Light steel-timber frame with composite and plaster bracing panels

none6nononeScotta, Roberto; Trutalli, Davide; Fiorin, Laura; Pozza, Luca; Marchi, Luca; De Stefani, LorenzoScotta, Roberto; Trutalli, Davide; Fiorin, Laura; Pozza, Luca; Marchi, Luca; DE STEFANI, Lorenz

Light Steel-Timber Frame with Composite and Plaster Bracing Panels

The proposed light-frame structure comprises steel columns for vertical loads and an innovative bracing system to efficiently resist seismic actions. This seismic force resisting system consists of a light timber frame braced with an Oriented Strand Board (OSB) sheet and an external technoprene plaster-infilled slab. Steel brackets are used as foundation and floor connections. Experimental cyclic-loading tests were conduced to study the seismic response of two shear-wall specimens. A numerical model was calibrated on experimental results and the dynamic non-linear behavior of a case-study building was assessed. Numerical results were then used to estimate the proper behavior factor value, according to European seismic codes. Obtained results demonstrate that this innovative system is suitable for the use in seismic-prone areas thanks to the high ductility and dissipative capacity achieved by the bracing system. This favorable behavior is mainly due to the fasteners and materials used and to the correct application of the capacity design approach

Clinical governance and internal medicine: a marriage of convenience?

Amplification in health expectations, increase in new technologies, decrease in economic resources and the breakdown of traditional control systems have led to the development of clinical governance (CG). The aim of the present pilot study was to investigate the application of CG tools in significant sample of Italian internal medicine wards (IMW). A 37-item questionnaire was developed and administered to 39 physicians, within 33 IMWs throughout Italy. Thanks to the data analysis, the perceived usefulness, the utilization rate of CG tools, the correlations between CG use, wards characteristics, and/or localization were studied. We identified at what organizational level the CG tools were applied and used. fifty-two percent of the studied tools were being used in the investigated hospitals. The average utility and utilization rate was different depending on the region of provenance. This research showed that CG is a methodology often used by Italian hospitals physicians, especially for inpatient care. The encouraging results of this pilot study could suggest opportunities to extend the survey at national level, to generalize the results

Acidity constant (pKa) calculation of large solvated dye molecules : evaluation of two advanced molecular dynamics methods

pH-Sensitive dyes are increasingly applied on polymer substrates for the creation of novel sensor materials. Recently, these dye molecules were modified to form a covalent bond with the polymer host. This had a large influence on the pH-sensitive properties, in particular on the acidity constant (pKa). Obtaining molecular control over the factors that influence the pK(a) value is mandatory for the future intelligent design of sensor materials. Herein, we show that advanced molecular dynamics (MD) methods have reached the level at which the pK(a) values of large solvated dye molecules can be predicted with high accuracy. Two MD methods were used in this work: steered or restrained MD and the insertion/deletion scheme. Both were first calibrated on a set of phenol derivatives and afterwards applied to the dye molecule bromothymol blue. Excellent agreement with experimental values was obtained, which opens perspectives for using these methods for designing dye molecules