In-plane shear behaviour of traditional timber walls

The reconstruction of Lisbon Downtown after the 1755 earthquake was based on a novel constructive system based on masonry buildings with an internal three-dimensional timber-framed structure named “gaiola pombalina”. This internal structure aimed at improving the global stability of masonry buildings, enhancing their capacity to dissipate energy under seismic loadings. This paper aims at getting experimental insight on the mechanical behaviour of such timber–framed walls subjected to in-plane loading, as only scarce information is available in literature, in order to assess their effective performance to seismic actions. To do this, the experimental results of cyclic tests carried out on traditional timber-framed walls with distinct typologies will be analyzed, in order to evaluate the failure modes, lateral resistance and energy dissipation; moreover, a hysteretic model will be derived for traditional timber-framed walls. Additionally, the possibility of strengthening the traditional connections of the walls by means of GFRP is also addressed

Comportamento ao corte no plano de paredes frontal

The reconstruction of Lisbon Downtown after the 1755 earthquake was based on a novel constructive system based on masonry buildings with an internal three-dimensional timber-framed structure named "gaiola pombalina". This internal structure aimed at improving the global stability of masonry buildings, enhancing their capacity to dissipate energy under seismic loadings. This paper aims at getting experimental insight on the mechanical behaviour of such timber-framed walls subjected to in-plane loading, as only scarce information is available in literature, in order to assess their effective performance to seismic actions. To do this, the experimental results of cyclic tests carried out on traditional timber-framed walls with distinct typologies will be analyzed, in order to evaluate the failure modes, lateral resistance and energy dissipation; moreover, ahysteretic model will be derived for traditional timber-framed walls. Additionally, the possibility of strengthening the traditional connections of the walls by means of GFRP is also addressed.A reconstrução da Baixa de Lisboa após o terramoto de 1755 foi feita com base num novo sistema construtivo de edifícios de alvenaria com uma estrutura tridimensional interna de madeira designada de "gaiola pombalina", Esta estrutura interna visa reforçar a estabilidade global dos edifícios de alvenaria, melhorando a sua capacidade para dissipar energia quando sujeitos a cargas sísmicas. Este trabalho tem como objetivo a análise do comportamento mecânico de paredes de frontal sujeitas à acção combinada de cargas verticais e de cargas laterais cíclicas de modo a simular o comportamento à acção sísmica. O programa experimental consiste num conjunto de ensaios cíclicos realizados em de frontal tradicionais com tipologias distintas, nomeadamente frontais não preenchidos; (2) frontais com preenchimento em alvenaria; (3) paredes de frontal com reforço nas através da aplicação de materiais compósitos de fibras de (GFRP), A analise de resultados dos ensaios experimentais permite a obtenção de parâmetros tais como a rigidez inicial e a sua degradação, e a dissipação de energia ao longo do processo de carregamento cíclico, Adicionalmente, é possível a obtenção das principais características de deformação e modos de rotura das paredes bem como os diagramas de histerese característicos das paredes, através dos quais e possível derivar um modelo de histerese para estas paredes. Refira-se que muito pouca informação existe neste domínio, pelo que o presente trabalho apresenta grande importância e destina-se a contribuir para o estado da arte

Safety and Immunogenicity of Different Immunization Regimens of CVD 103-HgR Live Oral Cholera Vaccine in Soldiers and Civilians in Thailand

Attenuated Vibrio cholerae oral vaccineCVD 103-HgR was well tolerated by 324 Thai soldiers and civilians. Most receiveda single 5 × 108 cfu dose, while 40 each receivedone or two 5 × 109 cfu doses. Vibriocidal antibody (the best correlate of immunity) seroconversion was lower in soldiers than civilians (P < .001). Increasing the vaccinedose to 5 × 109 cfu raised the geometric mean titer (P < .001).Asecond 5 × 109 cfu dose one weeklater did not notably increase seroconversions. Likelihood of seroconversionwas inverselycorrelated with baseline vibriocidal titer (P < .001). CVD 103-HgR caused seroconversion in most subjects with baseline titers ⩽1:40, including 100% of civilians after one 5 × 108 cfu dose, 79% of soldiers after one 5 × 109 cfu dose, and 45% of soldiers after one 5 × 108 cfu dose. In persons with elevatedbaseline titers, vibriocidal antibody seroconversion is not a sensitive measure of whether vaccine has boosted intestinal immunity; for such subjects,other measurements must be used. Study regimens in endemic areas should use a single 5 × 109 cfu dos

Phase Separation in Rapid Solidified Ag-rich Ag-Cu-Zr Alloys

The microstructure and phase formation of rapid solidified Ag-rich Ag-Cu-Zr alloys were investigated. Two types of structure; interconnected- and droplet-type structures, were obtained due to phase separation mechanisms. The former was spinodal decomposition and the later was nucleation and growth mechanism. Depending on the alloy compositions, three crystalline phases; FCC-Ag, AgZr and Cu10Zr7 phases were observed along with an in-situ nanocrystalline/amorphous composite. Vickers hardness testing indicated a significant increase of hardness in the nanocrystalline/amorphous-composite alloy

Mechanisms of escape phenomenon of spinal cord and brainstem in human rabies

BACKGROUND: Rabies virus preferentially involves brainstem, thalamus and spinal cord in human furious and paralytic rabies beginning in the early stage of illness. Nevertheless, rabies patient remains alert until the pre-terminal phase. Weakness of extremities develops only when furious rabies patient becomes comatose; whereas peripheral nerve dysfunction is responsible for weakness in paralytic rabies. METHODS: Evidence of apoptosis and mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization in brain and spinal cord of 10 rabies patients was examined and these findings were correlated with the presence of rabies virus antigen. RESULTS: Although apoptosis was evident in most of the regions, cytochrome c leakage was relatively absent in spinal cord of nearly all patients despite the abundant presence of rabies virus antigen. Such finding was also noted in brainstem of 5 patients. CONCLUSION: Cell death in human rabies may be delayed in spinal cord and the reticular activating system, such as brainstem, thus explaining absence of weakness due to spinal cord dysfunction and preservation of consciousness

Designing and diagraming an intended learning outcome structure: a case study from the instructors' perspective

The paper proposes the intended learning outcome (ILO) diagram -" a novel conceptual model for curriculum development. The design of an ILO structure and its components are introduced, and its corresponding ILO diagram and relationships are presented and discussed. An experimental study of how structured ILOs (visualised through an ILO diagram) meets instructors' satisfaction is reported and summarised. The results revealed that the mean ratings of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude towards representing ILOs, were significantly higher with the ILO diagram

In-plane shear behaviour of traditional timber walls

The reconstruction of Downtown Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake was based on a novel constructive system of masonry buildings with an internal three-dimensional timber-framed structure named ‘‘gaiola pombalina’’. This internal structure aimed at improving the global stability of masonry buildings, enhancing their capacity to dissipate energy under seismic loadings. But this structural system is not only typical of Portugal, but constitutes part of the built heritage of various countries. This paper aims at getting experimental insight on the mechanical behaviour of timber-framed walls subjected to in-plane loading, as only scarce information is available in literature, in order to assess their effective performance to seismic actions. To do this, the experimental results of cyclic tests carried out on traditional timber-framed walls with distinct typologies will be analysed, namely (1) unreinforced timber-framed walls without infill; (2) timber-framed walls without infill with Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer sheets (GFRP) placed at the connections; (3) timber-framed walls with brick masonry infill

A Gaussian-Process-Based Global Sensitivity Analysis of Cultivar Trait Parameters in APSIM-Sugar Model: Special Reference to Environmental and Management Conditions in Thailand

Process-based crop models are advantageous for the identification of management strategies to cope with both temporal and spatial variability of sugarcane yield. However, global optimization of such models is often computationally expensive. Therefore, we performed global sensitivity analysis based on Gaussian process emulation to evaluate the sensitivity of cane dry weight to trait parameters implemented in the Agricultural Productions System Simulator (APSIM)-Sugar model under selected environmental and management conditions in Khon Kaen (KK), Thailand. Emulators modeled 30 years, three soil types and irrigated or rainfed conditions, and emulator performance was investigated. rue, green_leaf_no, transp_eff_cf, tt_emerg_to_begcane and cane_fraction were identified as the most influential parameters and together they explained more than 90% of total variance on the simulator output. Moreover, results indicate that the sensitivity of sugarcane yield to the most influential parameters is affected by water stress conditions and nitrogen stress. Our findings can be used to improve the efficiency and accuracy of modeling and to identify appropriate management strategies to address temporal and spatial variability of sugarcane yield in KK