398 research outputs found

    Bicycle Transportation

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    55 pagesThe proposals reviewed in this document were generated as a result of collaboration between the City of Salem and the University of Oregon Sustainable Cities Initiative. Fifty-one students in a Planning, Public Policy, and Management course entitled “Bicycle Transportation”, taught by Professor Marc Schlossberg, reviewed and examined critical elements of an urban bikeway system and proposed projects that would encourage increased bicycle ridership

    Modelling the influence of steel structure compartment geometry on travelling fires

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    The response of structures exposed to fire is highly dependent on the type of fire that occurs, which is in turn very dependent on the compartment geometry. In the frame of the European RFCS TRAFIR project, CFD simulations using FDS software were carried out to analyse the influence of compartment geometry and the interaction with representative fuel loads to explore the conditions leading to the development of a travelling fire. The influence observed of ceiling height, crib spacing, and opening geometry in controlling spread rates tend to confirm the possibility to predict the occurrence, or not, of travelling fire. The results of one CFD analysis are then used to perform a nonlinear thermomechanical analysis of a steel structure with SAFIR® software. Indeed, it is possible to use the radiative intensities and gas temperatures obtained with CFD to calculate with FEM the temperatures in structural elements located in the compartment, and to evaluate the structural behaviour of a frame made of these elements. This paper therefore highlights the effect of building design specifications on the temperature development and on the resulting mechanical behaviour of a steel structure that considers comprehensively the travelling nature of the fire.Peer reviewe

    LARGE SCALE FIRE TEST: TRAVELLING FIRE WITH FLASHOVER UNDER VENTILATION CONDITIONS AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE SURROUNDING STEEL STRUCTURE

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    In the frame of the European RFCS-TRAFIR project, different natural fire tests in large compartment were conducted by Ulster University, involving steel structure and aiming at understanding the conditions in which a travelling fire develops, how it behaves and impacts the surrounding structure. During the experimental programme, the path and geometry of the travelling fire was studied and temperatures, heat fluxes and spread rates were measured. This paper presents the selected experimental data from the third fire test in terms of gas temperatures recorded in the test compartment at different positions and levels. The paper also presents the influence of the traveling fire with flashover on the surrounding structure via temperatures recorded in the selected steel columns and beams. The temperatures in the test compartment were found to be dependent on the positioning of the travelling fire as well as on the height from the floor level. It was found that the non-uniform temperatures in the compartment lead to transient heating of the nearby structural steel elements which is different from a standard furnace test. These non-uniform elevated temperatures result in a reduction of the fire resistance of the structural elements which may influence the global stability of the structure. The results obtained during the test and lessons learnt will help to understand the behaviour of the travelling fires and their influence on the structural members. This knowledge will help to reduce the travelling fire associated risks in future

    Molecular dating of human-to-bovid host jumps by Staphylococcus aureus reveals an association with the spread of domestication

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    Host species switches by bacterial pathogens leading to new endemic infections are important evolutionary events that are difficult to reconstruct over the long term. We investigated the host switching of Staphylococcus aureus over a long evolutionary timeframe by developing Bayesian phylogenetic methods to account for uncertainty about past host associations and using estimates of evolutionary rates from serially sampled whole-genome data. Results suggest multiple jumps back and forth between human and bovids with the first switch from humans to bovids taking place around 5500 BP, coinciding with the expansion of cattle domestication throughout the Old World. The first switch to poultry is estimated at around 275 BP, long after domestication but still preceding large-scale commercial farming. These results are consistent with a central role for anthropogenic change in the emergence of new endemic diseases.status: publishe

    Subsidizing Religious Participation through Groups: A Model of the “Megachurch” Strategy for Growth

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    Either despite or because of their non-traditional approach, megachurches have grown significantly in the United States since 1980. This paper models religious participation as an imperfect public good which, absent intervention, yields suboptimal participation by members from the church’s perspective. Megachurches address this problem in part by employing secular-based group activities to subsidize religious participation that then translates into an increase in the attendees’ religious investment. This strategy not only allows megachurches to attract and retain new members when many traditional churches are losing members but also results in higher levels of an individual’s religious capital. As a result, the megachurch may raise expectations of members’ levels of commitment and faith practices. Data from the FACT2000 survey provide evidence that megachurches employ groups more extensively than other churches, and this approach is consistent with a strategy to use groups to help subsidize individuals’ religious investment. Religious capital rises among members of megachurches relative to members of non-megachurches as a result of this strategy

    Activation of Arp2/3 Complex: Addition of the First Subunit of the New Filament by a WASP Protein Triggers Rapid ATP Hydrolysis on Arp2

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    In response to activation by WASP-family proteins, the Arp2/3 complex nucleates new actin filaments from the sides of preexisting filaments. The Arp2/3-activating (VCA) region of WASP-family proteins binds both the Arp2/3 complex and an actin monomer and the Arp2 and Arp3 subunits of the Arp2/3 complex bind ATP. We show that Arp2 hydrolyzes ATP rapidly—with no detectable lag—upon nucleation of a new actin filament. Filamentous actin and VCA together do not stimulate ATP hydrolysis on the Arp2/3 complex, nor do monomeric and filamentous actin in the absence of VCA. Actin monomers bound to the marine macrolide Latrunculin B do not polymerize, but in the presence of phalloidin-stabilized actin filaments and VCA, they stimulate rapid ATP hydrolysis on Arp2. These data suggest that ATP hydrolysis on the Arp2/3 complex is stimulated by interaction with a single actin monomer and that the interaction is coordinated by VCA. We show that capping of filament pointed ends by the Arp2/3 complex (which occurs even in the absence of VCA) also stimulates rapid ATP hydrolysis on Arp2, identifying the actin monomer that stimulates ATP hydrolysis as the first monomer at the pointed end of the daughter filament. We conclude that WASP-family VCA domains activate the Arp2/3 complex by driving its interaction with a single conventional actin monomer to form an Arp2–Arp3–actin nucleus. This actin monomer becomes the first monomer of the new daughter filament

    The ATLAS3D project - XXVII : Cold gas and the colours and ages of early-type galaxies

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    Date of Acceptance: 16/12/2013We present a study of the cold gas contents of the ATLAS3D early-type galaxies, in the context of their optical colours, near-ultraviolet colours and Hβ absorption line strengths. Early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies are not as gas poor as previously thought, and at least 40 per cent of local early-type galaxies are now known to contain molecular and/or atomic gas. This cold gas offers the opportunity to study recent galaxy evolution through the processes of cold gas acquisition, consumption (star formation) and removal. Molecular and atomic gas detection rates range from 10 to 34 per cent in red sequence early-type galaxies, depending on how the red sequence is defined, and from 50 to 70 per cent in blue early-type galaxies. Notably, massive red sequence early-type galaxies (stellar masses >5 × 1010 M⊙, derived from dynamical models) are found to have H I masses up to M(H I)/M* ∼ 0.06 and H2 masses up to M(H2)/M* ∼ 0.01. Some 20 per cent of all massive early-type galaxies may have retained atomic and/or molecular gas through their transition to the red sequence. However, kinematic and metallicity signatures of external gas accretion (either from satellite galaxies or the intergalactic medium) are also common, particularly at stellar masses ≤5 × 1010 M⊙, where such signatures are found in ∼50 per cent of H2-rich early-type galaxies. Our data are thus consistent with a scenario in which fast rotator early-type galaxies are quenched former spiral galaxies which have undergone some bulge growth processes, and in addition, some of them also experience cold gas accretion which can initiate a period of modest star formation activity. We discuss implications for the interpretation of colour–magnitude diagramsPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

    Factors to Consider During Identification and Invitation of Individuals in a Multi-stakeholder Research Partnership

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    BACKGROUND: Health research teams increasingly partner with stakeholders to produce research that is relevant, accessible, and widely used. Previous work has covered stakeholder group identification. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to develop factors for health research teams to consider during identification and invitation of individual representatives in a multi-stakeholder research partnership, with the aim of forming equitable and informed teams. DESIGN: Consensus development. PARTICIPANTS: We involved 16 stakeholders from the international Multi-Stakeholder Engagement (MuSE) Consortium, including patients and the public, providers, payers of health services/purchasers, policy makers, programme managers, peer review editors, and principal investigators. APPROACH: We engaged stakeholders in factor development and as co-authors of this manuscript. Using a modified Delphi approach, we gathered stakeholder views concerning a preliminary list of 18 factors. Over two feedback rounds, using qualitative and quantitative analysis, we concentrated these into ten factors. KEY RESULTS: We present seven highly desirable factors: ‘expertise or experience’, ‘ability and willingness to represent the stakeholder group’, ‘inclusivity (equity, diversity and intersectionality)’, ‘communication skills’, ‘commitment and time capacity’, ‘financial and non-financial relationships and activities, and conflict of interest’, ‘training support and funding needs’. Additionally, three factors are desirable: ‘influence’, ‘research relevant values’, ‘previous stakeholder engagement’. CONCLUSIONS: We present factors for research teams to consider during identification and invitation of individual representatives in a multi-stakeholder research partnership. Policy makers and guideline developers may benefit from considering the factors in stakeholder identification and invitation. Research funders may consider stipulating consideration of the factors in funding applications. We outline how these factors can be implemented and exemplify how their use has the potential to improve the quality and relevancy of health research. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11606-022-07411-w
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