Using simplified indices to forecast the seismic vulnerability of New Zealand unreinforced masonry churches

Unreinforced masonry churches are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because they are often deteriorated and damaged, they were built with comparatively low strength materials, they are heavy, and the connections between the various structural components are often insufficient to resist loads generated during earthquakes. A simplified method for seismic assessment of large span masonry churches is presented and data from 44 churches located in Italy, Portugal and Spain are used to provide lower bound limits for different simplified geometrical indexes. Subsequently, the proposed thresholds are validated with data from the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes, including 48 clay brick and stone unreinforced masonry churches. Finally, data collected for 40 unreinforced masonry churches in Wellington and Dunedin are used to identify churches in these cities requiring priority detailed seismic evaluation

Dual Function of the pUL7-pUL51 Tegument Protein Complex in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Infection

The tegument of herpesviruses is a highly complex structural layer between the nucleocapsid and the envelope of virions. Tegument proteins play both structural and regulatory functions during replication and spread, but the interactions and functions of many of these proteins are poorly understood. Here we focus on two tegument proteins from herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), pUL7 and pUL51, which have homologues in all other herpesviruses. We have now identified that HSV-1 pUL7 and pUL51 form a stable and direct protein-protein interaction, their expression levels rely on the presence of each other, and they function as a complex in infected cells. We demonstrate that expression of the pUL7-pUL51 complex is important for efficient HSV-1 assembly and plaque formation. Furthermore, we also discovered that the pUL7-pUL51 complex localizes to focal adhesions at the plasma membrane in both infected cells and in the absence of other viral proteins. The expression of pUL7-pUL51 is important to stabilize focal adhesions and maintain cell morphology in infected cells and cells infected with viruses lacking pUL7 and/or pUL51 round up more rapidly than cells infected with wild-type HSV-1. Our data suggest that, in addition to the previously reported functions in virus assembly and spread for pUL51, the pUL7-pUL51 complex is important for maintaining the attachment of infected cells to their surroundings through modulating the activity of focal adhesion complexes. $\textbf{IMPORTANCE}$: The $\textit{Herpesviridae }$ is a large family of highly successful human and animal pathogens. Virions of these viruses are composed of many different proteins, most of which are contained within the tegument, a complex structural layer between the nucleocapsid and the envelope within virus particles. Tegument proteins have important roles in assembling virus particles as well as modifying host cells to promote virus replication and spread. However, little is known about the function of many tegument proteins during virus replication. Our study focuses on two tegument proteins from herpes simplex virus 1 that are conserved in all herpesviruses: pUL7 and pUL51. We demonstrate that these proteins directly interact and form a functional complex that is important for both virus assembly and modulation of host cell morphology. Further, we identify for the first time that these conserved herpesvirus tegument proteins localize to focal adhesions in addition to cytoplasmic juxtanuclear membranes within infected cells.This work was supported by the Leverhulme Trust (grant RPG-2012-793 to C.M.C.), the Royal Society (University Research Fellowship UF090010 to C.M.C.), and the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust (Sir Henry Dale Fellowship 098406/Z/12/Z to S.C.G.). L.D. was supported by Wellcome Trust Ph.D. Programme funding (086158/Z/08/Z). D.J.O. was supported by a John Lucas Walker studentship. M.F.A. was supported by a Commonwealth Scholarship Commission PhD scholarship (BDCA-2014-7)

Report of the ICES\NAFO Joint Working Group on Deep-water Ecology (WGDEC), 11–15 March 2013, Floedevigen, Norway.

On 11 February 2013, the joint ICES/NAFO WGDEC, chaired by Francis Neat (UK) and attended by ten members met at the Institute for Marine Research in Floedevi-gen, Norway to consider the terms of reference (ToR) listed in Section 2. WGDEC was requested to update all records of deep-water vulnerable marine eco-systems (VMEs) in the North Atlantic. New data from a range of sources including multibeam echosounder surveys, fisheries surveys, habitat modelling and seabed imagery surveys was provided. For several areas across the North Atlantic, WGDEC makes recommendations for areas to be closed to bottom fisheries for the purposes of conservation of VMEs

Study on metamaterial-based bio-inspired microstrip antenna array for 5G enabled mobile health technology

5G is a fifth-generation wireless technology thatenables extremely fast data transfers and massive connectioncapacity. Existing Mobile health technology requires more reliableconnection power and data transfer rates. The purpose of thisresearch is to design, analyse, and compare the performance of abio-inspired lotus-shaped microstrip patch antenna array with twoto three radiating elements. The proposed antenna utilizesproximity coupled indirect microstrip transmission line feedingtechnique operating in the 24 GHz-30 GHz frequency band. Theresults indicate that performance continues to improve as thenumber of radiating elements increases. Moreover, each radiatingelement is loaded with complementary and non-complementarysplit-ring resonators (SRRs). The performance of the proposedmicrostrip antenna array is then analysed and compared with andwithout split-ring resonators. The findings validate that theproposed bio-inspired metamaterial-based microstrip patch arrayantenna is more reliable and performs better than an antennawithout SRR

Design, fabrication and performance analysis of floodlight shaped microstrip antenna for Wi-Fi/IoT applications

This paper proposes a design and fabrication of a floodlight-shaped microstrip patch antenna using flame-retardant (FR)-4 substrate within the frequency band of 1-6 GHz. The proposed antenna resonating at a multi-frequency band (2.01-2.2 GHz, 3.7-3.8 GHz, 4.82-4.96 GHz, and 5.61-6 GHz) is suitable for Wi-Fi and IoT applications. The proposed antenna has a size of 50×60×1.6 mm 3. The design was implemented using CADFEKO software, and the same was fabricated and measured using a vector network analyzer. Further, the performance analysis of the structure is carried out using the CADFEKO software, firstly by shifting the location of the microstrip feed line along the width of the patch and secondly by amending the structure. The verdicts show that the proposed antenna provides high impedance matching at multi-frequency bands and shows a very good agreement between simulated and fabricated results. The changed feed-line location and modified structure provide improved performance, which can be utilized for various other wireless communication channels