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With the rapid development of society and the demand for a better and more modern life, there is a need for the development of civil engineering in general, and of earthquakes. Recently, we are witnessed by many natural disasters occurring in the world, leaving huge footprints, taking a large toll on human lives and causing extensive material damage. The main problems remain without clear and precise answers now. Which arise during the impacts of dynamic loads, and the origin of those loads can be from: earthquakes, winds, explosions, working with cars, etc. Earthquakes are still one of the greatest nature threats which is causing to mankind. Although earthquakes cannot be prevented, modern science and engineering have provided the means and tools that if they will be used properly can significantly reduce the impact of powerful earthquakes.

A procedure for evaluation of seismic vulnerability of RC buildings has been proposed. Applying the nonlinear static “pushover” analysis, the parameters of nonlinear behavior of the selected set of reinforced concrete buildings have been defined. The vulnerability indices as a measure of damages to each building have been defined and computed in the form of a scaled linear combination of the state of nonlinear behavior of the components at the point of termination of the “pushover” analysis. The computed values of the vulnerability factors obtained by “pushover” analysis are in the range of 0.2-0.3 and point to satisfactory behavior of the analyzed buildings.

Background: Tandem occlusion resulting in acute ischemic stroke is associated with high morbidity and mortality and a poor response to thrombolytic therapy. The use of endovascular strategies for tandem stroke cases results in an improved outcome for this subgroup of patients. We present 2 cases with a pattern of tandem occlusion consisting of proximal obstruction at the origin of the common carotid artery (CCA) with concomitant intracranial occlusion treated by endovascular techniques., Methods: The 2 patients presented each with occlusion at the left CCA origin and ipsilateral intracranial vessel (left middle cerebral artery and carotid terminus, respectively). A transfemoral anterograde approach was used to deliver a balloon-mounted stent across the proximal CCA origin occlusion to gain access to the distal cerebral vasculature. Subsequently, a stent retriever assisted mechanical aspiration thrombectomy was used to revascularize the intracranial occlusion., Results: Complete revascularization with Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction scores of 2b and improvement in neurologic deficits occurred in both cases. Good clinical outcome was achieved for both patients at 3-month follow-up., Conclusions: An anterograde transfemoral approach should be considered in cases of tandem occlusion of the proximal CCA and middle cerebral artery., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To compare standing PA flexed (SPAF) knee radiographs of the knees with standing full-extension AP(SAP) radiographs for demonstration of narrowing of the articular cartilage of the knee joint and the presence and size of osteophytes and to determine if sclerosis is a predictor of the severity of joint space narrowing., Design: 220 knees in 110 consecutive patients visiting the orthopaedic clinic with knee pain and having both SPAF radiographs and SAP radiographs at the same visit were evaluated by a musculoskeletal radiologist for cartilage narrowing in the knee joint using a scale 0-3 with 0= normal and 3= bone on bone. Osteophytes were also graded 0-3 and sclerosis as present or absent., Patients: The subjects were patients of one of the authors (C.A.J) who ordered both types of radiographs on most of his patients., Results: In 47% of knees the SPAF radiograph showed narrowing more severe than the SAP radiograph. In 5% the SAP view showed narrowing more severe than the SPAF view. In the medial compartment the SPAF view showed significantly larger osteophytes than the SAP view. The osteophyte size difference was not significant in the lateral compartment. If sclerosis was present on the AP view, there was a greater than 80% chance that the SPAF view would show greater narrowing., Conclusion: The SPAF radiograph frequently shows more cartilage narrowing in the knee joint than does the SAP view. It is valuable for routine use or when the clinical severity of arthritis in the knee joint seems to be greater than that demonstrated on the AP standing view. Sclerosis on the SAP view makes it especially likely that the SPAF view will show greater cartilage narrowing.

The design of and early clinical results with the uncemented porous-coated LSF Anatomic and Midstem Total Hip Systems are described. In a Food and Drug Administration-approved program, a random selection method was used to determine which patients receive implants with a hydroxyapatite (HA) coating applied to the porous surface and which patients receive non-HA-coated implants. The early clinical results with the HA-coated systems appear superior to the non-HA-coated systems. A greater percentage of patients with HA systems have clinical scores in the excellent/good range, which is primarily a reflection of less prosthesis-related pain. Radiographically, all components appear well fixed with evidence of bone ingrowth. The HA-coated systems have a decreased incidence of radiolucencies, particularly in proximal zones.

The design and early clinical results with uncemented porous-coated long-term stable fixation anatomic and midstem total hip systems (Implant Technology, Inc, Secaucus, NJ) are described. In an ongoing Food and Drug Administration-approved Investigational Device Exemption-Premarket Approval Program, a random selection method is used to determine patients receiving implants with a hydroxyapatite (HA) coating applied to the porous surface and those receiving uncoated implants. The early clinical results with the HA-coated systems show them to appear superior to the uncoated systems. A greater percentage of patients with HA-coated systems have clinical scores in the excellent to good range, which is primarily a reflection of less prostheses-related pain. Radiographically, all components appear well fixed, with evidence of bone ingrowth. The HA-coated systems have a decreased incidence of radiolucencies, particularly in proximal zones.

Twenty-five patients who received bilateral total knee prostheses were studied to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of patellar resurfacing. Only patients with advanced patellofemoral disease were included in the study. In all patients, patellar resurfacing had been done in the right knee but not in the left knee. The DePuy porous-coated implant was used in all cases. Subjective criteria were compared with objective criteria, which included range of motion, knee flexion and extension, and roentgenographic evaluation. The findings in this study suggest that patellar resurfacing can offer the patient a superior knee with regard to pain relief and strength.

Incubates of articular cartilage from young but not mature rabbits, as well as growth plate cartilage, elaborated PPi into basel Eagle's medium during a 4-hour period. Control rabbit synovial membrane and ear cartilage elaborated negligible amounts of PPi. The PPi was shown to be nondialyzable but could be dissociated from the alkaline phosphatase by ultracentrifugation. In 16 patients with osteoarthritis a substantial output of PPi by samples of articular cartilage from the knee was demonstrated. The present authors believe that either rapid cell division and matrix synthesis found in the base of ulcerating osteoarthritic cartilage or remodeling calcified sites comprise the origin of the PPi in such osteoarthritic cartilage. They further theorize that this PPi output accounts for a considerable fraction, if not all, of the elevated PPi levels found in synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis.

Femoral fractures were created in rats to determine whether there were differences in healing under conditions of immobilization and under conditions of immediate weight-bearing. Histological and roentgenographic differences were present by the second week after fracture and differences in mechanical properties were also present. These differences became progressively greater during the next three weeks. Functional weight-bearing was found to accelerate the rate of fracture healing and to improve significantly the strength of the healing bone.

In 323 patients with 375 pathological fractures or impending fractures, local tumor resection and internal fixation supplemented by intramedullary methylmethacrylate proved highly successful. One hundred and thirty-nine patients had metastases from breast carcinoma; 142, metastases from other tumors; and forty-two, myeloma or lymphoma. The mean survival for the 210 patients who had undergone operation two years or more before final evaluation was 15.4 months. Ninety-four per cent of the patients who were ambulatory before fracture regained the ability to walk. Eighty-five per cent had excellent or good pain relief and in only five was pain relief rated poor. There were four failures of fixation and six functionally poor results. Twenty patients died within four weeks of operation, but the remaining patients benefited from the procedure in terms of pain relief, improved mobility, and ease of nursing care.

The case histories of 70 patients with typical motor neuron disease (MND) have been analysed to ascertain the natural history of the disease in Australia. The place of birth and residence during life of each patient has been sought to determine whether there is any 'clustering' of patients in the State of New South Wales. The mean age of onset was 55 years and mean duration of life from onset was 3 years 5 months. These figures are comparable with those from the USA and UK and Japan although the onset in Australia was later and the duration longer. The case history of 1 patient who is still living 38 years after the onset of the disease is described as there is no longer survival time recorded in the literature to our knowledge. Attention is drawn to muscle aches and cramps mentioned spontaneously by 27 of the 70 patients. These symptoms occurred at the onset of MND and often correlated with the site of onset of weakness. Weight loss averaged 1.6lb (0.7kg) per month in those patients in whom weight was recorded. The CSF protein was greater than 45mg/100ml, ranging up to 110mg/100ml, in 9 of 37 patients. The place of residence of patients bore no relation to known areas of increased manganese in the soil, and there was no evidence of 'clustering' of cases.

Forty-nine specimens of human cartilage were taken from 3 sites on the tibial plateau (center of osteoarthritic lesion, edge of lesion, and remote site) and graded histologically by the scale of Mankin. The tissue was homogenized and centrifuged to obtain an insoluble pellet. This was resuspended in buffer and incubated at 37 degrees C, pH 7.5. Collagen digestion was quantitated by the release of hydroxyproline-containing peptides. The highest collagenolytic activity (4.6%) was found in the center of lesions, declining in remote sites to 2.4% and in controls to 1.1%. Moderately severe disease of grade 6--9 had the highest collagenolytic activity. Approximately 55% of the metal-dependent collagenolytic activity was in a latent form, activatable by amino-phenylmercuric acetate; the remainder was self-active. A method was developed for the extraction of collagenase from cartilage; the extracted enzyme produced the typical 75:25 cleavage products of type I collagen.