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Experimental Study of Ultra Shallow Floor Beams (USFB) with Perforated Steel Sections
ABSTRACT: In modern building construction design, floor spans are becoming longer. Hence, steel framed structures have become more competitive when compared with traditional reinforced concrete framed buildings. In order to minimise the structural section of the composite sections, and for economic reasons, steel perforated beams are designed to act compositely with the floor slab. When the concrete slab lies within the steel flanges, as in the Ultra Shallow Floor Beam (USFB), there is an additional benefit when considering fire resistance. The aim of this study is to investigate the contribution of the concrete in composite cellular beams in the case where the concrete slab lies between the beam flanges of a steel section, when resisting vertical shear forces. The concrete between the flanges enhances the load-carrying capacity by providing a load path to transfer the shear force. Four specimens of steel-concrete composite beams with web openings in the steel section were tested in this study. One bare steel section with web openings was also tested as a comparison. This is the first such investigation of the failure mode under shear resistance (Vierendeel action) of the Ultra Shallow Floor Beam. In the test specimens, the web opening diameter is 76% of the beam depth, which is the largest currently available. This represents the worst case in terms of Vierendeel bending forces generated in the vicinity of the web openings. The smaller the hole is, the easier it is for the trapped concrete between the flanges to transfer shear across the opening. The results from the composite beam tests show a significant increase in shear resistance. The percentage of the shear capacity improvement of the particular case is presented herein as well as the failure mode of the composite beams. The shear enhancement demonstrated in this study has been utilised software that is used in design practice
The cultural transformation of large Chinese enterprises into internationally competitive corporations: Case studies of Haier and Huawei
The Chinese government has recently introduced a policy requiring all large Chinese business corporations to transform their corporate cultures with the aim of increasing their competitiveness on the international stage. This paper traces the origins of the policy to the outstanding performance of a small number of Chinese firms since the late 1980s, a phenomenon attributed by the CEOs of these firms to effective implementation of cultural values change among their workforces. We give detailed accounts of two such firms, Haier Group and Huawei Technologies, demonstrating how they have utilized cultural management techniques to improve their employees' performance. We also identify some negative aspects of their approach to cultural management that may impede these firms in their efforts to become truly international corporations. © 2011 The Chinese Economic Association - UK
Nonperturbative Vertices in Supersymmetric Quantum Electrodynamics
We derive the complete set of supersymmetric Ward identities involving only
two- and three- point proper vertices in supersymmetric QED. We also present
the most general form of the proper vertices consistent with both the
supersymmetric and U(1) gauge Ward identities. These vertices are the
supersymmetric equivalent of the non supersymmetric Ball-Chiu vertices.Comment: seventeen pages late
A decade comparison of preterm motor performance at age 4
This was a prospective longitudinal study of two cohorts comprised of one full term and three premature infant groups born 10 years apart. Birth cohort, perinatal morbidity, and birth weight effects were investigated at age 4. Cohort 1 (1985â1989) had longer gestation, higher birth weight, and better Apgar scores than Cohort 2 (1996â1999), which had more intraventricular hemorrhage and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Cohort and perinatal morbidity group, but not birth weight, predicted motor scores. Preterm Cohort 2 children had better oral motor, fine motor, and total motor scores, but lower visual motor integration scores than Cohort 1. Motor problems continue to affect preterm children at age 4, in particular those who experience perinatal morbidity, despite a decade of neonatal intensive care advancement
The Chinese "Oppression" remedy: Creative interpretations of company law by Chinese courts
This is the first detailed study of the Chinese oppression remedy under the PRC Company Law (article 20.1-2). Compared to its U.K., Canadian, and Australian equivalents, the wording of the Chinese remedy is vague, and the Supreme People's Court has not clarified its meaning. Legal scholars have virtually ignored this remedy due to its vagueness and apparent unenforceability, and the Supreme People's Court has not produced any authoritative interpretations to clarify its meaning. Yet Chinese courts have acted pragmatically, building up a body of de facto case precedents to transform this remedy into an effective tool for minority shareholders, both Chinese and foreign (and in some cases companies too), to obtain redress for a broad range of wrongs committed by abusive shareholders. At the same time, the vagueness of the statute has led courts to draw differing conclusions over issues such as who is a proper plaintiff; how the oppression remedy relates to the derivative action; and how the term "shareholder" should be defined. These differences need to be addressed by the Supreme People's Court or by legislative amendment to avoid further inconsistent outcomes for parties involved in intra-corporate disputes in China. Alternatively, the use of case precedents based on online judgment databases should be formalized in China to bring more predictability to statutory interpretation and more consistency among courts throughout the country
Arabidopsis NAP1 regulates the formation of autophagosomes
The SCAR/WAVE complex is required for ARP2/3-mediated actin nucleation, and these complexes are highly conserved in plants and animals [1 and 2]. Proteins from the SCAR/WAVE complex have been found to be membrane associated in plants [3]. Using fluorescent protein fusions, we have found that NAP1 [4], a component of the SCAR/WAVE complex, locates to vesicles or puncta that appear upon applied pressure. These NAP1 vesicles can be endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated, can co-align with the cytoskeleton, and fuse to each other homotypically. More interestingly, the majority co-localizes with the autophagosome marker ATG8, and anti-NAP1 identifies autophagosomes in immuno-TEM. Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as autophagy) is enhanced under certain stress conditions such as nitrogen starvation and salt stress. We show that fewer autophagosomes are generated in the NAP1 knockout mutant during starvation stress. The nap1 mutant (and KO mutants of other components of the SCAR/WAVE and ARP2/3 complexes) is more susceptible to nitrogen starvation and is less salt tolerant, indicating defective autophagy. In conclusion, our data show that NAP1 has another function in plant cells, and that is as a regulator of autophagy
Running coupling and fermion mass in strong coupling QED
Simple toy model is used in order to exhibit the technique of extracting the
non-perturbative information about Green's functions in Minkowski space. The
effective charge and the dynamical electron mass are calculated in strong
coupling 3+1 QED by solving the coupled Dyson-Schwinger equations for electron
and photon propagators. The minimal Ball-Chiu vertex was used for simplicity
and we impose the Landau gauge fixing on QED action. The solution obtained
separately in Euclidean and Minkowski space were compared, the latter one was
extracted with the help of spectral technique.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, v4: revised and extended version, one
introductory section adde
Culture, literature and the contradictions of socialist capitalism in Chinese corporate magazines
Most large Chinese corporations publish e-magazines to which employees are encouraged to contribute on various topics, ranging from management and work issues to creative writing and other creative "cultural" work such as poetry, calligraphy and photography. These e-magazines provide a central venue where employees can learn about what is important to the firm's management. They are one of the major vehicles through which large Chinese corporations promote their organisational cultures to employees and inculcate their corporate values. Yet at the same time, they give employees the opportunity to showcase their own talents to a wide audience within the corporation. A close reading of contributions to the e-magazines of several corporations reveals a combination of sometimes contradictory values, including Western management ideas, socialist-style collectivism and lyrical poetic escapism. This mixture reflects the complexity of "subcultures" within Chinese corporations in a rapidly transforming society. It also demonstrates that corporate magazines can be both a management tool for improving firm performance and a vehicle for promoting ideals such as the cultural betterment and self-realisation of employees. © 2010 Asian Studies Association of Australia
âFramingâ Chinese hi-tech firms: A political and legal critique
Governments in many countries, including the United States, Australia and
Canada, have been highly suspicious of the political motives of Chinese
business firms seeking to invest in resource industries and infrastructure
development overseas. This article uses the case of the Chinese hi-tech
firm, Huawei Technologies, to demonstrate the tendency of the United
States and other governments to frame their analysis based on unreliable or
biased sources and outdated understanding of the Chinese legal and
corporate environment. The inevitable results of such misguided framing will
be schizophrenic foreign policy decisions, increased international tensions,
higher costs for consumers, and retaliation by the Chinese government
against international firms doing business in China
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