Proposed method for calculating water penetration test parameters of wall assemblies as applied to Istanbul, Turkey

Water penetration of a building envelope assembly is typically assessed on the basis of the degree of watertightness (i.e. lack of water ingress) of the components of the assembly when subjected to simulated driving rain conditions. Test standards provide the magnitude and extent of these test conditions as suggested by the test parameters, i.e. the water spray rates and pressure differences and the dwell time over which these are to be applied. Such conditions would presume to simulate driving rain and wind conditions of locations spread over a broad geographical area. For example, the water spray rate suggested for use in watertightness performance tests in EN 12155—Curtain walling–watertightness–laboratory test under static pressure—is considered appropriate for simulating driving rain and wind conditions for locations across Europe. However, test parameters should be based on the expected driving rain intensities and wind pressures that are likely to occur for a specific climate and a given return period. It might also be based on the building type (e.g. high or low-rise building), or even on the location on the building facade. Hence, a method is required for calculating water penetration test parameters for specific buildings located in a specific climate. The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for calculating water penetration test parameters. A survey of existing methods is first provided that focuses on the quantification of driving rain on buildings and thereafter, calculation of water penetration test parameters. The merits and drawbacks of these methods are then discussed. Based on this review, a method for calculating test parameters is proposed and is applied to developing water penetration test parameters for Istanbul, Turkey. A comparison of test parameters calculated from the proposed method with those given in existing Turkish standards TS EN 12155–Curtain walling–watertightness–laboratory test under static pressure—and TS ENV 13050—Curtain walling–watertightness–laboratory test under dynamic condition of air pressure and water spray—related to Istanbul, indicated that the water spray rate given in the TS standards is higher than spray rates calculated from the proposed method for return periods of 5, 10 and 30 years.     

Synthesis and properties of chitosan-modified poly(vinyl butyrate)

Modification of chitosan by grafting of vinyl butyrate was carried out in homogeneous phase using potassium persulfate as redox initator and 1.5% acetic acid as solvent. The percent grafting and grafting efficiency were analysed and the high grafting efficiency up to 94% was observed. The effects of reaction variables such as monomer concentration, initiator concentration, temperature and reaction time were investigated. It was observed that the solubility of chitosan was markedly reduced after grafting with vinyl butyrate. The grafted product is insoluble in common organic solvents as well in dilute organic and inorganic acids. Characterization of the graft copolymers were carried out by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) technics. Characteristic signal of carbonyl group was observed at 1,731 cm⁻¹ which belongs to the poly vinyl butyrate segments in the graft copolymer. The melting transition of the chitosan main chain in the copolymer shifted to 124°C from its original value 101°C. In addition to these, we have also studied topology of the graft copolymer and the SEM micrograph showed continuous homogenous matrix which means there is no phase separation.     

Compact low voltage high-Q CMOS active inductor suitable for RF applications

A compact active inductor circuit is proposed. The circuit is based on the gyrator-C approach with both transconductance stages realized by MOS transistors in common-source configuration. The circuit has minimal number of transistors, is suitable for low voltage operation, offers a wide inductive band, high quality factor and low power dissipation. Simulation results are provided for a 0.13 μm CMOS process with 1.2 V supply voltage.     

A simple and rapid microSepharose assay for GAD65 and ICA512 autoantibodies in diabetes. Diabetes Incidence Study in Sweden (DISS)

Three scales, the Fake Bad Scale, the Fake Good Scale, and the Fake Bad-Fake Good scales were developed and evaluated with respect to their capacity to detect response manipulation on the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised. Cutting scores for each scale were cross-validated in two samples consisting of three groups: (1) college students simulating either "fake good" or "fake bad," (2) college students under standard instructions, and (3) psychiatric patients. Cutting scores on the three scales were compared with cutting scores established for the MAACL-R Dysphoria and Positive Affect plus Sensation Seeking. Analysis indicated that these scales were more accurate than the Positive Affect plus Sensation Seeking and the Dysphoria scales in detecting response manipulation.     

Simulating the effect of a high density electric current pulse on the stress field during plastic deformation

A certain pulse of electric current combined with plastic deformation is a powerful tool for improving the formability of hard-to-deform metal alloys. In recent years, much research has indicated that the current not only improves macro-mechanical properties but also influences microstructural-level phenomena such as recrystallization, local phase transformation, grain refinement, and even amorphous nanocrystallization. Despite the huge experimental dataset, virtually no focus has been placed on phenomenon??s computing. In this fashion, present paper concerned with the continuum-level numerical analysis of the pulse impact on the stress field during plastic deformation. Computation conducted herein has shown that a high density electric current pulsing weakens the stress field during plastic deformation. Ultimate results of the study should be useful in developing the novel metal processing technology.     

Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals Approximation in Nanocrystalline Yittria-Stabilized Zirconia Synthesized by Citrate–Nitrate Gel Combustion Process

Nanocrystalline yittria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) compounds with yittria concentration varying between 8 and 12 mol% have been synthesized by gel combustion method followed by heat treatment at 550°C. The YSZs are found to posses stable face centered cubic structure at room temperature by X-ray diffractometry. The lattice parameter ' a ' showed an increasing trend with increasing concentration of yittria. The crystallite size estimated by Scherrer method was in the range of 7–10 nm. Band gap studies showed an increasing trend with increasing yittria concentration and are found to be consistent with respective lattice parameters following the tight binding approximation or linear combination of atomic orbitals approximation.     

Effect of Surface and Oxygen Coverage on Ethylene Epoxidation

Ethylene epoxidation was studied as a function of oxygen coverage; for three different surfaces (111), (100) and (110) of three different IB metals using periodical DFT calculations. Oxygen coverage dependence was tested for 11, 25 and 33?% surface oxygen on Ag(111) surface. Calculations showed that increasing oxygen amount increased the exothermicity of the reaction while lowering the activation barriers. At studied oxygen ratios ethylene oxide and acetaldehyde formations proceed through OMC intermediate. In agreement with earlier studies, predicted selectivity is independent of surface structure. Generally the activation barriers for aldehyde formation are lower than those for epoxide formation on the studied surfaces. On copper surfaces the high stability of the precursor intermediates caused high activation barriers for the product formations. Also, epoxide formation is endothermic with respect to pre-oxygenated copper surfaces. On the other hand gold surfaces showed the smallest activation barriers for the product formations. Ag surfaces did not show conclusive differences for the activation barriers for epoxide versus aldehyde formation, which is in agreement with the ~50?% EO selectivity of the un-promoted metallic silver.     

High-performance a-IGZO-based flexible TTFT with stacked dielectric layers via ultrathin high-κ SrTiO3 buffer layer grown on HfO2

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In this study, ITO-coated PET was used as the substrate to create a flexible and transparent structure. a-IGZO (amorphous InGaZnO4) is...     

On stochastic comparisons of finite mixtures for some semiparametric families of distributions

In this paper, we consider the classical finite mixture model, which is an effective tool for modeling lifetime distributions for random samples from heterogeneous populations. We discuss new results on stochastic comparison for two finite mixtures when each of them is drawn from one of the following semiparametric families, i.e., proportional hazards, accelerated lifetime and proportional reversed hazards.