A macro-element based practical model for seismic analysis of steel-concrete composite high-rise buildings

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Engineering Structures. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier B.V.Seismic behaviour of steel–concrete composite high-rise buildings, composed of external steel frames (SFs) and internal concrete tube (CT), with rectangular plan is investigated in this paper. A macro-element based model is established for seismic analysis of composite high-rise buildings aiming at predicting their global responses under earthquakes. By employing this macro-element based model, natural frequencies and vibration modes, storey and inter-storey drifts, overturning moments and storey shear forces of composite structures, induced by earthquakes, are able to be obtained with much less computation time and cost compared with using micro-element based analytical models. To validate its efficiency and reliability, the macro-element based model is employed to analyse a 1/20 scaled-down model of a 25-storey steel–concrete composite high-rise building subjected to simulated earthquakes with various intensities through a shaking table. Natural frequencies and storey drifts of the model structure are obtained from numerical analyses and compared with those from shaking table test results. It has been found that the calculated dynamic responses of the composite model structure subjected to minor, basic, major and super strong earthquakes agree reasonably well with those obtained from experiments, suggesting that the proposed macro-element based model is appropriate for inelastic time-history analyse for global responses of steel–concrete composite high-rise structures subjected to earthquakes with satisfactory precision and reliability. This research thus provides a practical model for elastic and inelastic deformation check of high-rise composite buildings under earthquakes.Ministry of Science and Technology of Chin

Mobility of primary health care workers in China

© 2009 Meng et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Review of 20 years of science and technology cooperation between China and IDRC

Digital version dated 1999Highlights a number of IDRC-supported projects in Chin

Focus on vulnerable populations and promoting equity in health service utilization ––an analysis of visitor characteristics and service utilization of the Chinese community health service

Background Community health service in China is designed to provide a convenient and affordable primary health service for the city residents, and to promote health equity. Based on data from a large national study of 35 cities across China, we examined the characteristics of the patients and the utilization of community health institutions (CHIs), and assessed the role of community health service in promoting equity in health service utilization for community residents. Methods Multistage sampling method was applied to select 35 cities in China. Four CHIs were randomly chosen in every district of the 35 cities. A total of 88,482 visitors to the selected CHIs were investigated by using intercept survey method at the exit of the CHIs in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Descriptive analyses were used to analyze the main characteristics (gender, age, and income) of the CHI visitors, and the results were compared with that from the National Health Services Survey (NHSS, including CHIs and higher levels of hospitals). We also analyzed the service utilization and the satisfactions of the CHI visitors. Results The proportions of the children (2.4%) and the elderly (about 22.7%) were lower in our survey than those in NHSS (9.8% and 38.8% respectively). The proportion of the low-income group (26.4%) was apparently higher than that in NHSS (12.5%). The children group had the lowest satisfaction with the CHIs than other age groups. The satisfaction of the low-income visitors was slightly higher than that of the higher-income visitors. The utilization rate of public health services was low in CHIs. Conclusions The CHIs in China appears to fulfill the public health target of uptake by vulnerable populations, and may play an important role in promoting equity in health service utilization. However, services for children and the elderly should be strengthened

Population dynamical behavior of non-autonomous Lotka-Volterra competitive system with random perturbation

In this paper, we consider a non-autonomous stochastic Lotka-Volterra competitive system dxi(t) = xi(t)[(bi(t)¡ nPj=1aij (t)xj (t))dt+¾i(t)dBi(t)], where Bi(t) (i = 1; 2; ¢ ¢ ¢ ; n) are independent standard Brownian motions. Some dynamical properties are discussed and the su±cient conditions for the existence of global positive solutions, stochastic permanence, extinction as well as global attractivity are obtained. In addition, the limit of the average in time of the sample paths of solutions is estimated

The ‘credibility paradox’ in China’s science communication: Views from scientific practitioners

In contrast to increasing debates on China’s rising status as a global scientific power, issues of China’s science communication remain under-explored. Based on 21 in-depth interviews in three cities, this article examines Chinese scientists’ accounts of the entangled web of influence which conditions the process of how scientific knowledge achieves (or fails to achieve) its civic authority. A main finding of this study is a ‘credibility paradox’ as a result of the over-politicisation of science and science communication in China. Respondents report that an absence of visible institutional endorsements renders them more public credibility and better communication outcomes. Thus, instead of exploiting formal channels of science communication, scientists interviewed were more keen to act as ‘informal risk communicators’ in grassroots and private events. Chinese scientists’ perspectives on how to earn public support of their research sheds light on the nature and impact of a ‘civic epistemology’ in an authoritarian state

Human resources for maternal, newborn and child health: from measurement and planning to performance for improved health outcomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is increasing attention, globally and in countries, to monitoring and addressing the health systems and human resources inputs, processes and outputs that impede or facilitate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals for maternal and child health. We reviewed the situation of human resources for health (HRH) in 68 low- and middle-income countries that together account for over 95% of all maternal and child deaths.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We collected and analysed cross-nationally comparable data on HRH availability, distribution, roles and functions from new and existing sources, and information from country reviews of HRH interventions that are associated with positive impacts on health services delivery and population health outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Findings from 68 countries demonstrate availability of doctors, nurses and midwives is positively correlated with coverage of skilled birth attendance. Most (78%) of the target countries face acute shortages of highly skilled health personnel, and large variations persist within and across countries in workforce distribution, skills mix and skills utilization. Too few countries appropriately plan for, authorize and support nurses, midwives and community health workers to deliver essential maternal, newborn and child health-care interventions that could save lives.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite certain limitations of the data and findings, we identify some key areas where governments, international partners and other stakeholders can target efforts to ensure a sufficient, equitably distributed and efficiently utilized health workforce to achieve MDGs 4 and 5.</p