Flexure-axial-shear interaction of ductile beams with single-crack plastic hinge behaviour

One of the key damage observations in modern reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings, damaged following the 2010/2011 Canterbury and 2016 Kaikoura earthquakes, was localised cracking at the beam-column interface of capacity-designed beams. The localised cracking in the beams was due to curtailed longitudinal bars at the beam-column interface. Following these observations, without experimental data to justify desirable seismic performance, modern beams controlled by localised cracking were assumed to be potentially earthquake-vulnerable. To address this, an experimental program was carried out on six RC beam specimens susceptible to single-crack plastic hinge behaviour due to curtailed longitudinal bars. The experimental data show that RC beams with single-crack plastic hinge behaviour can undergo significant inelastic drift demands without loss of lateral resistance. However, contrary to conventional beams with distributed cracking, the response of RC beams with single-crack plastic hinge behaviour due to curtailed longitudinal bars is mainly dominated by hinge rotation (via bond-slip) and shear sliding at the column face. The current paper studies the interdependence of axial elongation, bond-slip and shear sliding deformation of RC beams with single-crack plastic hinge behaviour under cyclic demands. A procedure for seismic assessment of RC beams with single-crack plastic hinge behaviour due to curtailed longitudinal bars is proposed. The proposed formulations can be adopted to develop adequate numerical models for simulating the response of RC frames with beams susceptible to single-crack plastic hinge behaviour due to curtailed longitudinal bars

Seismic Performance of Reinforced Concrete Beams Susceptible to Single-Crack Plastic Hinge Behavior

Following the 2010/2011 Canterbury and 2016 Kaikoura earthquakes, a number of reinforced concrete (RC) beams in high-rise structures developed a single primary crack at the beam-column interface without the formation of distributed secondary cracks along the beam length. Detailed assessments showed that these beams have conforming longitudinal steel ratios and the single-crack mechanism may be due to design and/or construction practices for beam-column joints in the 1980s. In order to investigate the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete beams with detailing that inhibited the spread of flexural yielding, an experimental program was carried out on RC beam specimens, having similar reinforcement detailing to that of beams that developed a single crack at their ends during the Kaikoura earthquake to understand their seismic behavior, postearthquake repairability, and residual low-cycle fatigue life. Experimental results showed that the beams were able to undergo significant inelastic drift demands without loss of lateral resistance and have sufficient residual drift capacity following moderate and large earthquake demands. The response of the beam specimens was dominated by hinge rotation via the bond-slip mechanism. Comparisons showed that the measured drift capacities of the beams exceeded the predicted drift capacities computed using state-of-the-practice procedures

Limit states for post-earthquake assessment and recovery analysis of ductile concrete components

Post-earthquake assessment procedures require component deformation limits to identify locations for visual inspection and locations needing structural repair. This study proposes a framework for defining component deformation limits for detailed visual inspection and repair for earthquake-damaged concrete buildings. First, observations from cyclic tests of ductile concrete components (beams, columns, and walls) suggested that the residual capacity (in terms of strength and deformation capacity) of such components is likely uncompromised if the deformation at the initiation of lateral strength loss (LSL) is not exceeded in prior loading histories. The results also revealed that the deformation at the initiation of LSL typically corresponds to the onset of longitudinal bar buckling in ductile components. Furthermore, using experimental data, multipliers are developed as fractions of ASCE/SEI 41 modeling parameters at lateral failure (i.e. a or d) to predict deformation at initiation of LSL. Subsequently, a probabilistic approach is proposed for defining the component deformation limits, considering uncertainty in both capacity and demand. Component deformation limits for detailed visual inspection are defined such that there is a low probability (adopted as <10%) of exceeding the deformation at the initiation of LSL. The component deformation limit for repair is defined as the median deformation at the initiation of LSL (i.e. 50% probability of exceedance)

Observations About the Seismic Response of RC Buildings in Mexico City

Over 2000 buildings were surveyed by members of the Colegio de Ingenieros (CICM) and Sociedad Mexicana de Ingenieria Estructural (SMIE) in Mexico City following the Puebla-Morelos Earthquake of 2017. This inventory of surveyed buildings included nearly 40 collapses and over 600 buildings deemed to have structural damage. Correlation of damage with peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), predominant spectral period, building location, and building properties including height, estimated stiffness, and presence of walls or retrofits was investigated for the surveyed buildings. The evidence available suggests that (1) ground motion intensity (PGV) drove the occurrence of damage and (2) buildings with more infill and stiff retrofit systems did better than other buildings

Unusual raptor nests around the world

From surveys in many countries, we report using unusual nesting materials (e.g., paper money, rags, metal, antlers, and large bones) and unusual nesting situations. For example, we documented nests of Steppe Eagles [Aquila nipalensis] and Upland Buzzards [Buteo hemilasius] on the ground beside well-traveled roads, Saker Falcon [Falco cherrug] eyries in attics and a cistern, and Osprey [Pandian haliaetus] nests on the masts of boats and on a suspended automobile. Other records include a Golden Eagle [A. chrysaelos] nest 7.0 m in height, believed to be the tallest nest ever described, and, for the same species, we report nesting in rudimentary, nests. Some nest sites are within a Few meters of known predators or competitors. These unusual observations may be important in revealing the plasticity of a species' behavioral repertoire

Incorporating progesterone receptor expression into the PREDICT breast prognostic model

Background: Predict Breast (www.predict.nhs.uk) is an online prognostication and treatment benefit tool for early invasive breast cancer. The aim of this study was to incorporate the prognostic effect of progesterone receptor (PR) status into a new version of PREDICT and to compare its performance to the current version (2.2).Method: The prognostic effect of PR status was based on the analysis of data from 45,088 European patients with breast cancer from 49 studies in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio for PR status. Data from a New Zealand study of 11,365 patients with early invasive breast cancer were used for external validation. Model calibration and discrimination were used to test the model performance.Results: Having a PR-positive tumour was associated with a 23% and 28% lower risk of dying from breast cancer for women with oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative and ER-positive breast cancer, respectively. The area under the ROC curve increased with the addition of PR status from 0.807 to 0.809 for patients with ER-negative tumours (p = 0.023) and from 0.898 to 0. 902 for patients with ER-positive tumours (p = 2.3 x 10(-6)) in the New Zealand cohort. Model calibration was modest with 940 observed deaths compared to 1151 predicted.Conclusion: The inclusion of the prognostic effect of PR status to PREDICT Breast has led to an improvement of model performance and more accurate absolute treatment benefit predic-tions for individual patients. Further studies should determine whether the baseline hazard function requires recalibration. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Incorporating progesterone receptor expression into the PREDICT breast prognostic model

Background: Predict Breast (www.predict.nhs.uk) is an online prognostication and treatment benefit tool for early invasive breast cancer. The aim of this study was to incorporate the prognostic effect of progesterone receptor (PR) status into a new version of PREDICT and to compare its performance to the current version (2.2).Method: The prognostic effect of PR status was based on the analysis of data from 45,088 European patients with breast cancer from 49 studies in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratio for PR status. Data from a New Zealand study of 11,365 patients with early invasive breast cancer were used for external validation. Model calibration and discrimination were used to test the model performance.Results: Having a PR-positive tumour was associated with a 23% and 28% lower risk of dying from breast cancer for women with oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative and ER-positive breast cancer, respectively. The area under the ROC curve increased with the addition of PR status from 0.807 to 0.809 for patients with ER-negative tumours (p = 0.023) and from 0.898 to 0. 902 for patients with ER-positive tumours (p = 2.3 x 10(-6)) in the New Zealand cohort. Model calibration was modest with 940 observed deaths compared to 1151 predicted.Conclusion: The inclusion of the prognostic effect of PR status to PREDICT Breast has led to an improvement of model performance and more accurate absolute treatment benefit predic-tions for individual patients. Further studies should determine whether the baseline hazard function requires recalibration. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV