Fatigue safety of riveted bridges - Part 2: Verification based on the monitoring data of the project "Railway Bridge at Eglisau"

Fatigue safety of riveted bridges Part 2: Verification based on the monitoring data of the project "Railway Bridge at Eglisau". Long term monitoring over one year has been conducted on the riveted Railway Bridge over the Rhine at Eglisau. Measured values were exploited by rainflow analysis and served as the basis for the verification of fatigue safety. As the locations of measurements are generally not identical with the cross sections of verification, measured strains respectively stresses, were extrapolated to the relevant verification cross section by means of factors that were obtained by structural analysis. Using these values, all fatigue relevant structural details were first verified with respect to the fatigue limit. Then, damage accumulation calculation according to the Palmgren-Miner rule and based on Wohler curves for riveted details was performed for those structural details where the fatigue limit check was not fulfilled. Sufficient fatigue safety could finally be verified for the whole riveted structure and an additional service life of at least 50 years for the most fatigue relevant structural element

Fatigue safety examination of a riveted railway bridge using data from long term monitoring

Long term monitoring of structural elements of a 115 years old riveted railway bridge structure of high value as cultural heritage has been conducted. Monitored values were exploited by Rainflow analysis and served as the basis for the fatigue safety verification. As the locations of measurements are generally not identical with the cross sections of verification, measured strains were translated to the relevant verification cross section by means of factors that were determined by structural analysis. Using these values, all fatigue relevant structural details were first verified with respect to the fatigue limit. Then, damage accumulation calculation according to the Palmgren-Miner Rule was performed for those elements where the fatigue limit check was not fulfilled. Sufficient fatigue safety could finally be verified for the entire riveted structure and additional service duration of at least 50 years for this riveted structure could be validated

PPAR-γ regulates the effector function of human TH9 cells by promoting glycolysis

AbstractT helper 9 cells (TH9) are key drivers of allergic tissue inflammation. They are characterized by the expression of type 2 cytokines, such as IL-9 and IL-13, and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) transcription factor. However, the functional role of PPAR-γ in human TH9 cells remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that PPAR-γ drives activation-induced glycolysis, which, in turn, specifically promotes the expression of IL-9, but not IL-13, in an mTORC1-dependent manner. In vitro and ex vivo experiments on skin samples of allergic contact dermatitis showed that the PPAR-γ-mTORC1-IL-9 pathway was active in TH9 cells in human skin inflammation. Additionally, we found that tissue glucose levels were dynamically regulated in acute allergic skin inflammation, suggesting that in situ glucose availability is linked to distinct immunological signals in vivo. Furthermore, paracrine IL-9 induced the lactate transporter MCT1 in IL-9R+ TH cells, where it increased aerobic glycolysis and proliferative capacity. Taken together, our findings delineate a hitherto unknown relationship between PPAR-γ-dependent glucose metabolism and the pathogenic effector function of human TH9 cells.Graphical abstract</jats:sec

PPAR-γ regulates the effector function of human T helper 9 cells by promoting glycolysis.

T helper 9 (TH9) cells promote allergic tissue inflammation and express the type 2 cytokines, IL-9 and IL-13, as well as the transcription factor, PPAR-γ. However, the functional role of PPAR-γ in human TH9 cells remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that PPAR-γ drives activation-induced glycolysis, which, in turn, promotes the expression of IL-9, but not IL-13, in an mTORC1-dependent manner. In vitro and ex vivo experiments show that the PPAR-γ-mTORC1-IL-9 pathway is active in TH9 cells in human skin inflammation. Additionally, we find dynamic regulation of tissue glucose levels in acute allergic skin inflammation, suggesting that in situ glucose availability is linked to distinct immunological functions in vivo. Furthermore, paracrine IL-9 induces expression of the lactate transporter, MCT1, in TH cells and promotes their aerobic glycolysis and proliferative capacity. Altogether, our findings uncover a hitherto unknown relationship between PPAR-γ-dependent glucose metabolism and pathogenic effector functions in human TH9 cells

XUV Fluorescence Detection of Laser-Cooled Stored Relativistic Ions

An improved moveable in vacuo XUV fluorescence detection system was employed for the laser cooling of bunched relativistic ( β = 0.47) carbon ions at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of GSI Helmholtzzentrum Darmstadt, Germany. Strongly Doppler boosted XUV fluorescence (∼90 nm) was emitted from the ions in a forward light cone after laser excitation of the 2s–2p transition (∼155 nm) by a new tunable pulsed UV laser system (257 nm). It was shown that the detected fluorescence strongly depends on the position of the detector around the bunched ion beam and on the delay (∼ns) between the ion bunches and the laser pulses. In addition, the fluorescence information could be directly combined with the revolution frequencies of the ions (and their longitudinal momentum spread), which were recorded using the Schottky resonator at the ESR. These fluorescence detection features are required for future laser cooling experiments at highly relativistic energies (up to γ ∼ 13) and high intensities (up to 10 11 particles) of ion beams in the new heavy ion synchrotron SIS100 at FAIR

The CMS Phase-1 pixel detector upgrade

The CMS detector at the CERN LHC features a silicon pixel detector as its innermost subdetector. The original CMS pixel detector has been replaced with an upgraded pixel system (CMS Phase-1 pixel detector) in the extended year-end technical stop of the LHC in 2016/2017. The upgraded CMS pixel detector is designed to cope with the higher instantaneous luminosities that have been achieved by the LHC after the upgrades to the accelerator during the first long shutdown in 2013–2014. Compared to the original pixel detector, the upgraded detector has a better tracking performance and lower mass with four barrel layers and three endcap disks on each side to provide hit coverage up to an absolute value of pseudorapidity of 2.5. This paper describes the design and construction of the CMS Phase-1 pixel detector as well as its performance from commissioning to early operation in collision data-taking.Peer reviewe

Psychometric Characteristics of the Criteria Based Content Analysis

Die vorliegende Arbeit fasst zwei Untersuchungen zu psychometrischen Eigenschaften der in der aussagepsychologischen Diagnostik verwendeten merkmalsorientierte Inhaltsanalyse zusammen. Die erste Untersuchung war Teil einer größeren Laborstudie zur Validität inhaltsanalytischer Beurteilungen der Wahrhaftigkeit von Zeugenaussagen mit 60 Versuchspersonen, die verschiedenen Bedingungen von Wahr- und Falschaussagen zugeordnet waren, die zweite, eine Felduntersuchung, erfasste 138 Gutachten eines gerichtspsychologischen Institutes. In beiden Studien wurden die Items der merkmalsorientierten Inhaltsanalyse, die so genannten Realkennzeichen, einer Itemanalyse nach dem Modell der klassischen Testtheorie mit Reliabilitätsschätzung für den Score aggregierter Realkennzeichen unterzogen. Die Ergebnisse differierten beträchtlich: Während in der Laborstudie nur ein Teil der für die Realkennzeichen errechneten Trennschärfekoeffizienten das vorgegebene Signifikanzniveau (p < .05) erreichte und die Reliabilitätsschätzung mit rtt = .56 niedrig ausfiel, wurden in der Feldstudie fast durchgehend signifikante Trennschärfen ermittelt, und die Reliabilitätsschätzung entsprach mit rtt = .84 dem bei Persönlichkeitstests üblichen Niveau. Durch Itemselektion konnte in beiden Fällen die Reliabilität nur geringfügig gesteigert werden. Die in der Laborstudie errechnete Interraterreliabilität für den Score aggregierter Realkennzeichen betrug r = .98. In der Feldstudie wurde über eine logistische Regression ein Cut-Off-Wert errechnet, der von psychologischen Gutachtern als wahr eingeschätzten Aussagen von als falsch beurteilten trennte. Dieser Cut-Off-Wert lag zwischen fünf und sechs erfüllten Realkennzeichen. Unter der experimentellen Manipulation des Wahrheitsgehaltes von Aussagen in der Laborstudie konnte die Validität der merkmalsorientierten Inhaltsanalyse nur partiell bestätigt werden. Diese trennte zwar wahre und erfundene Aussagen signifikant voneinander, nicht aber wahre Aussagen von Täuschungen mit realem Erlebnishintergrund.The present article combines two studies on psychometric characteristics of the Criteria Based Content Analysis (CBCA) used in the psychological assessment of testimonies. The first study was part of a larger laboratory study on the validity of content analytic judgments of the credibility of testimonies. This study was conducted with 60 subjects who were assigned to different conditions of true und false testimonies. The second study, a field study, covered 138 expert reports from a forensic psychological institution. An item analysis according to the model of the classical test theory, with reliability estimation for the score of the aggregated credibility criteria, was made with the CBCA items in both studies. The results varied considerably: Whereas only a part of the discriminative power coefficient calculated for the credibility criteria reached the given significance level (p<.05) and the reliability estimation was low with rtt = .56 in the laboratory study, almost all discriminative powers in the field study were significant and the reliability estimation matched with rtt = .84 a level which is common for personality inventories. Item selection only slightly increased the reliability in both studies. In the laboratory study, the interrater reliability for the score of aggregated credibility criteria was r = .98. In the field study a cut-off value was calculated by logistic regression which discriminated between testimonies assessed as true by forensic experts and testimonies assessed as false by forensic experts. The cut-off value for fulfilled credibility criteria was between five and six. In the laboratory study, the CBCA validity was only partly confirmed while the truth of the testimonies varied: True and completely fictitious testimonies were significantly different, whereas true and partly fictitious testimonies based on actual experience were not