Structural Health Monitoring Based on Acoustic Emissions: Validation on a Prestressed Concrete Bridge Tested to Failure.

The increasing number of bridges approaching their design life has prompted researchers and operators to develop innovative structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques. An acoustic emissions (AE) method is a passive SHM approach based on the detection of elastic waves in structural components generated by damages, such as the initiation and propagation of cracks in concrete and the failure of steel wires. In this paper, we discuss the effectiveness of AE techniques by analyzing records acquired during a load test on a full-size prestressed concrete bridge span.

Ultrasonography for endoleak detection after endoluminal abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

Background: People with abdominal aortic aneurysm who receive endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) need lifetime surveillance to detect potential endoleaks. Endoleak is defined as persistent blood flow within the aneurysm sac following EVAR. Computed tomography (CT) angiography is considered the reference standard for endoleak surveillance.

A systematic review found that deviations from intention-to-treat are common in randomized trials and systematic reviews.

Objectives: To describe the characteristics, and estimate the incidence, of trials included in systematic reviews deviating from the intention-to-treat (ITT) principle.

Study Design And Setting: A 5% random sample of reviews were selected (Medline 2006-2010). Trials from reviews were classified based on the ITT: (1) ITT trials (trials reporting standard ITT analyses); (2) modified ITT (mITT) trials (modified ITT; trials deviating from standard ITT); or (3) no ITT trials.

Validity of peptic ulcer disease and upper gastrointestinal bleeding diagnoses in administrative databases: a systematic review protocol.

Introduction: Administrative healthcare databases are useful to investigate the epidemiology, health outcomes, quality indicators and healthcare utilisation concerning peptic ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding, but the databases need to be validated in order to be a reliable source for research. The aim of this protocol is to perform the first systematic review of studies reporting the validation of International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision and 10th version (ICD-9 and ICD-10) codes for peptic ulcer and upper gastrointestinal bleeding diagnoses.

Methods And Analysis: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases will be searched, using appropriate search strategies.

Validation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) diagnoses in healthcare databases: a systematic review protocol.

Introduction: Healthcare databases are useful sources to investigate the epidemiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to assess longitudinal outcomes in patients with COPD, and to develop disease management strategies. However, in order to constitute a reliable source for research, healthcare databases need to be validated. The aim of this protocol is to perform the first systematic review of studies reporting the validation of codes related to COPD diagnoses in healthcare databases.