The recommendation is based on the co-authors’ work organized by the RILEM TC 256-SPF “Spalling of concrete due to fire: testing and modelling”. The Committee has defined two types of screening tests for characterization of concrete propensity to fire spalling: Material screening tests and Product screening tests. Definitions of both types of tests are given in the paper. The following recommendat

Interdependent critical infrastructure systems represent substantial financial investments and are vital to maintain a fundamental level of social and economic well-being, making them attractive targets for malevolent actors. Many of these infrastructure systems carry multiple products, each with unique needs and importance to different stakeholders. This work extends a tri-level protection-interd

Background: Apnea of prematurity is a common problem in preterm infants that may have significant consequences on their development. Methylxanthines (aminophylline, theophylline, and caffeine) are effective in the treatment of apnea of prematurity. Doxapram is used as a respiratory stimulant in cases refractory to the methylxanthine treatment. Objectives: To evaluate the benefits and harms of doxa

Heart failure (HF) and cancer are common diseases among the elderly population. Many chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), share risk factors and increase the incidence of HF and cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate if there was an association between HF and the prevalence of haematologic- and solid malignancies. Methods The study population was comprised of almost one mi

Due to its inherent structural fragility, the lung is regarded as one of the more difficult tissues to process for microscopic readouts. To add structural support for sectioning, pieces of lung tissue are commonly embedded in paraffin or OCT compound and cut with a microtome or cryostat, respectively. A more recent technique, known as precision-cut lung slices, adds structural support to fresh lun

Interacting systems of events may exhibit cascading behavior where events tend to be temporally clustered. While the cascades themselves may be obvious from the data, it is important to understand which states of the system trigger them. For this purpose, we propose a modeling framework based on continuous-time Bayesian networks (CTBNs) to analyze cascading behavior in complex systems. This framew

Tyrosinases belong to the type-III copper enzyme family, which is involved in melanin production in a wide range of organisms. Despite similar overall characteristics and functions, their structures, activities, substrate specificities and regulation vary. The tyrosinase from the bacterium Verrucomicrobium spinosum (vsTyr) is produced as a pre-pro-enzyme in which a C-terminal extension serves as a

For centuries, teaching classical instruments has exclusively relied on one-to-one tuition also when teaching young children. While this form of teaching has dominated Swedish Art and Music Schools (SAMS), lately there has been an increasing political, economic, and educational interest in group tuition. SAMS are publicly funded by the municipalities to be affordable also for children whose parent

Coprophobia considers faecal sludge (FS) as an unpleasing raw or partially digested faecal waste with no recycling value. However, this so-called waste is claimed to have tremendous recycling values after being pyrolyzed. This study hypothesised that char briquettes made from FS might have the potential of replacing charcoal consumption in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Quantitative methods were used to

Neurons with internal memory have been proposed for biological and bio-inspired neural networks, adding important functionality. We introduce an internal time-limited charge-based memory into a III-V nanowire (NW) based optoelectronic neural node circuit designed for handling optical signals in a neural network. The new circuit can receive inhibiting and exciting light signals, store them, perform

Purpose To present the outcome of the interrupted iontophoresis-assisted treatment arm in an ongoing randomised clinical trial (NCT04427956). Methods A randomised clinical study of corneal cross-linking (CXL) using continuous UV-A irradiation at a rate of 9 mW/cm 2 and three different types of riboflavin and riboflavin delivery mode: (1) iso-osmolar dextran-based riboflavin (epithelium-off), (2) h

Aerobic ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) initiate synthesis of DNA building blocks by generating a free radical within the R2 subunit; the radical is subsequently shuttled to the catalytic R1 subunit through proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). We present a high-resolution room temperature structure of the class Ie R2 protein radical captured by x-ray free electron laser serial femtosecond cry

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL) before and 1 year after radical cystectomy in relation to age and gender. METHODS: This prospective study involves 112 men and 40 women with bladder cancer treated with radical cystectomy between 2015 and 2018. HRQoL was assessed preoperatively and 1 year post-surgery through Functional Assessment of Cancer

Objective B cell function and autoantibodies are important in SLE pathogenesis. In this work, we aimed to investigate the impact of cumulative SLE B cell genetics on SLE subphenotype and autoantibody profile. Methods Female patients with SLE (n=1248) and healthy controls (n=400) were genotyped using Illumina's Global Screening Array. Two polygenic risk scores (PRSs), one representing B cell genes

There is a serious imbalance between parking demand and capacity in cities due to limitations in their parking facilities. It is important for drivers to know about parking vacancies before their trips. Meanwhile, administrators need information about parking capacity and demand before a week begins to improve parking management. A method is proposed here for predicting parking demand and capacity

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are tightly controlled to maintain a balance between blood cell production and self-renewal. While inflammation-related signaling is a critical regulator of HSC activity, the underlying mechanisms and the precise functions of specific factors under steady-state and stress conditions remain incompletely understood. We investigated the role of interferon regulatory fa

We prove near-optimal tradeoffs for quantifier depth (also called quantifier rank) versus number of variables in first-order logic by exhibiting pairs of n-element structures that can be distinguished by a k-variable first-order sentence but where every such sentence requires quantifier depth at least nω (k/log k). Our tradeoffs also apply to first-order counting logic and, by the known connection

This review summarises the presentations during a workshop session entitled “The Use of Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Activators to Treat Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Obstruction and Fibrosis – Mechanistic Concepts and Clinical Implications” at the International Continence Society (ICS) 2021 Melbourne Virtual meeting. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a highly prevalent condition that can result