Kinetic energy harvesting mechanism for vortex drop structures

Energy recovery from wastewater is gaining significance as utilities work toward achieving energy neutrality and sustainability in their wastewater collection and treatment systems. In this dissertation, kinetic energy harvesting mechanism for vortex drop structures found within the municipal waste and storm water conveyance systems is presented. There are thousands of sewer drop structures installed across the U.S. carrying billions of gallons of sewage each year. A custom micro water turbine is developed in this research which could be retrofitted within the existing drop shafts to harvest the excessive kinetic energy available. This dissertation presents the conceptual design and analysis of the micro turbine\u27s performance through analytical, numerical and experimental methods. Various measured performance characteristics of a custom built turbine retrofitted within a full scale drop structure installed in a laboratory setting is presented

Long Survival after Resection of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Pancreas with Synchronous Adenocarcinoma of the Ampulla of Vater

Small cell carcinoma of the pancreas is very rare and the patient usually died within 1 year after diagnosis. We reported an unusual case with small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the pancreas and a synchronous moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the ampulla of Vater in a 44-year-old male, who was successfully treated with pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy and post-operative cisplatin-based chemoradiation therapy. The follow-up data showed no evidence of recurrence and the patient is in a good health condition at 117 months after the surgery

Family care reduces the incidence of neonatal sepsis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

PurposeFamily-involved care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) helps to alleviate neonatal anxiety and promotes breastmilk intake, body growth and neurological development, but its effect on reducing the incidence of neonatal sepsis is not known. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT) to evaluate whether neonates receiving family care have a lower incidence of neonatal sepsis compared to neonates receiving standard NICU care.MethodsMEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and CENTRAL were searched for RCTs that compared preterm neonates receiving family care vs. standard NICU care. From 126 articles that were identified and screened, 34 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and 5 RCTs were included. The primary outcome was the development of sepsis. The RevMan 5.4 software was used to conduct the Meta-analysis.ResultsThe metanalysis, based on 5 RCTs demonstrated that neonates receiving family-involved care had significantly lower incidence of sepsis (12.0% vs. 16.3%), increased body weight, and reduced length of hospital stay compared to those receiving standard NICU care.ConclusionThis study suggests that family-involved care in NICU can (i) reduce the incidence of neonatal sepsis, (ii) improve growth, and (iii) reduce the length of hospital stay. This study highlights the need for evaluating whether family-involved care improves other neonatal outcomes

Full-scale Tests for Seismic Performance Verification of Steel Building Structures with Hysteretic Dampers

建築構造物の耐震改修・再生に活用できる履歴ダンパーの効用を実証する実大構造物実験に取り組んだ。地震エネルギーの吸収能力の高さが既に実証されている座屈拘束型のダンパーを使い、施工時の接合品質が安定した高力ボルト接合を主体とした新しい構造形式が提案されており、これを用いた柱梁接合部を対象とする部分架構と、3層の実大立体骨組を対象とする2つの実験プロジェクトに取り組み、その力学挙動と耐震性能を検証した。This paper presents an innovative structural system, named weld-free system, developed to overcome the difficulty in the quality assurance encountered inconstruction of steel moment resisting frames with conventional welded connections.The proposed structural system adopts a mechanical joint equipped with metallicyieldingdamper as beam-to-column connection, wherein slip-critical joints are made byrecently developed super high-strength bolts. The structural configuration and loadcarryingmechanism of the weld-free system are described herein. Key features of thesuper high-strength bolts are also introduced. Consequently, two series of experimentalverifications of weld-free steel structures are presented. The first series was conductedon three full-scale models of weld-free beam-column subassemblies and one base-linespecimen with conventional welded connection. The second series was performed onthe whole full-scale three-story weld-free building. The two test series clearly reveal theefficiency of the weld-free system in enhancing large and stable hysteresis loops, whilebeams and columns above the base can be proportioned to remain elastic under thedesign earthquakes.建築構造物の耐震改修・再生に活用できる履歴ダンパーの効用を実証する実大構造物実験に取り組んだ。地震エネルギーの吸収能力の高さが既に実証されている座屈拘束型のダンパーを使い、施工時の接合品質が安定した高力ボルト接合を主体とした新しい構造形式が提案されており、これを用いた柱梁接合部を対象とする部分架構と、3層の実大立体骨組を対象とする2つの実験プロジェクトに取り組み、その力学挙動と耐震性能を検証した。This paper presents an innovative structural system, named weld-free system,developed to overcome the difficulty in the quality assurance encountered inconstruction of steel moment resisting frames with conventional welded connections.The proposed structural system adopts a mechanical joint equipped with metallicyieldingdamper as beam-to-column connection, wherein slip-critical joints are made byrecently developed super high-strength bolts. The structural configuration and loadcarryingmechanism of the weld-free system are described herein. Key features of thesuper high-strength bolts are also introduced. Consequently, two series of experimentalverifications of weld-free steel structures are presented. The first series was conductedon three full-scale models of weld-free beam-column subassemblies and one base-linespecimen with conventional welded connection. The second series was performed onthe whole full-scale three-story weld-free building. The two test series clearly reveal theefficiency of the weld-free system in enhancing large and stable hysteresis loops, whilebeams and columns above the base can be proportioned to remain elastic under thedesign earthquakes