Stiffness and Damping Properties of a Low Aspect Ratio Shear Wall Building Based on Recorded Earthquake Responses

An investigation into the structural properties and seismic responses of a low aspect ratio shear wall building, which has construction similarity to typical nuclear plant structures, has been performed using actual recorded earthquake motions. This effort used a combination of modal identification to obtain structure modal parameters directly from the recorded motions, and elastic structural analysis using methods and criteria frequently employed by the nuclear industry. Modal parameters determined by modal identification provide excellent fits to the building motions recorded during the 1984 Morgan Hill earthquake. Modal parameters identified for the 1989 Lorna Prieta earthquake are more uncertain. Investigation of building stiffnesses generally confirms the adequacy of bounding estimates currently recommended for nuclear plant structure seismic analysis. Damping values identified for this building supplement the database being compiled to investigate current nuclear plant structure damping criteria

The covid-19 learning crisis as a challenge and an opportunity for schools: An evidence review and conceptual synthesis of research-based tools for sustainable change

This paper advances our understanding of how schools can become change agents capable of transforming local practice to address the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. It presents a novel application of cultural-historical activity theory to reinterpret evidence on widespread learning loss and increasing educational inequities resulting from the pandemic, and to identify scalable transformative learning opportunities through reframing the crisis as a double stimulation. By reviewing evidence of the emerging educational landscape, we first develop a picture of the new ‘problem space’ upon which schools must act. We develop a problem space map to serve as the first stimulus to articulate local challenges. Integrating this problem space with research on professional change, we identify conceptual tools to capture learning gaps and implement pedagogic interventions at scale, in order to enhance schools’ agency in directly addressing the crisis. These tools can act as the second stimulus, enabling educators to address local challenges. We conclude by discussing the Covid-19 educational crisis as a unique stimulus for professional learning and outline the potential for durable shifts in educational thinking and practice beyond the pandemic. We argue that this unprecedented historic disruption can be harnessed as a transformative professional learning opportunity. In particular, we consider how research on professional change offers local, scalable interventions and tools that can support educators in preventing the new insights from ‘slipping away’ post-pandemic. Utilising the notions of boundaries and tool-mediated professional change, we examine the ways in which this disruption generates opportunities to envision alternative futures for equitable learning in school.Author 1: The epiSTEMe project [grant number RES-179-25-0003, PI Prof. K. Ruthven] The TEACh project [ES/M005445/1, PI Prof. P. Rose] ESRC Impact Acceleration Grant, University of Cambridge [PI Dr. R. Hofmann] Cambridge University Health Partners Commonwealth Education Trust (PI. Prof. S. Hennessy) Authors 2-8: (2) Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, PhD scholarship (3) Economic and Social Research Council PhD scholarship [ES/P000738/1] (4) Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID), Cambridge Trust, PhD scholarship (5) Economic and Social Research Council [ES/P000738/1] and MRC Epidemiology Unit PhD scholarship (6) Yayasan Khazanah, Cambridge Trust, PhD scholarship (7) Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, UK [TCF180902] PhD scholarship (8) The LEGO Foundatio

The feasibility of wind and solar energy application for oil and gas offshore platform

Renewable energy is an energy which is freely available in nature such as winds and solar energy. It plays a critical role in greening the energy sector as these sources of energy produce little or no pollution to environment. This paper will focus on capability of renewable energy (wind and solar) in generating power for offshore application. Data of wind speeds and solar irradiation that are available around SHELL Sabah Water Platform for every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day, for a period of one year are provided by SHELL Sarawak Sdn. Bhd. The suitable wind turbine and photovoltaic panel that are able to give a high output and higher reliability during operation period are selected by using the tabulated data. The highest power output generated using single wind energy application is equal to 492 kW while for solar energy application is equal to 20 kW. Using the calculated data, the feasibility of renewable energy is then determined based on the platform energy demand

Improving nitrogen use efficiency through overexpression of alanine aminotransferase in rice, wheat, and barley

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants, but crop plants are inefficient in the acquisition and utilization of applied nitrogen. This often results in producers over applying nitrogen fertilizers, which can negatively impact the environment. The development of crop plants with more efficient nitrogen usage is, therefore, an important research goal in achieving greater agricultural sustainability. We utilized genetically modified rice lines overexpressing a barley alanine aminotransferase (HvAlaAT) to help characterize pathways which lead to more efficient use of nitrogen. Under the control of a stress-inducible promoter OsAnt1, OsAnt1:HvAlaAT lines have increased above-ground biomass with little change to both nitrate and ammonium uptake rates. Based on metabolic profiles, carbon metabolites, particularly those involved in glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, were significantly altered in roots of OsAnt1:HvAlaAT lines, suggesting higher metabolic turnover. Moreover, transcriptomic data revealed that genes involved in glycolysis and TCA cycle were upregulated. These observations suggest that higher activity of these two processes could result in higher energy production, driving higher nitrogen assimilation, consequently increasing biomass production. Other potential mechanisms contributing to a nitrogen-use efficient phenotype include involvements of phytohormonal responses and an alteration in secondary metabolism. We also conducted basic growth studies to evaluate the effect of the OsAnt1:HvAlaAT transgene in barley and wheat, which the transgenic crop plants increased seed production under controlled environmental conditions. This study provides comprehensive profiling of genetic and metabolic responses to the over-expression of AlaAT and unravels several components and pathways which contribute to its nitrogen-use efficient phenotype

Wind-induced evaporative cooling passive system for tropical hot and humid climate

Over the years, the desire to have better thermal comfort in terms of living has been extensively discussed and is in high demand, especially in metropolitan cities. Alongside the desired outcomes, air conditioning facilities have been implemented, but they also bring negative consequences, such as a high energy bill and multi-dimensional environmental impacts. To counter these problems, a hybrid technique combining the evaporative cooling technique with a venturi-shaped natural ventilation tower is proposed. Evaporative cooling takes advantage of cooling in response to the wind blowing through a layer of wetted surface that is built with permeable materials. Combining with the specially designed venturi-shaped natural ventilation tower to improve the volume intake of wind externally, this system is aimed to reduce temperature and achieve thermal comfort by cooling down the air with circulation in a continuous accumulative mode. To gauge the efficiency and effectiveness of this hybrid technique, an evaporative system known as the wind-induced evaporative cooling (WIEC) system is directly fed into a testing chamber (installed with sensors) fabricated with a scale of 1:6. The system was tested in a hot and humid climate with a temperature range of 27°C–34°C. The finding shows that our system is able to reduce temperatures up to 3.873°C with an output cooling capacity of 9 W–476.3 W, which shows the feasibility of this study

Defining minimal invasive surgical therapy for benign prostatic obstruction surgery: Perspectives from a global knowledge, attitude, and practice survey

Objective: To scrutinize the definitions of minimal invasive surgical therapy (MIST) and to investigate urologists’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices for benign prostatic obstruction surgeries. Methods: A 36-item survey was developed with a Delphi method. Questions on definitions of MIST and attitudes and practices of benign prostatic obstruction surgeries were included. Urologists were invited globally to complete the online survey. Consensus was achieved when more than or equal to 70% responses were “agree or strongly agree” and less than or equal to 15% responses were “disagree or strongly disagree” (consensus agree), or when more than or equal to 70% responses were “disagree or strongly disagree” and less than or equal to 15% responses were “agree or strongly agree” (consensus disagree). Results: The top three qualities for defining MIST were minimal blood loss (n=466, 80.3%), fast post-operative recovery (n=431, 74.3%), and short hospital stay (n=425, 73.3%). The top three surgeries that were regarded as MIST were Urolift® (n=361, 62.2%), Rezum® (n=351, 60.5%), and endoscopic enucleation of the prostate (EEP) (n=332, 57.2%). Consensus in the knowledge section was achieved for the superiority of Urolift®, Rezum®, and iTIND® over transurethral resection of the prostate with regard to blood loss, recovery, day surgery feasibility, and post-operative continence. Consensus in the attitudes section was achieved for the superiority of Urolift®, Rezum®, and iTIND® over transurethral resection of the prostate with regard to blood loss, recovery, and day surgery feasibility. Consensus on both sections was achieved for EEP as the option with the better symptoms and flow improvement, lower retreatment rate, and better suitable for prostate more than 80 mL. Conclusion: Minimal blood loss, fast post-operative recovery, and short hospital stay were the most important qualities for defining MIST. Urolift®, Rezum®, and EEP were regarded as MIST by most urologists

Cauli: a mouse strain with an Ift140 mutation that results in a skeletal ciliopathy modelling jeune syndrome

Cilia are architecturally complex organelles that protrude from the cell membrane and have signalling, sensory and motility functions that are central to normal tissue development and homeostasis. There are two broad categories of cilia; motile and non-motile, or primary, cilia. The central role of primary cilia in health and disease has become prominent in the past decade with the recognition of a number of human syndromes that result from defects in the formation or function of primary cilia. This rapidly growing class of conditions, now known as ciliopathies, impact the development of a diverse range of tissues including the neural axis, craniofacial structures, skeleton, kidneys, eyes and lungs. The broad impact of cilia dysfunction on development reflects the pivotal position of the primary cilia within a signalling nexus involving a growing number of growth factor systems including Hedgehog, Pdgf, Fgf, Hippo, Notch and both canonical Wnt and planar cell polarity. We have identified a novel ENU mutant allele of Ift140, which causes a mid-gestation embryonic lethal phenotype in homozygous mutant mice. Mutant embryos exhibit a range of phenotypes including exencephaly and spina bifida, craniofacial dysmorphism, digit anomalies, cardiac anomalies and somite patterning defects. A number of these phenotypes can be attributed to alterations in Hedgehog signalling, although additional signalling systems are also likely to be involved. We also report the identification of a homozygous recessive mutation in IFT140 in a Jeune syndrome patient. This ENU-induced Jeune syndrome model will be useful in delineating the origins of dysmorphology in human ciliopathies

A putative relay circuit providing low-threshold mechanoreceptive input to lamina I projection neurons via vertical cells in lamina II of the rat dorsal horn

Background: Lamina I projection neurons respond to painful stimuli, and some are also activated by touch or hair movement. Neuropathic pain resulting from peripheral nerve damage is often associated with tactile allodynia (touch-evoked pain), and this may result from increased responsiveness of lamina I projection neurons to non-noxious mechanical stimuli. It is thought that polysynaptic pathways involving excitatory interneurons can transmit tactile inputs to lamina I projection neurons, but that these are normally suppressed by inhibitory interneurons. Vertical cells in lamina II provide a potential route through which tactile stimuli can activate lamina I projection neurons, since their dendrites extend into the region where tactile afferents terminate, while their axons can innervate the projection cells. The aim of this study was to determine whether vertical cell dendrites were contacted by the central terminals of low-threshold mechanoreceptive primary afferents. Results: We initially demonstrated contacts between dendritic spines of vertical cells that had been recorded in spinal cord slices and axonal boutons containing the vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1), which is expressed by myelinated low-threshold mechanoreceptive afferents. To confirm that the VGLUT1 boutons included primary afferents, we then examined vertical cells recorded in rats that had received injections of cholera toxin B subunit (CTb) into the sciatic nerve. We found that over half of the VGLUT1 boutons contacting the vertical cells were CTb-immunoreactive, indicating that they were of primary afferent origin. Conclusions: These results show that vertical cell dendritic spines are frequently contacted by the central terminals of myelinated low-threshold mechanoreceptive afferents. Since dendritic spines are associated with excitatory synapses, it is likely that most of these contacts were synaptic. Vertical cells in lamina II are therefore a potential route through which tactile afferents can activate lamina I projection neurons, and this pathway could play a role in tactile allodynia

Local structure evolution in polycrystalline Zn1−x_{1-x}Mgx_xO (0≤x≤0.150\leq{x}\leq{0.15}) studied by Raman and by synchrotron x-ray pair distribution analysis

The local structures of Zn$_{1-x}$Mg$_x$O alloys have been studied by Raman spectroscopy and by synchrotron x-ray pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. Within the solid solution range ($0\leq{x}\leq{0.15}$) of Zn$_{1-x}$Mg$_x$O, the wurtzite framework is maintained with Mg homogeneously distributed throughout the wurtzite lattice. The $E_2^\mathrm{high}$ Raman line of Zn$_{1-x}$Mg$_x$O displays systematic changes in response to the evolution of the crystal lattice upon the Mg-substitution. The red-shift and broadening of the $E_2^\mathrm{high}$ mode are explained by the expansion of hexagonal $ab$-dimensions, and compositional disorder of Zn/Mg, respectively. Synchrotron x-ray PDF analyses of Zn$_{1-x}$Mg$_x$O reveal that the Mg atoms have a slightly reduced wurtzite parameter $u$ and more regular tetrahedral bond distances than the Zn atoms. For both Zn and Mg, the internal tetrahedral geometries are independent of the alloy composition.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures RevTe