Masonry Construction Remedial Measures in Case of a Multi-Story Housing Facility Caused by Floor Extension Process

AbstractThis paper presents remedial measures of a multi story housing facility located in Novi Sad, Serbia. The analyzed building was built in traditional masonry construction with precast rib ceiling including unreinforced slab. The damage was caused after the floor extension (overbuilding) process of the existing facility, expressed through cracks on constructive walls. The cause of such damage is a non-analytical approach during upgrade. The work presents a case study of the applied measures at conditions when the material incorporated in the existing part of the building is not of adequate quality. The specificity of this recovery was that during the execution the flats’ users remained in their apartments

Promoting Healthy Eating Habits in the Working Population: The FOOD Program

Objective: Promote healthy diets through offer and demand, drawing workers' attention to diet and modifying food offers through educating food suppliers. Methods: Target group today over six million workers and 430.000 restaurants. Activities in restaurants and companies: Monitoring is carried out by an annual survey. Results: 2015 over 70% of Italian workers have lunch break every day, 41% inside and 59% outside the workplace (Europe 60% and 30%). 70% consider local and seasonal products important and 21% declare to be familiar with the programme, and 25% are prepared to change their eating habits. Italian restaurant owners state that 90% of their staff has good level of knowledge and 67% are willing to serve balanced meals (85% and 56% Europe). Conclusion and implications: The programme is giving good results, but also confirms that there is still to be done, particularly in the field of education and information in workplaces

Regularity of the Density of Surface States

We prove that the integrated density of surface states of continuous or discrete Anderson-type random Schroedinger operators is a measurable locally integrable function rather than a signed measure or a distribution. This generalize our recent results on the existence of the integrated density of surface states in the continuous case and those of A. Chahrour in the discrete case. The proof uses the new $L^p$-bound on the spectral shift function recently obtained by Combes, Hislop, and Nakamura. Also we provide a simple proof of their result on the Hoelder continuity of the integrated density of bulk states

Ring-Like Solitons in Plasmonic Fiber Waveguide Composed of Metal-Dielectric Multilayers

We design a plasmonic fiber waveguide (PFW) composed of coaxial cylindrical metal-dielectric multilayers in nanoscale, and constitute the corresponding dynamical equations describing the modes of propagation in the PFW with the Kerr nonlinearity in the dielectric layers. The physics is connected to the discrete matrix nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equations, from which the highly confined ring-like solitons in scale of subwavelength are found both for the visible light and the near-infrared light in the self-defocusing condition. Moreover, the confinement could be further improved when increasing the intensity of the input light due to the cylindrical symmetry of the PFW, which means both the width and the radius of the ring are reduced.Comment: 4 figures, submitte

Bioaccumulation of metals, total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity of Rumex acetosella L. from tailings in Žitkovac (Kosovo & Metohija)

The aim of this study was to determine the bioaccumulation of the metals in Rumex acetosella L. collected from the tailings of abandoned mine in Žitkovac (near Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo and Metohija), and to establish the possibility of using those plants for medicinal purposes. Concentrations of heavy metals (Mn, Fe, Pb, Ni, Cr, Cu, Cd, Zn, Ca and Mg) in soil, roots and aboveground parts of R. acetosella were determined by wet mineralization with nitric and perchloric acid. The results of the research indicate that R. acetosella accumulates large amounts of Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, and Mn. The total phenol content, the total amount of flavonoids and the antioxidant activity of three different extracts of the root and aboveground parts of R. acetosella were determined by spectrophotometric methods. The acetone extracts contain the highest concentration of phenols and flavonoids. Ethyl acetate has proven to be a solvent that releases the least amount of phenols and flavonoids. The methanol extract of aboveground parts has the highest, while acetone root extract has the lowest antioxidant activity. Rumex acetosella can be used for medicinal purposes, but only collected from uncontaminated soil.Publishe

POTENCIJAL BIOAKUMULACIJE I TRANSLOKACIJE METALA KOD VRSTE ACHILLEA MILLEFOLIUM SA RAZLICITIH LOKALITETA

Achillea millefolium L. has a great value as medicinal plant. The aim of the research is to determine the uptake potential for heavy metals and the intraspecial difference between unique species of A. millefolium from different localities based on the heavy metals uptake, their distribution in plant organs and enrichment factors. The results showed that plants growing on soil rich in heavy metals (tailings) absorb significantly higher amounts of metals compared to plants from the Ovčar-Kablar gorge (non-contaminated soil).Publishe

Random repeated interaction quantum systems

We consider a quantum system S interacting sequentially with independent systems E_m, m=1,2,... Before interacting, each E_m is in a possibly random state, and each interaction is characterized by an interaction time and an interaction operator, both possibly random. We prove that any initial state converges to an asymptotic state almost surely in the ergodic mean, provided the couplings satisfy a mild effectiveness condition. We analyze the macroscopic properties of the asymptotic state and show that it satisfies a second law of thermodynamics. We solve exactly a model in which S and all the E_m are spins: we find the exact asymptotic state, in case the interaction time, the temperature, and the excitation energies of the E_m vary randomly. We analyze a model in which S is a spin and the E_m are thermal fermion baths and obtain the asymptotic state by rigorous perturbation theory, for random interaction times varying slightly around a fixed mean, and for small values of a coupling constant.Comment: Statements of Theorem 1.5 and 3.2, and proof of Theorem 3.3 modified. To appear in Comm. Math. Phy

Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of European innovation capacity within the Strategic Energy Technologies (SET) Plan

This report explored the strengths and weaknesses of the European innovation capacity within the Strategic Energy Technologies (SET) Plan Integrated Roadmap through the assessment of energy technology R&I in these specific sectors. The methodology is based on collating publicly available data and compares how the EU performs in comparison to other key countries worldwide through key indicators (e.g., patents, publications and export/import) across these 13 SET Plan themes

COVID-19 infection in adult patients with hematological malignancies: a European Hematology Association Survey (EPICOVIDEHA)

Background: Patients with hematological malignancies (HM) are at high risk of mortality from SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19). A better understanding of risk factors for adverse outcomes may improve clinical management in these patients. We therefore studied baseline characteristics of HM patients developing COVID-19 and analyzed predictors of mortality. Methods: The survey was supported by the Scientific Working Group Infection in Hematology of the European Hematology Association (EHA). Eligible for the analysis were adult patients with HM and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 observed between March and December 2020. Results: The study sample includes 3801 cases, represented by lymphoproliferative (mainly non-Hodgkin lymphoma n = 1084, myeloma n = 684 and chronic lymphoid leukemia n = 474) and myeloproliferative malignancies (mainly acute myeloid leukemia n = 497 and myelodysplastic syndromes n = 279). Severe/critical COVID-19 was observed in 63.8% of patients (n = 2425). Overall, 2778 (73.1%) of the patients were hospitalized, 689 (18.1%) of whom were admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Overall, 1185 patients (31.2%) died. The primary cause of death was COVID-19 in 688 patients (58.1%), HM in 173 patients (14.6%), and a combination of both COVID-19 and progressing HM in 155 patients (13.1%). Highest mortality was observed in acute myeloid leukemia (199/497, 40%) and myelodysplastic syndromes (118/279, 42.3%). The mortality rate significantly decreased between the first COVID-19 wave (March–May 2020) and the second wave (October–December 2020) (581/1427, 40.7% vs. 439/1773, 24.8%, p value < 0.0001). In the multivariable analysis, age, active malignancy, chronic cardiac disease, liver disease, renal impairment, smoking history, and ICU stay correlated with mortality. Acute myeloid leukemia was a higher mortality risk than lymphoproliferative diseases. Conclusions: This survey confirms that COVID-19 patients with HM are at high risk of lethal complications. However, improved COVID-19 prevention has reduced mortality despite an increase in the number of reported cases.EPICOVIDEHA has received funds from Optics COMMITTM (COVID-19 Unmet Medical Needs and Associated Research Extension) COVID-19 RFP program by GILEAD Science, United States (Project 2020-8223)