Pedestrian Bridge Evaluation and Modelling Subjected to Running Load Cases

<p>This paper presents the dynamic measurements performed at two pedestrian bridges in Sweden subjected to different loading scenarios. Using accelerometers, the natural frequencies, the experimental mode shapes, and damping properties were determined for each bridge. Analysis were performed using the generalized single degree of freedom theory, the finite element method and the coupled system approach taking into account the flying phase of the running load. Additionaly, a simplified sensitivity analysis is presented in terms of accelerations due to the pedestrian transient event of a running load case. Results indicate that there is an excellent agreement between the aforementioned modelling strategies and, that it is possible to have human structure interaction under running load scenarios.</p>

Simulating the Outcome of a Binary Neutron Star Merger in a Common Envelope Jets Supernova

We simulate the influence of the energy that the merger process of two neutron stars (NSs) releases inside a red supergiant (RSG) star on the RSG envelope inner to the merger location. In the triple-star common envelope evolution (CEE) that we consider, a tight binary system of two NSs spiraling in inside an RSG envelope and because of mass accretion and dynamical friction, the two NSs merge. We deposit merger-explosion energies of 3 × 1050 and 1051 erg at distances of 25 and 50 R ⊙ from the center of the RSG, and with the three-dimensional hydrodynamical code FLASH we follow the evolution of the RSG envelope in inner regions. For the parameters we explore, we find that more than 90% of the RSG envelope mass inward of the merger site stays bound to the RSG. NSs that experience CEE are likely to accrete RSG envelope mass through an accretion disk that launches jets. These jets power a luminous transient event, a common envelope jets supernova (CEJSN). The merger process adds to the CEJSN energy. Our finding implies that the interaction of the merger product, a massive NS or a BH, with the envelope can continue to release more energy, both by further inspiraling and by mass accretion by the merger product. Massive RSG envelopes can force the merger product to spiral into the core of the RSG, leading to an even more energetic CEJSN.

Crustal deformation detection capability of the GNSS-A seafloor geodetic observation array (SGO-A), provided by Japan Coast Guard

The GNSS-A technique is an observation method that can detect seafloor crustal deformations with centimeter-level positioning accuracy. The GNSS-A seafloor geodetic observation array operated by the Japan Coast Guard (SGO-A) has been constructed near the Japanese Islands along the Nankai Trough and the Japan Trench. This observation array has detected several earthquakes’ displacements and episodic slow crustal deformation. To compare the detection results of SGO-A with other observation networks and expand the SGO-A coverage area, it is necessary to correctly understand its detection capability. In this paper, numerical simulations and statistical verifications were used to assess the capabilities of the present GNSS-A system using a manned vessel (observation frequency: 4–6 times/year, positioning accuracy: standard deviation = 1.5 cm) to detect (1) secular deformation only, (2) a transient slip event only and (3) secular deformation and a transient event together. We verified these results with appropriate thresholds and found the following features: When it is known that there is no transient event, the 95% confidence level (CL) for the estimation of secular crustal deformation rate with 4-year observation is about 0.5–0.8 cm/year; when the deformation rate is known, a signal of about 3.0 cm can be detected by observations of about 4 times before and after the transient event. When the deformation rate and the transient event are detected together, to keep the false positive low (about 0.05), the false negative becomes high (about 0.7–0.2 for detecting a signal of 4.5–6.0 cm). The determined rate and event variations are approximately 1.8 cm/year (95%CL) and 1.5 cm (standard deviation), respectively. We also examined the detection capability for higher observation frequency and positioning accuracy, to examine how the detection capability improves by technological advancements in the future. Additionally, we calculated the spatial range of event detectability using the determined values of detection sensitivity. Obtained results show that each seafloor site can detect a slip event of < 1.0 m scale within about 30 km radius, and approximately one-third of the subseafloor slip event over 100 km from land along the Nankai Trough can only be detected by SGO-A.

Early Hypertransaminasemia after Kidney Transplantation: Significance and Evolution According to Donor Type

Early hypertransaminasemia after kidney transplantation (KT) is frequent. It has been associated with the crosstalk produced between the liver and the kidney in ischemia-reperfusion situations. However, the influence of the donor type has not been evaluated. We present a retrospective study analyzing the increase in serum aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) during the first three months post-KT in 151 recipients who received thymoglobulin as induction therapy, either from brain-death donors (DBD, n = 75), controlled circulatory death donors (cDCD, n = 33), or uncontrolled DCD (uDCD, n = 43). Eighty-five KT recipients from DBD who received basiliximab were included as controls. From KT recipients who received thymoglobulin, 33.6/43.4% presented with an increase in AST/ALT at 72 h post-KT, respectively. Regarding donor type, the percentage of recipients who experienced 72 h post-KT hypertransaminasemia was higher in uDCD group (65.1/83.7% vs. 20.3/26% in DBD and 20.7/27.6% in cDCD, p < 0.001). Within the control group, 9.4/12.9% of patients presented with AST/ALT elevation. One month after transplant, AST/ALT values returned to baseline in all groups. The multivariate analysis showed that uDCD recipients had 6- to 12-fold higher risk of developing early post-KT hypertransaminasemia. Early post-KT hypertransaminasemia is a frequent and transient event related to the kidney donor type, being more frequent in uDCD recipients.

Geodynamic significance of a buried transient Carboniferous landscape

It is increasingly clear that present-day dynamic topography on Earth, which is generated and maintained by mantle convective processes, varies on timescales and length scales on the order of 1−10 m.y. and 103 km, respectively. A significant implication of this behavior is that Phanerozoic stratigraphic records should contain indirect evidence of these processes. Here, we describe and analyze a well-exposed example of an ancient landscape from the Grand Canyon region of western North America that appears to preserve a transient response to mantle processes. The Surprise Canyon Formation lies close to the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary and crops out as a series of discontinuous lenses and patches that are interpreted as remnants of a westward-draining network of paleovalleys and paleochannels within a coastal embayment. This drainage network is incised into the marine Redwall Limestone whose irregular and karstified upper surface contains many caves and collapse structures. The Surprise Canyon Formation itself consists of coarse imbricated conglomerates, terrestrial plant impressions including Lepidodendron, and marine invertebrate fossils. It is overlain by marine, fluvial, and aeolian deposits of the Supai Group. These stratal relationships are indicative of a transient base-level fall whose amplitude and regional extent are recognized as being inconsistent with glacio-eustatic sea-level variation. We propose that this transient event is caused by emplacement and decay of a temperature anomaly within an asthenospheric channel located beneath the lithospheric plate. An analytical model is developed that accounts for the average regional uplift associated with landscape development and its rapid tectonic subsidence. This model suggests that emplacement and decay of a ∼50 °C temperature anomaly within a channel that is 150 ± 50 km thick can account for the observed vertical displacements. Our results are corroborated by detrital zircon studies that support wholesale drainage reorganization at this time and by stratigraphic evidence for spatially variable regional epeirogeny. They are also consistent with an emerging understanding of the temporal and spatial evolution of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary.

GrailQuest: hunting for atoms of space and time hidden in the wrinkle of Space-Time

GrailQuest (Gamma Ray Astronomy International Laboratory for QUantum Exploration of Space-Time) is a mission concept based on a constellation (hundreds/thousands) of nano/micro/small-satellites in low (or near) Earth orbits. Each satellite hosts a non-collimated array of scintillator crystals coupled with Silicon Drift Detectors with broad energy band coverage (keV-MeV range) and excellent temporal resolution (≤ 100 nanoseconds) each with effective area $\sim 100 \text {cm}^{2}$ ∼ 100 cm 2 . This simple and robust design allows for mass-production of the satellites of the fleet. This revolutionary approach implies a huge reduction of costs, flexibility in the segmented launching strategy, and an incremental long-term plan to increase the number of detectors and their performance; this will result in a living observatory for next-generation, space-based astronomical facilities. GrailQuest is conceived as an all-sky monitor for fast localisation of high signal-to-noise ratio transients in the X-/gamma-ray band, e.g. the elusive electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events. Robust temporal triangulation techniques will allow unprecedented localisation capabilities, in the keV-MeV band, of a few arcseconds or below, depending on the temporal structure of the transient event. The ambitious ultimate goal of this mission is to perform the first experiment, in quantum gravity, to directly probe space-time structure down to the minuscule Planck scale, by constraining or measuring a first-order dispersion relation for light in vacuo. This is obtained by detecting delays between photons of different energies in the prompt emission of Gamma-Ray Bursts.

Concluding comments and new challenges

This chapter emphasises that the Shikoku pilgrimage is not a singular transient event but a recurrent thread in the lives of pilgrims, many of whom plan to continue doing it until they die or are physically unable. They often also do other pilgrimages and have a primary identity as pilgrims. Pilgrimage is unending while the image of life itself as pilgrimage permeates popular understandings of the Shikoku pilgrimage. We introduce a Shikoku pilgrimage T-shirt that symbolically reflects this view of pilgrimage as infinite and unending, arguing that such themes are not unique to Shikoku, although they have rarely been discussed in studies of pilgrimage. Researchers need to look more closely at the issues discussed in this book, for Shikoku pilgrimage shows that pilgrimage is not a transient activity but a life course that pilgrims view as unending.

Invasive and Non-Invasive Observation of Occluded Fast Transient Events: Computational Tools

Industrial processes involving thermal plasma such as cutting, welding, laser machining with ultra-short laser pulses (nonequilibrium conditions), high temperature melting using electrical discharge or ion-beams, etc., generate non-repeatable fast transient events which can reveal valuable information about the processes. In such industrial environments containing high temperature and radiation, it is often difficult to install conventional lens-based imaging windows and components to observe such events. In this study, we compare imaging requirements and performances with invasive and non-invasive modes when a fast transient event is occluded by a metal window consisting of numerous holes punched through it. Simulation studies were carried out for metal windows with different types of patterns, reconstructed for both invasive and non-invasive modes and compared. Sparks were generated by rapid electrical discharge behind a metal window consisting of thousands of punched through-holes and the time sequence was recorded using a high-speed camera. The time sequence was reconstructed with and without the spatio-spectral point spread functions and compared. Commented MATLAB codes are provided for both invasive and non-invasive modes of reconstruction.

Ovulation sources coagulation protease cascade and hepatocyte growth factor to support physiological growth and malignant transformation

The fallopian tube fimbrial epithelium (FTE), which is exposed to the follicular fluid (FF) contents of ovulation, is regarded as the main origin of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC). Previously, we found that growth factors in FF, such as IGF2, are responsible for the malignant transformation of FTE. However, ovulation is a monthly transient event, whereas carcinogenesis requires continuous, long-term exposure. Here, we found the transformation activity of FF sustained for more than 30 days after drainage into the peritoneal fluid (PF). Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), activated through the ovulation injury-tissue factor-thrombin-HGFA-HGF cleavage cascade confers a sustained transformation activity to FTE, HGSC. Physiologically, the high reserve of the coagulation-HGF cascade sources a sustained level of HGF in PF, then to the blood circulation. This HGF axis promotes the growth of the corpus luteum and repair of tissue injury after ovulation.