Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Representative Building Typologies from Barcelona‘s Eixample District

Unreinforced masonry buildings prevail in many old historical centres and urban areas worldwide. These structures may present inadequate seismic performance because they were often designed without considering any seismic resistance requirements. Therefore, they may be highly vulnerable and susceptible to damage caused by earthquakes, even of low intensity. This work investigates the seismic vulnerability of typical unreinforced masonry buildings situated in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Spain. Most of the buildings of the district were designed only for vertical static loads with slender load-bearing masonry walls and flexible diaphragms. A typical characteristic is the presence of openings with considerable size on the facades. The identification of the main parameters affecting the structural behaviour under lateral loading is necessary to evaluate the seismic vulnerability. As a first step, a building taxonomy for the Eixample district has been prepared in order to classify the different building typologies by taking into account the influence of the structural features in the overall response. This typology classification serves two aims. The first aim is to empirically evaluate the vulnerability of each category. The second one is to provide the basis for creating a numerical model of a representative building and analyse its seismic performance. The main objective of this paper is to assess the seismic behaviour of a typical unreinforced masonry structure by means of nonlinear static analysis. For this purpose, a three-dimensional Finite Element model of a representative building has been prepared. Pushover analyses have been performed in two directions (parallel and perpendicular to the façades) aiming to identify the typical failure mechanisms and the seismic capacity. The performance of the representative building typology, with its typical heterogeneities and irregularities, is compared with that of a reference regular unreinforced masonry structure. Additionally, a parametric analysis is carried out to evaluate the different seismic response by adding more storeys in height. This work is the basis for future analyses devoted to large scale seismic vulnerability assessment of the most representative building typologies of the Eixample district

Native Speaker Perceptions of Accented Speech: The English Pronunciation of Macedonian EFL Learners

The paper reports on the results of a study that aimed to describe the vocalic and consonantal features of the English pronunciation of Macedonian EFL learners as perceived by native speakers of English and to find out whether native speakers who speak different standard variants of English perceive the same segments as non-native. A specially designed computer web application was employed to gather two types of data: a) quantitative (frequency of segment variables and global foreign accent ratings on a 5-point scale), and b) qualitative (open-ended questions). The result analysis points out to three most frequent markers of foreign accent in the English speech of Macedonian EFL learners: final obstruent devoicing, vowel shortening and substitution of English dental fricatives with Macedonian dental plosives. It also reflects additional phonetic aspects poorly explained in the available reference literature such as allophonic distributional differences between the two languages and intonational mismatch

Influence of yeast strains on phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of Vranec wines

The phenolic composition of ten autochthonous monovarietal Vranec red wines produced with different yeast strains was determined by HPLC-DAD analysis. Vranec wines were fermented with the following Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains: Clos, RC212, D254, BDX (from Lallemand), and six Vinalco yeasts isolated from the Tikveš wine region (Republic of Macedonia). A total of 19 phenolic compounds were identified and quantified in wines and among them the malvidin-3-glucoside and its derivatives were the major compounds. Wines fermented with Vinalco yeast presented higher amount of anthocyanins as well as phenolic acids (hydroxycinnamic and hydroxybenozoic) compared to the wines fermented with Lallemand yeasts. The content of malvidin-3-glucoside in Vranec wines fermented with Vinalco yeasts ranged between 235–887 mg/L, whereas Vranec wines fermented with Lallemand yeasts contained 335 to 355 mg/L. The caftaric acid, the main cinnamic acid derivative in all wines, was found in concentration between 176–507 mg/L, followed by coutaric and fertaric acids (14–89 and 11–49 mg/L, respectively). Wines showed relatively high value of the antioxidant activity that ranged between 99–117 mg/L Trolox equivalents, regardless the yeast strain used for fermentation

The Influence of the Climatic Conditions as a Factor on Some Quantitative Characteristics of Sunflower in the Region of Ovce Pole

In this paper we present the values of several quantitativecharacteristics on sunflower, VNIIMK 8931 variety, in the region ofOvce Pole. This variety has tradition for growing in Macedonia withpossibility to grow in the future. Her adaptability to the climaticconditions of the region shows very stable parameters of the examinationcapacities. The average height of the plants was between 204.0 cm in2000, 208.0 and 209.0 cm in 2001 and 2002. The diameter of the head(florescence) for the period of three years was 19.7 cm and absoluteweight of the seed 87.7 g. All three characteristics didn’t show anystatistical differences. The statistical significant differences we obtainonly in the case of yield of seed per head (florescence): 120.0 g in 2002,117.0 g in 2001 and 98.0 g in 2000. The percentage of oil keep theaverage for the sunflower as an industrial oil crops: 44,5% in the first,47,9% in the second and 43,1% in the third year of investigation

Targeted analysis of bioactive phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of Macedonian red wines

Phenolic composition of twenty-two Macedonian red wines, including ten autochthonous monovarietal Vranec wines produced with different yeasts for fermentation, and twelve wines from international varieties (Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) from different wine regions was studied. All wines presented relatively high value of total phenols and antioxidant activity. A total of 19 phenolic compounds were identified and quantified using HPLC-DAD and among them, malvidin-3-glucoside and its derivatives were the major compounds, followed by the petunidin derivatives, while caftaric acid was the predominant cinnamic acid derivative in all wines. The anthocyanin content was mainly affected by the grape variety and to a less extent by the yeast used in fermentation. In particular, the use of locally isolated yeasts affected higher amount of anthocyanins and phenolic acids compared to the wines fermented with commercial yeasts. Principal Component Analysis showed a satisfactory grouping of red wines according to the grape variety

Citizens' Perception and Concerns on Chemical Exposures and Human Biomonitoring-Results from a Harmonized Qualitative Study in Seven European Countries.

Funding Information: Funding: This research was done within the HBM4EU project and funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 733032. The organization and collection of Danish data (including Norstat) was financed by the University of Copenhagen. Funding Information: This research was done within the HBM4EU project and funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 733032. The organization and collection of Danish data (including Norstat) was financed by the University of Copenhagen. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Exposure to different chemicals is an inevitable part of our everyday lives. Within HBM4EU, focus group discussions were conducted to gather data on citizens' perceptions of chemical exposure and human biomonitoring. These discussions were hosted in Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, the Netherlands, and North Macedonia following a protocol developed in the first round of discussions. Results indicate the very high concern of European citizens regarding food safety and the environment. Focus group participants were well aware of potential uptake of chemicals through food consumption (e.g., preservatives, flavor enhancers, coloring agents, pesticides, fertilizers, metals), drinking water, or from polluted air and water. One of the positive aspects identified here, is the high interest of citizens in awareness and education on personal measures to control exposure. The promotion of personal behavioral changes requires active involvement of society (e.g., commuting habits, energy choices, waste disposal, dietary habits). Activities should focus on raising awareness of the general public, implementation of policy measures, and mainstreaming of related topics into the education system. Raising awareness of the general public may promote engagement of citizens, which in turn may empower them to put pressure on politicians to take effective actions. There is also a need for further research which might focus on the impact of country-specific situations and of the COVID-19 pandemic on the exposure of citizens to chemicals.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Pflanzenentwicklung und bioaktive Substanzen bei der kernlosen Tafeltraubensorte ‘Recel Uzümü’ (V. vinifera L.) in Abhängigkeit von Dosierung und Zeitpunkt der Applikation von Thidiazuron

The purpose of this research was to appreciate the impact of the synthetic cytokinin, well known as thidiazuron (TDZ) on seedless berry quality of cv. 'Recel Uzumu'. Three concentration levels including 0, 5 and 10 mg/L were applied on the grapevines during different phenological stages of grapevine such as Time 1: beginning of berry stetting, Time 2: berries pepper corn size and Time 3: berries pea size. While TDZ application times had no impacts on cultivar characteristics, it was determined that the application doses of TDZ had major impacts on yield and quality components of cv. 'Recel Uzumu'. Consequently, ascending TDZ doses increased berry and cluster size and led to decreases in total soluble solids content, total phenolic compound content, total anthocyanin content and p-value of grape juice regardless of TDZ application time. The most effective TDZ dose was 10 ppm for improving berry and cluster size in cv. 'Recel Uzumu'