist der Einsatz antagonistischer Medikamente, die die TLR-induzierte Immunantwort hemmen. Der monoklonale Antikörper OPN-305, ein effizienter Inhibitor von humanem TLR2, wurde erfolgreich zur Behandlung von septischem Schock und rheumatoider Arthritis bei Mäusen sowie Ischämie-Reperfusionsschäden beim Menschen getestet. Während jedoch die Wirksamkeit des Antikörpers etabliert ist, blieb der molekulare Mechanismus ungeklärt. In dieser Arbeit wurde der Komplex zwischen der extrazellulären Domäne von TLR2 und des Antigen-bindenden Fragments von OPN-305 erzeugt und gereinigt. Eine erste strukturelle Beschreibung dieses Komplexes gelang durch Negativfärbung-Elektronenmikroskopie bei einer Auflösung von 22 Å. Die dreidimensionale Rekonstruktion des Komplexes zeigt eine Bindung des Antikörpers an TLR2 lateral im Bereich der TLR1/TLR6 Dimerisierungsfläche. Dabei sind die Leucin-reichen Wiederholungen 11 bis 14 an der Protein-Protein-Wechselwirkung beteiligt. Zehn Aminosäuren auf der Oberfläche von TLR2 konnten als wahrscheinlicher Bestandteil des stark diskontinuierlichen Epitops identifiziert werden. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass der Mechanismus der TLR2-Inhibierung und die antagonistische Eigenschaft des OPN-305 auf dessen Fähigkeit beruht, die Heterodimerisierung von TLR2 zu blockieren und so nachgeschaltete Signalkaskaden auszuschalten

Endovascular embolization of renal cell carcinoma in a patient with solitary kidney

Background: Kidney tumors account for about 3% of tumors in adults. The primary therapy of renal cancer is the surgical removal. Traditionally, and also modern procedures are performed to remove the kidneys, especially when the tumor involves the entire kidney. In the cases of unresectable tumors embolization is used as a palliative procedure. Case Report: The aim of this study is to present the case of endovascular treatment of renal cell carcinoma in patient with solitary kidney. 77-years old patient had an ultrasound examination because of the pain in left lumbar region. MRI confirmed the presence of tumor size 29×45 mm in the left kidney. The right kidney had been removed eight years earlier because of clear cell carcinoma. Histopathological diagnosis was renal clear cell carinoma. The patient did not consent to surgical treatment. Tumor embolization was proceeded as a minimally invasive procedure. Pathological tumor vessels were closed using particles filling the entire vascular tumor. Next, the blood vessels supplying the tumor were closed using a mixture of lipiodolu and glubranu. Control angiographiy of the left renal artery confirmed the effective closure of all vascular pathology. In a recent ultrasound examination which was done 15 months after surgery no evidence of vascular pathology was found. Conclusions: Embolization of kidney cancer in particular cases may be an alternative way of treatment and give a good result in the form of stopping the growth of the tumor with simultaneous retaining the remaining parenchyma and renal function

Punhobol : atividade esportiva praticada desde a Grécia

Orientador: Carmen Lúcia Fornari DiezMonografia (licenciatura) - Universidade Federal do Paraná. Setor de Ciências Biológicas. Curso de Educação Física

Expert system-supported optimization of laser welding of additively manufactured thermoplastic components

Laser transmission welding (LTW) is a known technique to join conventionally produced thermoplastic parts, e.g. injected molded parts. When using LTW for additively manufactured parts (usually prototypes, small series), this technique has to be evolved to overcome the difficulties in the part composition resulted in the additive manufacturing process itself. In this paper, a method is presented to enhance the weld seam quality of laser welded additively manufactured parts assisted by a neural network-based expert system. To validate the expert system, specimens are additively manufactured from polylactide. The parameters of the additive manufacturing process, the transmissivity, and the LTW process parameters are used to predict the shear tensile force with the neural network. The transparent samples are welded to black absorbent samples in overlap configuration and shear tensile tests are performed. In this work, the prediction of the shear tensile force with an accuracy of 88.1% of the neuronal network based expert system is demonstrated

Theory and Comments on Standard Dilatometric Back Analysis

Summary The robust analytical solution was carried out to describe the stress state in the massive round boreholes. It gives the chance for complex back analysis of dilatometric in situ measurements. The main goal of this presentation is to present the incorporating phenomenon of influence zone around the boreholes. The analytical solution gives the chance to describe the progress of plastic zone around the hole

Motion estimation of vortical blood flow within the right atrium in a patient with atrial septal defect

Copyright © 2007 IEEEPatients with an atrial septal defect (ASD) have a left to right shunt with associated complications. Currently, various imaging modalities, including echocardiography and invasive cardiac catheterization, are utilized in the management of these patients. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging provides a novel and non-invasive approach for imaging patients with ASDs. A study of vortices generated within the right atrium (RA) during the diastolic phase of the cardiac cycle can provide useful information on the change in the magnitude of vorticity pre-and post-ASD closure. The motion estimation of blood applied to CMR is performed. In this study we present, a two dimensional (2D) visualization of in-vivo right atrial flow. This is constructed using flow velocities measured from the intensity shifts of turbulent blood flow regions in MRI. In particular, the flow vortices can be quantified and measured, against controls and patients with ASD, to extend medical knowledge of septal defects and their haemodynamic effects.Kelvin K.L. Wong, P. Molaee, P. Kuklik, Richard M. Kelso, S.G Worthley, P. Sanders, J. Mazumdar and D. Abbot

Reverse Remodeling of the Atria After Treatment of Chronic Stretch in Humans Implications for the Atrial Fibrillation Substrate

ObjectivesThe aim of this report was to study the effect of chronic stretch reversal on the electrophysiological characteristics of the atria in humans.BackgroundAtrial stretch is an important determinant for atrial fibrillation. Whether relief of stretch reverses the substrate predisposed to atrial fibrillation is unknown.MethodsTwenty-one patients with mitral stenosis undergoing mitral commissurotomy (MC) were studied before and after intervention. Catheters were placed at multiple sites in the right atrium (RA) and sequentially within the left atrium (LA) to determine: effective refractory period (ERP) at 10 sites (600 and 450 ms) and P-wave duration (PWD). Bi-atrial electroanatomic maps determined conduction velocity (CV) and voltage. In 14 patients, RA studies were repeated ≥6 months after MC.ResultsImmediately after MC, there was significant increase in mitral valve area (2.1 ± 0.2 cm2, p < 0.0001) with decrease in LA (23 ± 7 mm Hg to 10 ± 4 mm Hg, p < 0.0001) and pulmonary arterial pressures (38 ± 16 mm Hg to 27 ± 12 mm Hg, p < 0.0001) and LA volume (75 ± 20 ml to 52 ± 18 ml, p < 0.0001). This was associated with reduction in PWD (139 ± 19 ms to 135 ± 20 ms, p = 0.047), increase in CV (LA: 1.3 ± 0.3 mm/ms to 1.7 ± 0.2 mm/ms, p = 0.006; and RA: 1.0 ± 0.1 mm/ms to 1.3 ± 0.3 mm/ms, p = 0.002) and voltage (LA: 1.7 ± 0.6 mV to 2.5 ± 1.0 mV, p = 0.005; and RA: 1.8 ± 0.6 mV to 2.2 ± 0.7 mV, p = 0.09), and no change in ERP. Late after MC, mitral valve area remained at 2.1 ± 0.3 cm2 (p = 0.7) but with further decrease in PWD (113 ± 19 ms, p = 0.04) and RA ERP (at 600 ms, p < 0.0001), with increase in CV (1.0 ± 0.1 mm/ms to 1.3 ± 0.2 mm/ms, p = 0.006) and voltage (1.8 ± 0.7 mV to 2.8 ± 0.6 mV, p = 0.002).ConclusionsThe atrial electrophysiologic and electroanatomic abnormalities that result from chronic stretch due to MS reverses after MC. These observations suggest that the substrate predisposing to atrial arrhythmias might be reversed