bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Green roofs – modern solutions for greening buildings
Authors: Baciu I R , Taranu N , Isopescu D N , Lupu M L , Dragan T C , Maxineasa S G
Published: June 2020

In a society intensively urbanized, nature and green spaces have an extremely important and determined role. Solutions that are integrating different modern techniques related to a new or an existing building, with a tremendously positive effect over the natural building and horticultural sectors will represent an important factor in reducing the negative effect over the environment on a global scale. These smart solutions could extend the garden effect from the ground to the elevated levels of the building. Even if at the present moment there are different classic solutions to realize a green roof, in the last decades, have been developed different new and modern techniques for the greening environment. Taking into account all the above mentioned, the aim of the paper is to present the modern green roof systems considering all the changes that have occurred over time, and also to analyze a series of examples of how this concept has been adopted in different parts of the world and for varies structural systems. The authors consider that the study is very important in order to completely understand the characteristics of these systems and their main components, in order to properly design and implement them according to the present environmental needs. It is believed that the knowledge of this concept and its evolution and tendencies will help solve a series of ecological and social problems.
Current tendencies in welding of steel bridges; choice of material and use of thick plates
Authors: Băncilă R , Petzek E , Feier A , Radu D
Published: June 2020

The emergence of new efficient materials, the high demands on the quality of the welded joints, while ensuring their safety in operation, outstanding aesthetic forms, the complexity of the new European welding standards, the pressure of the short execution times, had as result the adoption of modern solutions for steel and composite bridges. Durability is also one of the demands of the European Standards. The use of thick heavy plates can lead to reduction of the constructive depth, possibility for improved fatigue details, short execution time and easy maintenance. In this direction the fabrication efficiency is important, the need of a correct technology is vital. The role of the welding specialist is determinant. The paper presents some examples in the realization of modern steel and composite bridges with thick plates for the Romanian highways network.
Testing methods for the assessment of material properties in historical masonry structures: a review
Authors: Barnaure M , Cincu M
Published: June 2020

The current state of testing methods for assessing the mechanical properties of old masonry buildings is reviewed, with a focus on the methods adapted for heritage structures. For these buildings, an accurate assessment is needed in order to minimise the interventions extent while ensuring an adequate structural safety level. As old masonries are non-homogenous and exhibit a highly anisotropic behaviour, numerous parameters are required for correctly simulating the behaviour under a given load scenario. In earthquake-prone areas, numerous failure patterns, in-plane and out-of-plane, can occur for the structural walls, each of them depending on different characteristics of the material. If for new masonries the testing procedures are standardised, for old buildings less standardised tests exist, while investigations are often based on modified or empiric methods. The testing methods can be classified as destructive, minor destructive and non-destructive. The destructive methods are the most precise but are extremely intrusive and may not be acceptable for heritage listed buildings. The non-destructive methods mostly provide qualitative results. The minor-destructive tests are often the most adapted for the study of historical buildings, as they can provide relevant information while affecting only in a limited extent the existing elements.
Structural design of residential buildings according to Eurocode
Authors: Bešević M , Purcar M V , Kozarić L , Zivković S
Published: June 2020

In this paper, the dimensioning of the load-bearing structures A, B and C of building complex in the surroundings of Salzburg, Austria is given. The floors of object A are underground floor, ground floor and two floors, and for objects B and C it is underground floor, ground floor, first floor and the attic. These buildings have an underground shared garage. The foundation is 30 cm thick reinforced concrete slab, with capitals 200/200 cm, thickness dpp = 20 cm that are constructed in the middle part of the garage under the columns. Other underground parts of the buildings are the basements of each individual building. In addition to the common garage, the buildings have a common part of the ground floor, which connects the separate buildings. The construction of the garage at ground level is in the form of reinforced concrete slab with thickness dp = 35 cm with reinforcement-capitals under the columns with thickness dkpl. = 20 cm. The foundation and the ground floor slab are separated by an expansion joint in the axis 7. The waterproofing of the ground floor slab is achieved uniquely for the whole slab of the complex. Special attention is paid to the thermal calculation.
Coordination of construction manipulation robotic system using UAV
Authors: Bulgakov A G , Pakhomova E G
Published: June 2020

Drone technology has demonstrated to be of great contribution to the construction field. Tasks such as photogrammetry, plot surveillance and assets inspections are successfully automated with the aerial robotic technology with some level of contribution of a human operator. In this paper we analyse the possibility to achieve fully automated construction task using dispersed robotic system: a drone and mobile robotic crane. The role of the drone is to study the surroundings and generate a desired trajectory for the crane boom arm in order to lay-in pergola blades. The paper focuses on the layers of the dispersed cyber-physical system allowing to achieve such complex task and optimize the trajectory of the crane boom arm by resolving two-dimensional Chebyshev-Gauss collocation method in order to have minimum-jerk path.
Accessibility to Transylvania´s cultural heritage through BIM-Heritage and community involvement
Authors: Chițonu G C , Rolfsen C N , Deaconu O
Published: June 2020

The rural areas of Transylvania offer important resources for developing research in diversity of the cultural heritage. Many of these communities have seen great changes in demographics over the last 30-50 years, and important cultural heritage from previous generations is being lost in lack of understanding, human resources and willingness to preserve the value of our joint cultural heritage. The research seeks a digitisation approach to preserving and promoting the local cultural heritage, as well as a social science approach, which seeks to find answers to how one can be able to preserve, maintain and promote this cultural heritage, something which, according to the study hypothesis, can only be done if the communities see the benefits of doing so. The digital shift has the ability to create another level of understanding, opening a vast horizon for accessibility and progress linked with BIM technology. As an answer to dealing with the climate changes, degradation of the buildings due to natural disasters or more from the indifference of the young generations in regard of history inheritance, the study could be a valuable instrument in enhancing BIM-Heritage methodologies.
Applying the mathematical optimization model in water distribution management
Authors: Cojanu V , Helerea E
Published: June 2020

This paper aims to analyse the concept of water distribution system management and the modalities of including the optimization tools for increasing the process efficiency. Water distribution systems are often unable to respond quickly and efficiently to consumers demands. Water is a non-renewable resource and should therefore be treated with special interest. Sustainable development and optimization are the steps to take. A mathematical optimization model is presented in the second part of the paper with explanations regarding the steps followed. The result demonstrates the efficiency, speed and accessibility of using graphical-analytical optimization methods in the field of water distribution system.
Masonry strength influence on the buildings’ performance
Authors: Constantinescu S
Published: June 2020

This paper studied the behaviour of a medium height, confined masonry walls building, in a medium seismic area (0.25g, wheregis the gravity acceleration), in Iasi, Romania. The study focuses on different masonry strengths impact on the building’s elastic and plastic behaviour. It is important to establish if the structure can bare the gravitational and seismic loads if weaker bricks are used and also how the plastic mechanism is formed if the walls are made of stronger and stiffer masonry. It is also highlighted how the beams stiffness affects the structure ductility and how it can be improved. The building does not have the same stiffness on bothXandYdirections, so this will also be taken into account.
Planning risk management in case of a drinkable water tank facility operation
Authors: Covatariu G , Covatariu D , Filip A
Published: June 2020

The continued assurance of the needs of drinking water and the proper quality is vital for ensuring good living conditions. As a result of this idea, the risk analysis of the technological process of providing drinking water in the case of water tanks and the creation of a risk management plan and its permanent pursuit can lead to a more efficient process. Water tanks are high importance facilities for communities and during their lifecycle, there are a lot of uncertainties that can occur and affect it. In order to have an efficient and correct facility management during the functioning period, performing a risk analysis of these events is mandatory for this kind of constructions. Creating a good risk management plan and keep following it during the objective lifetime keeps the qualitative indicators of the water into planned parameters and the low costs.
Improvement of the concrete behaviour to sulphate corrosion using fly ash admixture collected by wet process
Authors: Diaconu L I , Rujanu M , Diaconu A C , Șerbănoiu A A , Babor D T , Plian D
Published: June 2020

For the concretes subjected to sulphate corrosion the use of the H II/A-S cement type is recommended. To improve the behaviour of these concretes to aggressive sulphate and magnesia corrosion, the use of the fly ash admixture collected by wet process for replacing the fine part of the aggregate is proposed. Because this type of corrosion is manifesting by expansion the analysis was conducted by measuring the dimensional modifications. In the Laboratory of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Building Services of Iasi, an experimental program was conducted in order to assess the dimensional modification of the some samples prepared by concrete mixes based on belitic cements of type H II/A-S and embedding fly ash subjected to a combined sulphate and magnesia corrosion process using a mixed solution of Na2SO4 and MgSO4 having certain concentrations. The prismatic concrete samples were preserved in distilled water and in the combined solution, and then after 28 and 90 days their dimensions were measured by the Graff device. In this paper is presented the behaviour of the concretes in the first life time and, as further research other samples will be tested for longer time.
Considerations on the use of ultra-high performance concrete for water tanks
Authors: Grigorean A , Diaconu L I , Tamas F L
Published: June 2020

The development of ultra-high strength and high performance concrete is a relatively new field in the profile industry. The last 150 years have shown that, despite getting more and more resistance, the practical applications have been too many times due to innovations in materials science. This phenomenon seems to be caused by the increased costs per unit of volume, as resistance increases, as well as a cautious retention of using new materials in practical applications. The present study aims to be an encouragement of practical structural applications by presenting an Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC), developed with locally available materials. As it is known, concrete is the main building material worldwide. In the last decades, his leadership position has been strengthened by the constant concern of the researchers and by obtaining the various types of concrete with increasing performances from the point of view of the fresh and hardened state, obtaining special structural applications.
Characteristics of buildings and seismic vulnerability assessment for the specific area of the city of Osijek
Authors: Hadzima-Nyarko M , Pavić G , Bulajić B , Kukaras D
Published: June 2020

Seismic risk is a measure of the damage that is expected in a specific area and time interval. It is based on the level of seismicity of locations (hazard), the resistance of buildings (vulnerability), and the type, quality and quantity of exposed assets (exposure). It can be measured by the expected economic loss, loss of life or damage to property size. Reducing the seismic risk comprises three phases: assessment, planning and implementation. The risk assessment requires a multidisciplinary approach that takes into account the expected physical damage (damage to buildings and economic losses), as well as social, organizational and institutional factors. At the city level, a risk assessment should start assessing the physical damage as a result of basic tools and the link between risk and vulnerability values of buildings. In this paper the creation of a database of existing buildings, classification of buildings and a procedure for determining the building typology that prevail in the city of Osijek is described. Based on the formed database, it is possible to implement certain seismic vulnerability methods.
Study on the adsorption and purification performance of runner with different staged regeneration modes
Authors: Hao H , Song X Y , Xin P
Published: June 2020

In this paper, the hierarchical regeneration mode of three-zone, four-zone and two-stage regeneration of the wheel is firstly determined. Silica gel is selected as the adsorbent, and toluene is selected as the VOC pollutant. Visual Basic software is used to establish the coupling adsorption model of heat, humidity and VOC pollutants in the staged-regeneration wheel. The dehumidification and VOC adsorption performance of the graded regenerated wheel with different influencing factors were compared, and the variation rules of the dehumidification and toluene adsorption concentration of the staged-regeneration wheel with different influencing factors were analyzed. The results show that, when the regeneration energy consumption of the runner is the same, the dehumidification capacity of the two-stage runner is the highest, the concentration of toluene adsorbed by the three-zone runner is the highest, and the dehumidification capacity and the concentration of pollutants adsorbed by the two-zone runner are the lowest. When the capacity of dehumidification is the same, the regeneration energy consumption of two-stage runner is the lowest, and the regeneration energy consumption of two-zone runner is the highest. With the increase of adsorption capacity, the lower the regeneration temperature is, the more significant the energy saving effect will be. When the capacity of dehumidification is the same, the concentration of pollutants adsorbed by the runner in the three regions is the highest. In addition, with the increase of air entrance temperature and humidity, the dehumidification capacity of the two-stage runner changes the most, and the adsorption concentration of toluene of the two-stage runner changes the most. When the concentration of toluene in the treatment zone was different, it had no effect on the dehumidification effect of the runner, and the concentration of toluene adsorbed by the runner in the third zone changed the most.
Establishing workability asphalt mixtures
Authors: Iriciuc S C , Gălușcă N I , Pleșcan C
Published: June 2020

The article shows the need to improve repair technologies for bituminous pavements especially during the cold season. As a result of laboratory tests, it was found the need for other attempts. These are attempts on storable asphalt mixtures workability at various temperatures for the installation period, but also for the storage period. Through the laboratory tests was shown the complex interaction between mechanical behaviour of asphalt mixtures and variability factors acting on the road structure, this complex framework is determined by fundamental mechanical properties that influence long-term performance.
Analysis of influence of subway station deep foundation pit excavation on adjacent bridge piles
Authors: Li B , Sun W , Li G K
Published: June 2020

Based on the engineering background of the deep foundation pit construction of Shenyang metro Line 10, the numerical simulation software Midas the GTS NX, and the three-dimensional integral calculation model considering the interaction of foundation pit supporting structure, surrounding soil and viaduct is established, and the numerical simulation value and the measured data are compared and analyzed, the applicability of the model is verified, the influence of foundation pit excavation on the deformation of pile foundation is studied, and the optimization scheme is given. The construction plan of Simulation + forecast is established to guide the practical construction of the project. The results show that when the depth of the pile foundation is 1.5 times the depth of the foundation pit, and the horizontal displacement of the pile foundation is within 1/2 of the control value, this is the optimal depth of the pile foundation. This is the minimum standard safe distance when the pier is 1/2 from the depth of the foundation pit.
Catastrophic landslide stabilization on a restricted area through a combined solution in Bran, Brasov County
Authors: Măntulescu M , Tuns I
Published: June 2020

The paper presents a combined method for the rehabilitation of a road on a restricted area by reinforced soil above a double sheet of piles. The principle is illustrated by a case study of a landslide in Bran, Brasov county. Due to the restriction imposed by the limit of properties we have to find out the way to stabilize a small part of the landslide and in the mean time to let the efforts induced by the rest of the sliding mass to act. To determine the status of efforts the problem on a restrained area without stabilizing the rest of the landslide which is much bigger we have considered that there are lateral surcharges due to the movement of the sliding mass.
Thermal analysis of a structure made by using cold formed steel sections
Authors: Maxineasa S G , Isopescu D N , Baciu I R , Lupu M L , Dragan T C
Published: June 2020

In the last decades, man-made environmental burdens have led to a significant increase of negative effects felt by the human race. Thus, some industrial sectors have developed and implemented a series of solutions with the goal of minimising their negative ecological impact. Taking into account that the construction sector is one of the most important economic players in every national economy, one that has a tremendous negative impact over the environment, in the last years, various recommendations and limitations have been drawn in order to reduce the consumption of non-renewable energy. In order to constantly reduce the impact of the built environment over the natural one, civil engineers should develop and promote sustainable solutions that have a direct effect on improving the environmental performances of the built environment. One such solution is the use of cold formed steel sections (CFS) for building new structures. This paper analyses the linear thermal transmittance of the thermal bridge formed by the vertical steel studs inside the external walls. The results show that these steel elements can be used in order to build energy efficient buildings.
Seismic Analysis of Steel Structures Using Friction Dampers
Authors: Oance I S , Gelmambet S
Published: June 2020

In modern seismic design, damping devices are used to increase the capacity of structures to dissipate energy. This paper evaluates the efficiency of using a passive friction damper system in a structure compared with typical structures and the influence of the damper’s capacity on the structural response. The analysis concludes that dampers with lower capacity slip more times during earthquake than dampers with bigger capacity but the acceleration result increases.
The choice of aversion of the project proposal on restoration of the cultural heritage property on the basis of multicriteria comparative analysis
Authors: Pakhomova E G , Jezersky V A , Monastyrev P V , Kuznetsova N V
Published: June 2020

With time a problem of preserving architectural heritage sites becomes more acute, since many unique listed buildings are in an emergency state and require the restoration measures that take into account the specifics of the historical environment, an analysis of the technical condition, evaluation of the monuments’ value, the possibility of their functional adaptation to modern needs. The search for solution to preserve such objects is often complicated by the development of a modern urban renovation area around them and by the difficulties of maintaining a complete historical appearance of cities when adapting listed buildings to the functions demanded in modern society. The article proposes an approach to choose the best version of the project proposal for the restoration of a cultural heritage property of regional significance. The building is designed in an eclectic style in the city of Tambov. 11 versions of the author’s project proposals for the restoration transformations are considered, which preserve the historical appearance of the building and various transformations of the internal volume and development options of the adjacent territory. 14 criteria are proposed to evaluate the qualities of versions. To select the best restoration version a scientific method of a multicriteria comparative analysis was used, which made it easy to compact a large amount of information about the object to a single quality parameter in the form of a synthetic indicator for each version. Simultaneously the weight factors of the criteria were established on the basis of expert evaluation obtained from the professional groups of various profiles: architects, representatives of the contractor, state supervisory authorities, the owner of the object, the tenant of the object.
The dynamics of changes in the physical and mechanical characteristics of the base soil
Authors: Pakhomova E G , Dubrakova K O
Published: June 2020

This article discusses the change in the physical and mechanical characteristics of the foundation soil during the operation of construction projects and the possibility of taking these changes into account when designing shallow foundations. Methods Based on the assumption that the weight of the engineering and geological elements of the base remains constant regardless of the level of existing additional vertical stresses, an expression is obtained for determining the coefficient k
γ, taking into account changes in the density and specific gravity of the soil during the operation of buildings and structures. Moreover, based on the assumption that the plot of the additional vertical stresses is triangular, an equation for calculating the coefficient k

c
is determined, which allows determining the change in soil adhesion during the operation of construction projects. Using the coefficients k

γ
and k

c
, an expression is obtained to determine the change in the calculated resistance of the soil of the base during the operation of construction projects. Taking into account the coefficient k

γ
with the width of the projected foundation more than two meters with a ratio of settlement of the base to the depth of the compressible thickness equal to 0.3 leads to an increase in the design resistance of the operated base by 5%; by 3% and 1% with S/H

c
= 0.2 and with S/H

c
=0.1, respectively. In this case, depending on the width of the designed foundation, taking into account the coefficient k

c
allows you to exceed R by 25%. Joint accounting of the considered coefficients leads to an increase in the calculated resistance of the soil of the base by an average of 27%. Conclusion The obtained coefficients, taking into account changes in the specific gravity and soil adhesion during the operation of the base, make it easy to estimate the growth of the design resistance during the compression process, which in turn makes it possible to save an average of 10% of the material when designing shallow foundations.
Numerical simulation on heat transfer characteristics of gas pipeline in urban utility tunnel
Authors: Wang G Q , Wang H M , Cai Yan , Feng G H , Kang Z Q
Published: June 2020

Recent years, more and more utility tunnels are adopted in China with the development of urbanization. Compared to the conventional method for utility installation, the utility tunnel that co-locates more than one utility underground eliminates the need for frequent excavation and reinstatement of roads. Ventilation systems are essential in utility tunnel for safety reasons, especially for gas compartments. This paper aims to evaluate effect of the longitudinal ventilation on gas temperature field by investigating the heat transfer process on gas pipeline. Numerical models including convection, conduction and radiation were established and then used to simulate the heat transfer process on gas pipeline. Results show that the ventilation has a great impact on gas temperature. In case of low inlet air temperature, the gas temperature may drop below -10 °C, which is too low to guarantee a normal operation.
Preparation of catalyst CuO/CeO2 in multiphase Fenton technology
Authors: Wu N N , He Y , Tan Y C , Zhang L C , Huang N , Fang W T
Published: June 2020

The performance of the catalyst in the multiphase Fenton system is particularly important. It will directly affect the rate of hydroxyl radical generation during the multiphase Fenton reaction which is the main material for oxidative degradation of organic matter in wastewater. Therefore, it is necessary to select a suitable catalyst to construct a multiphase Fenton system. In this study, the preparation of CuO/CeO2 catalyst in multiphase Fenton technology was discussed. The effects of CuO loading, calcination time and calcination temperature on CuO/CeO2 were investigated. The best preparation conditions for the catalytic performance of the catalyst were as follows: the loading of CuO was 7%, the calcination time was 3h and the calcination temperature was 400°C. The catalyst prepared under this condition can achieve a CODCr removal rate of 34% for a plurality of Fenton processes.
Static test study on precast concrete frame beams with large-diameter and high-strength steel bars
Authors: Zhang Y , Shi B , Jin L , Liu M
Published: June 2020

The paper is focused on the mechanical properties of precast concrete frame beams with large-diameter and high-strength steel bars. The full-scale static tests and nonlinear finite element analysis were carried out on the two proposed beams with steel bars of HRB500 Ø32-Ø25 and Ø40-Ø32 to study the load-carrying capacity, flexural capacity and plastic rotational capacity. The influence of steel bar diameter on mechanical properties were explored. On the basis of equal-strength principle of flexural capacity at the same time, the finite element model of the cast-in-place concrete frame beam with large-diameter of HRB500 and ordinary steel bars of HRB400 were compared. Results indicated the properties of the precast concrete frame beams with large-diameter and high-strength steel bar. The load-carrying capacity of the prefabricated concrete beam with steel bars of Ø40-Ø32 was higher. The coefficient of plastic rotational capacity was 3.41 and 2.88 of specimens with steel bars of HRB500 Ø32-Ø25 and Ø40-Ø32, respectively. The positive section yield bending moment could be calculated by the current concrete codes. The properties such as yield load, flexural bearing capacity and the plastic rotational capacity were similar to the cast-in-place concrete frame beam, and could be verified by the current standard.
Research status and development trend of concrete spiral distributor
Authors: Zou D F , Yu W D , Fan L T , Li D , Zhang S Y , Wang L
Published: June 2020

Concrete distributor is one of the key equipment for the industrial production of concrete product parts. Its performance directly affects the product quality and production efficiency of precast concrete components, which in turn affects the level of architecture industrialization of China. At present, the domestic concrete distributor has a low degree of automation and a simple mechanical structure. There is too much manual intervention in the production. It is impossible to achieve a real automatic distribution. Also, BIM data cannot be shared with the control system, resulting in low production efficiency. This paper summarized these problems which are in the context of big data, internet of things and intelligence, and proposed the upgrade ideas for precast concrete components production equipment. In order to break through the bottleneck that restricts the stability, refinement and intelligent development of precast concrete components distribution. The research and exploration in BIM data analysis mechanical structure optimization and control system upgrade were conducted. Then the overall development of mechanical equipment that meets construction standards of China will be promoted.
Intelligent Design Based on Knowledge Capture and Reuse
Authors: Qin Hao , Jin Jiong , Zhang Yu , Hu Shilin
Published: June 2020

Engineering design is a creative activity which is depending on both scientific knowledge and innovative ideas of human being. Intelligently recommend the scientific knowledge to the designers would certainly shorten the time they spent in finding the data, information and knowledge they need for design decision-making. Thus, they can spend more time in the innovative activity of design. The design of a flexible gear for harmonic drive reducer is a knowledge intense job, where intelligent design method is required to facilitate the design process and thus well applicable. This paper explores a systematic methodology of undertaking intelligent design of such a mechanical component, through on knowledge capture, representation and reuse. A case study on a double-arc flexible gear design is undertaken as the evaluation and improvement of this methodology, whose results have shown the good effectiveness of the methodology in shortening the time for modelling, information retrieval and decision-making.
Kinematics Test and Evaluation of Tool Axis Direction Error for Five-axis Machine Tools
Authors: Zhong L , Ren F , Guo L , Bi Q , Wang Y
Published: June 2020

This paper presents a kinematics detection and evaluation method for tool axis direction error of five-axis machine tools. By measuring the trajectory errors of two tool center positions corresponding to two different tool lengths, the tool axis direction error can be obtained by combining the two measurements. Compared with the evaluation method in ISO10791.6.2014 which can only evaluate the tool center position errors corresponding to a single tool length, the proposed method can infer the processing accuracy corresponding to different tool lengths and to evaluate the comprehensive accuracy of five-axis flank milling. The proposed method is verified through simulations and experiments on a five-axis gantry machine tool.
Flow Analysis of Two-Phase Flow in Curved Pipe of Polar Cruise Seawater Pipeline
Authors: Liu Zongqiang , Xu Li , Liu Guanchen , Tao Cheng
Published: June 2020

In order to study the flow characteristics of seawater-ice crystals two-phase flow in the polar cruise seawater pipeline system, the curved pipe in the pipeline system is taken as the research object. Through numerical simulation, the effects of different initial conditions on the flow of seawater-ice crystal two-phase flow in curved pipe are analyzed, and the flow analysis results are obtained. The results show that in the curved pipe, the fluid is separated at the bend, and the pressure loss at the corner of the curved pipe is the most serious; the increase of the flow rate and the IPF (ice packing factor) will cause the ice crystals to gather toward the center; when the fluid has a high IPF, the ice crystals can be converted into a symmetric distribution state by being concentrated on the inner wall surface of the pipe at a relatively low flow rate; in the range of 0.5 m/s-2 m/s, the increase in fluid velocity has a significant effect on the distribution of ice crystals, and when the fluid velocity exceeds 2 m/s, the increase in flow rate has no significant effect on the distribution of ice crystals.
Dynamic Analysis of Carrier Structure of a Marine Underwater Mechanical Arm
Authors: Miao Hu , Jianggui Han , Wenyong Guo
Published: June 2020

In this paper, the support structure of a certain type of marine underwater manipulator is taken as the object to carry out solid modeling and mechanical properties analysis. At sea level 5, the maximum stress and displacement of the carrier structure are obtained through static analysis, and the first six frequency modes, peak response frequency and amplitude of the carrier structure are obtained through modal analysis and harmonious response analysis. The results show that the safety can be guaranteed under 5-level sea conditions, and the influence of cyclic loads on the structure is significant. The influence of cyclic loads on the structure should be taken into account when analyzing the structure. The research results have engineering application value and guiding significance for optimum design and safety strength checking of underwater manipulator carrier structure.
Pose Calibration for 2D Laser Profiler Integrated in Five-Axis Machine Tools
Authors: Zhang S , Duan X , Zeng C , Shi K , Zhang X , Bi Q , Wang Y
Published: June 2020

Laser scanning is a fast and effective method to acquire the 3D surface profiles of part. To implement on-machine measurement (OMM), the 2D laser profiler could be integrated in five-axis machine tools and moves under the command of the computer numerical control (CNC) system. The 2D profile data and the corresponding machine coordinates are acquired and saved by the CNC system, and then converted to 3D point cloud using the kinematic model. Therefore, calibration of the position and orientation of the laser profiler with respect to the machine tool will directly influence the inspection accuracy. In this paper, a pose calibration method is proposed to identify the position and orientation of the laser sensor. A laser scanning system integrated in five-axis machine tool is developed. The position and orientation deviations between the local laser coordinate system (LCS) and tool coordinate system (TCS) are defined. Then, a designed calibration block is scanned, and its feature is reconstructed. Furthermore, the position and orientation of the laser profiler is identified by comparing the reconstructed features with the designed features. Finally, the position and orientation deviations parallel to five axes of the machine tool are compensated by coordinate offset, and the remaining orientation deviation is corrected by the kinematic model during converting measurement data to 3D point cloud. Experiment is carried out to validate the proposed method.
Giant Cell Carcinosarcoma of the Parotid Gland With a PLAG 1 Translocation in Association With a Pleomorphic Adenoma With HMGA2 Translocation
Authors: Katsakhyan Levon , LiVolsi Virginia A , Chalian Ara A , Zhang Paul J
Published: June 2020

Objectives

Carcinosarcomas of the salivary gland are rare neoplasms and have been described arising de novo or in association with pleomorphic adenoma (PA). PLAG1 and HMGA2 translocations are known to occur in PAs and carcinomas ex PA but are mutually exclusive.

Methods

We report a case of a carcinosarcoma in the parotid gland of a 77-year-old man with unusual anaplastic sarcomatoid giant cell morphology.

Results

Microscopically, a small separate PA was found adjacent to the carcinosarcoma. By conventional notion, the PA and carcinosarcoma would be considered related, as carcinosarcomas are well known to arise from PAs (carcinosarcoma ex PA). However, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay demonstrated PLAG1 translocation in the carcinosarcoma and HMGA2 translocation in the separate PA.

Conclusions

These findings support that the carcinosarcoma likely originated from another PA with a PLAG1 translocation or de novo but not from the coexisting PA harboring a different translocation. To our knowledge, the case is the first to demonstrate PLAG1 translocation by FISH in a sarcomatous component of any parotid gland tumor, which may help better classify these tumors. In addition, multiple PAs are commonly found in the salivary gland, and to our knowledge, our case is the first to demonstrate that the same parotid gland can host PAs and PA-related tumors with different translocations.
Nutritional Care of Patients Admitted to Hospital for Alcohol Withdrawal: A 5-Year Retrospective Audit
Authors: McLean Cameron , Tapsell Linda , Grafenauer Sara , McMahon Anne-Therese
Published: June 2020

Aim

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics and the nutritional approaches implemented with patients undergoing alcohol withdrawal.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of medical records for patients admitted to a tertiary hospital for alcohol withdrawal was completed over a 5-year period 2013–2017. Data on nutrition-related assessment and management were extracted and descriptively analysed.

Results

A total of 109 medical records were included (M = 73, F = 36), with the mean age of patients 47.3 years (SD ± 11.2, range 22–70). The average length of stay was 3.7 days (SD ± 3.9, range 0.70–27.8). Approaches towards nutritional care emerged from micronutrient assessment and supplementation and/or dietetic consultation. Nutrition-related biochemistry data was available for most patients, notably serum levels of sodium, urea and creatinine (102 patients; 93.5%) and magnesium and phosphate (66 patients, 60.5%). There was evidence of some electrolyte abnormalities on admission to hospital. Eight patients had serum micronutrient status assessed; no patients had serum thiamine levels assessed. Parenteral thiamine was provided to 96 patients (88.0%) for 1.9 days (SD ± 1.1, range 1.0–6.0) with a mean dose of 2458.7 mg (SD ± 1347.6, range 300–6700 mg). Multivitamin supplementation was provided to 24 patients (22.0%). Only 23 patients (21.2%) were seen by a dietician of whom 16 underwent a comprehensive nutritional assessment and 3 were screened using the malnutrition screening tool.

Conclusion

Inconsistent nutritional assessment and management practices were identified across a diverse population group, whilst nutritional professionals were underutilized. Future research should benchmark current guidelines and multidisciplinary approaches considering the role of nutritional specialists in the team.
Descriptive Analysis of 213 Positive Blood Aspiration Cases When Injecting Facial Soft Tissue Fillers
Authors: Tseng Fang Wen , Bommareddy Kanthi , Frank Konstantin , DeLorenzi Claudio , Green Jeremy B , Sadick Neil , Fitzgerald Rebecca , Onishi Emy C , Swift Arthur , Cotofana Sebastian
Published: June 2020

Background

Pre-injection aspiration procedures could increase safety during soft tissue filler injections. However, various influencing factors have been detected in vitro that could result in false negative aspiration results.

Objective

A case series was retrospectively investigated to identify factors contributing to positive blood aspiration procedures in vivo.

Methods

This study evaluated 213 clinical cases positive for blood aspiration documented in an Asian population: 208 females (43.8 ± 7.2 years old) and 5 males (46.8 ± 7.8 years old) during soft tissue filler injections. Injection location, layer (depth) of injection, product injected, size of utilized needle (gauge), length of needle (inch), priming of needle (yes/no), injection angle (degree), and time until blood was visible in the needle hub (seconds) were evaluated.

Results

The most frequent location where a positive aspiration was observed was the pyriform fossa (n = 56; 26.3%), the most frequent plane was the supra-periosteal plane (n = 195; 91.5%), and the most frequent needle utilized was a 27G needle (n = 125; 58.7%). Statistically significantly more positive cases were identified when the needle was primed compared with an unprimed needle (P < 0.001, which was independent of the product). The estimated incidence rate was 0.04% to 0.9% for having positive aspiration procedures per total performed injection procedures.

Conclusions

Pre-injection aspiration could be a valuable tool to prevent accidental intravascular injection of soft tissue filler. The results of the present investigation show that aspiration can be performed with an acceptable aspiration time, that is, less than 2 seconds, if a suitable product/needle combination is chosen.

Level of Evidence: 4
A Three-Step Technique for Optimal Nipple Position in Transgender Chest Masculinization
Authors: Ayyala Haripriya S , Mukherjee Thayer J , Le Thuy-My , Cohen Wess A , Luthringer Margaret , Keith Jonathan D
Published: June 2020

Background

The ideal position of the nipple-areola complex (NAC) in the transgender population can be a challenge to determine.

Objectives

The authors sought to determine the best location and aesthetics of the female to male NAC.

Methods

Patients who underwent female to male mastectomy with free nipple grafting were included. NAC position is confirmed utilizing a vertical coordinate at the level of the 4th rib near the border of the pectoralis muscle and a horizontal coordinate determined by dividing each unilateral chest into vertical thirds from midline to anterior axillary line laterally. The NAC position is confirmed at the junction of the middle and lateral third. Symmetry is ensured bilaterally by creating a triangle and transposing it side to side; the base lies from sternal notch to inframammary fold in the midline and the apex is adjusted to the NAC. A 24-question survey utilizing a 5-point Likert scale was distributed postoperatively to assess the patient’s thoughts about their chest, nipples, scar, and overall experience with the gender affirmation process.

Results

Thirty-one patients were included in this study. Eighteen patients responded to the postmastectomy survey, all of whom were highly satisfied with the aesthetic result postoperatively. All patients felt comfortable with their exposed chest. Nipple location was particularly highly received with 100% satisfaction rate (mean Likert score, 4.72). Nipple size and shape received a mean Likert score of 4.17 and 3.89, respectively.

Conclusions

The triple confirmation technique is an easy, reproducible method to guide the surgeon in relocation of the NAC.

Level of Evidence: 4
Microenvironmental Changes in the Surviving Fat 1 Year After Autologous Fat Transplantation for Breast Augmentation
Authors: Li Fang-Wei , Zeng Li , Luo Sheng-Kang
Published: June 2020

Background

Autologous fat is currently one of the most commonly used soft tissue materials in plastic surgery, but the changes that occur in fat after transplantation are unclear. Existing studies on the changes in surviving fat mostly involve animal experiments.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to obtain surviving fat 1 year after clinical autologous fat transplantation for breast augmentation, to explain the microenvironmental changes after fat transplantation from a clinical perspective, and to verify previous research conclusions, thus providing new insight into fat survival.

Methods

Samples of surviving fat were obtained from 5 patients 1 year after they had undergone autologous fat transplantation for breast augmentation, and normal fat samples were obtained from 5 patients who had not undergone this procedure. The differences between CD68 and CD31 were analyzed immunohistochemically, and between CD34 and Ki67 by immunofluorescence. We also tested whether UCP-1 is expressed in surviving fat.

Results

The relative CD68, CD34, and Ki67 expression levels in the surviving fat tissue were significantly higher than those in the normal fat tissue (PCD68 = 0.04, PCD34 = 0.03, PKi67 = 0.02). The relative CD31 expression was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.52). No UCP-1 expression was observed in any surviving fat tissue.

Conclusions

Chronic inflammatory reactions mediated by macrophages were detectable 1 year after autologous fat transplantation for breast augmentation. The mesenchymal stem cell content in surviving fat was higher than that in normal fat, but the number of blood vessels was close to that in normal breast fat tissue. No genesis of brown fat was found.

Level of Evidence: 5
AITL: Adversarial Inductive Transfer Learning with input and output space adaptation for pharmacogenomics
Authors: Sharifi-Noghabi Hossein , Peng Shuman , Zolotareva Olga , Collins Colin C , Ester Martin
Published: June 2020

Motivation

The goal of pharmacogenomics is to predict drug response in patients using their single- or multi-omics data. A major challenge is that clinical data (i.e. patients) with drug response outcome is very limited, creating a need for transfer learning to bridge the gap between large pre-clinical pharmacogenomics datasets (e.g. cancer cell lines), as a source domain, and clinical datasets as a target domain. Two major discrepancies exist between pre-clinical and clinical datasets: (i) in the input space, the gene expression data due to difference in the basic biology, and (ii) in the output space, the different measures of the drug response. Therefore, training a computational model on cell lines and testing it on patients violates the i.i.d assumption that train and test data are from the same distribution.

Results

We propose Adversarial Inductive Transfer Learning (AITL), a deep neural network method for addressing discrepancies in input and output space between the pre-clinical and clinical datasets. AITL takes gene expression of patients and cell lines as the input, employs adversarial domain adaptation and multi-task learning to address these discrepancies, and predicts the drug response as the output. To the best of our knowledge, AITL is the first adversarial inductive transfer learning method to address both input and output discrepancies. Experimental results indicate that AITL outperforms state-of-the-art pharmacogenomics and transfer learning baselines and may guide precision oncology more accurately.

Availability and implementation

https://github.com/hosseinshn/AITL.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.