Glass Ceiling Research Articles

Determination of the moment–rotation relation of continuous timber–concrete composite floors based on the component method

Timber–concrete composite (TCC) combines the advantages of timber and reinforced concrete construction. In multi-storey buildings, the design of TCC floors is often governed by the deformation serviceability requirements. One way to improve deformation serviceability is through the design of continuous floor systems. However, the current practice of TCC slab systems is often limited to load-carrying as single-span beams. This paper presents an analytical model based on the component method for determining the moment–rotation relation of continuous TCC slabs in the range with negative bending moments. The investigations involve the development of load–displacement curves for the individual force-transmitting components, including timber and reinforced concrete, followed by their assembly into a component model. The model has been verified using finite element calculations and the results demonstrate that the moment–rotation relation of continuous TCC systems can be accurately captured. As the variability of the material properties strongly influences the stiffness of the joint and therefore the deformation and stresses in the TCC slab, a probabilistic analysis of the material parameters was performed using the Monte Carlo method. The probabilistic investigations show that the variability of the input parameters has a significant impact on the joint stiffness, with notable scattering observed in the moment–rotation relation, especially in the range of the cracking phase of the concrete. The results from the probabilistic investigations enable initial statements about the joint stiffness of continuous timber–concrete composite slabs in ranges with negative bending moments.

Exploring career choice and retention among engineering undergraduate students and systems engineers: A gender perspective

The underrepresentation of women in engineering is a significant concern. This study applies the social cognitive theory and the social career cognitive theory (SCCT) to investigate gender differences in engineering career choices. We examined reasons given by 19 systems engineers and 330 undergraduate engineering students for choosing engineering and categorizing them according to SCCT themes. We compared the distribution of reasons across themes and categories by career stage and gender. For engineers, the category <i>self-efficacy</i> correlated significantly with <i>challenges and opportunities</i> and <i>current job suitability</i> categories, and women engineers cited challenges mainly with work-life balance and the gender glass ceiling. Undergraduate students cited personal reasons more frequently than environmental ones, with behavioral reasons being the least common. The extended SCCT model includes the categories <i>challenges and opportunities</i> and <i>current job suitability</i> within the behavioral theme, with the latter pertaining specifically to career retention. This research the set of provides insights into gender-dependent engineering career choice and retention by expanding the set of SCCT categories.

Intake, digestibility, and behavior of horses fed açaí kernel (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) as a substitute of Mombaça grass (Megathyrsus maximus).

In this study, we analyzed the effects of including açaí kernel, in the experimental diets fed to horses on the intake and digestibility of their nutrient and the resultant effects on the behavior of horses. The experiments were conducted in Federal Rural University of Amazonia. Five mares with no defined breeds, were allocated to five treatments (the replacement of Mombaça grass (Megathyrsus maximus) with crushed açaí kernel at 0, 18.75, 37.50, 56.25, and 75% levels of dry matter), in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The animals were housed in covered stalls with concrete floors, equipped with individual troughs and drinkers, and fed 80% roughage and 20% concentrate. The inclusion of açaí kernel altered the intake and digestibility of a few nutritional components and the feeding behavior of mares. Increasing levels of the substitution of Mombaça grass with crushed açaí kernel in the experimental diets increased the nutrient intake and digestibility of neutral detergent fiber, total carbohydrates, and non-fibrous carbohydrates (P < 0.05) while reducing the time spent on feeding by the animals. Crushed açaí kernel can, therefore, be included as a substitute for Mombaça grass at up to 37.5% in equine diets.

Sticky Floor, Broken Ladder, and Glass Ceiling in Internal Medicine Academic Ranking, Leadership, and Research Productivity.

Despite more women entering medicine, substantial gender disparities remain in various medical disciplines. This study explores the extent of these disparities in Canadian academic internal medicine, particularly in academic ranks, leadership positions, and research productivity. Cross-sectional. Faculty physicians within internal medicine and subspecialties. Data on faculty physicians with Medical Doctorate (MD), Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), or Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degrees were compiled from 17 internal medicine programs listed in the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS). Research metrics were obtained using Elsevier's Scopus, and analyses were performed with Stata v14.2. Among 5099 physician faculty members in internal medicine, 34% were women, and 66% were men. Among the faculty members holding leadership positions, 68% were men, and 32% were women. There was a significant difference in h-index between men and women physician faculty members (p ≤ 0.001), with men having a higher research output. Across all academic ranks, men faculty had higher median h-index values: Assistant Professor (12 vs. 9), Associate Professor (20 vs. 16), and Professor (40 vs. 30). Women were underrepresented in the procedural specialties, while only a few internal medicine subspecialties, such as palliative medicine and geriatrics, had a women predominance. Our study underscores existing gender disparity within academic internal medicine in Canada, aligning with global trends. Women remain disproportionately underrepresented in academic ranks, leadership positions, and research productivity. Addressing these disparities necessitates a systemic and multifaceted approach, encompassing policy reforms, mentorship, and fostering an inclusive work environment.

Dirt Score in Large White Yorkshire Piglets during Preweaning Period Reared on Cement Concrete Floor

An experiment was carried out on 24 Large White Yorkshire piglets of either sex at the pig unit of LFC of C.V.Sc., Rajendranagar, Hyderabad from birth to weaning. All experimental piglets were reared on normal conventional concrete flooring along with their mother till weaning (56 days). An evaluation of cleanliness (dirt scoring) was performed fortnightly during the experimental period. Pig cleanliness was assessed using a fivepoint scale on 4 anatomical areas: rear, back, and both flanks, and each area was given a score from 0 to 4. The observed fortnightly dirt score was 0.56 ± 0.03, 0.60 ± 0.02, 0.70 ± 0.02, and 0.97 ± 0.11 at first, second, third, and fourth fortnight respectively. There was a continuous increase in dirt score as the age advances. Statistical analysis revealed the mean dirt score at the fourth fortnight was significantly (P&lt;0.01) different from the first, second, third, and overall mean dirt score.

Dirt Score in Large White Yorkshire Piglets during the Postweaning Period Reared on Different Floor Types

An experiment was carried out on 24 Large White Yorkshire piglets of either sex at the pig unit of LFC of C.V.Sc., Rajendranagar, Hyderabad from weaning (56days) to 126 days. Piglets were reared on four types of flooring systems i.e., T1 (control group) reared on the concrete floor, T2 rubber mat, T3 elevated slatted floor, and T4 reared on soil floor. The floor space provided was 1.5 m2 per piglet during the post-weaning period. Pig cleanliness was assessed using a five-point scale on 4 anatomical areas: rear, back, and both flanks, and each area was given a score from 0 to 4. The cleanliness score was increased as the age advanced from first to ninth fortnight in all floor types. The overall mean cleanliness scores of LWY piglets maintained on four different floors was 2.21 ± 0.06, 2.57 ± 0.04, 0.63 ± 0.02, and 2.44 ± 0.03 in concrete, rubber mat, elevated slatted, and soil floor respectively. The overall mean dirt score of piglets reared on rubber mat floor was significantly (P&lt;.0.01) higher than the piglets on the elevated slatted floor, but it was comparable with concrete and soil floor. The higher cleanliness score of the piglets reared on rubber mat floor were dirtier than piglets on concrete and soil floor whereas, the piglets reared on elevated slatted (low score) were cleaner than rubber mat, soil, and concrete floors.

Examining the Glass Ceiling Barriers to Women’s Career Development

Examining the Glass Ceiling Barriers to Women’s Career Development

Measured and predicted sound transmission through a laboratory concrete floor

The direct sound transmission through a simple, massive, homogeneous building element with and without lining is investigated experimentally and compared with analytical and empirical models from the literature. A 150 mm thick concrete floor and a 100 mm thick floating floor were measured in the floor transmission facility of the National Research Council Canada, i.e. without flanking sound transmission. In addition to the sound reduction index and the normalized impact sound pressure level, loss factors, radiation efficiencies, and mean squared velocities were recorded in the laboratory. The measured data is compared to established models of sound transmission. A focus is placed on the calculation model of ISO 12354-1 (Appendix B), which uses calculated radiation efficiencies and loss factors to predict the sound reduction index of heavy, homogeneous building elements. Some difficulties with the calculation model and the examples in the standard are discussed. In principle, the results in this study show that the calculation model of ISO 12354-1 gives good estimates when the correct input parameters are used. However, deviations between the calculated and the measured loss factors and radiation efficiencies have large effects on the accuracy of the estimates, particularly in the region around the coincidence frequency.

Characterization of the acoustic attenuation index of perforated plasterboard ceilings and lining wall and comparison with an empirical model

Perforated plasterboards are known for their absorption performance. Measurements of the sound reduction index R is realized with these boards. Two configurations is tested in laboratory, one configuration of a perforated plasterboard ceiling suspended on concrete floor and a second configuration of perforated plasterboard lining wall fixed on 16cm concrete wall. Following this characterization, a semi-empirical model to estimate the attenuation index is proposed. The perforated board is simulated by considering an heterogeneous board of gypsum and holes related by the perforation rate. The prediction model is compared with the measurement with a good accuracy. Finally, after extrapolations of sound reduction index is proposed for other perforation rates.

Annoyance evaluation of impact sounds on lightweight, concrete and cross-laminated timber floors - A comparative study

For people living in multi-unit residential buildings, neighbor noise and especially impact noise from neighbors, such as dropping objects or footsteps, can affect the quality of living of those who hear the noise. In order to support the inclusion of limits for impact noise in a future edition of the National Building Code of Canada, a project at the National Research Council of Canada has focused on the perceived annoyance from different types of impact sounds for various timber floor-ceiling assemblies. The results from listening experiments showed poor correlation between subjective ratings and objective single number metrics for impact noise due to persons walking without shoes. To extend this evaluation to a wider variety of floor-ceiling assembly types and to validate previous results, another listening experiment was conducted at the National Research Council. Annoyance ratings for ball drops, hammer impacts and footsteps on different lightweight, concrete and cross-laminated timber floor-ceiling assemblies were compared.

Axial compression stress-strain relationship of lithium slag rubber concrete

Replacing cement with lithium slag and fine aggregate with rubber in concrete solves waste disposal, reduces material consumption, boosts sustainability, and enhances concrete performance. A set of prismatic concrete specimens with varying proportions were designed and experimentally tested in order to study the compressive stress-strain behavior of lithium slag rubber concrete (LSRC). The main factors affecting the specimens were lithium slag substitution ratio (SL=0%, 10%, 20%, 30%) and rubber substitution ratio (SR=0%, 5%, 10%, 15%). The results demonstrated that the LSRC exhibited good integrity during the damage. Furthermore, the incorporation of lithium slag (LS) was found to effectively compensate for the reduction in compressive strength due to the incorporation of rubber. When 10% of the fine aggregate was replaced with rubber and 20% of the cement was substituted with lithium slag, the axial compressive strength, elastic modulus, and peak strain of the tested specimens increased by 21.57%, 6.92%, and 17.26%, respectively. Compared with ordinary concrete, LSRC has good toughness, impact resistance and durability with minimal loss of strength, and has broad application prospects in engineering fields (such as airports, highways, housing expansion joints, concrete floors and railway concrete sleepers, etc.). Based on the experimental data, simplified modified equations to predict the compressive strength, elastic modulus, peak strain and axial stress-strain constitutive model of LSRC were proposed, so as to promote the development of LSRC.

Modeling of in-plane floor flexibility in existing reinforced concrete buildings

The paper addresses the problem of determining the mechanical characteristics of an orthotropic slab that best represents the in-plane behavior of a complex reinforced concrete (RC) floor system. To represent the structural behavior of the real RC floor, a reference model composed of solid finite elements is developed. The mechanical parameters of the equivalent orthotropic slab are determined by different homogenization techniques. In particular, two numerical algorithms and an analytical procedure to derive the elastic parameters of the equivalent slab representing the in-plane behavior of a single floor cell are proposed. Then, to determine which homogenization technique best predicts the structural behavior, representative one-story and six-story structures are modeled using both the equivalent slabs obtained using the three proposed techniques and the reference floor model. A discussion of the suitability of modeling floor in-plane flexibility taking account of only the top RC slab, for the considered case studies, is also provided.

A step forward to gender equality: Breaking the political glass ceiling at local level

AbstractGender quota policies have the ability to alleviate the scarcity of women in politics. However, opponents of quotas argue that such policies may constitute, in the long term, a “glass ceiling.” In Portugal, although there is still a long way to go in terms of gender equality, some municipalities have been successful in electing many women. Therefore, the aim of this article is to investigate, through the lenses of historical institutionalism and contagion theory, the factors that help women break out of the glass ceiling trap at local level. The study is based on a dataset from the last local elections and uses a panel data regression to calculate the probabilities of electing more women to municipal councils. The results underline that left‐wing parties that have adopted voluntary quotas, municipal experience with women mayors, and competitive environments increase the likelihood of electing more women. Gender equality.

Exploring Women Journey And Factors That Act As Glass Ceiling On Women In Getting Into Senior Management: A Literature Review

The literature review indicates that the progression of women in many fields in getting into senior management has been growing very slow. Men are still dominant in numbers when it comes to such positions, for example in the construction industry, men are still dominant in construction industry due to the fact that the working conditions of the construction environment(s) are dangerous to conduct work on and the culture of hard labor altogether with long working hours deprive women an opportunity to flourish in such environments. Therefore, there is a need to interpolate such industries into novel models and transform them into advanced state for all. Subsequently, the literature postulates that there is a need for more women to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields further to be able serve in senior management positions. However, many organizations need to have women empowerment programs for those who exhibit the attributes to serve in senior management/leadership positions with the inclusion of capable women. Senior women need to mentor and train junior women within permissible structures of organizations. The literature suggests that the gap between the two genders when it comes to senior management is great apart even though women are perceived to have skills to serve in those positions. Thus, there is a need for more studies focusing on how to minimize this gender disparity as most of the studies are centric in the disparity of the two genders rather than establishing the cause and proposing solutions. Therefore, the research proposes that a new model for numerous industries ought to be generated in order to exterminate this exacerbating effect.

A simple device to simulate the radon vertical migration in soil

The knowledge of the soil radon levels is important for the planning and construction of new buildings in order to estimate the radon risk and to classify the ground for construction purposes. A simple device was developed to simulate the vertical migration of radon in soil. The device simulates the vertical migration of radon in two different cases. The first case: simulates radon vertical migration in soil in a natural environment. The top of the device is open, while the around and bottom are sealed. The second case: simulates the vertical migration of radon in soil under the surface of a concrete floor. The device is sealed all around, including the top and bottom. A total of two sets of experiments were conducted in this study, each set of experiments simulated the migration of radon under two different cases. According to the research results, the potential radon concentration under the concrete floor is much higher than the natural potential radon concentration. Therefore, this factor must be fully considered when selecting the building materials and designing radon protection materials.

Presence of a glass ceiling and it’s contributing factors to IT and aviation

Presence of a glass ceiling and it’s contributing factors to IT and aviation

Venom-derived peptides for breaking through the glass ceiling of drug development.

Venoms are complex mixtures produced by animals and consist of hundreds of components including small molecules, peptides, and enzymes selected for effectiveness and efficacy over millions of years of evolution. With the development of venomics, which combines genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics to study animal venoms and their effects deeply, researchers have identified molecules that selectively and effectively act against membrane targets, such as ion channels and G protein-coupled receptors. Due to their remarkable physico-chemical properties, these molecules represent a credible source of new lead compounds. Today, not less than 11 approved venom-derived drugs are on the market. In this review, we aimed to highlight the advances in the use of venom peptides in the treatment of diseases such as neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, or cancer. We report on the origin and activity of the peptides already approved and provide a comprehensive overview of those still in development.

The Glass Ceiling—Racial Disparities Among Emergency Medicine Chief Residents

The Glass Ceiling—Racial Disparities Among Emergency Medicine Chief Residents

Navigating the Glass Ceiling: Women's Career Challenges in Nepal's Banking Sector

Background: Glass ceiling factors, such as organizational, social, and psychological barriers, continue to hinder women's career advancement, particularly in managerial roles. Despite increasing efforts to promote gender equality in the workplace, these factors still limit opportunities for women’s development, especially in traditionally male-dominated industries like banking in Nepal. This study investigates how these factors influence women’s perceptions of career development and whether they significantly impact their progress. Methods: The research employed a quantitative approach using a structured questionnaire distributed to 51 respondents in the banking sector. The survey measured perceptions of organizational, social, and psychological factors impacting women’s career development. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the impact of these factors on personal factors related to career growth. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were also performed. Results: The findings indicate that social factors significantly influence personal factors (B = 0.257, p = 0.035), suggesting that social barriers are key determinants of women's career development. Organizational and psychological factors, while positively related to personal factors, did not show statistically significant effects (OFFF: B = 0.159, p = 0.164; PSFFF: B = 0.144, p = 0.275). The model explained 29.5% of the variance in personal factors, highlighting that additional unexamined factors may influence women’s career perceptions. Conclusion: Social factors have a significant impact on women's perceptions of career barriers, underscoring the need to address societal norms and biases that prevent women from advancing. Organizational and psychological factors, although relevant, were not statistically significant in this context. The study contributes to understanding the dynamics of the glass ceiling, particularly within Nepal’s banking sector, and provides insights for policy and organizational change. Novelty: This study offers a unique perspective on the glass ceiling in the Nepalese banking sector, providing empirical evidence of how social factors predominantly influence women's career progression. The findings suggest targeted interventions to address these barriers and promote more equitable career advancement opportunities for women in managerial roles.

RESULTS OF THE TECHNICAL INSPECTION OF A MULTI-STORY RESIDENTIAL BUILDING DAMAGED AS A RESULT OF A ROCKET IMPACT

The article presents the results of the examination of the technical condition of part of the construction structures of the building damaged as a result of a missile strike, the determination of the characteristics and classification of their defects and damage, the provision of conclusions and recommendations regarding the correction of the life cycle and further safe and reliable operation of the building. As part of the study, the object of the survey was a monolithic 22-story residential building with a basement (ATP) floor and a complex configuration in plan. The structural scheme of the complex is a monolithic reinforced concrete frame with stiffening cores. The stability and rigidity of the frame is ensured by diaphragms of stiffness in the form of reinforced concrete walls, elevator-stair nodes and rigid nodes connecting pylons and horizontal disks of monolithic reinforced concrete floor slabs. During the examination, visual and instrumental methods of research were performed. Before the field work, measures were taken to collect design and archival information about the research object. Instrumental studies to determine the actual concrete strength of reinforced concrete frame elements and to determine the diameter, protective layer and pitch of the working rods of the reinforcing frames of the load-bearing elements were carried out by non-destructive methods. The calculation model of the spatial scheme of the structure of the frame of the residential building, taking into account the damage, was made in the subsystem (PS) "COMPOSITION" of the software complex (PC) "MONOMAH CAD". The result of the survey is conclusions and recommendations, which indicate the specifics of damage and types of defects, destruction and debris in various structural elements that were discovered during the survey. The general technical condition of the residential building is classified as emergency. As for the recommendations, two options for carrying out repair and restoration works were provided. The first option is to restore the plan-elevation position of the building, the design marks of vertical and horizontal structures and the unloading of overloaded structures, to be performed with the help of an automatic hydraulic complex. The second option is the arrangement of temporary strengthening of emergency structures with the help of a metal space frame, without restoring the planned height position of the residential building.