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O colapso para fora-do-plano das paredes de alvenaria de enchimento em edifícios existentes de betão armado devido a sismos representa um assunto de extrema importância no que toca à salvaguarda de vidas e estimativa de perdas económicas. Este trabalho apresenta os resultados de uma campanha experimental relativa à avaliação de soluções de reforço desenhadas para mitigar ou evitar o seu colapso. As técnicas de reforço investigadas basearam-se na aplicação de uma camada muito fina de uma argamassa de elevada ductilidade e rede de armação em fibra de vidro com diferentes tipos de ancoragem ao pórtico de betão armado envolvente. As propriedades mecânicas dos materiais adotados, o setup experimental e o procedimento de ensaio serão apresentados ao longo do artigo. Detalhes relativos à eficiência de cada solução de reforço são fornecidos e comparados por forma a dar suporte para a seleção da melhor estratégia para investigações mais detalhadas e futuras aplicações. Out-of-plane (OOP) collapse of infill masonry walls in existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings due to earthquakes represents a paramount issue for life safety and seismic economic loss estimation. Few studies from literature deal with this topic, particularly regarding possible strengthening strategies to prevent the infills' OOP collapse. This work presents the first results of a proper experimental campaign about the assessment of different strengthening solutions designed to mitigate or avoid the out-of-plane collapse of masonry infills in existing RC buildings. The investigated strengthening techniques were based on the application of a very thin high-ductility mortar plaster and glass fibre-reinforced polymer nets with different types of anchorage to the surrounding RC frame. Each specimen was built with horizontal hollow clay bricks and was tested through the application of a semi-cyclic OOP displacement pattern by means of uniformly distributed small pneumatic jacks. Mechanical properties of the adopted materials, test setup and procedure are described herein. Tests results are presented and commented in terms of OOP force-displacement responses and damage evolution during the test. Details about the effectiveness of each retrofitting solution are provided and compared to support the selection of the best strategy for further investigations and future applications.

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are inherited diseases characterized by lysosomal dysfunction and often showing a neurodegenerative course. There is no cure to treat the central nervous system in LSDs. Moreover, the mechanisms driving neuronal degeneration in these pathological conditions remain largely unknown. By studying mouse models of LSDs, we found that neurodegeneration develops progressively with profound alterations in presynaptic structure and function. In these models, impaired lysosomal activity causes massive perikaryal accumulation of insoluble ?-synuclein and increased proteasomal degradation of cysteine string protein ? (CSP?). As a result, the availability of both ?-synuclein and CSP? at nerve terminals strongly decreases, thus inhibiting soluble NSF attachment receptor (SNARE) complex assembly and synaptic vesicle recycling. Aberrant presynaptic SNARE phenotype is recapitulated in mice with genetic ablation of one allele of both CSP? and ?-synuclein. The overexpression of CSP? in the brain of a mouse model of mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIA, a severe form of LSD, efficiently re-established SNARE complex assembly, thereby ameliorating presynaptic function, attenuating neurodegenerative signs, and prolonging survival. Our data show that neurodegenerative processes associated with lysosomal dysfunction may be presynaptically initiated by a concomitant reduction in ?-synuclein and CSP? levels at nerve terminals. They also demonstrate that neurodegeneration in LSDs can be slowed down by re-establishing presynaptic functions, thus identifying synapse maintenance as a novel potentially druggable target for brain treatment in LSDs.

Over the last few decades, metropolitan areas have experienced a dramatic increase of exposure to earthquakes. Because of the still very low probability level at which short‐term earthquake forecasting is feasible, earthquake early warning systems (EEWS) currently represent an effective, pragmatic, and viable means for the implementation of protective measures to reduce the exposure of population to seismic risk. EEWS can be simply defined as systems that integrate seismic networks and software capable of performing real‐time data telemetry and analysis to provide alert messages to users within seconds of the beginning of an earthquake and certainly before that the S waves generated by the event reach the users. Worldwide, a number of EEWS capable of rapidly performing seismological analysis of ground motion during a strong earthquake are currently operative or are under real‐time testing (e.g., in Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Italy, Turkey, California, etc.; Allen and Kanamori, 2003; Kanamori, 2005; Allen et al. , 2009). A tangible example of EEWS benefit is given by the experience of the OKI factory in the Miyagi prefecture in Japan that, after having experienced severe damages in 2003 due to two earthquakes, installed an EEWS, and at the following earthquakes experienced a significant reduction of losses (Allen et al. , 2009). Moreover, the Japan Meteorological Agency has shown the effectiveness of a combined on‐site and network‐based approach to rapidly broadcast the rapid warning after a potential damaging earthquake (Hoshiba, 2013). The key parameter of EEWS is the lead time, which is the time available for taking protective measures at distant targets once an earthquake has been promptly detected and …

Video–EEG monitoring with intracranial subdural electrodes is a useful assessment tool for the localization of the epileptogenic zone in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. We aimed at assessing the morbidity related to electrode implantation and the surgical outcome in patients who underwent epilepsy surgery after intracranial EEG monitoring. All patients (N = 58) admitted to our Epilepsy Surgery Centre for drug-resistant focal epilepsy who underwent resective surgery after intracranial monitoring with subdural electrodes and were followed up for at least 2 years were included in the study. Their mean age was 30.4 years (range 8–60 years), 25 (43 %) were female, and 44 (76 %) had a preoperatively detected structural lesion. The mean duration of invasive recording was 2.3 days (range 1–14 days). Extraoperative ECoG allowed the identification of the epileptogenic focus in all cases. The temporal lobe was involved in 21 (36 %) patients, whereas extratemporal foci were identified in 24 (41 %) patients. Thirteen patients (23 %) had multilobar involvement. Functional brain mapping was performed in 15 (26 %) patients. Transient complications related to electrode implantation occurred in three patients. Among patients with evidence of lesion on preoperative MRI, lesionectomy alone was performed in 12 cases (27 %), while it was combined with tailored cortical resection in the remaining cases. Tailored cortical resection was also performed in patients without evidence of lesion on MRI. After resective surgery, transient neurological deficits occurred in five cases, while another patient experienced permanent lateral homonymous hemianopia. At the last follow-up observation, 34 (57 %) patients were seizure-free (Engel class I). This study suggests that invasive EEG recording with subdural electrodes may be useful and fairly safe for many candidates for epilepsy surgery.

The seismic assessment of existing bridges is nowadays a crucial aspect for resilient communities. Existing bridge piers are characterised by structural deficiencies often resulting in shear failures. Seismic assessment for shear-critical reinforced concrete hollow piers, widely used in bridges, is still an open issue. Currently, practitioners adopt formulations not validated for hollow piers notwithstanding their structural peculiarities. Herein, first, a review of existing shear capacity models from literature and codes is presented. Then, proper experimental data, related to both rectangular and circular hollow members, are collected and compared with the considered models to assess their reliability. Lastly, shear capacity models specific for the investigated structural typology are proposed. They showed very good agreement with the experimental data and can be simply used by practitioners for seismic assessment or design purposes.