Modeling of RC shear walls using shear spring and fiber elements for seismic performance assessment

Reinforced concrete shear wall is one of the most effective members during severe lateral loads especially in earthquakes and winds. Extensive researches, both analytical and experimental, have been carried out to study the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls. Predicting inelastic response of RC walls and wall systems requires accurate, effective, and robust analytical model that incorporate important material characteristics and behavioral response features. In this study, a modeling method using fiber and spring elements is developed to capture inelastic responses of an RC shear wall. The fiber elements and the spring reflect flexural and shear behaviors of the shear wall, respectively. The fiber elements are built by inputting section data and material properties. The parameters of the shear spring that represent strength and stiffness degradation, pinching, and slip are determined based on analysis results from a detailed finite element method (FEM) model. The reliability of the FEM analysis program is verified. The applicability of the proposed modeling method is investigated by performing inelastic dynamic analyses for reference buildings with various aspect ratios of shear walls

Progressive Processing of Continuous Range Queries in Hierarchical Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we study the problem of processing continuous range queries in a hierarchical wireless sensor network. Contrasted with the traditional approach of building networks in a "flat" structure using sensor devices of the same capability, the hierarchical approach deploys devices of higher capability in a higher tier, i.e., a tier closer to the server. While query processing in flat sensor networks has been widely studied, the study on query processing in hierarchical sensor networks has been inadequate. In wireless sensor networks, the main costs that should be considered are the energy for sending data and the storage for storing queries. There is a trade-off between these two costs. Based on this, we first propose a progressive processing method that effectively processes a large number of continuous range queries in hierarchical sensor networks. The proposed method uses the query merging technique proposed by Xiang et al. as the basis and additionally considers the trade-off between the two costs. More specifically, it works toward reducing the storage cost at lower-tier nodes by merging more queries, and toward reducing the energy cost at higher-tier nodes by merging fewer queries (thereby reducing "false alarms"). We then present how to build a hierarchical sensor network that is optimal with respect to the weighted sum of the two costs. It allows for a cost-based systematic control of the trade-off based on the relative importance between the storage and energy in a given network environment and application. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves a near-optimal control between the storage and energy and reduces the cost by 0.989~84.995 times compared with the cost achieved using the flat (i.e., non-hierarchical) setup as in the work by Xiang et al.Comment: 41 pages, 20 figure

Modeling of RC shear walls using shear spring and fiber elements for seismic performance assessment

Reinforced concrete shear wall is one of the most effective members during severe lateral loads especially in earthquakes and winds. Extensive researches, both analytical and experimental, have been carried out to study the behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls. Predicting inelastic response of RC walls and wall systems requires accurate, effective, and robust analytical model that incorporate important material characteristics and behavioral response features. In this study, a modeling method using fiber and spring elements is developed to capture inelastic responses of an RC shear wall. The fiber elements and the spring reflect flexural and shear behaviors of the shear wall, respectively. The fiber elements are built by inputting section data and material properties. The parameters of the shear spring that represent strength and stiffness degradation, pinching, and slip are determined based on analysis results from a detailed finite element method (FEM) model. The reliability of the FEM analysis program is verified. The applicability of the proposed modeling method is investigated by performing inelastic dynamic analyses for reference buildings with various aspect ratios of shear walls

Analysis of Initial Baseline Clinical Parameters and Treatment Strategy Associated with Medication Failure in the Treatment of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Korea

Purpose To analyze the baseline clinical factors and medication treatment strategy used in cases with medication treatment failure of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods From January 2006 to December 2009, 677 BPH patients with at least 3 months of treatment with medication were enrolled. We analyzed clinical factors by medication failure (n=161) versus maintenance (n=516), by prostate size (less than 30 g, n=231; 30 to 50 g, n=244; greater than 50 g, n=202), and by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels (less than 1.4 ng/mL, n=324; more than 1.4 ng/mL, n=353). Results Age, combination medication rate, PSA, and prostate volume were statistically different between the medication treatment failure and maintenance groups. By prostate size, the PSA and medication failure rates were relatively higher and the medication period was shorter in patients with a prostate size of more than 30 g. The combination medication rate was higher in patients with a prostate size of more than 50 g. The medication failure rate and prostate volume were higher in patients with a PSA level of more than 1.4 ng/mL. However, the combination treatment rate was not significantly different in patients with a PSA level lower than 1.4 ng/mL. Suggestive cutoffs for combination medication are a prostate volume of 34 g and PSA level of 1.9 ng/mL. Conclusions The clinical factors associated with medication failure were age, treatment type, and prostate volume. Combination therapy should be considered more in Korea in patients with a PSA level higher than 1.4 ng/mL and a prostate volume of between 30 and 50 g to prevent medication failure

Large‐Scale, Ultrapliable, and Free‐Standing Nanomembranes

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97443/1/adma_201204619_sm_suppl.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97443/2/2167_ftp.pd

Suppression of STAT3 and HIF-1 Alpha Mediates Anti-Angiogenic Activity of Betulinic Acid in Hypoxic PC-3 Prostate Cancer Cells

Background: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor that regulates various cellular processes such as cell survival, angiogenesis and proliferation. In the present study, we examined that betulinic acid (BA), a triterpene from the bark of white birch, had the inhibitory effects on hypoxia-mediated activation of STAT3 in androgen independent human prostate cancer PC-3 cells. Methodology/Principal Findings: BA inhibited the protein expression and the transcriptional activities of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a (HIF-1a) under hypoxic condition. Consistently, BA blocked hypoxia-induced phosphorylation, DNA binding activity and nuclear accumulation of STAT3. In addition, BA significantly reduced cellular and secreted levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a critical angiogenic factor and a target gene of STAT3 induced under hypoxia. Furthermore, BA prevented in vitro capillary tube formation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) maintained in conditioned medium of hypoxic PC-3 cells, implying anti-angiogenic activity of BA under hypoxic condition. Of note, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChiP) assay revealed that BA inhibited binding of HIF-1a and STAT3 to VEGF promoter. Furthermore, silencing STAT3 using siRNA transfection effectively enhanced the reduced VEGF production induced by BA treatment under hypoxia. Conclusions/Significance: Taken together, our results suggest that BA has anti-angiogenic activity by disturbing th

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Blood Isolates Harboring a Novel Pseudo-staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Element

The aim of this work was to assess a novel pseudo-staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (ΨSCCmec) element in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood isolates. Community-associated MRSA E16SA093 and healthcare-associated MRSA F17SA003 isolates were recovered from the blood specimens of patients with S. aureus bacteremia in 2016 and in 2017, respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined via the disk diffusion method, and SCCmec typing was conducted by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Whole genome sequencing was carried out by single molecule real-time long-read sequencing. Both isolates belonged to sequence type 72 and agr-type I, and they were negative for Panton-Valentine leukocidin and toxic shock syndrome toxin. The spa-types of E16SA093 and F17SA003 were t324 and t2460, respectively. They had a SCCmec IV-like element devoid of the cassette chromosome recombinase (ccr) gene complex, designated as ΨSCCmecE16SA093. The element was manufactured from SCCmec type IV and the deletion of the ccr gene complex and a 7.0- and 31.9-kb portion of each chromosome. The deficiency of the ccr gene complex in the SCCmec unit is likely resulting in mobility loss, which would be an adaptive evolutionary mechanism. The dissemination of this clone should be monitored closely

Performance of the combined models of Pediatric Risk of Admission scores I and II, and C-reactive protein for prediction of hospitalization in febrile children who visited the emergency department

Purpose To study the performance of the combined models of Pediatric Risk of Admission (PRISA) scores I and II and C-reactive protein (CRP) for prediction of hospitalization in febrile children who visited the emergency department. Methods We reviewed febrile children aged 4 months - 17 years who visited a tertiary hospital emergency department between January and December 2017. White blood cell count, CRP concentration, the PRISA scores, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome score were calculated. We compared areas under the curves (AUCs) of the admission decision support tools for hospitalization using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Results Of 1,032 enrolled children, 423 (41.0%) were hospitalized. CRP and the PRISA scores were significantly higher in the hospitalization group than in the discharge group (all P < 0.001). Among the individual tools, CRP showed the highest AUC (0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66-0.72). AUC was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.69-0.74) for the combined model of the PRISA I score and CRP, and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.68-0.74) for that of the PRISA II score and CRP. The AUC of PRISA score I and CRP combined was significantly higher than that of isolated CRP (P=0.048). Conclusion The combined model of the PRISA I score and CRP may be useful in predicting hospitalization of febrile children in emergency departments