Effective flexural stiffness of slender reinforced concrete columns under axial forces and biaxial bending

Most of the design codes (ACI-318-2008 and Euro Code-2-2004) propose the moment magnifier method in order to take into account the second order effect to design slender reinforced concrete columns. The accuracy of this method depends on the effective flexural stiffness of the column. This paper proposes a new equation to obtain the effective stiffness EI of slender reinforced concrete columns. The expression is valid for any shape of cross-section, subjected to combined axial loads and biaxial bending, both for short-time and sustained loads, normal and high strength concretes, but it is only suitable for columns with equal effective buckling lengths in the two principal bending planes. The new equation extends the proposed EI equation in the "Biaxial bending moment magnifier method" by Bonet et al. (2004) [6], which is valid only for rectangular sections. The method was compared with 613 experimental tests from the literature and a good degree of accuracy was obtained. It was also compared with the design codes ACI-318 (08) and EC-2 (2004) improving the precision. The method is capable to verify and design with sufficient accuracy slender reinforced concrete columns in practical engineering design applications. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to the Spanish "Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion" for help provided through projects BIA2008-03734 and BIA2009-10207 and to the European Community with the Feder funds.Bonet Senach, JL.; Romero, ML.; Miguel Sosa, P. (2011). Effective flexural stiffness of slender reinforced concrete columns under axial forces and biaxial bending. Engineering Structures. 33:881-893. doi:10.1016/j.engstruct.2010.12.009S8818933

Validity of the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics of the Universe Bounded by the Event Horizon in Holographic Dark Energy Model

In this letter, we investigate the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics of the universe bounded by the event horizon in the holographic dark energy model. The universe is chosen to be homogeneous and isotropic and the validity of the first law has been assumed here. The matter in the universe is taken in the form of non-interacting two fluid system- one component is the holographic dark energy model and the other component is in the form of dust.Comment: 8 page

Regeneration of soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) through direct somatic embryogenesis from the immature embryonic shoot tip

We describe here a simple and efficient system of soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) regeneration through direct somatic embryogenesis by using immature embryonic shoot tips (IEST) as explants. The cultivar Kaohsiung 10 (cv. K10) used in this study did not show embryogenic response either from mature seed-derived explants (cotyledon, embryonic tip, leaf, shoot and root) or immature cotyledons. However, it showed a high percentage (55.8%) of somatic embryo (SEm) formation from the IEST excised 2-3 wk after flowering, thus indicating the crucial roles of type and age of explants. The IEST put forth primary SEm after 2 mo of culturing on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 6% sucrose, 164.8 A mu M 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 5 mM asparagine and 684 A mu M glutamine. Subsequently, secondary SEm were developed 1 mo after culturing on MS medium containing 123.6 A mu M 2,4-D and 3% sucrose. Cotyledonary embryos were induced on MS medium supplemented with 0.5% activated charcoal after 1 mo. The embryos were desiccated for 72-96 h on sterile Petri dishes and regenerated on hormone-free MS medium. Plantlets with well-developed shoots and roots were obtained within 5-6 mo of culturing of IEST. The SEm-derived plants were morphologically normal and fertile. Various parameters thought to be responsible for efficient regeneration of soybean through somatic embryogenesis are discussed. To our knowledge, this is the first report to employ IEST as explants for successful direct somatic embryogenesis in soybean

Holographic Dark Energy Model and Scalar-Tensor Theories

We study the holographic dark energy model in a generalized scalar tensor theory. In a universe filled with cold dark matter and dark energy, the effect of potential of the scalar field is investigated in the equation of state parameter. We show that for a various types of potentials, the equation of state parameter is negative and transition from deceleration to acceleration expansion of the universe is possible.Comment: 11 pages, no figure. To appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Holographic dilatonic model of dark energy

We present a dilatonic description of the holographic dark energy by connecting the holographic dark energy density with the dilaton scalar field energy density in a flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe. We show that this model can describe the observed accelerated expansion of our universe with the choice $c\geq1$ and reconstruct the kinetic term as well as the dynamics of the dilaton scalar field.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, changed content, added references, accepted for publication at Eur.Phys.J.

Global Search for New Physics with 2.0/fb at CDF

Data collected in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron are searched for indications of new electroweak-scale physics. Rather than focusing on particular new physics scenarios, CDF data are analyzed for discrepancies with the standard model prediction. A model-independent approach (Vista) considers gross features of the data, and is sensitive to new large cross-section physics. Further sensitivity to new physics is provided by two additional algorithms: a Bump Hunter searches invariant mass distributions for "bumps" that could indicate resonant production of new particles; and the Sleuth procedure scans for data excesses at large summed transverse momentum. This combined global search for new physics in 2.0/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV reveals no indication of physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Final version which appeared in Physical Review D Rapid Communication

Observation of Orbitally Excited B_s Mesons

We report the first observation of two narrow resonances consistent with states of orbitally excited (L=1) B_s mesons using 1 fb^{-1} of ppbar collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron. We use two-body decays into K^- and B^+ mesons reconstructed as B^+ \to J/\psi K^+, J/\psi \to \mu^+ \mu^- or B^+ \to \bar{D}^0 \pi^+, \bar{D}^0 \to K^+ \pi^-. We deduce the masses of the two states to be m(B_{s1}) = 5829.4 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2 and m(B_{s2}^*) = 5839.7 +- 0.7 MeV/c^2.Comment: Version accepted and published by Phys. Rev. Let

Holographic dark energy in the DGP model

The braneworld model proposed by Dvali, Gabadadze and Porrati leads to an accelerated universe without cosmological constant or other form of dark energy. Nevertheless, we have investigated the consequences of this model when an holo- graphic dark energy is included, taken the Hubble scale as IR cutoff. We have found that the holographic dark energy leads to an accelerated universe flat (de Sitter like expansion) for the two branch: {\ko} = \pm1 of the DGP model. Nevertheless, in universes with no null curvature the dark energy presents an EoS corresponding to a phantom fluid during the present era and evolving to a de Sitter like phase for future cosmic time. In the special case in which the holographic parameter c is equal to one we have found a sudden singularity in closed universes. In this case the expansion is decelerating. ManuscriptComment: Latex, 12 pages, 4 figures; Submitted to Phys. Lett.

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio