Publications

This study presents a methodology for developing hazard-consistent component-specific fragility functions for a system of interconnected industrial assets. The approach begins with the seismic hazard assessment of the area of interest carried out for an intensity measure that can be used as a practical yet reasonably accurate statistical predictor of the response of such assets to ground motions of different severity. The response is evaluated via nonlinear time history analyses with an ensemble of ground motions whose spectral content is consistent with the hazard assessed for the site. This methodology is applied to a hydrodesulphurisation unit of a crude oil refinery located in a high-seismicity industrial area of Greece. The exposure model and the unit assets’ models have already been presented in detail in the companion paper. The case study shows that even low-to-moderate intensity ground motions pose a non-negligible probability of damage to assets such as pumps, heat exchangers, high-temperature separators, liquid storage tanks, and piping system. The proposed methodology lays the groundwork for comprehensive system-level seismic risk and resilience assessment studies that evaluate the impact on refinery units or on the entire facility, as will be demonstrated in an upcoming dedicated study.

The aim of the study was to understand whether dietary fatty acids such as saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fatty acids act as inflammatory mediators or influence pro-coagulation in Saudi adults. The study sought to examine inflammatory factors such as C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and activated plasminogen activator inhibitor 1. A total number of 232 consenting Saudi adults, aged 18-60 years were randomly selected in this cross-sectional study. Independent Student t-test was done to compare means of normally distributed data. Spearman correlation between the variables was determined. The values of different fatty acids and adipokines were transformed logarithmically/square root to normalize data before correlations were determined and statistical analyses performed. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. The results show a significant positive correlation of dietary intake of poly and monounsaturated fatty acids, but not saturated fatty acids, with activated plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (r=0.31, p=0.02, r=0.32 p=0.04). On the other hand, dietary intake of saturated fatty acids showed a negative correlation with serum C-reactive protein levels (p=0.001) in males. Dietary unsaturated fatty acids is possibly associated with the production of a pro-coagulation factor without enhancing the secretion of pro-inflammatory molecules, while saturated fatty acids have no effect on activated plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, but their level is negatively associated with the inflammatory factor C-reactive protein. We conclude that dietary intake may exert a gender-specific effect in inflammatory processes among adults. Further studies are warranted to confirm present findings. 本研究目的是了解在沙烏地阿拉伯成人中，膳食脂肪酸的攝取，如：飽和、 多元不飽和以及單元不飽和脂肪酸，是否為發炎反應的調節物質或影響促凝 血。本研究檢測發炎因子像是C-反應蛋白、腫瘤壞死因子-α 和活化的Ⅰ型纖 溶酶原激活物抑制因子(aPAI-1)。在此橫斷面研究中，以隨機抽樣，總計232 位沙烏地阿拉伯成人參與，年齡介於18 到60 歲之間。以獨立Student t 檢定 比較常態分佈資料的平均值。使用斯皮爾曼係數來確定變項間的相關。進行 相關性測定之前，不同的脂肪酸和脂肪因子的數值先轉化成對數/平方根，將 數據常態化，便於統計分析。統計上的顯著設定為p 值小於0.05。研究結果 顯示，飲食攝取的多元和單元不飽和脂肪酸與aPAI-1 有顯著的正相關，但飽 和脂肪酸與其則無相關。另一方面，男性飲食攝取的飽和脂肪酸顯示與血清 中C-反應蛋白呈現負相關。膳食不飽和脂肪酸可能與產生促凝血因子而不增 加促發炎因子的分泌有關；雖然飽和脂肪酸對aPAI-1 沒有影響，但與發炎因 子C-反應蛋白呈現負相關。結論是，飲食攝取脂肪酸在成年男、女性中對發 炎過程的影響可能有別。需要未來進一步的研究確認目前的研究結果。

This paper presents uniform risk spectra for negative stiffness systems that do not exhibit hysteretic damping, named Negative Stiffness Bilinear Elastic (NSBE) systems.The NSBE oscillator can be used to describe the dynamics of deformable rocking systems with or without restraining systems flexible enough to lead to an overall negative stiffness.It can also be used to describe rocking systems equipped with curved extensions at their base.It has been shown that the response of an NSBE system can be well predicted using the response of a Zero Stiffness Bilinear Elastic (ZSBE) system, which is a bilinear system of constant restoring force.The ZSBE system is a single parameter system; therefore it is simple to construct design spectra for it.For a wide range of ZSBE system strength values, this paper employs Incremental Dynamic Analysis using 105 ordinary (non-pulse-like, non-long-duration) ground motions to obtain the fragility functions for predefined limit-states of the ZSBE seismic response.Fragility functions per limit-state are convolved with the seismic hazard to compute the Mean Annual Frequency of exceedance (MAF).For this study, the seismic hazard curve for a site at Athens Greece is used as it is obtained via probabilistic seismic hazard analysis.Finally, uniform risk spectra per limit-state are obtained by computing the MAF for all the ZSBE oscillators.These spectra can be used for the design of NSBE systems, including rocking oscillators.

Section:ChooseTop of pageAbstract <<Materials and MethodsResultsDiscussionReferencesCITING ARTICLES

Peripherally-administered cholecystokinin (CCK) is a profound suppressor of food intake, can promote anxiety, and causes the acute release of ACTH into plasma. Centrally administered corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), on the other hand, not only represents the principal stimulus to the pituitary corticotroph cell, but also has been shown to suppress appetite and to be profoundly anxiogenic. Because of the overlap in the effects of peripherally administered CCK and of centrally administered CRH, we report here a study to determine whether sulphated CCK octapeptide (CCK-8) could induce the release of CRH within the central nervous system. To accomplish this task, we first assessed the dose-related effects of CCK-8 on ACTH release. Graded doses of CCK-8 (0.1-10 micrograms/kg BW) given in an i.v. bolus to freely moving male rats, resulted in a dose-dependent increase of plasma immunoreactive (IR)-ACTH (ED50: 1-10 micrograms/kg BW). The lowest maximal stimulatory dose of CCK-8 (5 micrograms/kg BW) was used in all subsequent experiments. To evaluate whether CCK-induced ACTH secretion was mediated by a peripheral CCK receptor, an i.v. bolus injection of vehicle or L-364,718 (1 mg/kg BW), a specific, highly potent peripheral CCK receptor antagonist, was given before the i.v. administration of CCK-8 or vehicle. Plasma IR-ACTH response to CCK-8 was significantly attenuated by L-364,718. A role for the vagal afferents that contain CCK receptors in peripherally administered CCK-mediated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation was examined in animals that had been pretreated with capsaicin, a potent neurotoxin that destroys vagal afferents. Plasma IR-ACTH and IR-corticosterone responses in capsaicin-treated animals were significantly lower than those in vehicle treated rats. In subsequent in vivo experiments, pituitary stalk-transected and sham-operated animals were used to evaluate whether CCK-8 stimulates the HPA axis via a centrally mediated mechanism. IR-ACTH and IR-corticosterone responses to i.v. CCK-8 were significantly reduced in the pituitary stalk-transected compared to sham-operated animals. In further effort to determine whether the central nervous system was involved in the plasma IR-ACTH response to the peripheral administration of i.v. CCK-8, we compared the effects of the i.v. administration of CRH antisera vs. normal rabbit serum on this parameter. IR-ACTH and IR-corticosterone responses to i.v. CCK-8 were significantly reduced in the context of pretreatment with CRH antisera compared to the administration of normal rabbit serum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

There is an increasing focus on lifestyle as a factor in the pathogenesis of mental health disorders; however, this has been relatively underexplored in child populations. This study aimed to assess the relationships between behavioural lifestyle factors and emotional functioning in a large, population-representative sample of schoolchildren in Greece. A representative sample of 2,240 schoolchildren, aged 9–13 years, participated in the Healthy Growth Study during 2007–2010. Emotional functioning was measured using the Dartmouth COOP Functional Health Assessment charts/World Organization of Family Doctors Charts. A score of 3 or higher out of 5 indicated poorer emotional functioning. Participants self-reported dietary intake via three 24-h dietary recalls; fruit, vegetable and soft drink consumption were the dietary variables of interest. Participants' self-reported daily time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity, and watching TV or playing video games were used to assess physical activity and sedentary behaviour. In fully adjusted models, females were at a greater risk of experiencing impaired emotional functioning compared to males (OR 1.76, 95%CI 1.44, 2.15, p < 0.01). Overweight/obesity compared to normal body weight (OR 1.52, 95%CI 1.31, 1.77, p < 0.01) was associated with poorer emotional functioning. Three hours or more of daily average physical activity compared to less than one hour (OR 0.59, 95%CI 0.40, 0.86, p < 0.01) was associated with improved emotional functioning. Consuming soft drinks compared to non-consumption (OR 1.24, 95%CI 1.02, 1.51) was associated with poorer emotional functioning; this became non-significant after corrections for multiple comparisons were made. Clustering of municipalities was accounted for in all models. Whilst findings were cross-sectional and causality cannot be inferred, this study highlights the interdependence of emotional and physical functioning in schoolchildren. This points to the potential for targeting shared risk factors for both physical chronic diseases and emotional and mental health conditions among children. Further longitudinal evidence will identify the potential for such shared intervention targets. Adopting a comprehensive, integrated approach to children's emotional, mental, and physical health is warranted.