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Objective: To determine whether the rates of readmissions and suicide vary in psychotic unipolar depression based on whether patients receive maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (M‐ECT) following the initial series of ECT, and to examine if there is an age‐dependent association. Methods: We used Swedish national registries to identify hospitalized patients with psychotic unipolar depression, treated 2008–2019 who received ECT during their hospital stay. The patients who received subsequent M‐ECT within 14 days after discharge were compared with those who did not. The primary composite outcome was time to readmission due to a psychiatric disorder, suicide attempt, or suicide within 2 years from discharge. Data were analyzed using Cox regression adjusted for previous psychiatric admissions, age, sex, comorbidity, and pharmacological treatment. We also conducted a within‐individual analysis using the sign‐test, with patients having ≥1 hospital episode followed by M‐ECT and ≥1 hospital episode without M‐ECT. Results: A total of 1873 patients were included, of which 130 received M‐ECT. There was no statistically significant group difference regarding the primary outcome in the whole sample. However, when stratified by age, there was a significant difference in favor of M‐ECT for patients >65 years (adjusted hazard ratio 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.35–0.87). The within‐individual analysis, including 46 patients, significantly favored M‐ECT. Conclusion: M‐ECT was not associated with a differential risk of the composite of readmission and suicide in psychotic depression. Among patients >65 years, M‐ECT was significantly associated with a decreased risk of the outcome. The possibility of residual confounding cannot be excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbal working memory (vWM) is an essential limited‐capacity cognitive system that spans the fronto‐parietal network and utilizes the subprocesses of encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. With the recent widespread use of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, multiple recent studies have examined whether such stimulation may enhance cognitive abilities such as vWM, but the findings to date remain unclear in terms of both behavior and critical brain regions. In the current study, we applied high‐definition direct current stimulation to the left and right parietal cortices of 39 healthy adults in three separate sessions (left anodal, right anodal, and sham). Following stimulation, participants completed a vWM task during high‐density magnetoencephalography (MEG). Significant neural responses at the sensor‐level were imaged using a beamformer and whole‐brain ANOVAs were used to identify the specific neuromodulatory effects of the stimulation conditions on neural responses serving distinct phases of vWM. We found that right stimulation had a faciliatory effect relative to left stimulation and sham on theta oscillations during encoding in the right inferior frontal, while the opposite pattern was observed for left supramarginal regions. Stimulation also had a faciliatory effect on theta in occipital regions and alpha in temporal regions regardless of the laterality of stimulation. In summary, our data suggest that parietal HD‐tDCS both facilitates and interferes with neural responses underlying both the encoding and maintenance phases of vWM. Future studies are warranted to determine whether specific tDCS parameters can be tuned to accentuate the facilitation responses and attenuate the interfering aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the most common indolent non‐Hodgkin lymphoma subtype, accounting for 15–20% of all lymphoma diagnoses. Although typically slow‐growing and responsive to frontline therapies, advanced‐stage FL remains incurable with current treatments and typically follows a chronic relapsing/remitting course with increasingly shorter responses to subsequent lines of therapy. Outcomes are highly variable; some patients experience prolonged first remissions that may approximate a 'functional cure'. By contrast, a significant minority of patients experience disease progression shortly after frontline treatment resulting in high rates of lymphoma‐related mortality. Reflecting on the heterogeneous natural history of FL, clinical practice varies widely, particularly in controversial areas, including appropriate disease staging, selection of management strategies and duration of clinical follow‐up. This position statement presents an evidence‐based synthesis of the literature for application in Australasian practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometric process has been widely studied in various disciplines and applied in reliability, maintenance and warranty cost analysis, among others. In its applications in maintenance policy optimisation, the geometric process assumes constant repair effectiveness by its process rate. Nevertheless, in practice, maintenance effectiveness may differ from time to time and can therefore be better depicted by a random variable. Motivated by this argument, this paper proposes a new variant of the geometric process, which is referred to as the rate randomized geometric process (RRGP). The probabilistic properties of the RRGP are then investigated. The maximum likelihood method is utilised to estimate the parameters of the RRGP. Numerical examples are given to show its applicability in both maintenance policy optimization and fitting real‐world failure datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary URBAN is a multicentric, ambispective study evaluating the effectiveness and safety of obinutuzumab‐based immuno‐chemotherapy and maintenance in patients with untreated advanced follicular lymphoma (FL). The study began before the COVID‐19 emergency declaration in Italy. It is currently ongoing for follow‐up, and the enrolment timeline encompassed different stages of the pandemic, various vaccination roll‐out phases and prevalence of SARS‐CoV‐2 variants. Outcomes of interest of the present sub‐analysis included SARS‐CoV‐2 infection rates and COVID‐19‐related hospitalizations/deaths. At data cut‐off, 86 (28.8%) and 213 patients (71.2%) were treated before and during/after the COVID‐19 outbreak respectively; 294 (98.3%) completed the induction, 31 (10.4%) completed maintenance and 170 (56.9%) were still on maintenance. Overall, 245 patients (81.9%) received at least one SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine dose: 13.5%, 31.4% and 55.1% received one, two and three doses respectively. We observed a substantial decrease in COVID‐19‐related mortality rates in pre‐ versus post‐vaccination phases, along with a reduction in COVID‐19‐related outcomes due to the shift from alpha/delta to omicron variant predominance. No differences emerged between patients given maintenance or not, although the schedule was modified in 65% of cases. To our knowledge, URBAN represents the largest dataset of COVID‐19‐related outcomes in FL patients extensively exposed to obinutuzumab. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04034056. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beaver‐based restoration techniques seek to assist with the recovery of stream systems that have been damaged, degraded, or destroyed. In addition to reintroducing beaver, restoration practitioners have sought to mimic the influence of beaver dams on stream processes by building beaver dam analogs (BDAs). Stream restoration has been criticized for a lack of extended monitoring and a dearth of empirical evidence for the efficacy of BDAs. Here, we extend early and previously reported 1‐ to 2‐year monitoring of five BDAs on a low‐gradient stream lacking woody riparian vegetation to 3–6 years, depending on the parameter examined. BDAs raised groundwater near the stream and did not affect water temperatures during the duration of monitoring. Consistent with elevated groundwater levels, riparian willow cuttings grew 2.8–9.6 times more when planted near BDAs than far from BDAs, which was more than the 1.3‐ to 1.4‐fold difference after the first growing season. In contrast, a short‐term association between BDAs and willow survival disappeared in the long term. Likewise, sediment aggradation above the upstream BDA 1 year after construction reversed completely 4 years later, probably due to structural damage during high flows that could not be repaired until flows abated. Annual peak flow levels explained over 80% of the variation in the number of structures requiring annual repair. Our results suggest that BDA‐based restoration should account for both the costs of structure maintenance during project planning and the importance of long‐term monitoring during project assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex geological conditions in tunnels pose a huge challenge to the reliability of tunnel boring machine (TBM). However, existing reliability studies typically focus on core structures such as cutters and cutterheads, with less consideration given to the rest of the components that frequently fail. In this study, the reliability analysis and dynamic evaluation of TBM components with high failure rates are carried out relying on the Shanxi Central Yellow River Diversion Project. The life distribution and reliability variation characteristics of TBM components under different rock mass classes are investigated in terms of tunnelling time and tunnelling distance as two types of life data indexes. And the life index which is more suitable for the reliability evaluation of TBM components is identified by comparison. On this basis, a dynamic evaluation method for the reliability of TBM components under the condition of multi‐classes surrounding rock is proposed. This method can quickly evaluate the current reliability of TBM components and serve as the basis for preventive maintenance. The results of this study play a certain role in supplementing the reliability research of TBM and also provide a scientific basis for optimizing the design and maintenance strategy of TBM components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel maintenance policy for a two‐component warm standby system with multiple standby states is presented in this paper. Two standby states, that is, cold and warm standby, for components in the system are considered. Components can realize the transition from the cold standby to the warm standby state by periodic switching, intended to shorten recovery time and save system operating costs. Preventive maintenance (PM) and preventive switching (PS) of components are considered. In the PS strategy, the standby component can switch before the operating component fails. In addition, additional standby failure modes based on idle time are studied. Derive the long‐term average cost of the system through the semi‐regenerative process. A numerical example eventually verifies the feasibility of this paper's proposed maintenance and switching strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintenance activities are used to sustain the reliability of physical industrial assets. However, studies indicate that some of the most devastating industrial accidents are attributable to poor safety perceptions of maintenance workers, especially during major overhauls, outages, shutdowns or turnarounds (MoOSTs). Typical MoOSTs involve the harmonisation of regular maintenance endeavours on a large scale, which in turn heighten risks of accidents and costs. Furthermore, MoOSTs are performed over short durations thereby necessitating parallel high‐risk activities by different organisations that have different perceptions of safety and possess different safety cultures. Understanding safety climate can immensely benefit MoOSTs organisations by improving the understanding of attitudes and perceptions that alleviate workplace incidents. This study aimed to establish safety climate that would boost safety culture and positively impact perceived safety performance during MoOSTs. Safety climate questionnaire survey was deployed to MoOSTs workers of leading cement plants in Nigeria. Through exploratory factor analysis, three underlying safety climate factors were identified, which helped to determine that factors such as ‛training and learning from incidents', ‛commitment of senior management towards ensuring safety and its protocol development process' and ‛effectiveness of incident reporting systems during MoOSTs' were significant predictors of workers' perceptions of safety performance. The findings also pointed out that the inter‐relationship between perceived safety performance, MoOSTs safety training and organisational commitment were positively correlated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New DGZfP guideline B14: Quantification of chloride in concrete using LIBS In the maintenance of reinforced concrete structures, the chloride content in the concrete is an important parameter in determining suitable repair measures. Established methods to date are based on wet chemical analysis of concrete samples; drill flour or ground segments of drill cores. These methods provide one chloride content per depth segment, which is associated with a strong homogenisation of the sample, resulting in a loss of details of the chloride differences in the range of a few millimetres. An alternative method is the laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which not only enables the quantitative, spatially resolved determination of the chloride content in relation to the cement mass, but also provides detailed information on the distribution of many other chemical elements simultaneously. Usually the spatial resolution is in the range of a few millimetres but can be increased to 0.1 mm or smaller if needed. The new guideline B14 "Quantification of chloride in concrete using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)" of the German Society for Non‐Destructive Testing (DGZfP) regulates and standardises for the first time the procedure to ensure a reliable and reproducible determination of chloride contents using LIBS. This article introduces the guideline and illustrates the potential of LIBS for issues in concrete maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a replication of Daly and K. Dounavi (2020), the researchers evaluated the effect of foreign tact and bidirectional intraverbal teaching on the emergence of untaught relations. Three university students learned three stimulus sets through three types of teaching: native‐foreign intraverbal teaching (vocalizing Spanish words that refer to a Japanese textual stimulus), foreign‐native intraverbal teaching (reversed relation of native‐foreign condition), and foreign‐tact teaching (tacting a picture in Spanish). The researchers used an adapted alternating‐treatments design to assess the differential effect of each teaching condition on the emergence of untaught relations in a foreign language and collected data on response maintenance. The results replicated previous findings that native‐foreign intraverbal and foreign‐tact teachings were more effective than foreign‐native intraverbal teaching despite previous reporting that the maintenance outcomes may be a result of carryover effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software maintenance is a challenging and laborious software management activity, especially for open‐source software. The bugs reports of such software allow tracking maintenance activities and were used in several empirical studies to better predict the bug resolution effort. These reports are known for their large size and contain nonrelevant instances that need to be preprocessed to be suitable for use. To this end, instance selection (IS) has been proposed in the literature as a way to reduce the size of the datasets, while keeping the relevant instances. The objective of this study is to perform an empirical study that investigates the impact of data preprocessing through IS on the performance of bug resolution prediction classifiers. To deal with this, four IS algorithms, namely, edited nearest neighbor (ENN), repeated ENN, all‐k nearest neighbors, and model class selection, are applied on five large datasets, together with five machine learning techniques. Overall, 125 experiments were performed and compared. The findings of this study highlight the positive impact of IS in providing better estimates for bug resolution prediction classifiers, in particular using repeated ENN and ENN algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maintenance of speech outcomes following speech‐language therapy (SLT) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is an unmet expectation of people with PD (PWPD) and poorly defined in SLT practice. PD Check‐In, a model for supported self‐managed maintenance of speech following Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) LOUD was investigated. Aims: To investigate the impact of the semi‐structured component of PD Check‐In on the adoption of self‐management concepts and behaviours and the identification of facilitators, barriers and strategies for speech maintenance by PWPD over 24 months post‐treatment. Methods and procedure: Following LSVT LOUD, 16 PWPD participated in individual PD Check‐In semi‐structured discussions with a SLT at 6 and 12 weeks, and 6, 12 and 24 months post treatment. A two‐stage qualitative content analysis was applied: directed content analysis using categories from the theoretical framework of PD Check‐In followed by inductive content analysis to identify subcategories. Outcomes and results: Statements from PWPD indicated adoption of seven concepts of self‐management across participants and across time. Six concepts from the theoretical framework of PD Check‐In (partnerships, self‐reflection, maintenance barriers and facilitators, revision of LSVT LOUD skill, goal setting and maintenance strategies), and one new category, participation, emerged from the analysis. Self‐reflection, maintenance facilitators and barriers and participation were most prevalent in discussions. PWPD identified facilitators, barriers and strategies for maintenance across time points. Conclusions and implications: Statements from PWPD indicated a positive impact of SLT‐supported self‐management of speech using self‐tailored strategies for sustainable maintenance according to their individual circumstances and needs. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject: People with Parkinson's disease (PWPD) have expressed their need for speech‐language therapy (SLT) services that are accessible for the duration of the condition and responsive to their expectation of maintaining speech following treatment. Outcomes for maintenance of the treatment effect following Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) LOUD are variable. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This study presents the outcomes of five PD Check‐In interventions delivered in semi‐structured discussions between PWPD and a SLT over 24 months following LSVT LOUD for the development of self‐management skills and behaviours. PWPD adopted self‐management positively using self‐tailored strategies for sustainable maintenance according to their individual circumstances and needs. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: PWPD responded positively to the individual development of self‐management skills and behaviours over time. Individuality and flexible responsivity are features of PD Check‐In which resonate with PWPD and speak to SLT supported self‐managed maintenance of speech as a long‐term model for PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep images can provide rich spatial structure information, which can effectively exclude the interference of illumination and road texture in road scene segmentation and make better use of the prior knowledge of road area. This paper first proposes a new cross‐modal feature maintenance and encouragement network. It includes a quantization statistics module as well as a maintenance and encouragement module for effective fusion between multimodal data. Meanwhile, for the problem that if the road segmentation is performed directly using a segmentation network, there will be a lack of supervised guidance with clear physical meaningful information and poor interpretability of learning features, this paper proposes two road segmentation models based on prior knowledge of deep image: disparity information and surface normal vector information. Then, a two‐branch neural network is used to process the colour image and the processed depth image separately, to achieve the full utilization of the complementary features of the two modalities. The experimental results on the KITTI road dataset and Cityscapes dataset show that the method in this paper has good road segmentation performance and high computational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates growth inhibitors for smart services driven by condition‐based maintenance (CBM). Despite the fast rise of Industry 4.0 technologies, such as smart sensoring, internet of things, and machine learning (ML), smart services have failed to keep pace. Combined, these technologies enable CBM to achieve the lean goal of high reliability and low waste for industrial equipment. Equipment located at customers throughout the world can be monitored and maintained by manufacturers and service providers, but so far industry uptake has been slow. The contributions of this study are twofold. First, it uncovers industry settings that impede the use of equipment failure data needed to train ML algorithms to predict failures and use these predictions to trigger maintenance. These empirical settings, drawn from four global machine equipment manufacturers, include either under‐ or over‐maintenance (i.e., either too much or too little periodic maintenance). Second, formal analysis of a system dynamics model based on these empirical settings reveals a sweet spot of industry settings in which such inhibitors are absent. Companies that fall outside this sweet spot need to follow specific transition paths to reach it. This research discusses these paths, from both a research and practice perspective. Highlights: Condition‐based maintenance (CBM)‐driven smart services have become technically much more feasible and affordable through the fast rise of Industry 4.0 technologies, such as smart sensoring, internet of things, and machine learning (ML), and yet such smart services have failed to keep pace with this rise.A key CBM‐specific complication for service growth is that, in order to reach high‐quality performance of such smart services, the ML‐algorithms that drive them need significant numbers of equipment failures to learn from.Such failure data may be hard to obtain for OEMs, either because certain components fail to often (and hence are replaced, making the failure data obsolete) or too rarely (making the time needed to collect failure data very long).Also, customers may be very much reliability focused (leading to much preventive maintenance and so few failures) or not sufficiently reliability focused (leading to much unmonitored corrective maintenance and low interest in advanced services such as CBM).The sweet spot for CBM smart services therefore lies somewhere in the middle, with both a fair amount of component failures and fairly strongly reliability‐oriented customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimated heritabilities and genetic and phenotypic correlation estimates for maintenance energy requirements (NEmR), residual feed intake (RFI), growth, carcass and reproductive indicator traits, using data from 41 feed efficiency trials in Brazil, comprising 4381 males and females. Continuous traits were analysed using a linear animal model and threshold traits were analysed using a threshold animal model. The heritability estimates were low for RFI (0.190) and NEmR (0.193); other heritabilities were mainly moderate (growth and carcass traits) or high (sexual precocity traits). The genetic correlation of RFI with NEmR was high (0.701). The genetic correlations of NEmR were low with carcass and reproductive traits, and moderate with growth traits. Thus, selection to improve weaning weight and female sexual precocity indicator traits would not affect maintenance energy requirement. Genetic selection to reduce maintenance energy requirements is feasible and would also reduce DMI and RFI. Selection to improve RFI can be used to identify animals with lower maintenance energy requirements. Long‐term selection to reduce RFI and NEmR would have favourable effects on yearling weight, carcass muscle indicator traits and female sexual precocity. Genetic (co)variance component estimates for NEmR, in conjunction with economic values of selection criteria, may be used to develop novel approaches for genetic selection to improve efficiency of beef production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean (Glycine max) is a typical short‐day plant, but has been widely cultivated in high‐latitude long‐day (LD) regions because of the development of early‐maturing genotypes which are photoperiod‐insensitive. However, some early‐maturing varieties exhibit significant responses to maturity under different daylengths but not for flowering, depicting an evident photoperiodic after‐effect, a poorly understood mechanism. In this study, we investigated the postflowering responses of 11 early‐maturing soybean varieties to various preflowering photoperiodic treatments. We confirmed that preflowering SD conditions greatly promoted maturity and other postflowering developmental stages. Soybean homologs of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), including GmFT2a, GmFT3a, GmFT3b and GmFT5a, were highly accumulated in leaves under preflowering SD treatment. More importantly, they maintained a high expression level after flowering even under LD conditions. E1 RNAi and GmFT2a overexpression lines showed extremely early maturity regardless of preflowering SD and LD treatments due to constitutively high levels of floral‐promoting GmFT homolog expression throughout their life cycle. Collectively, our data indicate that high and stable expression of floral‐promoting GmFT homologs play key roles in the maintenance of photoperiodic induction to promote postflowering reproductive development, which confers early‐maturing varieties with appropriate vegetative growth and shortened reproductive growth periods for adaptation to high latitudes. Summary statement: The photoperiodic after‐effect of early‐maturing soybean varieties is caused by the maintenance of high‐level expression of floral‐promoting GmFTs. This phenomenon indicates that maturity exhibits a stronger photoperiod sensitivity than flowering time, which ensures an appropriate vegetative growth and shortened reproductive growth of early‐maturing soybean varieties to adapt to high latitudes with significant changes in photoperiods from long day to short day in the growing season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To assess periodontal stability and the association between tooth‐ and patient‐related factors and tooth loss during supportive periodontal care (SPC). Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out on previously treated periodontitis patients followed up for 5 years in SPC. The risk profile (low, moderate, high) of each patient based on periodontal risk assessment (PRA) scoring at baseline was evaluated, and tooth loss rates were analysed. Results: Two hundred patients were included in the study, and 143 had 5‐year follow‐up data available for analysis. The overall annual tooth loss per patient was 0.07 ± 0.14 teeth/patient/year. Older age, smoking, staging and grading were associated with increased tooth loss rates. Most patients whose teeth were extracted belonged to the PRA high‐risk group. Both PRA and a tooth prognosis system used at baseline showed high negative predictive value but low positive predictive value for tooth loss during SPC. Conclusions: Overall, the tooth loss rate of periodontitis patients in this prospective cohort study under SPC in private practice was low. Both tooth‐based and patient‐based prognostic systems can identify high‐risk cases, but their positive predictive value should be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how a manufacturer can improve the robustness of an imperfect production system by implementing maintenance activities, which can be measured in terms of system reliability and product failure rate. A two‐dimensional maintenance policy comprising system reliability and the product defect rate is proposed to assess maintenance activity costs. The optimal thresholds of the two dimensions are analyzed to investigate the trade‐off between cost and system quality. A numerical example is provided to verify the proposed model's effectiveness. The results showed that the less stable the system, the greater the total costs incurred; therefore, lower stringent thresholds may be set to prevent frequent maintenance. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the essential parameters that significantly affect maintenance decisions. The results showed that the thresholds of the reliability function and defect rate significantly impact total costs. Any inaccurate assessment of system usage could lead to incorrect estimations and a substantial increase in cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phase‐type distribution is the distribution of time to absorption for an absorbing continuous‐time finite state Markov chain. The paper first reviews the extension of the phase‐type setting to modeling of competing risks by introducing multiple absorbing states. The main study of the paper is the further extension to introducing instantaneous transitions at certain stages of the original models. The motivation is from applications to repair and maintenance, bringing failed systems into working ones by instantaneous repair actions. Two slightly different approaches are studied. The first one is based on restarting the original Markov chain upon absorption, leading to the consideration of a Markov renewal process. The second approach involves periodically inspected systems, where maintenance actions are modeled by instantaneous transitions made at regular inspection times. For both approaches are suggested measures of reliability and maintenance based on long run properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The emergence of novel and efficient antibody maintenance approaches has provided more options for post‐induction treatment of advanced follicular lymphoma (FL), and further comparisons are required to determine the most clinically beneficial regimen. The authors conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis to evaluate the maintenance or consolidation strategy. Methods: The authors performed two independent searches in PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane library databases, Scopus, and Embase for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating maintenance or consolidation therapy in untreated FL patients. Extracted data included the clinical characteristics, treatment regimen, progression‐free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and adverse effects. They then pooled the data and used a Bayesian random‐effects model to combine direct comparisons with indirect evidence. Results: The authors screened 1515 records and identified 13 eligible RCTs that assessed nine different regimens in 5681 advanced FL patients. Reconstructed individual survival data presented that obinutuzumab had the highest effect sizes and certainty of the evidence for PFS (hazard ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.22–0.79) and tolerability compared with observation. However, no benefit was observed in patients according to the OS, regardless of which regimen was taken. Considering other regimens, although an extended course of rituximab maintenance and consolidation therapies presented PFS benefits compared with standard rituximab maintenance, they were also associated with higher toxicity. Conclusions: Although obinutuzumab and rituximab maintenance treatment improved PFS significantly, its clinical benefit requires further validation in larger populations. Furthermore, because few trials informed each treatment comparison, research is needed to refine the understanding of this complex and rapidly evolving treatment landscape. The maintenance strategy showed a progression‐free survival (PFS) benefit in patients with advanced untreated follicular lymphoma. In comparison to other treatments, obinutuzumab had the highest effect sizes, the certainty of the evidence for PFS, and tolerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintenance framework – preventive maintenance of hydraulic steel barriers Hydraulic steel components are of great importance with regard to the functionality of hydraulic engineering structures and thus the efficiency of the federal waterways in Germany. Over 1500 hydraulic steel components are installed in locks and weirs alone, which regulate the water level as closures in weirs and enable ships to overcome height differences as gates in locks. Due to the required movements and partially running water, the hydraulic steel components are subjected to high exposure, which can trigger a corrosion process that reduces the resistance of the components. Together with a neglected maintenance the structural inspection documents as a result a correspondingly poor condition of the hydraulic steel components. These boundary conditions have prompted the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) to switch to a preventive maintenance strategy for the preservation of hydraulic steel components. Within the framework of a maintenance action plan, corroded steel components are to be repaired and the corrosion protection renewed at fixed intervals. This represents a challenging task for the administration as the client and the companies carrying out the work as the contractor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attitude towards preservation Hydraulic structures have always been designed as long‐lasting infrastructure assets, which is also reflected in current codes for new structures. Climate change and climate protection confirm the need for durable structures with the longest possible service life. Existing hydraulic structures should fulfil this objective and be maintained for as long as is technically, operationally, economically and ecologically feasible. Maintenance should not only ensure that the planned service life is achieved, but should also extend the service life. This can be achieved, for example, through more realistic structural verifications of the structures, through maintenance and through optimized refurbishment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Studies on rental housing financialisation have blossomed over the last decade. Studies are often concerned with issues around affordability and displacement, while less focus has been on how financialisation reconfigures the materials of housing, home, and the residential environment by subordinating maintenance to aggressive and unsustainable renovation strategies. We look at the case of Sweden and zoom in on a working‐class Stockholm suburb where part of the housing stock is owned by the German, publicly listed real estate company Vonovia. We discuss how national and international regulations remain insufficient in ensuring that every day and structural maintenance is conducted properly by financialised landlords, leaving tenants stuck with delayed and poor‐quality repair and replacement work as well as insufficient communication, severely affecting their quality of life. We propose to discuss the concepts of "housing as infrastructure" to account for these complex consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital twins for medium span bridges – pilot project bridge Schwindegg – part 2: Asset Administration Shell The term ′digital twin′ is becoming increasingly popular in German‐speaking countries for the digital management and condition monitoring of bridges. Although standardised developments for the use of digital twins have already been initiated in industry and medicine, the first prototypes are currently being implemented in the construction industry. The digital images are typically operated in online environments that are proprietary to the project and have limited reusability. The article investigates the integration of scaling into Building Information Modelling models, which is reaching its limits due to the real‐time capability. It places existing definitions of the digital twin of the industry in the context of the construction industry. The implementation of the Isenbridge in Schwindegg as an Industry 4.0 Asset Administration Shell (AAS) is presented, building on Part 1 of this contribution. We show that an industrial, data‐driven digital twin can also be implemented technically and semantically for engineering structures. The article also presents the future challenges for evaluation and control mechanisms still to be developed for the structure. We also show a possible visualisation. The goal is to develop a syntax for the AAS' communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines ministers as policy actors through analysis of tasks in mandate letters. These tasks were coded as involving either policy initiation, supplementation, maintenance, coordination, engagement, or information. The 2021 mandate letters show that policy maintenance tasks are most common, initiation the least, suggesting that most ministers are constrained to passive policy management. Four distinctive ministerial types are also identified. Activists are distinguished by their dominance over policy initiation, advocates are characterized most by policy supplementation and maintenance, managers are mostly tasked with maintaining the policy status quo, and networkers are distinctive in their share of coordination and information tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pupillary dynamics reflect effects of distinct and important operations of visual working memory: encoding, maintenance, and prioritization. Here, we review how pupil size predicts memory performance and how it provides novel insights into the mechanisms of each operation. Visual information must first be encoded into working memory with sufficient precision. The depth of this encoding process couples to arousal-linked baseline pupil size as well as a pupil constriction response before and after stimulus onset, respectively. Subsequently, the encoded information is maintained over time to ensure it is not lost. Pupil dilation reflects the effortful maintenance of information, wherein storing more items is accompanied by larger dilations. Lastly, the most task-relevant information is prioritized to guide upcoming behavior, which is reflected in yet another dilatory component. Moreover, activated content in memory can be pupillometrically probed directly by tagging visual information with distinct luminance levels. Through this luminance-tagging mechanism, pupil light responses reveal whether dark or bright items receive more attention during encoding and prioritization. Together, conceptualizing pupil responses as a sum of distinct components over time reveals insights into operations of visual working memory. From this viewpoint, pupillometry is a promising avenue to study the most vital operations through which visual working memory works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study's foundation was a scenario analysis of a textile mill's weaving department, with the goal of determining the necessity of a reliable and comprehensive plan for scheduling maintenance time. According to the background information and problem statement, incidents of Run failure maintenance and lengthy downtime (up to 60 days) undermine the machines' availability. The desired efficiency and production are 90% and 194.76 m, respectively; however, the preliminary results indicated less. This indicated a gap that must be closed by implementing regular and appropriate maintenance plans. Additionally, the incoherent and inconsistencies points at a lack of an efficient maintenance plan. It was established that the current strategy is not optimized and does not ensure machine availability because there are disparities and irregularities in the maintenance of crucial equipment. The objective of the study was to map out the critical equipment and collect data on the number and time between failures encountered in the weaving section of the textile manufacturing processes. Failure mode and effect analysis and fish‐bone diagram were used in the analysis of the data. Mapping results indicated downtime up to 60 days, the productivity was estimated at 194.76 m, and efficiency was 90%. The results showed that the critical equipment were the essential piece of machinery in the production line of a textile mill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Proton pump inhibitor (PPI) is the mainstay therapy for the maintenance of healed erosive esophagitis (EE). It is unknown whether potassium‐competitive acid blockers (PCABs) are more efficacious and safer than PPIs. Methods: Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing PCABs to PPIs in the maintenance of healing rates of endoscopically proven healed EE and indexed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL until 3 February 2024, were included. A fixed‐effects model meta‐analysis was performed to pool primary efficacy outcome (maintenance of healing rates at week 24) and safety data (any treatment‐emergent adverse event or TEAE). The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane's Risk of Bias 2 (RoB2) tool. Results: Four RCTs with a total of 2554 patients were eligible for inclusion. All trials were of low risk of bias. Compared to lansoprazole 15 mg, the maintenance rates of healed EE at week 24 were significantly higher with vonoprazan 10 mg (RR 1.13; 95% CI 1.07–1.19) and vonoprazan 20 mg (RR 1.15; 95% CI 1.10–1.21). Likewise, compared to lansoprazole 15 mg, any TEAEs were significantly greater with vonoprazan 20 mg (RR 1.10; 95% CI 1.01–1.20) but not vonoprazan 10 mg. Conclusion: Vonoprazan 10 and 20 mg were superior to lansoprazole 15 mg in the maintenance of the healing of EE. Any TEAEs were greater with vonoprazan 20 mg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, experimenters implemented synchronous schedules of reinforcement to increase mask wearing for up to 30 min for six children under the age of 5 years. Additionally, for a subset of children, we evaluated whether mask wearing would continue under baseline conditions in their classroom with staff during 30 min sessions (treatment extension), and later throughout the day (all‐day probes). Results showed the intervention increased mask wearing for all children for up to 30 min. Additionally, treatment‐extension sessions and all‐day probes, conducted with some children, showed mask wearing maintained in their classroom with staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used radar observations and a high‐resolution numerical simulation to explore the interactions between an mesoscale convective system (MCS), cold pool outflows, and atmospheric bores in a non‐uniform baroclinic environment. The bores were generated by a nocturnal MCS that occurred on 2–3 June 2017 over the southern North China Plain. The goal of this investigation is to determine how the structure of bores varied within this non‐uniform environment and whether and how the bores would maintain the MCS and alter its structure. To the southwest of the MCS, where there was large CAPE and a well‐mixed boundary layer, discrete convection initiation occurred behind a single radar fine line (RFL) maintaining the propagation of the MCS. To the southeast of the MCS, multiple RFLs were found suggesting the generation of an undular bore in an environment containing an intense nocturnal stable boundary layer with dry upper layers and little CAPE. Hydraulic and nonlinear theory were applied to the simulation of the MCS revealing that the differences in the bore evolution depended on both the characteristics of the cold pool and the variations in the ambient environment. Thus, the characteristics of the ambient environment and the associated differences in bore structure impacted the maintenance and organization of the MCS. This study implies the importance of an accurate representation of the low‐level ambient environment and the microphysics and kinematics within the MCS to accurately simulate and forecast cold pools, the generation and evolution of bores, and their impact on nocturnal MCSs. Plain Language Summary: Convective storms that occur during the day are often maintained by the lifting of low‐level air by storm outflows. At night when a low‐level stable layer forms, these outflows can generate an atmospheric bore, which is a type of gravity wave response. Investigations at numerous locations worldwide have demonstrated that bores contribute to the initiation and maintenance of nocturnal convective systems. However, relatively few studies have concentrated on how a non‐uniform nocturnal environment can change the structure of bores and their impact on convection. This study examines how bores and convection interact over the southern North China Plain (SNCP) where the nocturnal environment during warm season is often non‐uniform. These environmental variations impacted the generation and evolution of the bores altering the storm structure. The bores over the SNCP also had a unique generation mechanism forming when a strong downdraft penetrated into a moist layer. This study shows that an accurate representation of both the ambient environment and the storm microphysics and kinematics are likely necessary to improve the forecast accuracy of the nocturnal convective systems, particularly over regions with a non‐uniform environment, such as the SNCP. Key Points: Atmospheric bores are generated within a nocturnal mesoscale convective system in a non‐uniform environmentThe mesoscale variations in the environment ahead of the mesoscale convective system (MCS) modify the structure of the bores, which impact the organization of the MCSThe intrusion of the convective downdraft into the nocturnal boundary layer plays a critical role in generating bores over the southern North China Plain [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Literature on emollient use in the management of chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis is limited. Objective: To assess the efficacy of emollient in the remission maintenance of chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis. Methods: In this randomized open-label study with the intention to treat, 80 patients with chronic recurrent dermatophytosis were randomized into two groups, where both groups were treated adequately for 6 weeks, followed by continuation of topical azole in group A and topical emollient in group B for 6 weeks. Clinical remission was determined by disappearance signs and symptoms of tinea lesions with or without hyperpigmentation. Physician and patient global assessment scores were evaluated every 2 weeks for 6 weeks to assess remission maintenance. Results: A total of 80 patients of chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis were assessed for remission maintenance. The recurrence of disease occurred in 20 patients overall, wherein 7 patients (17.5%) in group A and 13 patients (32.5%) in group B at the end of the study (18 weeks); however, the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (p = .121). The mean physician global assessment scores of group A and group B at 12 weeks were 4.45 ± 0.74 and 4.15 ± 0.92, 4.43 ± 0.90 and 4.10 ± 0.98 at 14 weeks, 4.0 ± 1.32 and 3.98 ± 1.23 at 16 weeks, 3.85 ± 1.44 and 3.90 ± 1.35 at 18 weeks, respectively. The mean patient global assessment scores of group A and group B were 4.65 ± 0.62 and 4.25 ± 0.87 at 12 weeks, 4.40 ± 0.87 and 4.17 ± 0.98 at 14 weeks, 4.18 ± 1.15 and 4.12 ± 1.30 at 16 weeks and 3.97 ± 1.33 and 3.90 ± 1.51 at 18 weeks. Conclusion: The present study concludes that the efficacy of emollient was not inferior to topical luliconazole for maintaining remission in chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ivrea is a small city known throughout the world as the home of the Olivetti company. For many years, the innovative urban and architectural experiment inspired and supported by Adriano Olivetti, financed by his company for a large part of the twentieth century, was less well known internationally. His patronage and his far‐sighted vision for urban society have produced results of great relevance in the history of Italian industrialization and Modern Architecture. Since 2018, the architectural assets, the archives, cultural heritage and social experiments, have become part of the UNESCO Catalogue of World Heritage Sites (Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century). Today, many of these heritage buildings, characterized by external surfaces decorated with colored tiles of different types, have several conservation problems, due in many cases to the lack of ordinary maintenance. At the same time, the unavailability of original materials makes the planning of appropriate intervention solutions for maintenance and restoration difficult. This report intends to give an account of this event through two convergent approaches: (i) on the level of method, continually seeking a precise analysis of the materials, trying to refrain from the image of an 'Olivetti's architecture' flattened only on rationalist models—chromatically limited—to do justice to a less minimalist vision that has characterized the architectural heritage on matter since its inception; (ii) on the operative level, giving an account of the attempts to recover and restore that "world of colours" that is the Olivetti's city, also with a correct lexical reading of the architectural elements and the finding of materials (an operation declined toward "what can be done today", given that many original products are unavailable and manufacturers are no longer in activity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A study was made to evaluate peri‐implant conditions in compliers and erratic compliers with peri‐implant maintenance therapy (PIMT), and to assess the role of site‐specific confounders. Methods: Erratic PIMT compliers (EC) were defined as presenting attendance < 2×/year, while regular compliers (RC) attended ≥ 2×/year. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were employed to perform a multivariable multilevel analysis in which the peri‐implant condition was established as dependent variable. Results: Overall, 86 non‐smoker patients (42 RC and 44 EC) attending the Department of Periodontology of the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya were recruited consecutively on a cross‐sectional basis. The mean period of loading was 9.5 year. An implant placed in an erratic patient has 88% higher probability of presenting peri‐implant diseases versus RC. Furthermore, the probability of diagnosis of peri‐implantitis was significantly higher in EC versus RC (odds ratio [OR] 5.26; p = 0.009). Among other factors, history of periodontitis, non‐hygienic prosthesis, period of implant loading, and modified plaque index (mPI) at implant level were shown to significantly increase the risk of peri‐implantitis diagnosis. Although not associated with peri‐implantitis diagnosis risk, keratinized mucosa (KM) width, and vestibular depth (VD) were significantly associated to plaque accumulation (mPI). Conclusions: Compliance with PIMT was found to be significantly associated with peri‐implant condition. In this sense, attending PIMT < 2×/year may be ineffective to prevent peri‐implantitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minimally repaired items are considered. In practice, minimal repair can be unsuccessful, and in this case, it should be repeated. The Polya‐Aeppli process, which is a generalization of the Poisson process is used in the article for the corresponding modeling. Some properties, useful for optimal maintenance, are derived. An important generalization to the case when the probability of the unsuccessful attempt is time‐dependent is described. An application of the derived results to obtaining the optimal time of replacement for a system with multiattempt minimal repairs is discussed. The study is illustrated by detailed numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Previous studies suggest that postautologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) recovery of polyclonal immunoglobulin from immunoparesis in patients with multiple myeloma is a positive prognostic marker. We performed a longitudinal analysis of polyclonal immunoglobulin concentrations and unique B‐cell sequences in patients enrolled in the phase 3 ATLAS trial that randomized 180 subjects to either carfilzomib, lenalidomide, dexamethasone (KRd) or lenalidomide (R) maintenance. In the KRd arm, standard‐risk patients with minimal residual disease negativity after six cycles de‐escalated to R alone after cycle 8. One year from the initiation of maintenance at least partial recovery of polyclonal immunoglobulin was observed in more patients on the R arm (58/66, p < 0.001) and in those who de‐escalated from KRd to R (27/38, p < 0.001) compared to the KRd arm (9/36). In patients who switched from KRd to R, the concentrations of uninvolved immunoglobulin and the number of B‐cell unique sequences increased over time, approaching values observed in the R arm. There were no differences in progression‐free survival between the patients with at least partial immunoglobulin recovery and the remaining population. Our analysis indicates that patients receiving continuous therapy after ASCT experience prolonged immunoparesis, limiting prognostic significance of polyclonal immunoglobulin recovery in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital twins for medium span bridges – pilot project bridge Schwindegg – part 1: sensor equipment In the coming years, bridge maintenance will be an essential task for infrastructure maintenance. Particularly for small and medium span bridges in the municipal road network, there are often no personnel available for structural inspection and maintenance. It will therefore be necessary in the future to develop concepts for semi‐automated bridge inspection. If information is available about the actions and resistances of the structures, the measured values contain important information about the condition of the structure. A concept for this could be digital twins. Intelligent maintenance management can be implemented on the basis of digital twins and the information they contain. Our two‐part article presents the concept of digital twins for medium span bridges. In the first part, the sensor equipment of a single span prestressed concrete frame bridge is presented for monitoring from a digital twin perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of the preload‐time behaviour of slip‐resistant preloaded connections in tower structures for wind turbines In addition to the coefficient of friction, the bolt preload and its preservation have a significant influence on the load‐bearing capacity of slip‐resistant preloaded connections. For cyclically loaded steel structures such as wind turbine towers, mechanically low maintenance or maintenance free bolted connections are of particular interest. The design of mechanically maintenance free connections requires knowledge of the preload losses occuring over the service life of the structure, since these losses must be taken into account already in the design. In steel construction, however, the mechanically joined parts are often coated for corrosion protection. Therefore, a test‐based determination of the preload losses is often necessary instead of an analytical calculation. Scope and expense of corresponding laboratory or field tests can be reduced using existing experience. This paper therefore discusses laboratory investigations based on IEC guideline 61400‐6, in which the sensitivity of preload losses to relevant influencing variables was systematically evaluated for the first time. In addition to long‐term embedding tests, tests under cyclic loads were carried out, which were derived from load situations typical for wind turbines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Building on prior theory, we aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of integrating novel, weight loss maintenance strategies into existing weight management programmes. We also piloted recruitment and data collection procedures for future research. Design: Two phases of action research nested within a single‐arm feasibility study. The intervention was refined between phases using feedback from intervention fidelity analysis and qualitative exploration of patient and provider experiences. Changes in outcomes were assessed up to 18 months post‐baseline. Methods: One hundred adults with a mean body mass index of 37 kg/m2 were offered the Skills for weight loss and Maintenance (SkiM) intervention. This included existing weight management programme content and additional weight loss maintenance techniques delivered fortnightly for 6 months in local community centres to groups of 11–15 people. Results: Of the 100 participants, 65%, 58% and 56% provided data at 7, 12 and 18 months. Across both phases, the mean initial weight loss was 4.2 kg (95% CI: 2.4–5.9) and 3.1 kg at 18 months (95% CI:.8–5.5). In Phase 2, we observed better weight loss maintenance (.5 kg [13.2%] regain from 7 to 18 months, vs. 1.7 kg [36.2%] in Phase 1). Variation in outcomes, high early dropout rates and qualitative feedback indicated that, although delivery of the intervention and trial procedures was feasible and acceptable, there was scope to refine the intervention to engage a wider range of participants. Intervention fidelity was acceptable, particularly in Phase 2. Conclusions: The SkiM intervention seems promising, but more research is needed to improve recruitment and retention prior to further evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a multicriteria model based on the delay time concept and the FITradeoff method to support the choice of a service provider who inspects isolation valves, thereby enabling maintenance actions that have a strategic focus to be established for natural gas industries. We consider the possibility of errors of judgment (false negatives), thus allowing an approximation of reality to be made. In addition, the FITradeoff method is used to enable a decision‐maker to aggregate his/her preferences by taking account of more than one criterion simultaneously, even though the criteria generally conflict with each other. Furthermore, we undertake a numerical application to assess the practical implications. The model proved to be effective at supporting decision‐makers to select companies to provide periodic inspection services, which are often carried out under contracts. We have also evaluated how maintenance decisions change due to different decision‐makers' standards so as to obtain more appropriate procedures for maintenance actions. This has an impact on reducing the occurrence of failures and, consequently, reducing risks to people who live near the gas pipelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There remains a paucity of modern data comparing early steroid withdrawal (ESW) versus chronic corticosteroid (CCS) immunosuppression in simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK) transplant recipients with long‐term follow‐up. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of ESW compared to CCS post‐SPK. Methods: This was a retrospective single‐center matched comparison with the International Pancreas Transplant Registry (IPTR). Patients from University of Illinois Hospital (UIH) represented the ESW group and were compared to those matched CCS patients from the IPTR. Included patients were adult recipients of a primary SPK transplant between 2003 and 2018 within the US receiving rabbit anti‐thymocyte globulin induction. Patients were excluded if they had early technical failures, missing IPTR data, graft thrombosis, re‐transplant, or positive crossmatch SPK. Results: A total of 156 patients were matched and included in the analysis. Patients were predominantly African American (46.15%) males (64.1%) with Type 1 diabetes etiology (92.31%). Overall pancreas allograft survival (hazard ratio [HR] =.89, 95% confidence interval [CI].34–2.30, p =.81) and kidney allograft survival (HR =.80, 95%CI.32–2.03, p =.64) were similar between the two groups. Immunologic pancreas allograft loss was statistically similar at 1‐year (ESW 1.3% vs. CCS 0%, p =.16), 5‐year (ESW 1.3% vs. CCS 7.7%, p =.16), and 10‐year (ESW 11.0% vs. CCS 7.7%, p =.99). The 1‐year (ESW 2.6% vs. CCS 0%, p >.05), 5‐year (ESW 8.3% vs. CCS 7.0%, p >.05), and 10‐year (ESW 22.7% vs. CCS 9.9%, p =.2575) immunologic kidney allograft loss were also statistically similar. There was no difference in 10‐year overall patient survival (ESW 76.2% vs. CCS 65.6%, p =.63). Conclusions: No differences were found between allograft or patient survival post‐SPK when comparing an ESW or CCS protocol. Future assessment is needed to determine differences in metabolic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pumping accounts for most of the energy consumed in water supply operations. To ensure efficient pump operation, it's crucial that water utilities create a maintenance and repair (or overhaul) program that provides reliability and necessary redundancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to insufficient quality control during construction, progressive ageing and deterioration of materials, growing traffic loads and additional risks originating from climate change or man‐made hazards, suboptimal maintenance strategies, an increase of risks to the transport infrastructure seems inevitable. Incidents like the collapse of the Morandi Bridge cannot be singled out: in the last two decades, around 40 bridges in Europe have collapsed or got severely damaged. Aiming to ensure the safety of the transport infrastructure through the improvement of maintenance policies across Europe, the European Commission opened the call for the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) "Monitoring and safety of transport infrastructure". The main objective of this Action is to support the preparation of the mandate for CEN standards for maintenance and control of the European transport infrastructure. The execution of this Coordination and Support Action has been assigned to the IM‐SAFE project consortium. This contribution presents the input proposed by the IM‐SAFE project [1] for future European standards for monitoring, data‐informed safety assessment and proactive maintenance policies for bridges and tunnels, considering the integration of digitalization as enabling technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridges and tunnels have in many cases reached their design service life and keep ageing, with the maintenance needs constantly increasing. Besides, transport infrastructure currently carries significantly more traffic loads than what it has been originally designed for and traffic keeps changing e.g. due to introduction of platooning or autonomous vehicles. Such conditions bring safety risks to bridges and tunnels. In the last two decades there have been nearly 40 major failures of road and railway bridges and tunnels in Europe, with hundreds of people killed and injured. At the same time, resources and capacity for conservation and care are too limited and should be used in an optimised way to counteract the growing backlog of maintenance. There is a strong conviction that use of novel technologies for condition survey may aid the task of managing the safety risks to transport infrastructure. Despite increasing amount of good practice, uniform approach to data‐informed safety and risk assessment, and maintenance decision‐making is however missing. This contribution presents the review of the current state of standardization on monitoring, data‐informed safety assessment and maintenance policies of bridges and tunnels in the European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridges and tunnels are the critical parts of the transport infrastructure. The efficient maintenance of their structural performance during service life requires strategies for scheduling inspections and possible structural and/or organization interventions over time. Infrastructure owners have developed such strategies that are characterized by a corrective (failure based) and predetermined preventive (e.g. time‐based or use‐based) maintenance approach. It is broadly recognized that the currently applied strategies do not provide the basis for the optimal allocation of resources into maintenance of bridges and tunnels of the traffic infrastructure. The complexity of defining efficient and proactive maintenance strategies of structures is also well recognized by the academia, and promising solutions for maintenance decision‐making based on structural reliability methods and Bayesian Decision Theory have been developed and broadly discussed in the last decades. The suggested methods have, in principle, the potential to become the basis for efficient decision making in bridge and tunnel maintenance. However, they are not yet well implemented in a practical context. In the current contribution we identify the gap between the technological developments in research and the corresponding applied knowledge in practice. Furthermore, we discuss how this gap might be closed. Special emphasis is directed to the corresponding role of standardization and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazards, ageing, damaging, and traffic loads increase are some of the growing risks that bridge infrastructures in Europe face throughout their design life. Key issues of the asset management plan are the safety assessment of existing structures, the prioritization of the interventions and the optimization of the maintenance schedules. As such, to enable appropriate diagnostics and cost‐effective decisions on assessment/repairs, timely and accurate information from monitoring, inspection and testing is essential. This paper outlines the strategic role of SHM systems to identify the actual condition and future performance of the infrastructures, supporting an effective maintenance plan to meet the target reliability requirements. This contribution describes the use of dense sensing on an Italian bridges network of over 100 bridges, to account for monitoring in safety assessment, facilitating the application of proactive maintenance strategies through a deeper knowledge of the structural behaviour over time. Multiple case studies are detailed, where MEMS sensors have been installed with the purpose of monitoring the evolution of deterioration process, supporting a data‐informed structural diagnostics as well as providing evidence of the effectiveness of strengthening interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connections of steel‐structures under dynamic loads need to be slip‐resistant according to EN 1993‐2. Bolted connections without slip can be realized with fitted bolts, preloaded high strength friction grip (HSFG) bolts or injection bolts. Injection bolts are particularly advantageous because the increased effort required for reaming the holes for fitted bolts or for special surface preparation for HSFG bolts can be avoided. The paper focuses on the experimental analysis of connections with non‐preloaded and preloaded injection bolts according to EN 1090‐2. Different resins and curing conditions are considered, as well as different surface treatments or friction coefficients. Thus, the interaction between the slip resistance and the bearing resistance of preloaded injection bolts is investigated more detailed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the Internet of Things (IoT) technology offers a portfolio of solutions for predictive maintenance and promises problem‐solving. However, there is no systematic strategy for legacy systems capable of taking advantage of the knowledge of the company's culture and simultaneously enabling the incremental deployment of IoT. This article proposes an expansion of the Ignite Systems Development Methodology introduced by Bosch. The proposed methodology is focused on the Maintenance task and incorporates concepts rooted in the industry, such as OEE, FMEA, and CBM. We tested the Methodology through a case study, and the result was a significant reduction in downtime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prospective studies have reported conflicting results regarding the adjunctive effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) on clinical and microbiological parameters in individuals under periodontal maintenance therapy (PMT). This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and microbiological adjunctive effects of aPDT using indocyanine green (ICG) in residual sites with probing depth (PD) ≥5 mm during PMT in comparison with scaling and root planing (SRP) alone. Methods: A split‐mouth randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted with 24 individuals in a PMT program. Contralateral quadrants with eligible residual sites were randomly assigned to either SRP + aPDT (test group) or SRP alone (control). aPDT included ICG dye and diode laser (909 nm) performed together with SRP and repeated 15 days after. Periodontal clinical parameters, periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA) index, and subgingival biofilm samples were collected at baseline (T1), 3 (T2), and 6 months later (T3). Microbiological analyses were performed by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Significant improvements were observed in all clinical and microbiological parameters in both groups from T1 to T3. However, no significant differences were observed regarding plaque index, PD, and clinical attachment level. Test group showed significantly greater reductions in bleeding on probing (BOP), PISA index, and Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans levels, when compared with controls. Conclusions: Both treatments resulted in significant clinical periodontal improvements, but with no significant differences between groups except from inflammation parameters. aPDT using ICG resulted in significant reductions in BOP and PISA index, as well as in P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]