Shear Capacity of Hollow High-Performance Concrete Beams with Cross-Wound Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Reinforcement.

This paper introduces cross-wound CFRP shear reinforcement of hollow HPC beams. The CFRP reinforcement was manufactured in the form of a square tubular mesh from carbon rovings oriented at ±45° from the longitudinal axis. The shear reinforcement was made in two variants from carbon yarns with linear densities of 1600 and 3700 tex.

Longitudinal patterns in smoking abstinence in trials of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation: secondary analysis of data from a systematic review, with meta-analyses.

Introduction: We set out to better understand patterns of smoking abstinence and relapse in trials of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.

Methods: Secondary analysis of studies from a Cochrane review. Studies had to test any type of e-cigarette intervention for smoking cessation.

Burden of Myasthenia Gravis in the Czech Republic: Analysis of the Nationwide Patient Registry.

Introduction: The main goal of this study was to describe the Czech population of patients with MG in terms of demographics, disease characteristics, management approaches, and treatment trends.

Methods: We selected all patients, both incident and prevalent, who were enrolled in the Czech MyReg registry between August 24, 2015 and November 19, 2021. For the descriptive analysis, all patients enrolled in the registry, regardless of their date of diagnosis or date of enrolment, were included.

Enhancement of the Plant-Accessible Phosphate Fraction in Sewage Sludge Ashes by Na or K Addition Prior to Combustion.

With the aim of transforming sewage sludge into a P-fertiliser material in a single combustion step, the chemical processes underlying sewage sludge combustion were analysed using powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), thermogravimetric (TGA) as well as elemental analyses (EA). In addition to the combustion of sewage sludge on its own ("mono-combustion"), additions of different additives prior to the combustion step were also carried out. Based on the very positive effects of the additives sodium and potassium carbonate on the obtained ashes concerning their phosphate solubilities in neutral ammonium citrate (NAC) solution, sewage sludge combustions after additions of NaCO or KCO were investigated in detail.

Tree drought-mortality risk depends more on intrinsic species resistance than on stand species diversity.

Increasing tree diversity is considered a key management option to adapt forests to climate change. However, the effect of species diversity on a forest's ability to cope with extreme drought remains elusive. In this study, we assessed drought tolerance (xylem vulnerability to cavitation) and water stress (water potential), and combined them into a metric of drought-mortality risk (hydraulic safety margin) during extreme 2021 or 2022 summer droughts in five European tree diversity experiments encompassing different biomes.

Coassembly and binning of a twenty-year metagenomic time-series from Lake Mendota.

The North Temperate Lakes Long-Term Ecological Research (NTL-LTER) program has been extensively used to improve understanding of how aquatic ecosystems respond to environmental stressors, climate fluctuations, and human activities. Here, we report on the metagenomes of samples collected between 2000 and 2019 from Lake Mendota, a freshwater eutrophic lake within the NTL-LTER site. We utilized the distributed metagenome assembler MetaHipMer to coassemble over 10 terabases (Tbp) of data from 471 individual Illumina-sequenced metagenomes.

Turgor loss point explains climate-driven growth reductions in trees in Central Europe.

As climate change thrives, and the frequency of intense droughts is affecting many forested regions, a mechanistic understanding of the factors conferring drought tolerance in trees is increasingly important. However, studies linking the observed growth reduction to mechanistic traits are still rare. We compared the median growth anomalies of 16 native tree species, gathered across a network of study plots in Bavaria, with the mean species-specific turgor loss point (π) measured at five locations in Central Europe π explained 37% of the growth anomalies observed in response to the intense droughts between 2018 and 2020 compared to the pre-drought period between 2006 and 2017 across sites.

Metatranscriptomes of California grassland soil microbial communities in response to rewetting.

When very dry soil is rewet, rapid stimulation of microbial activity has important implications for ecosystem biogeochemistry, yet associated changes in microbial transcription are poorly known. Here, we present metatranscriptomes of California annual grassland soil microbial communities, collected over 1 week from soils rewet after a summer drought-providing a time series of short-term transcriptional response during rewetting.

The use of residual analysis to improve the error rate accuracy of machine translation.

The aim of the study is to compare two different approaches to machine translation-statistical and neural-using automatic MT metrics of error rate and residuals. We examined four available online MT systems (statistical Google Translate, neural Google Translate, and two European commission's MT tools-statistical mt@ec and neural eTranslation) through their products (MT outputs). We propose using residual analysis to improve the accuracy of machine translation error rate.

Effects of plant diversity on productivity strengthen over time due to trait-dependent shifts in species overyielding.

Plant diversity effects on community productivity often increase over time. Whether the strengthening of diversity effects is caused by temporal shifts in species-level overyielding (i.e.

In silico hemodynamical simulations show additional benefits of artery wall softening induced by antihypertensive drugs.

Background And Objectives: Age-related arterial stiffening increases peripheral resistance and decreases arterial distensibility, thus contributing to hypertension, an important risk factor of atherosclerosis. It causes abnormal blood flow, endothelial dysfunction, higher pulse wave velocity, and consequently elevated pressure wave amplitude.

Methods: This paper presents the influence of these changes via multiscale 3D-0D transient computational fluid dynamics simulations of blood flow in five patient-specific geometries of human carotid bifurcation using archetypal flow waveforms for young and old subjects.

Safety of e-cigarettes and nicotine patches as stop-smoking aids in pregnancy: Secondary analysis of the Pregnancy Trial of E-cigarettes and Patches (PREP) randomized controlled trial.

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the safety of e-cigarettes (EC) and nicotine patches (NRT) when used to help pregnant smokers quit.

Design: A recent trial of EC versus NRT reported safety outcomes in the randomized arms. We conducted a further analysis based on product use.

Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.

Background: Electronic cigarettes (ECs) are handheld electronic vaping devices which produce an aerosol by heating an e-liquid. People who smoke, healthcare providers and regulators want to know if ECs can help people quit smoking, and if they are safe to use for this purpose. This is a review update conducted as part of a living systematic review.

Increased cardiovascular mortality in patients with mechanically expandable transcatheter aortic valve and without permanent pacemaker.

Introduction: Use of the mechanically expandable transcatheter aortic valve (MEV) has been recently linked to increased risks of valve dysfunction and cardiovascular mortality. The risk of developing conduction disturbance with the MEV valve is well known, and the negative prognostic impact of permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation is another consideration.

Aim: This study aimed to compare the mid-term survival of patients with MEV and self-expandable valves (SEV), and to examine survival of both groups according to the presence or absence of PPI.

Helping pregnant smokers quit: a multi-centre randomised controlled trial of electronic cigarettes versus nicotine replacement therapy.

Background: Some pregnant smokers try e-cigarettes, but effectiveness and safety of such use are unknown.

Objectives: To compare effectiveness and safety of nicotine patches and e-cigarettes in pregnancy.

Design: A pragmatic multi-centre randomised controlled trial.

Effects of reduced-risk nicotine-delivery products on smoking prevalence and cigarette sales: an observational study.

Background: It is not currently clear what impact alternative nicotine-delivery products (electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco products and snus) have on smoking rates and cigarette sales.

Objective: To assess whether access to these products promotes smoking in the population.

Design And Data Sources: We examined associations of alternative nicotine product use and sales with smoking rates and cigarette sales overall, and in different age and socioeconomic groups, and compared smoking prevalence over time in countries with contrasting regulations of these products.

Woven Carbon-Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Tubular Mesh Reinforcement of Hollow High-Performance Concrete Beams.

This article presents woven carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) tubular mesh used as a reinforcement on the inner surface of hollow beams made of high-performance concrete (HPC). The tubular mesh was designed to serve as both the tensile and shear reinforcement of hollow beams intended for the construction of small self-supporting structures that could be assembled without mechanization. The reinforcement was prepared with a tri-axial weaving machine from carbon filament yarn and was homogenized using epoxy resin.

An interpretable system for predicting the impact of COVID-19 government interventions on stock market sectors.

Evaluating and understanding the financial impacts of COVID-19 has emerged as an urgent research agenda. Nevertheless, the impacts of government interventions on stock markets remain poorly understood. This study explores, for the first time, the impact of COVID-19 related government intervention policies on different stock market sectors using explainable machine learning-based prediction models.

Illumination of Interior Spaces through Structures Made of Unified Slabs of High-Performance Light-Transmitting Concrete with Embedded Optical Fibers.

Light-transmitting concrete as a building material already exists in many forms, but its light properties and the possibilities of using it to improve the lighting of interior spaces have not been investigated in detail yet. This paper focuses on the illumination of interior spaces using constructions made of light-transmitting concrete, which will allow light to pass between individual spaces. The experimental measurements carried out are divided into two typical situations using reduced room models.

[Instabilities of the Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint: Our Surgical Outcomes].

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Carpometacarpal (CMC) instabilities of the thumb joint occur after injuries or due to joint overload in patients with congenital joint hypermobility. They are often undiagnosed and, if left untreated, are the basis for the development of rhizarthrosis in young individuals. The authors present the results of the Eaton-Littler technique.