A revival in façades: Textile reinforced concrete panels are light, safe and aesthetically pleasing

Textile reinforced concrete was developed in recent years into a construction technique that has its benefits and advantages in applications where conventional types of reinforcement have their limits. The current, minimum slab thickness for steel-reinforced concrete façade slabs is 7.0 cm; this is due to the minimum, required concrete cover to ensure adequate corrosion protection. Façade slab anchors for these slab thicknesses are building authority approved. As corrosion protection is not an issue for textile reinforced concrete, the minimum thickness for the concrete cover can be significantly reduced. The requirement for component thickness is now determined by the load-bearing capacity and by production-related boundary conditions. For practical building reasons, panel thicknesses of 3.0 cm have proven to be the best choice. Compared to steel-reinforced façade panels, this is a weight and thickness reduction of almost 60%. Thin concrete elements are of great interest in cases when the thickness or the weight of the panels is largely limited e.g. because of adjoining concrete elements in renovation or upgrade projects, retrofitting or improvements. Compared to other building materials, concrete has characteristic advantages in building physics and fire protection properties, irrespective of the thickness. Obviously, minimal thicknesses place extra demands on planning and construction. Especially effects on concrete, punching, splitting and concrete breakout must be examined in experiments. This is an overview of calculation and test methods. Results are provided to show the bearing behaviour of fixings in thin, textile reinforced concrete slabs. The design rules are explained and the results are illustrated

Facile access to potent antiviral quinazoline heterocycles with fluorescence properties via merging metal-free domino reactions

Most of the known approved drugs comprise functionalized heterocyclic compounds as subunits. Among them, non-fluorescent quinazolines with four different substitution patterns are found in a variety of clinically used pharmaceuticals, while 4,5,7,8-substituted quinazolines and those displaying their own specific fluorescence, favourable for cellular uptake visualization, have not been described so far. Here we report the development of a one-pot synthetic strategy to access these 4,5,7,8-substituted quinazolines, which are fluorescent and feature strong antiviral properties (EC$_{50}$ down to 0.6±0.1 μM) against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). Merging multistep domino processes in one-pot under fully metal-free conditions leads to sustainable, maximum efficient and high-yielding organic synthesis. Furthermore, generation of artesunic acid–quinazoline hybrids and their application against HCMV (EC$_{50}$ down to 0.1±0.0 μM) is demonstrated. Fluorescence of new antiviral hybrids and quinazolines has potential applications in molecular imaging in drug development and mechanistic studies, avoiding requirement of linkage to external fluorescent markers

Cobaloxime complex salts : synthesis, patterning on carbon nanomembranes and heterogeneous hydrogen evolution studies

Cobaloximes are promising, earth-abundant catalysts for the light-driven hydrogen evolution reaction. Typically, these cobalt(III) complexes are prepared in situ or employed in their neutral form, e.g. [Co(dmgH 2 )(py)Cl], even though related complex salts have been reported previously and could in principle offer improved catalytic activity as well as more efficient immobilization on solid support. Here we report an interdisciplinary investigation into complex salts [Co(dmgH) 2 (py) 2 ] + [Co(dmgBPh 2 ) 2 Cl 2 ] - , TBA + [Co(dmgBPh 2 ) 2 Cl 2 ] - and [Co(dmgH) 2 (py) 2 ] + BArF - . We describe their strategic syntheses from commercially available complex [Co(dmgH) 2 (py)Cl] and demonstrate that these double and single complex salts are potent catalysts for the light-driven hydrogen evolution reaction. We also show that scanning electrochemical cell microscopy can be used to deposit arrays of catalysts [Co(dmgH) 2 (py) 2 ] + [Co(dmgBPh 2 ) 2 Cl 2 ] - and [Co(dmgH) 2 (py)Cl] on supported and free-standing amino-terminated ~ 1 nm thick carbon nanomembranes (CNMs). Photocatalytic H 2 evolution at such arrays was quantified with Pd microsensors using scanning electrochemical microscopy, thus providing a new approach for catalytic evaluation and opening up novel routes for the creation and analysis of “designer catalyst arrays”, nano-printed in a desired pattern on a solid support

Performance Modelling of Pull Manufacturing Systems with Batch Servers and Assembly-like Structure

The manufacturing industries' need to focus on reducing work-in-process (WIP) as well as product cycle times has led to a widespread employment of the just--in-- time (JIT) production philosophy and in particular kanban systems. Queueing models of several differentkanban systems have been previously presented focusing on single job service machines. We extend the model and approximation method presented by Mitra and Mitrani, to investigate a singlecard kanban system with batch servers. Batchservers are machines that can process several jobs or lots at a time. We use the same technique to analyze assembly--likemanufacturing systems and manufacturing systems with more than only one machine in eachkanban cell. We compare numerical approximations with simulations of the configurations under consideration. We also discuss how given parameters influence performance measures suchas production rate (throughput), cycle time, and WIP. This study was motivated by the need of semiconductor manufacturers for kanban--like pull production control systems

Opioid antagonism modulates wanting-related frontostriatal connectivity

Theoretical accounts distinguish between motivational ('wanting') and hedonic ('liking') dimensions of rewards. Previous animal and human research linked wanting and liking to anatomically and neurochemically distinct brain mechanisms, but it remains unknown how the different brain regions and neurotransmitter systems interact in processing distinct reward dimensions. Here, we assessed how pharmacological manipulations of opioid and dopamine receptor activation modulate the neural processing of wanting and liking in humans in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial. Reducing opioid receptor activation with naltrexone selectively reduced wanting of rewards, which on a neural level was reflected by stronger coupling between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the striatum under naltrexone compared with placebo. In contrast, reducing dopaminergic neurotransmission with amisulpride revealed no robust effects on behavior or neural activity. Our findings thus provide insights into how opioid receptors mediate neural connectivity related to specifically motivational, not hedonic, aspects of rewards

A Note on the Application of Marie's Method for Queueing Networks with Batch Servers

During the past years much attention... In this paper we model and analyze a singlecard kanban system with batch servers in order to investigate the impact of buffer allocation. Finally, we compare using our new algorithm numerical approximations with simulations of several configurations. This study belongs to the category of research on queueing networks with restricted capacity as previously presented by DiMascolo et al. (1991, 1992), and Dallery et al. (1990, 1992)

Performance Modelling of Pull Manufacturing Systems with Batch Servers and Assembly-like Structure

The manufacturing industries' need to focus on reducing work-in-process (WIP) as well as product cycle times has led to a widespread employment of the just-in-time (JIT) production philosophy and in particular kanban systems. Queueing models of several different kanban systems have been previously presented focusing on single job service machines. We extend the model and approximation method presented by Mitra and Mitrani, to investigate a singlecard kanban system with batch servers. Batch servers are machines that can process several jobs or lots at a time. We use the same technique to analyze assembly-like manufacturing systems and manufacturing systems with more than only one machine in each kanban cell. We compare numerical approximations with simulations of the configurations under consideration. We also discuss how given parameters influence performance measures such as production rate (throughput), cycle time, and WIP. This study was motivated by the need of semiconductor ..

The ecological and economic advantages of carbon reinforced concrete—Using the C³ result house CUBE especially the BOX value chain as an example

Against the background of global warming and the associated need to drastically reduce energy and resource consumption, action must also be taken in the building sector. Resource-efficient construction methods must be used that nevertheless allow the increasing construction tasks in areas such as infrastructure and housing to continue to be fulfilled. In order to successfully introduce a new construction method to the market, the aspects of recyclability and economic efficiency are essential, in addition to important government requirements for climate neutrality and technical performance. Above all, the economic viability, that is, the economic advantageousness, as well as its simple applicability compared to competing systems, decides on the success and widespread use of a new technology. Carbon reinforced concrete, with its outstanding technical properties and simultaneous material efficiency, is an important building block toward climate neutrality in the construction industry. It is a promising technology that still has to prove its economic advantages and robust applicability under market conditions. In addition to the infrastructure sector, there is great potential in the area of housing creation, which needs to be tapped for carbon reinforced concrete. For this challenge, it is necessary to design a competitive value chain that allows the realization of marketable products in mass production on existing plant technology. The article gives a short overview of the economic and ecological status quo in the field of prefabricated construction with carbon concrete, using the example of the C3-result building CUBE. In particular, the CUBE-BOX, which is made of prefabricated and semi-prefabricated parts, is examined in more detail and the carbon reinforced concrete components used are compared with classic reinforced concrete constructions in terms of sustainability. In this context, the conceivable global climate protection contribution of the carbon reinforced concrete construction method is forecast based on potential market segments

Opioid antagonism modulates wanting-related frontostriatal connectivity

Theoretical accounts distinguish between motivational (‘wanting’) and hedonic (‘liking’) dimensions of rewards. Previous animal and human research linked wanting and liking to anatomically and neurochemically distinct brain mechanisms, but it remains unknown how the different brain regions and neurotransmitter systems interact in processing distinct reward dimensions. Here, we assessed how pharmacological manipulations of opioid and dopamine receptor activation modulate the neural processing of wanting and liking in humans in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial. Reducing opioid receptor activation with naltrexone selectively reduced wanting of rewards, which on a neural level was reflected by stronger coupling between dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the striatum under naltrexone compared with placebo. In contrast, reducing dopaminergic neurotransmission with amisulpride revealed no robust effects on behavior or neural activity. Our findings thus provide insights into how opioid receptors mediate neural connectivity related to specifically motivational, not hedonic, aspects of rewards