Quantification of Optimal Target Reliability for Seismic Design: Methodology and Application to Midrise Steel Buildings

Quantification of the optimal target reliability based on the minimum lifecycle cost is the goal standard for calibration of seismic design provisions, which is yet to be fully-materialized even in the leading codes. Deviation from the optimally-calibrated design standards is significantly more pronounced in countries whose regulations are adopted from the few leading codes with no recalibration. A major challenge in the quantification of optimal target reliability for such countries is the lack of risk models that are suited for the local construction industry and design practices. This paper addresses this challenge by presenting an optimal target reliability quantification framework that tailors the available risk models for the countries from which the codes are adopted to the local conditions of the countries adopting the codes. The proposed framework is showcased through the national building code of Iran, which is adopted from the codes of the United States, using a case study of three midrise residential steel building archetypes. The archetypes have various structural systems including intermediate moment-resisting frame (IMF) and special concentrically braced frame (SCBF). Each of these archetypes are designed to different levels of the base shear coefficient, each of which corresponds to a level of reliability. To compute the lifecycle cost, the initial construction cost of buildings is estimated. Next, robust nonlinear models of these structures are generated, using which the probability distribution of structural responses and the collapse fragility are assessed through incremental dynamic analyses. Thereafter, the buildings are subjected to a detailed seismic risk analysis. Subsequently, the lifecycle cost of the buildings is computed as the sum of the initial construction cost and the seismic losses. Finally, the optimal strength and the corresponding target reliability to be prescribed are quantified based on the notion of minimum lifecycle cost. The results reveal a 50-year optimal reliability index of 2.0 and 2.1 for IMF and SCBF buildings, respectively and an optimal collapse probability given the maximum considered earthquake of 16% for both systems. In the context on the case study of the national building code of Iran, the optimal design base shear for IMF buildings is 40% higher than the current prescribed value by the code, whereas that of SCBF buildings is currently at the optimal level.

TRANSLATORS AS MEDIATOR: CULTURAL NEGOTIATION IN TRANSLATING ENGLISH LITERARY TEXT INTO INDONESIAN

This study explores the translation of cultural-specific terms in the literary text as the translation process connects cultural differences between the source and target languages. Using Eco's notion of "translation as negotiation"; Bassnett's "translators as a mediator of cultures", and Newmark's cultural categorizations of terms as the framework and this qualitative study analyzed two Indonesian versions of the novel The Secret Garden by Francess Hodgson Burnett (1911). The first translated version was published in 2010 under the title "Taman Rahasia", whereas the second translated version was published in 2020 under the same title as the original version. This study has shown the complexity in closing the cultural gap between the source text and target text. As the impact, both translators used different forms of negotiation to accommodate readers' expectations and to functionally create optimal target texts in the target culture, which differentiate into five categories (i.e., ecological, material culture; social culture, social, politic, and administrative organizations; and gestures and habits).

Hospital Variation in Time to Endovascular Treatment for Ischemic Stroke: What Is the Optimal Target for Improvement?

Background Time to reperfusion in patients with ischemic stroke is strongly associated with functional outcome and may differ between hospitals and between patients within hospitals. Improvement in time to reperfusion can be guided by between‐hospital and within‐hospital comparisons and requires insight in specific targets for improvement. We aimed to quantify the variation in door‐to‐reperfusion time between and within Dutch intervention hospitals and to assess the contribution of different time intervals to this variation. Methods and Results We used data from the MR CLEAN (Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands) Registry. The door‐to‐reperfusion time was subdivided into time intervals, separately for direct patients (door‐to‐computed tomography, computed tomography‐to‐computed tomography angiography [CTA], CTA‐to‐groin, and groin‐to‐reperfusion times) and for transferred patients (door‐to‐groin and groin‐to‐reperfusion times). We used linear mixed models to distinguish the variation in door‐to‐reperfusion time between hospitals and between patients. The proportional change in variance was used to estimate the amount of variance explained by each time interval. We included 2855 patients of 17 hospitals providing endovascular treatment. Of these patients, 44% arrived directly at an endovascular treatment hospital. The between‐hospital variation in door‐to‐reperfusion time was 9%, and the within‐hospital variation was 91%. The contribution of case‐mix variables on the variation in door‐to‐reperfusion time was marginal (2%–7%). Of the between‐hospital variation, CTA‐to‐groin time explained 83%, whereas groin‐to‐reperfusion time explained 15%. Within‐hospital variation was mostly explained by CTA‐to‐groin time (33%) and groin‐to‐reperfusion time (42%). Similar results were found for transferred patients. Conclusions Door‐to‐reperfusion time varies between, but even more within, hospitals providing endovascular treatment for ischemic stroke. Quality of stroke care improvements should not only be guided by between‐hospital comparisons, but also aim to reduce variation between patients within a hospital, and should specifically focus on CTA‐to‐groin time and groin‐to‐reperfusion time.

Methods to Increase the Contrast of the Image with Preserving the Visual Quality

Contrast enhancement is a technique for increasing the contrast of an image to obtain better image quality. As many existing contrast enhancement algorithms typically add too much contrast to an image, maintaining visual quality should be considered as a part of enhancing image contrast. This paper focuses on a contrast enhancement method that is based on histogram transformations to improve contrast and uses image quality assessment to automatically select the optimal target histogram. Improvements in contrast and preservation of visual quality are taken into account in the target histogram, so this method avoids the problem of excessive increase in contrast. In the proposed method, the optimal target histogram is the weighted sum of the original histogram, homogeneous histogram and Gaussian histogram. Structural and statistical metrics of “naturalness of the image” are used to determine the weights of the corresponding histograms. Contrast images are obtained by matching the optimal target histogram. Experiments show that the proposed method gives better results compared to other existing algorithms for increasing contrast based on the transformation of histograms.

Antithrombin III Supplementation in a Premature Infant: Is There a Target Antithrombin Level?

The optimal antithrombin (AT) activity for low-molecular-weight heparin efficacy and the benefits of antithrombin III (ATIII) supplementation in premature infants diagnosed with venous thromboembolism are unknown. Currently, there are no neonatal-specific guidelines directing the appropriate target AT activity during supplementation. This case report describes a critically ill premature infant with a progressive, occlusive inferior vena cava thrombus who received supplemental ATIII during enoxaparin treatment. The patient did not achieve therapeutic anti-Xa levels despite increasing enoxaparin dosing to 3 mg/kg every 12 hours. ATIII supplementation sufficient to attain an AT activity of >40%, in combination with an enoxaparin dosing of >2 mg/kg every 12 hours, was needed to achieve therapeutic anti-Xa levels. Future large studies are needed to determine if there is an optimal target AT activity for critically ill premature infants.

Targeting for stereotactic radiosurgical thalamotomy based on tremor treatment response

OBJECTIVE Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) treats severe, medically refractory essential tremor and tremor-dominant Parkinson disease. However, the optimal target for SRS treatment within the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) is not clearly defined. This work evaluates the precision of the physician-selected VIM target, and determines the optimal SRS target within the VIM by correlation between early responders and nonresponders. METHODS Early responders and nonresponders were assessed retrospectively by Elements Basal Ganglia Atlas autocontouring of the VIM on the pre–SRS-treatment 1-mm slice thickness T1-weighted MRI and correlating the center of the post–SRS-treatment lesion. Using pre- and posttreatment diffusion tensor imaging, the fiber tracking package in the Elements software generated tremor-related tracts from autosegmented motor cortex, thalamus, red nucleus, and dentate nucleus. Autocontouring of the VIM was successful for all patients. RESULTS Among 23 patients, physician-directed SRS targets had a medial–lateral target range from +2.5 mm to −2.0 mm from the VIM center. Relative to the VIM center, the SRS isocenter target was 0.7–0.9 mm lateral for 6 early responders and 0.9–1.1 mm medial for 4 nonresponders (p = 0.019), and without differences in the other dimensions: 0.2 mm posterior and 0.6 mm superior. Dose–volume histogram analyses for the VIM had no significant differences between responders and nonresponders between 20 Gy and 140 Gy, mean or maximum dose, and dose to small volumes. Tractography data was obtained for 4 patients. CONCLUSIONS For tremor control in early responders, the Elements Basal Ganglia Atlas autocontour for the VIM provides the optimal SRS target location that is 0.7–0.9 mm lateral to the VIM center.

TMS-Induced Seizure during FDA-Approved Bilateral DMPFC Protocol for Treating OCD: A Case Report

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation therapy that has become a method of choice for the treatment of several neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and OCD. It is considered to be a safe and well-tolerated treatment, with only few side effects. The most serious adverse event during any rTMS treatment is the potential induction of a seizure. rTMS has shown very encouraging results for treatment-resistant OCD, although the optimal target area and the stimulation frequency are still matters of controversy. Here, we present a 19-year-old female patient with OCD who experienced seizure during the 7th session of her rTMS treatment using the FDA-approved 20-Hz protocol for OCD applied bilaterally over the left and right DMPFC using a double-cone coil. Nonetheless, it still unknown whether the seizure occurred as a consequence of rTMS, as the patient was also in a specific seizure risk group. Future reviews are needed to further clarify the mechanisms that may trigger seizures during rTMS treatments in order to reduce the likelihood of rTMS-induced seizures.