Predetermination of potential plastic hinges on reinforced concrete frames using GFRP reinforcement

In the past, glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)-reinforcement has been successfully applied in reinforced concrete (RC) structures where corrosion resistance, electromagnetic neutrality, or cuttability were required. Previous investigations suggest that the application of GFRP in RC structures could be advantageous in areas with seismic activity due to their high deformability and strength. However, especially the low modulus of elasticity of GFRP limited its wide application as GFRP-reinforced members usually exhibit considerably larger deformations under service loads than comparable steel-reinforced elements. To overcome the aforementioned issues, the combination of steel and GFRP reinforcement in hybrid RC sections has been investigated in the past. Based on this idea, this paper presents a novel concept for the predetermination of potential plastic hinges in RC frames using GFRP reinforcement. To analyze the efficiency of the concept, nonlinear finite element simulations were performed. The results underscore the high efficiency of hybrid steel-GFRP RC sections for predetermining potential plastic hinges on RC frames. The results also indicate that the overall seismic behavior of RC structures could be improved by means of GFRP as both the column base shear force during the seismic activity as well as the plastic deformations after the earthquake were considerably less pronounced than in the steel-reinforced reference structure.     

Consistent Monitoring of Cointegrating Relationships: The US Housing Market and the Subprime Crisis

We propose a consistent monitoring procedure for structural change in a cointegrating relationship. The procedure is inspired by Chu et al. (1996) by being based on parameter estimation on a prebreak ‘calibration’ period. We use three modified least squares estimators to obtain nuisance parameter‐free limiting distributions. We study the asymptotic and finite sample properties of the procedures and finally apply the approach to monitor two‐fundamentals‐driven US housing prices cointegrating relationships over the period 1976:Q1–2010:Q4 using the data of Anundsen (2015). Depending on the relationship considered and the estimation method used, a break point is detected as early as 2003:Q2, that is, well before US housing prices started to fall in 2007.     

Sustainability of biofuels in Latin America: Risks and opportunities

Several Latin American countries are setting up biofuel programmes to establish alternative markets for agricultural commodities. This is mainly triggered by the current success of Brazilian bioethanol production for the domestic market and for export. Furthermore, the global biofuel market is expected to increase due to ambitious biofuel programmes in the EU and in the USA. Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica and Guatemala are focusing on bioethanol production from sugarcane whereas biofuel production in Argentina is based on soy biodiesel. Recent developments of the biofuel sector take place extremely rapid especially in Argentina, which became one of the five largest biodiesel producers in the world in 2008. Till date no specific biofuel sustainability certification systems have been implemented in Latin American, as well as on global level. This fact and the predominant use of food crops for biofuel production raise concerns about the sustainability of biofuel production related to environmental and social aspects. This paper provides an overview of the hotspots of conflicts in biofuel production in Latin America. It investigates presently available sustainability tools and initiatives to ensure sustainable biofuel production in Latin America. Finally, it provides an outlook on how to integrate sustainability in the Latin American biofuel sector.     

Repairing an aggregation-based smart metering system

International Journal of Information Security - Smart meters inform the electricity suppliers about the consumption of their clients in short intervals. Fine-grained electricity consumption...     

Closed-loop stability analysis of a gantry crane with heavy chain and payload

In this paper, we analyse a systematically designed and easily tunable backstepping-based boundary control concept for a gantry crane with heavy chain and payload. The corresponding closed-loop system is formulated as an abstract evolution equation in an appropriate Hilbert space. Non-restrictive conditions for the controller coefficients are derived, under which the solutions are described by a C₀-semi-group of contractions, and are asymptotically stable. Moreover, by applying Huang's theorem we can finally even show that under these conditions the controller renders the closed-loop system exponentially stable.     

Experimental validation of control rod related perturbations of moderator regions in an SCWR-like fuel lattice

Two different types of perturbations of an SCWR-like fuel lattice have been investigated experimentally in the central test zone of the PROTEUS zero-power research reactor at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. In each case, a campaign of high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements was carried out on 34 fuel pins of the test lattice. In the first case, the test lattice was perturbed by inserting aluminum rods into the four central moderator regions, while in the second case, the perturbation was affected using steel absorber rods (instead of aluminum). The derived reaction rates are the capture rate in ²³⁸U (C₈) and the total fission rate (F_tot), as also the reaction rate ratio C₈/F_tot. Each of these has been mapped on the lattice and compared to calculated results from whole-reactor Monte Carlo simulations with MCNPX. Excellent agreement has been obtained, for both perturbed lattices, between the calculated and experimental distributions of C₈, F_tot and C₈/F_tot. Considering that control rods in an SCWR assembly are foreseen to be inserted into the central moderator regions, these results may be considered as generic validation of Monte Carlo simulations for the two different types of lattice perturbations which inserted control rods imply, viz. moderator displacement and strong neutron absorption.In a second step, calculated C₈, F_tot and C₈/F_tot distributions for the two perturbed lattices (as well as for the unperturbed lattice) have been compared, at assembly level, between MCNPX and the deterministic LWR lattice code CASMO-4E. In the case of the unperturbed lattice, as well as for the lattice with steel rods, the agreement between the codes is found to be within ～1% for all pins and each reaction rate. However, for the lattice with aluminum rods, i.e. the case with mainly just moderator displacement involved, CASMO overestimates the reaction rates in the vicinity of the perturbations by up to 2–3%, when employing the standard input options. The reason for this discrepancy has been found to be the leakage treatment, which uses the fundamental-mode buckling applied in a homogenized sense across the lattice. In this way, global leakage gradients get averaged out over the entire assembly. The optional input card BZ2 for CASMO resolves this problem, and the codes then agree within 1% even for the aluminum case.     

Supramolecular Assembly of Aminoethylene‐Lipopeptide PMO Conjugates into RNA Splice‐Switching Nanomicelles

Phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) are oligonucleotide analogs that can be used for therapeutic modulation of pre‐mRNA splicing. Similar to other classes of nucleic acid‐based therapeutics, PMOs require delivery systems for efficient transport to the intracellular target sites. Here, artificial peptides based on the oligo(ethylenamino) acid succinyl‐tetraethylenpentamine (Stp), hydrophobic modifications, and an azide group are presented, which are used for strain‐promoted azide‐alkyne cycloaddition conjugation with splice‐switching PMOs. By systematically varying the lead structure and formulation, it is determined that the type of contained fatty acid and supramolecular assembly have a critical impact on the delivery efficacy. A compound containing linolenic acid with three cis double bonds exhibits the highest splice‐switching activity and significantly increases functional protein expression in pLuc/705 reporter cells in vitro and after local administration in vivo. Structural and mechanistic studies reveal that the lipopeptide PMO conjugates form nanoparticles, which accelerate cellular uptake and that the content of unsaturated fatty acids enhances endosomal escape. In an in vitro Duchenne muscular dystrophy exon skipping model using H2K‐mdx52 dystrophic skeletal myotubes, the highly potent PMO conjugates mediate significant splice‐switching at very low nanomolar concentrations. The presented aminoethylene‐lipopeptides are thus a promising platform for the generation of PMO‐therapeutics with a favorable activity/toxicity profile.