An experimental study of steel fiber-reinforced high-strength concrete slender columns under cyclic loading

Structural engineers usually limit the use of HSC columns to seismic active zones because of their britle behavior in comparison with NSC, even though it presents advantages both in terms of mechanics and durability. A possible solution to improve the ductile behavior of HSC columns is the use of transverse reinforcement and steel fibers simultaneously. In addition, the use of HSC makes the design of more slender columns possible, with the consequent increase of second-order effects. However, there are few experimental tests on columns of medium slenderness (between 5 and 10) subjected to cyclic loads including or excluding steel fibers. This article presents experimental research work on the behavior of slender columns subjected to combined constant compression and cyclic lateral loads. Fifteen tests were carried out in order to study the behavior of such elements. The following variables were studied: concrete strength, slenderness, axial load level, transverse reinforcement ratio, and volumetric steel-fiber ratio. The maximum load and deformation capacity of the columns were analyzed. The fact that the inclusion of steel fibers into the concrete mixture increases the deformation capacity was verified. Moreover, a minimum transverse reinforcement is required in order to improve the effectiveness of the steel fibers with no significant decrease in the carrying capacity under cyclic loading. The inclusion of steel fibers in HSC can ensure similar ductility values to those of NSC. It was shown that slenderness influences the deformation capacity.Structural engineers usually limit the use of HSC columns to seismic active zones because of their britle behavior in comparison with NSC, even though it presents advantages both in terms of mechanics and durability. A possible solution to improve the ductile behavior of HSC columns is the use of transverse reinforcement and steel fibers simultaneously. In addition, the use of HSC makes the design of more slender columns possible, with the consequent increase of second-order effects. However, there are few experimental tests on columns of medium slenderness (between 5 and 10) subjected to cyclic loads including or excluding steel fibers. This article presents experimental research work on the behavior of slender columns subjected to combined constant compression and cyclic lateral loads. Fifteen tests were carried out in order to study the behavior of such elements. The following variables were studied: concrete strength, slenderness, axial load level, transverse reinforcement ratio, and volumetric steel-fiber ratio. The maximum load and deformation capacity of the columns were analyzed. The fact that the inclusion of steel fibers into the concrete mixture increases the deformation capacity was verified. Moreover, a minimum transverse reinforcement is required in order to improve the effectiveness of the steel fibers with no significant decrease in the carrying capacity under cyclic loading. The inclusion of steel fibers in HSC can ensure similar ductility values to those of NSC. It was shown that slenderness influences the deformation capacity

Behaviour of steel-fibre-reinforced normal-strength concrete slender columns under cyclic loading

The inclusion of ductility requirements is necessary to guarantee a safety design of concrete structures subjected to unexpected and/or reversal loads. It is important to outline that plastic hinges may develop in columns of reinforced concrete buildings, especially in column-foundation joints. The deformation capacity of the column depends on its slenderness. However, for the case of cyclic loading, few experimental tests of normal and fibre-reinforced concrete columns in the range of medium slenderness (between 5 and 10) have been performed. This paper presents an experimental research work on the behavior of slender columns subjected to combinations of constant axial and lateral cyclic loads. In order to study the behavior of this type of elements fourteen experimental tests are performed. The experimental results make it possible to calibrate numerical models, as well as, to validate simplified methods. The following variables are studied: slenderness, axial load level, volumetric transverse reinforcement ratio, and volumetric steel-fibre ratio. The maximum load and deformation capacity of the columns has been analyzed. It is interesting to note that ductility depends on the four tested variables analyzed. Moreover, the inclusion of steel-fibres into the concrete mixture increases the deformation capacity. In order to improve the steel fibres effectiveness the inclusion of a minimum transverse reinforcement is required. Thus, the column behavior suffers moderate strength losses due to cyclic loads. Finally, slenderness influences the deformation capacity if second-order effects are important, the cross-section has a ductile behavior, and materials capacity is reachedThe inclusion of ductility requirements is necessary to guarantee a safety design of concrete structures subjected to unexpected and/or reversal loads. It is important to outline that plastic hinges may develop in columns of reinforced concrete buildings, especially in column-foundation joints. The deformation capacity of the column depends on its slenderness. However, for the case of cyclic loading, few experimental tests of normal and fibre-reinforced concrete columns in the range of medium slenderness (between 5 and 10) have been performed. This paper presents an experimental research work on the behavior of slender columns subjected to combinations of constant axial and lateral cyclic loads. In order to study the behavior of this type of elements fourteen experimental tests are performed. The experimental results make it possible to calibrate numerical models, as well as, to validate simplified methods. The following variables are studied: slenderness, axial load level, volumetric transverse reinforcement ratio, and volumetric steel-fibre ratio. The maximum load and deformation capacity of the columns has been analyzed. It is interesting to note that ductility depends on the four tested variables analyzed. Moreover, the inclusion of steel-fibres into the concrete mixture increases the deformation capacity. In order to improve the steel fibres effectiveness the inclusion of a minimum transverse reinforcement is required. Thus, the column behavior suffers moderate strength losses due to cyclic loads. Finally, slenderness influences the deformation capacity if second-order effects are important, the cross-section has a ductile behavior, and materials capacity is reache

La oferta turística andaluza y sus productos emergentes: el ecoturismo, portafolio y posibilidades

Entre los múltiples recursos de factible utilización turística con que cuenta Andalucía se encuentra el enoturismo, que, como oferta cultural, atrae a segmentos de población de poder adquisitivo medio y alto que son mercado objetivo, a su vez, de otros recursos de similar gama y de fácil interconexión (gastronomía, arquitectura, naturaleza, etc.) La comunicación que proponemos diagnostica la situación del enoturismo en Andalucía y plantea un catálogo de recursos del mismo identificando zonas, tipos y denominaciones que puedan servir de base para el desarrollo de rutas en las que se incorporen otros recursos y posibilidades.Among the resources that Andalucía can put in value for tourist use, we can stand up the wine tourism. It is a cultural product that attracts different segments of population with medium and high buying power. This target market is at the same time a market segment of other products which are in the same range and interconnected to the wine tourism, like gastronomy, architecture and nature. This paper wants to diagnose the situation for the wine tourism in Andalucía. In this sense it gives a portfolio of resources trying to identify zones, types and qualified denominations that would be capable to develop routes that can joint other resources and possibilities

Incidence, prevalence and persistence of bovine venereal diseases in La Pampa (Argentina): estimations for the period 2007 - 2020

The venereal diseases Bovine Trichomoniasis (BT) and Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis (BGC) cause economic losses in endemic areas, such as the province of La Pampa in Argentina, where bovine production is typically extensive. This study has used data compiled from 2007 to 2013 by the Official Program for the Control and Eradication (PCE) of venereal diseases, aiming to determine the prevalence, incidence and persistence of BT and BGC and to provide projections until 2020. Fourteen univariate models were used to adjust each time series. The prevalence and incidence of both diseases have significantly decreased during the studied period, while the persistence has remained constant. The prevalence of BT has diminished from 7.48% in 2007 to 3.03% in 2013, while the prevalence of BGC has diminished from 9.36% to 3.15%. The incidences have been reduced to an annual average of 0.60 for BT and 0.67 for BGC. Although the estimation models are not able to predict accurately the future epidemiologic rates of BT and BGC in La Pampa, projections show a significant decreasing trend of the prevalence and incidence of BT and BGC. The persistence of BGC is expected to remain close to the 2007-2013 average, while the persistence of BT did not adjust to any of the 14 models used. These results indicate that PCE has been effective to reduce the infection of disease-free herds. However, in order to reduce the ratio of persistent herds, other preventive and management measures should be considered. Highlights The venereal diseases Bovine Trichomoniasis (BT) and Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis (BGC) cause economic losses. Univariate analysis was an effective tool for modeling the historical and future prevalence, incidence and persistence of BT and BGC infections. The prevalence and incidence of BT and BGC have significantly decreased during the studied period, while the persistence has remained constant. The Official Program for the Control and Eradication (PCE) of venereal diseases, has been effective to reduce the infection of disease-free herds.The venereal diseases Bovine Trichomoniasis (BT) and Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis (BGC) cause economic losses in endemic areas, such as the province of La Pampa in Argentina, where bovine production is typically extensive. This study has used data compiled from 2007 to 2013 by the Official Program for the Control and Eradication (PCE) of venereal diseases, aiming to determine the prevalence, incidence and persistence of BT and BGC and to provide projections until 2020. Fourteen univariate models were used to adjust each time series. The prevalence and incidence of both diseases have significantly decreased during the studied period, while the persistence has remained constant. The prevalence of BT has diminished from 7.48% in 2007 to 3.03% in 2013, while the prevalence of BGC has diminished from 9.36% to 3.15%. The incidences have been reduced to an annual average of 0.60 for BT and 0.67 for BGC. Although the estimation models are not able to predict accurately the future epidemiologic rates of BT and BGC in La Pampa, projections show a significant decreasing trend of the prevalence and incidence of BT and BGC. The persistence of BGC is expected to remain close to the 2007-2013 average, while the persistence of BT did not adjust to any of the 14 models used. These results indicate that PCE has been effective to reduce the infection of disease-free herds. However, in order to reduce the ratio of persistent herds, other preventive and management measures should be considered. Highlights The venereal diseases Bovine Trichomoniasis (BT) and Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis (BGC) cause economic losses. Univariate analysis was an effective tool for modeling the historical and future prevalence, incidence and persistence of BT and BGC infections. The prevalence and incidence of BT and BGC have significantly decreased during the studied period, while the persistence has remained constant. The Official Program for the Control and Eradication (PCE) of venereal diseases, has been effective to reduce the infection of disease-free herds

Trehalose-based Janus cyclooligosaccharides: the ‘‘Click’’ synthesis and DNA-directed assembly into pH-sensitive transfectious nanoparticles

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.-- et al.The convergent preparation of Janus molecular nanoparticles by thiourea-‘‘clicking’’ of a,a0 -trehalose halves has been implemented; the strategy allows access to macrocyclic derivatives with seggregated cationic and lipophilic domains that in the presence of DNA undergo pH-dependent self-assembly into lamellar superstructures, as established by electrochemical, structural (SAXS), microscopical (TEM) and computational techniques, that mediate transfection in vitro and in vivo.We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).The authors thank MINECO (contract numbers CTQ2012- 30821, SAF2013-44021-R, CTQ2015-64425-C2-1-R and CTQ2015-64425-C2-2-R), the Junta de Andalucía (contract number FQM2012-1467), University Complutense of Madrid (project no. UCMA05-33-010), the Government of Navarra (Department of Innovation and Industry, contract number IIQ14334.RI1), the University of Navarra Foundation (FUN), and the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER and FSE) for financial support.Peer reviewe

Optimizing prolog for small devices: A case study

In this paper we present the design and implementation of a wearable application in Prolog. The application program is a "sound spatializer." Given an audio signal and real time data from a head-mounted compass, a signal is generated for stereo headphones that will appear to come from a position in space. We describe high-level and low-level optimizations and transformations that have been applied in order to fit this application on the wearable device. The end application operates comfortably in real-time on a wearable computer, and has a memory foot print that remains constant over time enabling it to run on continuous audio streams. Comparison with a version hand-written in C shows that the C version is no more than 20-40% faster; a small price to pay for a high level description

Evaluation of prognostic factors among patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease

Background: Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is a major complication after allogeneic stem cell transplantation with an adverse effect on both mortality and morbidity. In 2005, the National Institute of Health proposed new criteria for diagnosis and classification of chronic graft-versus-host disease for clinical trials. New sub-categories were recognized such as late onset acute graft-versus-host disease and overlap syndrome. Design and methods: We evaluated the prognostic impact of the new sub-categories as well as the clinical scoring system proposed by the National Institute of Health in a retrospective, multicenter study of 820 patients undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation between 2000 and 2006 at 3 different institutions. Patients were retrospectively categorized according to the National Institute of Health criteria from patients' medical histories. Results: As far as the new sub-categories are concerned, in univariate analysis diagnosis of overlap syndrome adversely affected the outcome. Also, the number of organs involved for a cut-off value of 4 significantly influenced both cGVHD related mortality and survival. In multivariate analysis, in addition to NIH score, platelet count and performance score at the time of cGVHD diagnosis, plus gut involvement, significantly influenced outcome. These 3 variables allowed us to develop a simple score system which identifies 4 subgroups of patients with 84%, 64%, 43% and 0% overall survival at five years after cGVHD diagnosis (score 0: HR=15.96 (95% CI: 6.85-37.17), P<0.001; score 1: HR=5.47 (95% CI: 2.6-11.5), P<0.001; score 2: HR=2.8 (95% CI: 1.32-5.93), P=0.007). Conclusions: In summary, we have identified a powerful and simple tool to discriminate different subgroups of patients in terms of chronic graft-versus-host disease related mortality and survival

Selection of Tumor-Specific Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients Through the Identification of T-Cells Capable to Establish Stable Interactions With the Leukemic Cells: “Doublet Technology”

The relevance of the immune system in cancer has long been studied. Autologous adoptive T cell therapies, based on the use of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), have made great progress in recent years for the treatment of solid tumors, especially melanoma. However, further work is needed to isolate tumor-reactive T cells among patients diagnosed with hematologic malignancies. The dynamics of the interaction between T cells and antigen presenting cells (APC) dictate the quality of the immune responses. While stable joints between target cells and T lymphocytes lead to the induction of T cell activation and immune response, brief contacts contribute to the induction of immune-tolerance. Taking advantage of the strong interaction between target cell and activated T-cells, we show the feasibility to identify and isolate tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients by flow cytometry. Using this technology, CTLs bound through T cell receptor (TCR) to tumor cells can be identified in peripheral blood and bone marrow and subsequently selected and isolated by FACS-based cell sorting. These CTLs display higher percentage of effector cells and marked cytotoxic activity against AML blasts. In conclusion, we have developed a new procedure to identify and select specific cytotoxic T cells in patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.Instituto de Salud Carlos III PFIS-FI12/00189Instituto de Salud Carlos III ISCIII PI14/02074Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI11/02366Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI17/02177European Union (ERDF/ESF, Investing in your future)CIBER CB16/12/0048

High-level languages for small devices: A case study

In this paper we study, through a concrete case, the feasibility of using a high-level, general-purpose logic language in the design and implementation of applications targeting wearable computers. The case study is a "sound spatializer" which, given real-time signáis for monaural audio and heading, generates stereo sound which appears to come from a position in space. The use of advanced compile-time transformations and optimizations made it possible to execute code written in a clear style without efñciency or architectural concerns on the target device, while meeting strict existing time and memory constraints. The final executable compares favorably with a similar implementation written in C. We believe that this case is representative of a wider class of common pervasive computing applications, and that the techniques we show here can be put to good use in a range of scenarios. This points to the possibility of applying high-level languages, with their associated flexibility, conciseness, ability to be automatically parallelized, sophisticated compile-time tools for analysis and verification, etc., to the embedded systems field without paying an unnecessary performance penalty

A role for the chemokine receptor CCR6 in mammalian sperm motility and chemotaxis

Although recent evidence indicates that several chemokines and defensins, well-known as inflammatory mediators, are expressed in the male and female reproductive tracts, the location and functional significance of chemokine networks in sperm physiology and sperm reproductive tract interactions are poorly understood. To address this deficiency in our knowledge, we examined the expression and function in sperm of CCR6, a receptor common to several chemoattractant peptides, and screened several reproductive tract fluids for the presence of specific ligands. CCR6 protein is present in mouse and human sperm and mainly localized in the sperm tail with other minor patterns in sperm from mice (neck and acrosomal region) and men (neck and midpiece regions). As expected from the protein immunoblotting and immunofluorescence results, mouse Ccr6 mRNA is expressed in the testis. Furthermore, the Defb29 mRNA encoding the CCR6 ligand, β-defensin DEFB29, is expressed at high levels in the epididymis. As determined by protein chip analysis, several chemokines (including some that act through CCR6, such as CCL20/MIP-3α (formerly macrophage inflammatory protein 3α) and protein hormones were present in human follicular fluid, endometrial secretions, and seminal plasma. In functional chemotaxis assays, capacitated human sperm exhibited a directional movement towards CCL20, and displayed modifications in motility parameters. Our data indicate that chemokine ligand/receptor interactions in the male and female genital tracts promote sperm motility and chemotaxis under non-inflammatory conditions. Therefore, some of the physiological reactions mediated by CCR6 ligands in male reproduction extend beyond a pro-inflammatory response and might find application in clinical reproduction and/or contraception.Fil: Caballero Campo, Pedro. Clínica Tambre. Unidad de Reproducción Humana; España. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Buffone, Mariano Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (i); ArgentinaFil: Benencia, Fabián. Ohio University; Estados UnidosFil: Conejo García, José R.. The Wistar Institute; Estados UnidosFil: Rinaudo, Paolo F.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Gerton, George L.. University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unido