EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES As a result of reading this article, physicians should be able to: 1. Understand the forces that predispose adjacent cervical segments to degeneration. 2. Understand the challenges of radiographic evaluation in the diagnosis of cervical and lumbar adjacent segment disease. 3. Describe the changes in biomechanical forces applied to adjacent segments of lumbar vertebrae wit...

Adjacent segment disease (ASD) is defined as degeneration that develops at mobile segments above or below a fused spinal segment and usually develops after spinal fusion or other back surgeries. Nearly 5 decades ago, the medical findings related to ASD were usually released in case reports as a relatively unusual complication of lumbar or lumbosacral fusions. Since the initial reports, ASD has ...

An integrated seismic monitoring system with a total of 55 channels of accelerometers is now operating at and in the nearby free-field site of the 20-story steel-framed Atwood Building, in highly seismic Anchorage, Alaska. The building has a single-story basement and a reinforced-concrete foundation without piles. The monitoring system comprises a 32-channel structural and a 21channel site arra...

High-rise buildings subjected to lateral loads such as wind and earthquake loads must be checked not to exceed the limits on the maximum lateral displacement or the maximum inter-story drift ratios. In this paper, a sensing model for deformed shapes of a building structure in motion is presented. The deformed shape sensing model based on a 2D scanner consists of five modules: (1) module for acq...

Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), are a fast-growing urban pest of significant public health importance in the United States and many other countries. Yet, there is very little field research on the ecology of this pest due to its near absence in the United States and most developed nations for several decades. We investigated characteristics of the bed bug infestation and ...

Risk assessment procedures for underground projects form a key component of preconstruction efforts since resulting ground movements may cause damage to adjacent structures. Particularly for urban tunnelling works, surface settlements may impinge on a vast number of structures and can result in significant lawsuits if appropriate building protection measures are not implemented. Although the un...

In Bhopal, the widespread occurrences of cracking due to alternate swelling and shrinking in lightly loaded structures provided with traditional foundation like the strip footings in are covered by swelling soil. It is likely that foundation movements, due to shrinkage and swelling of expansive soil as a result of moisture content changes are responsible for more damage to building than any oth...

Improper natural ventilation practices may deteriorate indoor air quality when in close proximity to roadways, although the intention is often to reduce energy consumption. In this study, we employed a CFD-based air quality model to quantify the impact of traffic-related air pollution on the indoor air quality of a naturally ventilated building. Our study found that the building envelope restri...