Condition Assessment of August A. Busch Bridge Deck Using Portable Seismic Property Analyzer and Ground Penetrating Radar

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) and the portable seismic property analyzer (PSPA) have been extensively used in the past two decades for monitoring, quantifying, and mapping the deterioration of bridge decks. Using PSPA and GPR ensures regular monitoring of bridge conditions, leads to the early detection of deterioration. This research is to address the condition of August A. Busch bridge deck owned by the Missouri Department of Conservation. Visual inspection, GPR, and PSPA data were acquired on the bridge deck. Over 90% of the bridge deck was in fair to good condition with an average compressive strength of over 2500 psi. GPR data showed no indication of significant deterioration. The overall bridge deck was determined to be in fair to good condition.

Comparison of corneal biomechanical properties in normal tension glaucoma patients with different visual field progression speed

AIM：To compare the corneal biomechanical properties difference by ocular response analyzer（ORA） in normal tension glaucoma（NTG） patients with different visual field（VF） progression speed. METHODS：NTG patients with well-controlled Goldmann applanation tonometer（GAT） who routinely consulted Kitasato University Hospital Glaucoma Department between January 2010 and February 2014 were enrolled.GAT and ORA parameters including corneal compensated intraocular pressure（lOPcc）,Goldmann estimated intraocular pressure（lOPg）,corneal hysteresis（CH）,corneal resistance factor（CRF） were recorded.VF was tested by Swedish interactive threshold algorithm（SITA）-standard 30-2 fields.All patients underwent VF measurement regularly and GAT did not exceed 15 mm Hg at any time during the 3y follow up.Patients were divided into four groups according to VF change over 3y,and ORA findings were compared between the upper 25th percentile group（slow progression group） and the lower 25th percentile group（rapid progression group）.RESULTS：Eighty-two eyes of 56 patients were studied.There were 21 eyes（21 patients） each in rapid and slow progression groups respectively.GAT,lOPcc,lOPg,CH,CRF were 12.1＋1.4 mm Hg,15.8±1.8 mm Hg,12.8±2.0 mm Hg,8.4±1.1 mm Hg,7.9±1.3 mm Hg respectively in rapid progression group and 11.5±1.3 mm Hg,13.5±2.1 mm Hg,11.2±1.6 mm Hg,9.3±1.1 mm Hg,8.2±0.9 mm Hg respectively in slow progression group（P=0.214,〈0.001,0.007,0.017,0.413,respectively）.In bivariate correlation analysis,lOPcc,lOPcc-GAT and CH were significant correlated with m△MD（r =-0.292,-0.312,0.228 respectively,P =0.008,0.004,0.039 respectively）.CONCLUSION：Relatively rapid VF progression occurred in NTG patients whose lOPcc are rather high,CH are rather low and the difference between lOPcc and GAT are relatively large.Higher lOPcc and lower CH are associated with VF progression in NTG patients.This study suggests that GAT measures might underestimate the IOP in such patients.

A study of the strong pulses detected from PSR B0656+14 using the Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540 MHz

We report on the properties of strong pulses from PSR B0656＋14 by analyzing the data obtained using the Urumqi 25-m radio telescope at 1540 MHz from August 2007 to September 2010.In 44 h of observational data,a total of 67 pulses with signal-to-noise ratios above a 5σthreshold were detected.The peak flux densities of these pulses are 58 to 194 times that of the average profile,and their pulse energies are 3 to 68 times that of the average pulse.These pulses are clustered around phases about 5-ahead of the peak of the average profile.Compared with the width of the average profile,they are relatively narrow,with the full widths at half-maximum ranging from 0.28 ° to 1.78 °.The distribution of pulse-energies follows a lognormal distribution.These sporadic strong pulses detected from PSR B0656＋14 have different characteristics from both typical giant pulses and its regular pulses.