Penn Associates

Abstract In this study, the Icy Springs Bridge, located in Coalville, Utah, was load-tested to quantify the effects of significant deterioration on its live-load behavior. Visual inspection and load...

Leiomyosarcoma is a rare neoplasm of the head and neck. The purpose of this study was to present our single-institution case series of head and neck leiomyosarcoma and a review of cases in the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB). Patients with head and neck leiomyosarcoma at the University of Pennsylvania and in the NCDB were identified. Demographic characteristics, tumor factors, treatment paradigms, and outcomes were evaluated for prognostic significance. Nine patients with head and neck leiomyosarcoma from the institution were identified; a majority had high-grade disease and cutaneous leiomyosarcoma, with a 5-year survival rate of 50%. Two hundred fifty-nine patients with leiomyosarcoma were found in the NCDB; macroscopic positive margins and high-grade disease were associated with poor prognosis (P < .01), and positive surgical margins were related to adjuvant radiation (P < .001). Head and neck leiomyosarcoma presents at a high grade and is preferentially treated with surgery. Several demographic and tumor-specific factors are associated with outcomes and prognosis.

The objectives of this paper are to experimentally study the in-plane behavior of fully grouted (FG) reinforced concrete masonry shear walls, explore the influence of different parameters, e.g. size of specimen and aspect ratio, on the lateral resistance of such walls, assess the appropriateness of the existing analytical shear strength prediction methods, and determine the influence of mortar formulation in the behavior of such walls. To accomplish this, four fully-grouted Special Reinforced Masonry Shear Walls (SRMSW) were constructed based on the provisions of the Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) 2008 code and subjected to in-plane reversed cyclic displacements. Full-size/full-scale walls were chosen to better represent walls in real buildings, and were the largest walls tested to date. The experimental test variables included mortar formulation and unit type (concrete and clay). To aid in satisfying the objectives, current test walls are compared with 43 wall specimens which exhibited shear failure modes, and 15 wall specimens that exhibited flexural failure modes in the past research studies. The results of this study indicate that although the shear strength expression adopted by MSJC (2008) is conservative for most fully grouted reinforced masonry shear walls, this conservatism decreases as the size of the wall increases. For the two fully grouted reinforced clay block masonry shear walls tested in this research program, with reinforcement located at 1220 mm (48 in.) on center, it is found that the MSJC (2008) shear strength expression is unconservative, which shows a potential knowledge gap related to the behavior of such walls. Moreover, it was concluded that, despite minor influence on the type of failure and energy dissipation of the shear walls, mortar formulation does not impact the shear resistance of fully grouted reinforced masonry shear walls.

To extend previous research on obtaining designs that rely on a second-order inelastic hinge analysis to demonstrate that a structure is adequate in resisting the effects of factored loads, this paper presents a study of a series of two-story planar steel frames where all columns are subjected to combinations of axial force and minor-axis bending. Inelastic designs, which are prepared to satisfy both strength and serviceability limit states requirements, are compared to designs obtained using a conventional second-order elastic analysis in conjunction with the AISC LRFD Specification. The degree of accuracy and reliability of using a concentrated plasticity analysis to model system behavior is also established. The study indicates that for a majority of the frames investigated, a second-order inelastic hinge analysis can be used effectively to design steel structures. It is also shown that in some cases a distributed plasticity analysis may be required.