Simultaneous Effect of Spatial Variability of Ground Motion due to Site Conditions and SSI on The Seismic Response of Multi-Span Viaducts

This work focuses on the effects of the spatial variability of the seismic motion due to site effects on the seismic response of multi-span viaducts on pile foundations. A methodology is proposed to include the effects of both soil-structure interaction and non-synchronous seismic actions in the nonlinear response of bridges. Then, some results of nonlinear dynamic analyses performed on a multi-span bridge founded on soft soil are presented. The deposit is characterized by an inclined layout of the bedrock and the seismic input is represented by a set of suitably selected real accelerograms. Comparisons with results obtained considering synchronous seismic motions demonstrate the influence of site effects on the response of long bridges

Evaluation of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in an Italian setting: Report from the trench

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"Delirium Day": A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 \ub1 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys

Dynamic performance of a full-scale micropile group: Relevance of nonlinear behaviour of the soil adjacent to micropiles

An extensive experimental in-situ campaign of dynamic tests carried out on a full-scale 2 x 2 group of inclined injected micropiles in alluvial soils is described in this paper. The campaign includes ambient vibration and impact load tests to investigate the dynamic behaviour of the soil-micropile system in the small strain range, and forced vibration tests to investigate the performance of the system in the nonlinear field. Accelerometers and geophones are adopted to acquire the dynamic response on the cap and the soil nerby the cap, while strain gauges are installed along the shaft of one micropile to capture the local curvatures and deflections. The influence of the micropile inclination on the translational and rotational behaviour of the group is evaluated. Moreover, the evolution of degradation phenomena such as the gap opening and slippage at the soil-micropile interface and the radial cracking of soil surrounding micropiles, are recognized, critically commenting the relevant effects on the fundamental frequencies and damping ratios of the system

Full scale experimental assessment of the dynamic horizontal behavior of micropiles in alluvial silty soils

The paper deals with an extensive experimental campaign of dynamic tests performed on full-scale vertical injected and not injected micropiles embedded in alluvial soils. The experimentation includes ambient vibration and impact load tests to investigate the dynamic behaviour of the soil-micropile system in very small and small-medium strain ranges, as well as snap back tests to investigate the evolution of the post-elastic response of the system. Micropiles are instrumented with strain gauges along the shaft, accelerometers and displacement transducers at the head. Modalities and results of the different performed tests are presented, focusing on the role of high pressure injections on the dynamic behaviour of the system, on the development of non-linear soil-pile phenomena, and, finally, on the evaluation of effectiveness of the different testing procedures to capture the dynamic response of soil-micropile systems. Ambient vibration test revealed to be a versatile method to identify the dynamic properties of soil-micropile systems, although it requires demanding post-processing techniques of data. Impact load test is faster to perform and easier to post process. Free vibration test proved to be relatively simple to perform and able to catch the dynamic non-linear behaviour of soil-micropile systems