On the Evaluation of the Mechanical Behaviour of Structural Glass Elements

Glass can be considered to be a high-technology engineering material with a multifunctional potential for structural applications. However, the conventional approach to the use of glass is often based only on its properties of transparency and isolation. It is thus highly appropriate and necessary to study the mechanical behaviour of this material and to develop adequate methods and models leading to its characterisation. It is evident that the great potential of growth for structural glass applications is an important opportunity of development for the glass industry and the building/construction sectors. The work presented in this paper is a reflection of this conclusion. The authors shortly present the state-of-the-art on the application of glass as a structural element in building and construction, and refer to other potential fields of application and available glass materials. The experimental procedures and methods adopted in three-point bending tests performed on 500 × 100 [mm2] float, laminated and tempered glass specimens with thicknesses between 4 and 19 mm are thoroughly described. The authors evaluated the mechanical strength and stiffness of glass for structural applications. This work contributes to a deeper knowledge of the properties of this material

Tuned liquid dampers simulation for earthquake response control of buildings

This paper is focused on the study of an earthquake protection system, the Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD), which can, if adequately designed, reduce earthquake demands on buildings. This positive effect is accomplished taking into account the oscillation of the free surface of a fluid inside a tank (sloshing). The behaviour of an isolated Tuned Liquid Damper, subjected to a sinusoidal excitation at its base, with different displacement amplitudes, was studied by finite element analysis. The efficiency of the TLD in improving the seismic response of an existing building, representative of modern architecture buildings in southern European countries was also evaluated based on linear dynamic analyses

Engendering pain management practices: the role of physician sex on chronic low-back pain assessment and treatment prescriptions

The impact of physician sex on dimensions of medical care such as treatment prescriptions and referrals has been underexplored, especially in a pain context. Also, few studies have analyzed whether physician sex moderates the influence of patients' or clinical situations' characteristics on pain management practices or its mediating processes. Therefore, our goal was to explore whether physician sex moderates the effects of patient (distressed) pain behaviors and diagnostic evidence of pathology (EP) on treatment prescriptions and referrals for chronic low-back pain, and to explore the mediating role of pain credibility judgments and psychological attributions on these effects. A total of 310 general practitioners (GPs; 72.6% women) participated in a between-subjects design, 2 (patient pain behaviors) x 2 (EP) x 2 (GP sex) x 2 (patient sex). GPs were presented with vignettes depicting a fe(male) chronic low-back pain patient, with(out) distress and with(out) EP (eg, herniated disc). GPs judged the patient's pain and the probability of treatment prescriptions and referrals. Results showed that EP had a larger effect on male than on female physicians' referrals to psychology/psychiatry. Also, GP sex moderated the pain judgments that accounted for the effect of EP and pain behaviors on prescriptions. These findings suggest framing medical decision-making as a process influenced by gender assumptions.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio