The carmine maggiore bell tower: An inclusive and sustainable restoration experience

The preservation of cultural heritage needs a restoration design format that can only be achievable by an in-depth multidisciplinary approach. Besides, a sustainable project requires that the link between architecture and technology be expressed through a “conscious” approach to the building. Therefore, each design must be based on the in-depth knowledge of history, construction rules, and mechanical properties of buildings to be restored. The bell towers are among the most exposed to degradation and earthquake damage constructions for their intrinsic geometry and structure. The “Carmine Maggiore” bell tower is one of the most important symbols of Naples (Italy) and, at 72 m high, it has stood out for centuries against the city. The tower underwent many significant damages and structural changes over time. The design, here illustrated, was aimed at restoring and repairing this bell tower, preserving existing materials, without altering the signs of time. The paper shows the methodology followed in the project, which, starting from an in-depth historical analysis and a detailed geometric and diagnostic survey, through several structural analyses, allowed an “inclusive” project (restoration, structural, and lighting project) based on suitable solutions that meet all the requirements of compatibility, sustainability, and structural safety

Some remarks about level sets of Cesaro averages of binary digits

The problem of averaging the binary digits of numbers in $left[ 0,1 ight]$ is considered. It is well known that Lebesgue a.e. in $left[ 0,1 ight]$ the usual Cesaro average is equal to $rac{1}{2}$ and that the Hausdorff dimension of the set where the Cesaro average is equal to $alpha$ is given by an entropy function $dleft( alpha ight)$. We prove that if $alpha eq rac{1}{2}$ then the Hausdorff measure $mathcal{H}^{dleft( alpha ight) }$ of such set is infinite. We moreover explicitly construct an infinite matrix $T$ (in a class $mathcal{M}$ of Toeplitz matrices regular with respect to Cesaro averages) such that the Hausdorff dimension of the set of the points not having Cesaro average and where the $T$-generalized average is $alpha$ is still given by $dleft( alpha ight)$

Near-Optimal Scheduling for LTL with Future Discounting

We study the search problem for optimal schedulers for the linear temporal logic (LTL) with future discounting. The logic, introduced by Almagor, Boker and Kupferman, is a quantitative variant of LTL in which an event in the far future has only discounted contribution to a truth value (that is a real number in the unit interval [0, 1]). The precise problem we study---it naturally arises e.g. in search for a scheduler that recovers from an internal error state as soon as possible---is the following: given a Kripke frame, a formula and a number in [0, 1] called a margin, find a path of the Kripke frame that is optimal with respect to the formula up to the prescribed margin (a truly optimal path may not exist). We present an algorithm for the problem; it works even in the extended setting with propositional quality operators, a setting where (threshold) model-checking is known to be undecidable

Aluminium shear-links for enhanced seismic resistance

An aluminium beam shear-link is developed for earthquake-resistant structures. The aluminium beam is designed to yield in shear mode to limit the maximum lateral force which is transmitted to primary structural members and to provide significant energy dissipation potential. Aluminium was chosen because of its low yield strength, which enables the use of thicker webs, reducing the problems of web buckling. Cyclic load tests on medium scale (1:4) models were conducted to study the hysteretic behaviour and energy dissipation potential of shear-links made of two alloys of aluminium (3003-O and 6061-O). The links were also tested at faster rates (cycling frequencies of 5, 10 and 17 Hz) to determine the effect of strain rate. The links exhibited very ductile shear yielding and excellent energy dissipation capacity. Unpinched and full hysteresis loops were observed until 10 per cent shear strain, and a relatively small influence of strain rates was observed on the link's performance. Simple design equations are developed to proportion these shear-links, using data from the cyclic load tests. In chevron-type braced systems, the shear-link is sandwiched between the tops of diagonal braces and a girder from the floor above, resulting in yielding at a lateral force less than that required to buckle the compression brace. A Shear-Link Braced Frame (SLBF) system was designed and its seismic performance was compared to that of an Ordinary Concentric Braced Frame (OCBF) with chevron braces. The SLBF system demonstrated more uniform distribution of storey drifts, reduced base shear, and a larger energy dissipation capacity per unit drift. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/34599/1/703_ftp.pd

Behavior and Strengthening of RC Beam-Column Joints: Experimental Program and First Results of the Research Activity in the Framework of DPC-ReLUIS Project (Research Line 2)

The 2005-2008 DPC-Reluis Project, funded by the Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC), is made up of ten Research Lines (RL). RL 2 specifically focuses on the seismic performance of existing RC buildings and is, in turn, organised in nine different Tasks. In the paper, the design of the research activities being carried out within the Task 7 by the four involved Research Units (RU UNIBAS, RU UNIUD, RU UNISA, and RU UNINA) and some first results are reported. Main objective of Task 7 is to investigate on the experimental behaviour of beam-column joints without or with strengthening, thus providing a contribution to a more reliable evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of Reinforced Concrete existing buildings. To this purpose the main activities carried out have been devoted to design and set up of wide experimental programs on beam-column joints relevant to typical existing RC buildings having different Earthquake Resistant Design (ERD) level, to make a literature review of the state of the art on the subject, to perform numerical simulations based on some analytical models available in literature in order to fully understand the mechanical behaviour. Further, some results of the tests already carried out are reported, analysed and compared in order to understand the failure mechanism and evaluate the seismic performance of joints with and without ERD

Towards Efficient Exact Synthesis for Linear Hybrid Systems

We study the problem of automatically computing the controllable region of a Linear Hybrid Automaton, with respect to a safety objective. We describe the techniques that are needed to effectively and efficiently implement a recently-proposed solution procedure, based on polyhedral abstractions of the state space. Supporting experimental results are presented, based on an implementation of the proposed techniques on top of the tool PHAVer.Comment: In Proceedings GandALF 2011, arXiv:1106.081

SPIRITS: Uncovering Unusual Infrared Transients with Spitzer

We present an ongoing, five-year systematic search for extragalactic infrared transients, dubbed SPIRITS—SPitzer InfraRed Intensive Transients Survey. In the first year, using Spitzer/IRAC, we searched 190 nearby galaxies with cadence baselines of one month and six months. We discovered over 1958 variables and 43 transients. Here, we describe the survey design and highlight 14 unusual infrared transients with no optical counterparts to deep limits, which we refer to as SPRITEs (eSPecially Red Intermediate-luminosity Transient Events). SPRITEs are in the infrared luminosity gap between novae and supernovae, with [4.5] absolute magnitudes between −11 and −14 (Vega-mag) and [3.6]–[4.5] colors between 0.3 mag and 1.6 mag. The photometric evolution of SPRITEs is diverse, ranging from 7 mag yr−1. SPRITEs occur in star-forming galaxies. We present an in-depth study of one of them, SPIRITS 14ajc in Messier 83, which shows shock-excited molecular hydrogen emission. This shock may have been triggered by the dynamic decay of a non-hierarchical system of massive stars that led to either the formation of a binary or a protostellar merger