STR-811: EXAMINATION OF EFFECTIVE LENGTH FACTOR FOR RC COLUMNS IN NON-SWAY FRAMES

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standard for Design of Concrete Structures (A23.3-04) permits the use of moment magnifier method for computing the design ultimate strength of slender reinforced concrete (RC) columns that are part of non-sway frames. This computed strength is influenced by the column effective length factor K, effective flexural stiffness EI, and equivalent uniform bending moment diagram factor Cm among others. Previous investigations by the authors examined the equations available in literature for computing EI and Cm factor. For this study, nearly 3000 simple non-sway reinforced concrete frames subjected to short-term loads were simulated and used to investigate the effect of using different equations for the effective length factor K when computing the strength of columns in these frames by the moment magnifier approach. An elaborate theoretical model was developed and used for computing the ultimate strength of columns in simulated frames. The theoretically computed column ultimate strengths were compared to the ultimate strengths of the same columns computed from the CSA moment magnifier method using selected equations for K available in literature. For the purpose of analysis, the theoretically computed strengths were divided by the CSA strengths to obtain the so-called strength ratios. The statistical analyses of strength ratios presented in this paper show that, for computing the CSA ultimate strength of columns in non-sway frames, the current practice of using Jackson-Moreland Alignment Chart is the most accurate method for determining the effective length factor

Finite element modelling of SAW correlator

Copyright 2007 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. This paper was published in BioMEMS and Nanotechnology III, edited by Dan V. Nicolau, Derek Abbott, Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh, Tiziana Di Matteo, Sergey M. Bezrukov, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 6799, 679915 and is made available as an electronic reprint with permission of SPIE. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.Numerical simulations of SAW correlators so far are limited to delta function and equivalent circuit models. These models are not accurate as they do not replicate the actual behaviour of the device. Manufacturing a correlator to specifically realise a different configuration is both expensive and time consuming. With the continuous improvement in computing capacity, switching to finite element modelling would be more appropriate. In this paper a novel way of modelling a SAW correlator using finite element analysis is presented. This modelling approach allows the consideration of different code implementation and device structures. This is demonstrated through simulation results for a 5×2-bit Barker sequence encoded SAW correlator. These results show the effect of both bulk and leaky modes on the device performance at various operating frequencies. Moreover, the ways in which the gain of the correlator can be optimised though variation of design parameters will also be outlined.Ajay C.Tikka Said F.Al-Sarawi and Derek Abbot

Enhancing dysphonia clinic consultations through a focus on patients' expectations : streamlining and validation of a new tool (ACaPELa-R questionnaire)

ObjectiveThe Assessing and Caring for Patients' Expectations in Laryngology ('ACaPELa') questionnaire was developed to guide laryngology clinic consultations. This study aimed to audit its use, revise it depending on outcomes and validate it.MethodsThe questionnaire was completed by all new patients attending a laryngology clinic over one year. The questionnaire was refined and validated in a new cohort of patients over a six-month period.ResultsThirty-seven of 242 patients (15.3 per cent) incorrectly gave the same ranking to more than one question. Questions with similar content were collapsed to cover broader themes, and an outcome question was added, resulting in the five-item Assessing and Caring for Patients' Expectations in Laryngology - Revised ('ACaPELa-R') questionnaire. Using this revised questionnaire, there was a significant reduction in the number of same-ranked questions (4.4 vs 15.3 per cent; p = 0.003) and high patient satisfaction post-consultation (95.7 per cent).ConclusionThe Assessing and Caring for Patients' Expectations in Laryngology - Revised questionnaire makes patients' rank ordering of questions easier. It can be used to inform how different topics should be approached during the consultation and utilised for clinician self-audit

Seculation Routing With Fortification Wireless Networks

Wireless sensor networks having so many problems a number of solutios enough? security issues, discusses some existing solutions, and suggests possible research directions like key establishment secrecy,authentication,privacy,denial-of-service attacks ,secure routing  and node capture attacks. Sensor devices are limited in their energy, computation, and communication capabilities Sensor nodes are often deployed in open areas, thus allowing physical attack Sensor networks closely interact with their physical environments and with people, posing new security problems. So In this paper address all the problems of wireless senor networks .In this paper we control back bone flooding attacks and give the location privacy These techniques provide trade-offs between privacy, communication cost, and latency.Through analysis and simulation, we demonstrate that the proposed techniques are efficient and effective for source and sink location privacy in sensor networks

Cytoplasmic genic male-sterility in pigeonpea and its utilization in hybrid breeding programme

For commercial exploitation of heterosis in any crop, it is to develop an economically viable mass pollen transfer mechanism. The natural out-crossing pigeonpea occurs primarily due to insect visitations. wide range of natural is reported to be due to a number of factors, and number and types of pOllinating vectors being the most important one. The discovery of stable male sterility systems, availability natural out-crossing and evidence of heterotic advantage have set a perlect breaking the persisting yield plateau in pigeon pea through hybrid breeding. In spite of six genic male sterility based pigeonpea hybrids at the national level this technology was not adopted by seed sector. The second breakthrough came with the development of cytoplasmic genic male sterile lines in pigeon pea. To broaden the genetic base of newly established cytoplasmic genic male sterility systems in pigeonpea, twelve agronomically superior and good combiner lines were selected. These were Pusa 33, lCPL 87, GT 100, SKNP 289, SKPN 290, BDN 2, SKNP 88-3, SKNP 9523, T 15-15, T 21, UPAS 120 and lCPL 84023. These genotypes were converted into CMS lines through simple backcross breeding method. To study the stability of fertility restoration, 41 experimental hybrids were evaluated at Kanpur, Akola, SK Nagar and Faizabad. It was observed that the hybrids developed at SK Nagar and expressed high pollen fertility at both SK and Faizabad. However, at Kanpur, a variation for pollen fertility was recorded while at hybrids were almost male with pollen fertility ranging from 0 to 35%. This data indicated a significant role of environment in the expression of fertility restorer genes. Therefore, an attempt should be made to breed high yielding hybrid specifically adapted to region rather than aiming for widely adapted hybrids

Clinical applicability and revision of the ACaPELa questionnaire

The Assessing and Caring for Patients’ Expectations in Laryngology (ACaPELa) questionnaire was created to understand patients’ thoughts and concerns and guide clinical consultation. As part of our standard clinical practice, all patients attending the laryngology clinic in our department complete the ACaPELa, rank ordering their expectations prior to the clinical consultation. Feedback received from the patients during the 2-year run of the voice clinic using the above set-up has indicated that the questionnaire was proven difficult to rank order, with patients’ finding some of the options very similar in content

Digital volunteer networks and humanitarian crisis reporting

Digital technologies and big data are rapidly transforming humanitarian crisis response and changing the traditional roles and powers of its actors. This article looks at a particular aspect of this transformation – the appearance of digital volunteer networks – and explores their potential to act as a new source for media coverage, in addition to their already established role as emergency response supporters. I argue that digital humanitarians can offer a unique combination of speed and safe access, while escaping some of the traditional constraints of the aid-media relationship and exceeding the conventional conceptualizations of citizen journalism. Journalists can find both challenges and opportunities in the environment where multiple crisis actors are assuming some of the media roles. The article draws on interviews with humanitarian organizations, journalists, and digital volunteer networks about their understanding of digital humanitarian communication and its significance for media coverage of crises

Autophagy-lysosomal defect in human CADASIL vascular smooth muscle cells

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a familial progressive degenerative disorder and is caused by mutations in NOTCH3 gene. Previous study reported that mutant NOTCH3 is more prone to form aggregates than wild-type NOTCH3 and the mutant aggregates are resistant to degradation. We hypothesized that aggregation or accumulation of NOTCH3 could be due to impaired lysosomal-autophagy machinery in VSMC. Here, we investigated the possible cause of accumulation/aggregation of NOTCH3 in CADASIL using cerebral VSMCs derived from control and CADASIL patients carrying NOTCH3(RI33C) mutation. Thioflavin-S-staining confirmed the increased accumulation of aggregated NOTCH3 in VSMCR133C compared to VSMCWT. Increased levels of the lysosomal marker, Lamp2, were detected in VSMCR133C, which also showed co-localization with NOTCH3 using double-immunohistochemistry. Increased level of LC3-II/LC3-I ratio was observed in VSMCR133C suggesting an accumulation of autophagosomes. This was coupled with the decreased co-localization of NOTCH3 with LC3, and Lamp2 and, further, increase of p62/SQSTM1 levels in VSMCR133C compared to the VSMCWT. In addition, Western blot analysis indicated phosphorylation of p-ERK, p-S6RP, and p-P70 S6K. Altogether, these results suggested a dysfunction in the autophagy-lysosomal pathway in VSMCR133C. The present study provides an interesting avenue of the research investigating the molecular mechanism of CADASIL.Peer reviewe