A bolted–welded hybrid demountable shear connector for use in deconstructable steel–concrete composite buildings and bridges was proposed. The hybrid connector consisted of a partially threaded stud, which was welded on the flange of a steel section, and a machined steel tube with compatible geometry, which was bolted on the stud. Four standard pushout tests according to Eurocode 4 were carried out to assess the shear performance of the hybrid connector. The experimental results show that the initial stiffness, shear resistance, and slip capacity of the proposed connector were higher than those of traditional welded studs. The hybrid connector was a ductile connector, according to Eurocode 4, with slip capacity higher than 6 mm. A nonli

When employing shorter (sub picosecond) laser pulses, in ablation kinetics the features appear which can no longer be described in the context of the conventional thermal model. Meanwhile, the ablation of materials with the aid of ultra-short (sub picosecond) laser pulses is applied for micromechanical processing. Physical mechanisms and theoretical models of laser ablation are discussed. Typical associated phenomena are qualitatively regarded and methods for studying them quantitatively are considered. Calculated results relevant to ablation kinetics for a number of substances are presented and compared with experimental data. Ultra-short laser ablation with two-temperature model was quantitatively investigated. A two-temperature model

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the most important nutrients for crop production. The N contributes to the structural component, generic, and metabolic compounds in a plant cell. N is mainly an essential part of chlorophyll, the compound in the plants that is responsible for photosynthesis process. The plant can get its available nitrogen from the soil by mineralizing organic materials, fixed-N by bacteria, and nitrogen can be released from plant as residue decay. Soil minerals do not release an enough amount of nitrogen to support plant; therefore, fertilizing is necessary for high production. Phosphorous contributes in the complex of the nucleic acid structure of plants. The nucleic acid is essential in protein synthesis regulation; t

The article includes the concept of aesthetics through what has been dealt with in the literature by philosophers and researchers who have addressed this concept in an attempt to derive indicators of aesthetics. The article adopted a descriptive and analytical methodology by reviewing recent literature on the concept of aesthetics and its relation to urban planning and design issues. Many subjective and objective aesthetics indicators have been identified, some of which are classified under real aesthetics, and some under fake aesthetics. The indicators were applied to the Kufa Mosque complex and Sahla Mosque complex as a comparative case study. It was found that the indicators of real aesthetics have a higher weight in determining

Gallium arsenide diamondoids structural and vibrational properties are investigated using density functional theory at the PBE/6-31(d) level and basis including polarization functions. Variation of energy gap as these diamondoids increase in size is seen to follow confinement theory for diamondoids having nearly equiaxed dimensions. Density of energy states transforms from nearly single levels to band structure as we reach larger diamondoids. Bonds of surface hydrogen with As atoms are relatively localized and shorter than that bonded to Ga atoms. Ga-As bonds have a distribution range of values due to surface reconstruction and effect of bonding to hydrogen atoms. Experimental bulk Ga-As bond length (2.45 Å) is within this distribu

The study aims at fathoming Robert Browning’ and Robert Lowell’s intentions of choosing the dramatic monologue as a means of exploring human psyche. Significantly, the themes of insanity and murder are not ideal from an esthetic perspective, but for Browning and Lowell it provides the key to probe into human character and fundamental motives. This study examines Browning’ and Lowell’s dramatic monologues that address crime and the psyche of abnormal men. Browning’ and Lowell’s poetry in this regard unravels complicated human motivations and delineates morbid psychologies. Their monologues probe deep down into the mind-sets of their characters and dissect their souls to the readers. The main character of each of Browning

Astronomers have known since the invention of the telescope that atmospheric turbulence affects celestial images. So, in order to compensate for the atmospheric aberrations of the observed wavefront, an Adaptive Optics (AO) system has been introduced. The AO can be arranged into two systems: closedloop and open-loop systems. The aim of this paper is to model and compare the performance of both AO loop systems by using one of the most recent Adaptive Optics simulation tools, the Objected-Oriented Matlab Adaptive Optics (OOMAO). Then assess the performance of closed and open loop systems by their capabilities to compensate for wavefront aberrations and improve image quality, also their effect by the observed optical bands (near-infrared band

Basically, media studies focused on the important role of the blogs in boosting the democratic process in the Arab States. Blogs also worked on creating an alternative media for the public that maintained freedom of expression. However, media studies ignored the status of the blogs in the social and cultural fields.
The current study tries to tackle the socio-cultural dimensions of the blogs by means of showing how the blogs construct the self. The researcher is going to conduct interviews with the bloggers. He will also carry out a semiotic analysis that may reveal the strategies used by the bloggers. Besides, he tries to identify the realistic and traditional frames in which the social relationships are buil

This work presents a comparison between the Convolutional Encoding CE, Parallel Turbo code and Low density Parity Check (LDPC) coding schemes with a MultiUser Single Output MUSO Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) system over multipath fading channels. The decoding technique used in the simulation was iterative decoding since it gives maximum efficiency at higher iterations. Modulation schemes used is Quadrature Amplitude Modulation QAM. An 8 pilot carrier were
used to compensate channel effect with Least Square Estimation method. The channel model used is Long Term Evolution (LTE) channel with Technical Specification TS 25.101v2.10 and 5 MHz bandwidth bandwidth including the channels of indoor to outdoor/ pedestrian