Long-term Test Arrangement for Externally Strengthened Reinforced Concrete Elements

Methods for external strengthening of concrete use elements of very high tensional strength glued on to its tensioned surface. These elements may be of metal, carbon fibers (CFRP), glass fibers or others, usually having very good mechanical properties. However, these high-strength elements are normally attached to concrete by epoxy resins. Epoxy resins have a low Young`s modulus and therefore a higher rate of creep may have an influence on the long-term behavior of such external strengthening. In order to verify this idea experimentally a special space-saving arrangement of tests is described in this paper. Panels act as loaded beams but simultaneously as a load for the other panels in a stand. The different load magnitude acting on a different layer of panels should make it possible to study the long-term influence of the degree of shear force on the glue creep. Certainly, the glue creep may be dependent on the type of epoxy resin; therefore several epoxy resin types are included in the tests

Use of Vibrational Spectroscopic Techniques for the Characterization of Structured Particles for Chemical Robots

This work is aimed at utilization of vibrational spectroscopic techniques for characterization of several types of structural particles suitable for the construction of chemical robots. Several case studies are presented and discussed: (i) PNIPAM-coated silica particles, (ii) surface-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles modified by citric and oleic acid, (iii) nanocomposit SERS-active substrates consisting of self-assembled monolayers of linear α,ω-aliphatic diammines with different lengths on Ag metal surface and a flat Ag electrode followed by testing of sensing activity of AD/NPs systems in the detection of the pesticide aldrin. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3515

Data quality control and homogenization of air temperature and precipitation series in the area of the Czech Republic in the period 1961–2007

Quality control and homogenization has to be undertaken prior to any data analysis in order to eliminate any erroneous values and non climatic biases in time series. In this work we describe and then apply our own approach to data quality control, combining several methods: (i) by applying limits derived from interquartile ranges (ii) by analyzing difference series between candidate and neighbouring stations and (iii) by comparing the series values tested with "expected'' values – technical series created by means of statistical methods for spatial data (e.g. IDW, kriging). <br><br> Because of the presence of noise in series, statistical homogeneity tests render results with some degree of uncertainty. In this work, the use of various statistical tests and reference series made it possible to increase considerably the number of homogeneity test results for each series and thus to assess homogeneity more reliably. Inhomogeneities were corrected on a daily scale. <br><br> These methodological approaches are demonstrated by use of the daily data of air temperature and precipitation measured in the area of the Czech Republic. Series were processed by means of developed ProClimDB and AnClim software (<a href="http://www.climahom.eu" target="_blank">http://www.climahom.eu</a>)

NANOINDENTATION TEST FOR DLC COATING ANALYSIS

Resume In this report the effects of the substrate on the microhardness of Diamond like carbon (DLC) thin films were investigated. The DLC coatings were deposited by Radio Frequency Plasma Actived Chemical Vapor Deposition (RF PACVD; 13,56 MHz) process on three mechanically polished substrates, which were chosen for comparison; hardened molybdenum high speed steel AISI M2, unhardened tool steel AISI L2 and titanium alloy TiAl6V4. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the influence of substrates on microhardness and other mechanical properties of DLC layer. These properties especially microhardness were studied and compared from nanoindentation load -displacement curves. Results show that the hardness of the substrate is the crucial value for the hardness of the DLC films

Air temperature changes in Toruń (central Poland) from 1871 to 2010

The article presents a detailed analysis of changes in air temperature in Toruń in the period 1871–2010 on the basis of homogenised monthly, seasonal and annual air temperature series which have been newly constructed (i.e. extended by the 50 years of 1871–1920). Over the 140-year study period, a sizeable and statistically significant increase of 0.1 °C per decade was found in the air temperature in Toruń. The greatest increases occurred for spring and winter, at 0.12 and 0.11 °C, respectively. A lesser warming, meanwhile, was recorded for autumn (0.10 °C/10 years), and particularly for summer (0.07 °C/10 years). The air temperature trends are statistically significant for all seasons. Air temperature differences between the monthly averages of three analysed subperiods (1871–1900, 1901–1950 and 1951–2010) and averages for the entire period under review rarely exceeded ± 0.5 °C. In all of these periods, the highest average air temperatures occurred in July and the lowest in January. The period of 1981–2010 had the highest frequency of occurrence of very and extremely warm seasons and years. Meanwhile, the highest frequency of very and extremely cool seasons and years was recorded in the 1940s and in the nineteenth century. In the period of 1871–2010, winters shortened markedly (by 7%) and summers lengthened by 3.8%. All of the presented aspects of air temperature in Toruń, which is representative of the climate of central Poland, are in close agreement with the findings of analogous studies of the same for other areas of Poland and Central Europe

The 1921 European drought: impacts, reconstruction and drivers

The European drought of 1921 is assessed in terms of its impacts on society and in terms of its physical characteristics. The development of impacts of the drought are categorized by a systematic survey of newspaper reports from five European newspapers covering the area from England to the Czech Republic and other parts of Europe. This is coupled to a reconstruction of daily temperature and precipitation based on meteorological measurements to quantify the drought severity and extent, and reanalysis data are used to identify its drivers. This analysis shows that the first impacts of the drought started to appear in early spring and lingered on until well into autumn and winter, affecting water supply and agriculture and livestock farming. The dominant impact in western Europe is on agriculture and livestock farming while in central Europe the effects of wildfires were reported on most often. The peak in the number of reports is in late summer. Preceding the first impacts was the dry autumn of 1920 and winter 1920–1921. The area hardest hit by the drought in the following spring and summer was the triangle between Brussels, Paris and Lyon, but a vast stretch of the continent, from Ireland to the Ukraine, was affected. The reported impacts on water supply and water-borne transport in that region were matched by an analysis of the hydrological situation over the Seine catchment. On average, the 1921 summer was not particularly hot, but the heatwave which was observed at the end of July saw temperatures matching those of the heatwaves in modern summers. Similar to modern droughts, an anticyclone was present roughly over the British Isles, maintaining sunny and dry weather in Europe and steering away cyclones to the north. Its persistence makes it exceptional in comparison to modern droughts. The 1921 drought stands out as the most severe and most widespread drought in Europe since the start of the 20th century. The precipitation deficit in all seasons was large, but in none of the seasons in 1920 and 1921 was the precipitation deficit the largest on record. The severity of the 1921 drought relates to the conservative nature of drought which amplifies the lack of precipitation in autumn and winter into the following spring and summer

Historical Introgression from Wild Relatives Enhanced Climatic Adaptation and Resistance to Pneumonia in Sheep

How animals, particularly livestock, adapt to various climates and environments over short evolutionary time is of fundamental biological interest. Further, understanding the genetic mechanisms of adaptation in indigenous livestock populations is important for designing appropriate breeding programs to cope with the impacts of changing climate. Here, we conducted a comprehensive genomic analysis of diversity, interspecies introgression, and climate-mediated selective signatures in a global sample of sheep and their wild relatives. By examining 600K and 50K genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data from 3,447 samples representing 111 domestic sheep populations and 403 samples from all their seven wild relatives (argali, Asiatic mouflon, European mouflon, urial, snow sheep, bighorn, and thinhorn sheep), coupled with 88 whole-genome sequences, we detected clear signals of common introgression from wild relatives into sympatric domestic populations, thereby increasing their genomic diversities. The introgressions provided beneficial genetic variants in native populations, which were significantly associated with local climatic adaptation. We observed common introgression signals of alleles in olfactory-related genes (e.g., ADCY3 and TRPV1) and the PADI gene family including in particular PADI2, which is associated with antibacterial innate immunity. Further analyses of whole-genome sequences showed that the introgressed alleles in a specific region of PADI2 (chr2: 248,302,667–248,306,614) correlate with resistance to pneumonia. We conclude that wild introgression enhanced climatic adaptation and resistance to pneumonia in sheep. This has enabled them to adapt to varying climatic and environmental conditions after domestication