Development of a foam-filled steel web sandwich panel for the rehabilitation of timber floors

Lightweight sandwich panels offer a prominent solution for the rehabilitation of timber floors. This paper addresses the development of a solution capable of continuous production for a foam-filled steel web sandwich panel for floor rehabilitation. The newly designed flooring solution is tested in full-scale quasi-static flexural campaigns. The tests validate the analytical design’s compliance with Ultimate limit state (ULS) and Serviceability limit state (SLS) requirements. Furthermore, the flexural behaviour is compared with analytical predictions for thin-walled members according to the effective width method, described in Eurocode 3. Different effective cross-section design assumptions are assessed to allow an accurate prediction of the panel’s response.This work was developed within the scope of the research project “Lightslab – Desenvolvimento de soluções inovadoras de lajes de painel sandwich”, supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Program for Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI) – project no. 33865 [POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033865]. Furthermore, it was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020 (doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04029/ 2020), and under the Associate Laboratory Advanced Production and Intelligent Systems ARISE under reference LA/P/0112/2020. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd authors wish also to acknowledge the grants 2021.07696.BD, 2022.13310.BD and DFA/BD/8319/2020 respectively, provided by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP (FCT), financed by European Social Fund and national funds through the FCT/MCTES. Acknowledgments are extended to LEST – Laboratório de Estruturas, for their technical and material suppor

Physical and mechanical characterization of polyurethane foam core of sandwich panels of various densities

Sandwich foaming is a manufacturing process in which a liquid monomer mixture is injected on the bottom face sheet of the sandwich panel where it polymerizes to form cross-linked polyurethane (PUR) foam providing an adhesive joint between the bottom and upper metal sheets. The single-step process avoids manual operations in the assemblage of the panel and the use of adhesive. However, the PUR foam in the core of the panel and at foam-to-face sheet interface may present fluctuations in the mechanical properties. The aim of this study is the mechanical and thermophysical characterization of PUR foam of various densities produced by sandwich foaming. Additionally, a qualitative assessment of the foam-to-face sheet interface is carried out based on the results of the flatwise tensile and shear tests.This work was developed within the scope of the research project “Lightslab – Desenvolvimento de soluções inovadoras de lajes de painel sandwich”, supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Program for Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI) – project no. 33865 [POCI-01-0247- FEDER-033865]. This work was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020. The first and second authors wish also to acknowledge the grants DFA/BD/8319/2020 and DFA/BD/07696/2021 respectively, provided by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP (FCT), financed by European Social Fund and national funds through the FCT/MCTES

Influence of temperature and different post curing conditions on the mechanical behaviour of polyurethane-based adhesive for civil engineering applications

Sandwich panels based on cold-formed-steel (CFS) face sheets and polyurethane foam (PUR) core were designed and manufactured to be used as a feasible solution for the rehabilitation of degraded floors. This panel is manufactured by a continuous process, whereby the polymerization and foaming of the PUR core is performed simultaneously with the face sheets assembling and their adhesive bonding in certain zones. A three-component polyurethane adhesive, manufactured with the same components as the PUR, is used on the bonding of these steel elements. However, the foaming process of the sandwich panel involves moderate heating at specific stages of its manufacture to enhance polymerization of the PUR, which may influence the adhesive mechanical response. This work intends to establish the best adhesive composition and its thickness to be used on this connection. Additionally, the influence of different curing and post-curing conditions on the shear response of the adhesive is assessed.This work was developed within the scope of the research project “Lightslab – Desenvolvimento de soluções inovadoras de lajes de painel sandwich”, supported by FEDER funds through the Operational Program for Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI) – project no. 33865 [POCI-01-0247- FEDER-033865]. This work was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020. The second and fourth authors wish also to acknowledge the grants DFA/BD/07696/2021 and DFA/BD/8319/2020 respectively, provided by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP (FCT), financed by European Social Fund and national funds through the FCT/MCTES

A TRAJETÓRIA EMPREENDEDORA DE MULHERES DA REGIÃO DA GALÍCIA NA ESPANHA E DA REGIÃO OESTE PAULISTA NO BRASIL: um estudo comparativo

RESUMO: Esta pesquisa visa explorar o desenvolvimento do empreendedorismo feminino entre duas culturas distintas, sendo assim, o principal objetivo deste estudo é analisar a trajetória empreendedora de mulheres da Região da Galícia na Espanha e da Região Oeste Paulista no Brasil. A metodologia utilizada foi através da análise de conteúdo categorizado a partir de estudos prévios e de entrevistas semiestruturadas aplicadas para 10 mulheres, sendo 5 de cada país. As análises foram realizadas com o suporte do Software Atlas.ti, no qual os resultados obtidos mostraram que em ambos países possuem culturas semelhantes. Contudo, foi observado que na Espanha as empreendedoras visam ao lucro, mas priorizam a qualidade de vida e no Brasil o maior foco está nos lucros dos negócios e na independência.  De acordo com os tópicos analisados nas entrevistas, tais como carreira, preconceitos, dificuldade, liderança, dupla jornada e futuro, concluiu-se que nos últimos anos houve um crescimento desses fatores, no geral, as mulheres se preocupam muito mais com a independência financeira, reconhecimento da sociedade, expansão e a flexibilização do negócio. Com isso, essa pesquisa colabora em prol de futuros estudos para o desenvolvimento do empreendedorismo feminino no Brasil e na Espanha e em suas respectivas regiões. Palavras-chaves: Empreendedorismo Feminino; Gênero; Trabalho; Brasil; Espanha. ABSTRACT: This research aims to explore the development of female entrepreneurship between two different cultures, therefore, the main objective of this study is to analyze the entrepreneurial trajectory of women from the Galicia Region in Spain and the West Paulista Region in Brazil. The methodology used was through the analysis of categorized content from previous studies and semi-structured interviews applied to 10 women, 5 from each country. The analyzes were carried out with the support of the Atlas.ti Software, in which the results obtained showed that both countries have similar cultures. However, it was observed that in Spain, entrepreneurs aim at profit, but prioritize quality of life and in Brazil, the main focus is on business profits and independence. According to the topics analyzed in the interviews, such as career, prejudices, difficulty, leadership, double shifts and the future, it was concluded that in recent years there has been an increase in these factors, in general, women are much more concerned with financial independence, recognition by society, expansion and flexibility of the business. With that, this research collaborates in favor of future studies for the development of female entrepreneurship in Brazil and Spain and in their respective regions.Keywords: Female entrepreneurship; Gender; Job; Brazil; Spain.

Les droits disciplinaires des fonctions publiques : « unification », « harmonisation » ou « distanciation ». A propos de la loi du 26 avril 2016 relative à la déontologie et aux droits et obligations des fonctionnaires

The production of tt‾ , W+bb‾ and W+cc‾ is studied in the forward region of proton–proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98±0.02 fb−1 . The W bosons are reconstructed in the decays W→ℓν , where ℓ denotes muon or electron, while the b and c quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions.The production of $t\overline{t}$, $W+b\overline{b}$ and $W+c\overline{c}$ is studied in the forward region of proton-proton collisions collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.98 $\pm$ 0.02 \mbox{fb}^{-1}. The $W$ bosons are reconstructed in the decays $W\rightarrow\ell\nu$, where $\ell$ denotes muon or electron, while the $b$ and $c$ quarks are reconstructed as jets. All measured cross-sections are in agreement with next-to-leading-order Standard Model predictions

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass