Seismic damage evaluation of reinforced concrete slit walls

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a dissipative reinforced concrete structural wall that can improve the behavior of a tall multi-storey building, evaluating the damage it undergoes in comparison with that of a solid wall. The comparative nonlinear dynamic analysis between a dissipative and a solid wall is performed by means of SAP2000 software and using a layered model. The solution to increase the seismic performance of a reinforced concrete structural wall is to create a slit zone with short connections. These are introduced as a link element with multi-linear pivot hysteretic plasticity behavior. The behavior of these short connections is modeled using the finite element software ANSYS 12. The authors propose to evaluate the damage of reinforced concrete slit walls with short connections using seismic analysis. Using the proposed computational model, a seismic analysis of the dissipative wall belonging to a multi-storey building was performed. From the results obtained, the advantages of the proposed model are observed. The proposed computational model  consumes low processing resources and reduces the processing time for a dynamic pushover analysis. Unlike other studies on slit walls with short connections, which are focussed mostly on the nonlinear dynamic behavior of the short connections, in this paper the authors take into consideration the whole structural system, wall and connections

Seismic damage evaluation of an RC dissipative wall

An economic design of buildings based on performance criteria takes into account the dissipation of the seismic energy accumulated in the structure. In a tall structural wall, plastic hinges appear only at the base of the wall and the rest of the wall, which has not ductility resources, remains undamaged. A solution to increase the seismic performance of a reinforced concrete structural wall is to create a slit zone with short connections. Yielding of this shear connections increases the energy dissipation. The objective of these solutions is to create an improved structure for tall multi-storey buildings that has a rigid behaviour at low seismic action and turns into a ductile one in the case of a high intensity earthquake. In this paper, a comparative nonlinear dynamic analysis between slit walls and solid walls is performed by means of SAP2000 software and using a layer model. Our main objective is to evaluate the damage of slit walls in comparison with that of a solid wall.Postprint (published version

Seismic damage evaluation of reinforced concrete buildings with slit walls

The purpose of this paper is to investigate a reinforced concrete multi-storey building with dissipative structural walls. These walls can improve the behaviour of a tall multi-storey building. The damage of a building with dissipative walls is compared with that of a building with solid walls. The comparative nonlinear dynamic analysis  is performed by means of the SAP2000 software, using a layer model. In order to increase the seismic performance of a building with structural walls is to create slit zones with short connections into the walls. The short connections are introduced as a link element with multi-linear pivot hysteretic plasticity behaviour. The hysteretic rules and parameters of these short connections were proposed by the authors and used in this study. Using the proposed computational model for the slit wall, a seismic analysis of a multi-storey building with slit walls was done. From the results obtained, the advantages of the proposed model are observed. Unlike other studies on slit walls with short connections, which are focused mostly on the nonlinear dynamic behaviour of the short connections, in this paper the authors take into consideration the whole structural system, wall, connections and frames

Super-heavy fermion material as metallic refrigerant for adiabatic demagnetization cooling

Low-temperature refrigeration is of crucial importance in fundamental research of condensed matter physics, as the investigations of fascinating quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity, superfluidity and quantum criticality, often require refrigeration down to very low temperatures. Currently, cryogenic refrigerators with $^3$He gas are widely used for cooling below 1 Kelvin. However, usage of the gas is being increasingly difficult due to the current world-wide shortage. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative methods of refrigeration. Here, we show that a new type of refrigerant, super-heavy electron metal, YbCo$_2$Zn$_{20}$, can be used for adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration, which does not require 3He gas. A number of advantages includes much better metallic thermal conductivity compared to the conventional insulating refrigerants. We also demonstrate that the cooling performance is optimized in Yb$_{1-x}$Sc$_x$Co$_2$Zn$_{20}$ by partial Sc substitution with $x\sim$0.19. The substitution induces chemical pressure which drives the materials close to a zero-field quantum critical point. This leads to an additional enhancement of the magnetocaloric effect in low fields and low temperatures enabling final temperatures well below 100 mK. Such performance has up to now been restricted to insulators. Since nearly a century the same principle of using local magnetic moments has been applied for adiabatic demagnetization cooling. This study opens new possibilities of using itinerant magnetic moments for the cryogen-free refrigeration

EVOLUTION OF THE ROMANIAN LABOUR MARKET - ANALYSIS AND FORECAST OF STATISTICAL INDICATORS FROM 2005 TO 2019

The purpose of this paper is to forecast the number of job vacancies on the Romanian labour market using an econometric model. In order to achieve this purpose, the researchers analysed eight statistical indicators using the multiple regression. The conclusions point out that onlyfour of independent variables have a significant influence on the number of vacancies and only these were used for forecasting. Research results show that in 2019 there will be a significant increase in the number of vacancies. This is largely due to the drop in the number of the usual resident population

Surgical treatment of biliary tract malformations in children

Clinica Chirurgie şi Ortopedie Pediatrică, UMF „Gr.T.Popa”, Departamentul Anatomie Patologică, Spitalul Clinic de Urgenţe pentru Copii “Sfânta Maria”, Iaşi, România, Al XII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” din Republica Moldova cu participare internațională 23-25 septembrie 2015Rezumat: Tratamentul chirurgical al colestazei neonatale este cel mai bine ilustrat în două condiţii patologice particulare: atrezia de căi biliare şi chistul congenital de coledoc. A trecut aproximativ un secol de la prima tentativă de tratament chirurgical al colestazei la copil. Etiologia şi patologia acestor două condiţii rămân în continuare în mare masură o enigmă. Prima intervenţie chirurgicală specifică dedicată corecţiei atreziei biliare a fost efectuată de Morio Kasai în anul 1959, la Universitatea Sendai. Actualmente, tratamentul chirurgical atât al atreziei, cât şi al chistului congenital de coledoc sunt bine definite: portoenterostomia Kasai, respectiv excizia chistului congenital de coledoc şi refacerea circuitului digestiv prin hepaticoenteroanastomoză pe ansă în Y a la Roux. Din păcate, rezultatele mai puțin favorabile ale portoenterostomiei obligă la transplant hepatic ca ultimă soluţie pentru creşterea supravieţuirii la distanţă a acestor pacienţi. Actuala prezentare este o trecere în revistă a definirii termenilor referitori la obstacolul în scurgerea biliară determinând colestaza, a modalităţilor de diagnostic şi tratament accesibile autorilor, expunerea experienţei personale privind managementul acestor cazuri.Summary: Surgical treatment of neonatal cholestasis is best illustrated in two particular pathologic conditions: biliary atresia and congenital choledochal cyst. Almost a century passed since the first attempts of treating children’s cholestasis were undergone. The ethiology and pathology of these conditions were also poorly understood. The first surgical intervention specifically designed for the correction of biliary atresia was described by Morio Kasai in 1959.In the present time, the surgical treatment of both biliary atresia and congenital choledochal dilatation are well established: Kasai’s portoenterostomy and, accordingly, cyst excision and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. Unfortunately, the overall poor results after portoenterostomy make liver transplantation an ultimate and mandatory solution for the long-term survival of the patients. This paper aims to define the terms regarding biliary outflow obstruction causing cholestasis, different diagnostic and therapeutical modalities accesible to the autors, exposing the personal experience in the management of congenital biliary tract malformations

LIVER DISEASE IN CHILDREN WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS

Liver disease is an early complication in children with cystic fi brosis (CF).The clinical manifestations in hepatobiliary disease of CF include neonatal cholestasis, liver steatosis, liver fi brosis, biliary lithiasis, focal biliary cirrhosis and multilobular cirrhosis, with or without portal hypertension. Changes in the tests evaluating the liver function are inconsistent and are not correlated with the severity of the liver lesions. The diagnosis of liver disease in CF requires the presence of at least two of the following four diagnosis criteria:clinical manifestations, pathologic liver function tests, ultrasound and histologic changes.The annual follow-up to evaluate the liver function is s recommended for diagnosis of asymptomatic liver disease and early initiation of treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid.The improvement of the liver function infl uences life quality and increases the survival rate in patients with CF

Porträt als Massenphänomen / Le Portrait comme Phénomène de Masse

Hatte sich die Forschung zum antiken Porträt traditionell um die Darstellungen berühmter Personen bemüht, so rückten im letzten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts die Bildnisse der Vielen, der historisch Unwichtigen und Unbekannten, ins Interesse der Forschung. Mit ihnen beschäftigen sich die Beiträge dieses Bandes. In vielen Gattungen der antiken Grabplastik waren Darstellungen der Verstorbenen und ihrer Angehörigen üblich, so dass Bildnisköpfe in diesem Bereich seriell gearbeitet und zu einem Massenphänomen wurden. Die Untersuchungen lokaler Gruppen, die hier vorgelegt werden, vermögen ein Spektrum von Unterschieden aufzuzeigen, in denen die jeweiligen Identitäten und Traditionen evident werden. In ihrem lokalen Kontext erweisen sich die Grabmonumente als Ausdruck gemeinsamer und geteilter Werte. Wenn sie in der römischen Kaiserzeit in vielen Teilen der Reiches Vorbildern des Kaiserhauses folgen, so erscheinen sie als Ausdruck der politischen Loyalität und der kulturellen Einheit

Identification of novel candidate targets for suppressing ovarian cancer progression through IL-33/ST2 axis components using the system biology approach

Background: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) of ovarian cancer (OvC) are the most prevalent element of the tumor microenvironment (TM). By promoting angiogenesis, immunological suppression, and invasion, CAFs speed up the growth of tumors by changing the extracellular matrix’s structure and composition and/or initiating the epithelial cells (EPT). IL-33/ST2 signaling has drawn a lot of attention since it acts as a pro-tumor alarmin and encourages spread by altering TM.Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of the OvC tumor microenvironment were found in the GEO database, qRT-PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry, and their presence and changes in healthy and tumor tissue content were examined. Primary cultures of healthy fibroblasts and CAFs obtained from healthy and tumor tissues retrieved from OvC samples were used for in vitro and in vivo investigations. Cultured primary human CAFs were utilized to investigate the regulation and the IL-33/ST2 axis role in the inflammation reactions.Results: Although ST2 and IL-33 expression was detected in both epithelial (EPT) and fibroblast cells of ovarian cancer, they are more abundant in CAFs. Lipopolysaccharides, serum amyloid A1, and IL-1β, the inflammatory mediators, could all induce IL-33 expression through NF-κB activation in human CAFs. In turn, via the ST2 receptor, IL-33 affected the production of IL-6, IL-1β, and PTGS2 in human CAFs via the MAPKs-NF-κB pathway.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that IL-33/ST2 is affected by the interaction of CAFs and epithelial cells inside the tumor microenvironment. Activation of this axis leads to increased expression of inflammatory factors in tumor CAFs and EPT cells. Therefore, targeting the IL-33/ST2 axis could have potential value in the prevention of OvC progression

Multilevel Marketing for everybody is not forever

Multilevel marketing is a form of income where people recruited in a program continually purchase products and services, and are encouraged to recruit other people to do the same. But is this a long-term business? This paper aims to actually clarify this matter once and for all and to show that an MLM system can actually be a profitable business if done correctly. One of the main problems that occur in the multilevel marketing system is that it is very easy to enter this distribution system. In order to function properly, an MLM system should not be obsessed with large and quick winnings, but should focus on small and long-lasting gain