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Discussion of: Foundation design for gravity retaining walls under earthquake by M. J. Pender
No full textThe discussers read the paper by Pender (2018) with great
interest. The author addresses the important issue of computing the pseudostatic critical acceleration of gravity/cantilever
retaining walls, corresponding to which a plastic mechanism is
activated within the soil–structure system and the wall starts
to move under the applied earthquake. In fact, the critical
acceleration is the key ingredient for the seismic design of
these structures, controlling both the maximum internal
forces and the final displacement (Conti and Caputo, 2018;
Conti et al., 2013)
Environmental indicators for the urban environment : a literature review
No full textA vast body of literature exists on the genesis and evolution of environmental indicators of all varieties. This document attempts to track the somewhat complicated progress of urban environmental indicators, where they are in usage and to what avail. It also emphasises the search to narrow down the range of 'ideal' indicators. The literature suggests that as experience and practice with indicators grows both in Ireland and world-wide the key set of urban environmental indicators can help policy makers and the public track sustainability issues more effectively. Indicators thus have a valuable role to play in the future of sustainable planning for urban areas.European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Environmental Services 1994-199
A Longitudinal Study of the Evolution of Neuropsychological Change in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: The Incidence, Nature and Progression of Language Impairment.
No full textBackground: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a multi-system disease that also affects cognition and behaviour. Cognitive change in ALS manifests most commonly as executive dysfunction. Although changes in language function have been described, these have not been investigated within a large population-based sample of incident cases.
Objective: To investigate the existence of different neuropsychological phenotypes within the ALS disease spectrum, with a special focus on language function.
Method: A large incident population-based ALS sample was recruited. An observational, prospective, case-control design was employed, with complementary cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.
Results: The population-based incidence of ALS frontotemporal syndromes in our sample was as follows: 9% presented with single cognitive impairment, 18% with single behavioural impairment, 15% with both cognitive and behavioural impairment, 13% with comorbid FTD, and 33% with preserved cognitive function and behaviour. Incident language deficits were confined to the domains of word retrieval, orthographic lexical processing and syntactic/grammatical processing. Phonological lexical processing as well as semantic processing were spared at early stages in ALS. Language change was associated with executive dysfunction to a degree, although pure deficits of linguistic nature were observed. A more aggressive disease phenotype was identified, which was characterised by more generalised cognitive presentations including executive dysfunction and language impairment along with behavioural change, as well as by a more rapid progression of motor symptoms and shorter survival. In contrast, a more pure motor phenotype characterised by slower functional decline and no behavioural or cognitive deficits was also observed. The C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion was related to a more extensive propagation of ALS pathology also affecting cognition and behaviour, whereas sporadic ALS patients more frequently presented with less aggressive forms of disease.
Conclusions: These findings support the current conceptualization that the neuropsychological profile in ALS falls along a spectrum of frontotemporal involvement, with distinct disease phenotypes representing varying patterns of disease spread. Neuropsychological status in ALS is therefore an important disease marker with significant implications for disease management and prognosis
Metacognitive and online error awareness deficits after prefrontal cortex lesions
No full textAwareness of deficits after brain injury represents a significant clinical and theoretical challenge, but relatively little is known about the neuroanatomical correlates of specific types of deficit awareness. We examined the awareness correlates of left versus right prefrontal cortex lesions in comparison to left and right posterior lesions including two types of awareness measures?metacognitive and online error monitoring. Frontal lobe frontal lesion patients exhibited impaired metacognitive awareness and also showed deficits in monitoring errors as they occurred. In addition, frontal lobe lesion patients also showed reduced autonomic response to aware errors. Online and metacognitive awareness were not, however, significantly correlated, suggesting that distinct neuroanatomical systems may underpin these two types of awareness deficit. We hypothesize that while metacognitive awareness depends on both left and right frontal regions, accurate moment-to-moment processing of errors depends more on the right than on the left prefrontal cortex
ALS-specific cognitive and behavior changes associated with advancing disease stage in ALS
No full textObjective: To elucidate the relationship between disease stage in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as measured with the King\u27s Clinical Staging System, and cognitive and behavioral change, measured with the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural ALS Screen (ECAS).
Methods: A large multicenter observational cohort of 161 cross-sectional patients with ALS and 80 healthy matched controls were recruited across 3 research sites (Dublin, Edinburgh, and London). Participants were administered the ECAS and categorized into independent groups based on their King\u27s clinical disease stage at time of testing.
Results: Significant differences were observed between patients and controls on all subtests of the ECAS except for visuospatial functioning. A significant cross-sectional effect was observed across disease stages for ALS-specific functions (executive, language, letter fluency) and ECAS total score but not for ALS-nonspecific functions (memory, visuospatial). Rates of ALS-specific impairment and behavioral change were also related to disease stage. The relationship between cognitive function and disease stage may be due to letter fluency impairment, whereas higher rates of all behavioral domains were seen in later King\u27s stage. The presence of bulbar signs, but not site of onset, was significantly related to ALS-specific, ECAS total, and behavioral scores.
Conclusion: ALS-specific cognitive deficits and behavioral impairment are more frequent with more severe disease stage. By end-stage disease, only a small percentage of patients are free of neuropsychological impairment. The presence of bulbar symptoms exaggerates the differences observed between disease stages. These findings suggest that cognitive and behavioral change should be incorporated into ALS diagnostic criteria and should be included in future staging systems
Functional connectivity changes in resting-state EEG as potential biomarker for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
No full textBackground
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is heterogeneous and overlaps with frontotemporal dementia. Spectral EEG can predict damage in structural and functional networks in frontotemporal dementia but has never been applied to ALS.
Methods
18 incident ALS patients with normal cognition and 17 age matched controls underwent 128 channel EEG and neuropsychology assessment. The EEG data was analyzed using FieldTrip software in MATLAB to calculate simple connectivity measures and scalp network measures. sLORETA was used in nodal analysis for source localization and same methods were applied as above to calculate nodal network measures. Graph theory measures were used to assess network integrity.
Results
Cross spectral density in alpha band was higher in patients. In ALS patients, increased degree values of the network nodes was noted in the central and frontal regions in the theta band across seven of the different connectivity maps (p<0.0005). Among patients, clustering coefficient in alpha and gamma bands was increased in all regions of the scalp and connectivity were significantly increased (p=0.02). Nodal network showed increased assortativity in alpha band in the patients group. The Clustering Coefficient in Partial Directed Connectivity (PDC) showed significantly higher values for patients in alpha, beta, gamma, theta and delta frequencies (p=0.05).
Discussion
There is increased connectivity in the fronto-central regions of the scalp and areas corresponding to Salience and Default Mode network in ALS, suggesting a pathologic disruption of neuronal networking in early disease states. Spectral EEG has potential utility as a biomarker in ALS
The organizational effectiveness assessments of a for-profit organization from the perspectives of its internal constituencies: a multiple constituency analysis of New Leaf Distributing Company, 1996
No full textBank Panics, Golden Grains, and Gold Standards: Essays on North American Macroeconomic History
No full textThis dissertation is the culmination of three research projects on North American Macroeconomic History. The first two Chapters analyze the effects of deflation on the financial sector and the real economy. Chapter 1 looks at the U.S. experience between 1868 and 1913, and Chapter 2 looks at the Canadian experience between 1867 and 1913. The 3rd Chapter also looks at Canada between 1876 and 1913, but instead of inflation, it examines the "Wheat Boom" and attempts to gain a new understanding of its nature, cause, and scale. Chapter 3 also offers a preliminary discussion on how the Wheat Boom is related to the historical mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Combined, these three works used a mixture of econometric techniques, data analysis, analytic narrative, and a little bit of modeling, to better understand North America's economic history pre-1913
Plan showing Provincial Government property in the subdivisions of Lots 933 and 934, Group 1, Cariboo District, South Fort George, British Columbia to be offered for sale at public auction.
No full textScale [ca. 1:4800] 400 ft. to 1 in. Sales will be held at Vancouver, B.C., on May 19th, 20th and 21st, 1914; Victoria, B.C., on May 26th and 27th, 1914; Fort George, B.C., on June 9th, 10th and 11th, 1914. The sale in Vancouver will be held in the Dominion Hall, Pender Street, W
Plan showing Provincial Government property in the subdivisions of Lots 343, 936, 937, 938 and 1429, Group 1, Cariboo District, British Columbia : Fort George and Prince George, British Columbia.
No full textScale [ca. 1:4800] 400 ft. to 1 in. To be offered for sale at public auction. Sales will be held at Vancouver, B.C., on May 19th, 20th and 21st, 1914; Victoria, B.C., on May 26th and 27th, 1914; Fort George, B.C., on June 9th, 10th and 11th, 1914. The sale in Vancouver will be held in the Dominion Hall, Pender Street, W
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