Microsoft Word - Broorpc_final.doc

ABSTRACT: Today, the nonlinear finite element method is commonly used by practicing engineers, although design and assessment for shear and torsion in reinforced concrete structures are still made using methods based on sectional forces. By modelling the shear behaviour, using 3D nonlinear FEM, higher load carrying capacity and more favourable load distribution was shown, compared to conventional analysis. A modelling method using four-node curved shell elements with embedded reinforcement was evaluated in this study. Tests of reinforced and prestressed beams loaded in bending, shear and torsion were simulated. The increase in shear capacity, in addition to the reinforcement contribution, was modelled with a relationship for concrete in tension according to the modified compression field theory and compared with the use of a relationship related to the fracture energy of plain concrete. The results show that evaluations of the load-carrying capacity or crack width will be on the safe side, if only the fracture energy is used to define the concrete in tension

Built environment of Britain in 2040: Scenarios and strategies

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd We are living through a convergence of crises. In 2020, when the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic spread across the world, it brought economic instability in its wake. Sectors of the built environment (BE), among others, were hit hard by a public health crisis followed swiftly by an unprecedented economic downturn. In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report highlighted the need for rapid and drastic action on climate change by 2030 to prevent the disastrous effects of a world warmed by more than 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, raising the urgency of achieving the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by Member States in 2015. Even rapid decarbonisation, the report warned, would likely not be sufficient to address the intertwined problems of poverty, mass migration, politics and ecological collapse that the SDGs seek to address. Digital technology offers an opportunity to better understand and model solutions to these complex crises, but it is unclear how digital technology should be harnessed in the face of an uncertain future. Written at the beginning of this critical decade leading up to 2030, this paper looks ahead 20 years in the future to better understand the resources, technology, economy, governance, infrastructure, mobility and social factors that may shape the development of Britain's digital BE. By exploring four scenarios around the variables of i) the UK's compliance with the interconnected targets of the SDGs and ii) the size of the workforce relative to the dependent population (dependency), this paper concludes with the identification of key strategies that can lead to the sustainable development of the BE sectors, outlining a number of actions that should be combined with the path for recovery from Covid-19 and are based on digital technology and a green information economy that ensures a future better for everyone in a digital built Britain

Immobilized chemoattractant peptides mediate adhesion and distinct calcium-dependent cell signaling in human neutrophils

Chemotaxis is the stimulated directional migration of cells in response to chemotactic factors, manifested for instance during leukocyte interaction with chemoattractants in inflammation. The N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLF) bacterial peptide family is particularly potent in attracting and activating neutrophilic granulocytes. To accomplish defined circumstances for recruitment and activation of cells, we fabricated semitransparent gold-coated glass coverslips functionalized with chemoattractant fMLF receptor peptide agonist analogues. Peptides based on a common leading four-amino-acid sequence Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys were thus coupled to two potent fMLF receptor agonists, N-formyl-Tyr-Nle-Phe-Leu- Nle-Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys and N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe-Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys, and a formylated control peptide, N-formyl-Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys. They were anchored via the SH group of Cys either directly to the gold surface or a mixed self-assembled monolayer composed of maleimide- and hydroxyl-terminated oligo(ethylene glycol) alkyldisulfides. The overall peptide immobilization procedure was characterized with ellipsometry, contact angle measurement, and infrared spectroscopy. When exposed to granulocytes, the agonist surface rapidly recruited neutrophils and the cells responded with extensive spreading and intracellular calcium transients within minutes. The reference peptide generated no such activation, and the cells maintained a more spherical morphology, suggesting that we have been able to immobilize chemoattractant receptor agonist peptides with retained bioactivity. This is a crucial step in designing surfaces with specific effects on cellular behavior. © 2008 American Chemical Society