Mitigation of Tsunami Debris Impact on Reinforced Concrete Buildings by Fender Structures

Buildings located in coastal regions are prone to tsunami dangers, which often carry debris in the form of shipping containers and boats. This paper presents an approach for the design of fender structures to minimize debris impacts on buildings. The impact of shipping containers, which are categorized as large debris, is considered in the study. Since the weights of shipping containers are standardized, the impact energy can be related to other debris. For a fender structure, cone-type rubber fenders are used to resist the impact of the shipping container. Various fender reactions are considered as parameters to study the efficiency of the fenders. The displacement-controlled nonlinear static analysis is carried out to determine the building capacity. The energy approach for shipping container impact is used to evaluate the resistance of the building. Capacity curves, energy absorptions, inter-story drift ratios of the buildings with and without a fender structure, and the efficiency of the fender are presented. The buildings with a fender structure can absorb the energy from the impact of a loaded shipping container. Conversely, the building without a fender structure cannot resist the impact of a loaded shipping container. From the obtained results, a recommendation is given for buildings with a fender structure. The hydrodynamic force on the fender structure is transferred to the main building through the fender. Hence, the yield force of the fenders affects the performance of the main building that must be considered in the design.

Vertical Discrepancy in Height of Morse Cone Abutments Submitted to Different Torque Forces

The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of manual torque (10 Ncm) versus clinical torque (30 Ncm), which is recommended by the manufacturer, on the total length of morse cone implant abutments. Twenty specimens were prepared and distributed into two groups: group 1 with ten analogs for morse cone type implant, and group 2 with ten morse type implants, size 4.3 × 15 cm. In each group, the distance between the implant platform to the top of the prosthetic abutment (abutment height) was measured and subjected to a torque of 10 Ncm. Then, the 30 Ncm torque was applied to the same abutment, and abutment height was measured. The distance between the top of the abutment and the implant/analog base was measured. In order to verify the clinical reproducibility of the experiment, comparisons between the abutment height of the analog at 10 Ncm and the implant at 30 Ncm were performed, showing a greater discrepancy in torque for the 10 Ncm analog (p < 0.05). In order to verify if the change in the laboratory protocol from 10 to 30 Ncm could minimize the differences in the height of the prosthetic abutments, the abutment height in groups 1 and 2 was compared with 30 Ncm, and no significant difference was observed (p > 0.05). The data indicated that the manual torque and the torque recommended by the manufacturer influence the total length of the prosthetic abutments of morse cone implants.

Indoor Air Quality: Assessment of Dangerous Substances in Incense Products

Indoor air pollution has obtained more attention in a moment where “stay at home” is a maximum repeated for the entire world. It is urgent to know the sources of pollutants indoors, to improve the indoor air quality. This study presents some results obtained for twelve incense products, used indoors, at home, and in temples, but also in spa centers or yoga gymnasiums, where the respiratory intensity is high, and the consequences on health could be more severe. The focus of this study was the gaseous emissions of different types of incense, performing a VOC screening and identifying some specific VOCs different from the usual ones, which are known or suspected to cause severe chronic health effects: carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic. Thirteen compounds were selected: benzene, toluene, styrene, naphthalene, furfural, furan, isoprene, 2-butenal, phenol, 2-furyl methyl ketone, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein. The study also indicated that incense cone type shows a higher probability of being more pollutant than incense stick type, as from the 12 products tested, four were cone type, and three of them were in the group of the four higher polluters. Benzene and formaldehyde presented worrying levels in the major part of the products, above guideline values established by the WHO. Unfortunately, there are no limit values established for indoor air for all the compounds studied, but this fact should not exempt us from taking action to alert the population to the potential dangers of using those products. From this study, acetaldehyde, acrolein, furfural, and furan emerge as compounds with levels to deserve attention.

A New Rotor-Type Dynamic Classifier: Structural Optimization and Industrial Applications

Due to the inadequate pre-dispersion and high dust concentration in the grading zone of the turbo air classifier, a new rotor-type dynamic classifier with air and material entering from the bottom was designed. The effect of the rotor cage structure and diversion cone size on the flow field and classification performance of the laboratory-scale classifier was comparatively analyzed by numerical simulation using ANSYS-Fluent. The grinding process performance with an industrial classifier was also tested on-site. The results revealed that an inverted cone-type rotor cage is more suitable for the under-feed classifier. When the rotor cage’s top-surface diameter to bottom-surface diameter ratio was too large or too small, the radial velocity and tangential velocity at the outer surface of the rotor cage greatly fluctuated. Furthermore, the diameter of the diversion cone also affected the axial velocity and radial velocity of the flow field. Models T-C(1-0.8) and T-D(1-0.7) were determined as the best rotor cage structures. Under stable operating conditions, the classification efficiency of the industrial classifier was 87% and the sharpness of separation was 0.58, which meet the industrial requirements for classification efficiency and energy consumption. This present study provides theoretical guidance and engineering application value for air classifiers.

Numerical Calibration and Investigation of the Influence Of Reynolds Number on Measurements With Five-Hole Probes In Compressible Flows

This paper presents an investigation into the numerical and experimental calibration of a five-hole probe and effects of Reynolds number variations on the characteristics of the probe. The test object is a cone-type drilled elbow probe with a head diameter of 1.59 mm and a cone angle of 60°. The experimental calibration maps of four different probes of the same type and nominal geometry are compared. A significant variation of the curves can be observed especially at high yaw angles. This led to a visual inspection of the probes with a 3D measurement system. The actual geometry of the three used probes and the surface and radii in particular varied significantly from that of the unused spare probe. Furthermore, a numerical calibration map of the ideal probe was generated for a Mach number of Ma = 0.3. A comparison between the experimental and numerical calibration coefficients revealed that total pressure, yaw and pitch angle were reproduced reasonably well. The dynamic pressure coefficient, however, has a considerable offset. Finally, a parameter study of the effect of varying the Reynolds number over different yaw angles was conducted. The calibration Reynolds number is of the order of Re = 1 · 104 and was varied between 0.5 · 104 &lt; Re &lt; 6 · 104. While the results suggest that only minor measurement errors occur for yaw angle, total pressure and static pressure, a relatively large error was observed for pitch angle measurements.

Existence and Stability of Implicit Fractional Differential Equations with Stieltjes Boundary Conditions Involving Hadamard Derivatives

In this article, we make analysis of the implicit fractional differential equations involving integral boundary conditions associated with Stieltjes integral and its corresponding coupled system. We use some sufficient conditions to achieve the existence and uniqueness results for the given problems by applying the Banach contraction principle, Schaefer’s fixed point theorem, and Leray–Schauder result of the cone type. Moreover, we present different kinds of stability such as Hyers–Ulam stability, generalized Hyers–Ulam stability, Hyers–Ulam–Rassias stability, and generalized Hyers–Ulam–Rassias stability by using the classical technique of functional analysis. At the end, the results are verified with the help of examples.

Absolutely Continuous Spectrum for Quantum Trees

We study the spectra of quantum trees of finite cone type. These are quantum graphs whose geometry has a certain homogeneity, and which carry a finite set of edge lengths, coupling constants and potentials on the edges. We show the spectrum consists of bands of purely absolutely continuous spectrum, along with a discrete set of eigenvalues. Afterwards, we study random perturbations of such trees, at the level of edge length and coupling, and prove the stability of pure AC spectrum, along with resolvent estimates.

Functional identification of an opsin kinase underlying inactivation of the pineal bistable opsin parapinopsin in zebrafish

In the pineal organ of zebrafish larvae, the bistable opsin parapinopsin alone generates color opponency between UV and visible light. Our previous study suggested that dark inactivation of the parapinopsin photoproduct, which activates G-proteins, is important for the regulation of the amount of the photoproduct. In turn, the photoproduct is responsible for visible light sensitivity in color opponency. Here, we found that an opsin kinase or a G-protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) is involved in inactivation of the active photoproduct of parapinopsin in the pineal photoreceptor cells of zebrafish larvae. We investigated inactivation of the photoproduct in the parapinopsin cells of various knockdown larvae by measuring the light responses of the cells using calcium imaging. We found that GRK7a knockdown slowed recovery of the response of parapinopsin photoreceptor cells, whereas GRK1b knockdown or GRK7b knockdown did not have a remarkable effect, suggesting that GRK7a, a cone-type GRK, is mainly responsible for inactivation of the parapinopsin photoproduct in zebrafish larvae. We also observed a similar knockdown effect on the response of the parapinopsin photoreceptor cells of mutant larvae expressing the opsin SWS1, a UV-sensitive cone opsin, instead of parapinopsin, suggesting that the parapinopsin photoproduct was inactivated in a way similar to that described for cone opsins. We confirmed the immunohistochemical distribution of GRK7a in parapinopsin photoreceptor cells by comparing the immunoreactivity to GRK7 in GRK7a-knockdown and control larvae. These findings suggest that in pineal photoreceptor cells, the cone opsin kinase GRK7a contributes greatly to the inactivation of parapinopsin, which underlies pineal color opponency.