Structural Building Research Articles

Joining forces to accelerate cancer and NCD prevention in Europe

Abstract JA PreventNCD, a Joint Action to prevent cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) aims to assist authorities in prioritizing the most effective prevention strategies and policies to reduce the burden of cancer and NCDs, focusing on both personal and societal risk factors. A key objective is to tackle social inequalities by addressing the root causes of NCD risk factors and adopting a life-course approach. Recognizing that health is created by policies in several sectors is key when addressing health determinants, including social and commercial determinants of health. Consolidated efforts across countries will be required to tackle some of these determinants. To achieve the project’s objectives, the JA PreventNCD will build a comprehensive European infrastructure for monitoring risk factors, disease burden, and the impact of policies and interventions. Rigorous evaluation will ensure that the project’s deliverables will have an impact at local, national and EU levels. Three technical work packages address common risk factors for NCDs through actions ranging from policies and structural measures at societal level to interventions targeting individuals. Another set of cross-cutting work packages address monitoring, social inequalities, and health in all policies. More than 100 partners across 25 countries are involved, with almost 100 pilots to be conducted over the course of the project’s four years. One way of ensuring sustainability of the project’s outcomes is the building of a sustainable governance structure through the establishment of an EU Consortium on Cancer Prevention. Furthermore, as a mechanism to ensure high policy relevance of this JA, a Policy Decision Maker’s Forum will be established to engage policymakers and ensure feasibility of the project’s recommended actions. Speakers/Panelists Claudia Habl Austrian National Public Health Institute, Vienna, Austria Ane Fullaondo Biosistemak, Bilbao, Spain Arnfinn Helleve Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Lexical Surprisal Shapes the Time Course of Syntactic Structure Building

Abstract When we understand language, we recognize words and combine them into sentences. In this article, we explore the hypothesis that listeners use probabilistic information about words to build syntactic structure. Recent work has shown that lexical probability and syntactic structure both modulate the delta-band (<4 Hz) neural signal. Here, we investigated whether the neural encoding of syntactic structure changes as a function of the distributional properties of a word. To this end, we analyzed MEG data of 24 native speakers of Dutch who listened to three fairytales with a total duration of 49 min. Using temporal response functions and a cumulative model-comparison approach, we evaluated the contributions of syntactic and distributional features to the variance in the delta-band neural signal. This revealed that lexical surprisal values (a distributional feature), as well as bottom-up node counts (a syntactic feature) positively contributed to the model of the delta-band neural signal. Subsequently, we compared responses to the syntactic feature between words with high- and low-surprisal values. This revealed a delay in the response to the syntactic feature as a consequence of the surprisal value of the word: high-surprisal values were associated with a delayed response to the syntactic feature by 150–190 ms. The delay was not affected by word duration, and did not have a lexical origin. These findings suggest that the brain uses probabilistic information to infer syntactic structure, and highlight an importance for the role of time in this process.

Distortion of Magnetic Fields Near a Steel Construction. Modeling

Natural variations of the Earth's magnetic field and its man-made distortions are considered. The rules and regulations in force in the Russian Federation for staying and living in places with a distortion of the Earth's magnetic field are analyzed. Existing methods for eliminating distorted magnetic fields inside residential and work premises are considered. Modeling of distortions of the Earth's magnetic field by building materials was carried out and the influence of their location in space on the overall picture of the resulting magnetic field was shown. To modeling the influence of reinforcement of reinforced concrete constructions on the resulting magnetic field, 6 models of the location of reinforcing bars and their groups were used: one reinforcing bar magnetized against the Earth’s magnetic field and along the Earth’s field; 4 reinforcing bars each, magnetized against the Earth’s magnetic field and magnetized in an alternating manner; the simplest model of a residential structure or public building with 36 reinforcing bars magnetized against the Earth’s magnetic field and with 36 magnetized bars in different directions. Near the model of a rod with magnetization along the Earth’s magnetic field, there are hypogeomagnetic fields. Near the models of a reinforcing bar and four reinforcing bars magnetized against the Earth’s magnetic field, there are no hypogeomagnetic zones and changes in the direction of the magnetic field strength vectors, but strong increases in the resulting magnetic field can be observed - 500 times or more. Near models with 4 reinforcing bars magnetized in an alternating manner, there are the most dangerous zero values of magnetic field strength at a distance of 1 m. Inside the model with 36 reinforcing bars there is a hypogeomagnetic field in the very center of the model and a change in the direction of the magnetic field strength vectors. Near the model with 36 magnetized rods in different directions, a more even resulting magnetic field is observed without sharp changes in its direction and absolute value. Methods have been proposed for eliminating magnetic pathogenic zones at the stages of installation and construction of building that have ferromagnetic materials in their design.

Connectivity of Fronto-Temporal Regions in Syntactic Structure Building During Speaking and Listening.

The neural infrastructure for sentence production and comprehension has been found to be mostly shared. The same regions are engaged during speaking and listening, with some differences in how strongly they activate depending on modality. In this study, we investigated how modality affects the connectivity between regions previously found to be involved in syntactic processing across modalities. We determined how constituent size and modality affected the connectivity of the pars triangularis of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and of the left posterior temporal lobe (LPTL) with the pars opercularis of the LIFG, the left anterior temporal lobe (LATL), and the rest of the brain. We found that constituent size reliably increased the connectivity across these frontal and temporal ROIs. Connectivity between the two LIFG regions and the LPTL was enhanced as a function of constituent size in both modalities, and it was upregulated in production possibly because of linearization and motor planning in the frontal cortex. The connectivity of both ROIs with the LATL was lower and only enhanced for larger constituent sizes, suggesting a contributing role of the LATL in sentence processing in both modalities. These results thus show that the connectivity among fronto-temporal regions is upregulated for syntactic structure building in both sentence production and comprehension, providing further evidence for accounts of shared neural resources for sentence-level processing across modalities.

Comprehensive analysis of thermal performance and low-grade energy charging efficiency of pipe-embedded building envelopes enhanced with single-level tree-shaped fin structures

Pipe-embedded walls (CnPWs) are structural and energy composite building components that can resist external disturbances by forming stealth thermal shielding layers. To tackle the mismatch between the heat charging rate and heat diffusion rate during energy charging processes, as well as the unsatisfactory robustness of stealth thermal shielding layers, the single-level tree-shaped metal finnd pipe-embedded walls (TfPWs) are proposed. To verify the effectiveness of TfPWs and obtain dynamic performances, a simulation study is conducted on 8 risk variables in 4 pairs through the validated numerical model. Results showed that the improved design was effective in obtaining more robust thermal shielding layers in auxiliary energy supply mode, the effect gained prominence as both the injection temperature and pipe spacing were augmented. In room heat load reduction mode, favorable benefits arise when pipe spacing exceeds 400 mm. The maximum increase rate of total injected energy under different reduction ratios of external insulation layer was 11.83%–31.91 %, while the maximum extra total heat loss was 5.33 %. Secondly, the trunk fins and branch fins played different roles in minimizing the excessive heat accumulation surrounding pipes, and the vertical and horizontal sizes of heat accumulation region mainly increased with the increase in trunk fin size and branch fin size respectively. Meanwhile, the utilization efficiency of fin material was higher when trunk fin size was smaller, and parameter combinations with trunk fin size of 0.2b and branch fin size of 0.4a/0.6a could achieve a better balance between material input and performance increase. Thirdly, the improvement effect of single left branch fin schemes was close to that of double branch fin schemes and significantly better than that of single right branch fin schemes. It was recommended to use single left branch fin schemes with an inclination angle of 60°. Finally, even if the reduction ratio of external insulation layer in different cities increased to 80 %, the inside surface temperature of TfPWs was still greater than room air. Taking CnPWs with standard external insulation layer as references, the TfPWs applied in Harbin, Beijing, and Shanghai could achieve similar or better results even when the reduction ratio of external insulation layer increased to 60 %, while TfPWs applied in Guangzhou could exhibit better performance even when the reduction ratio of external insulation layer increases to 80 %.

Design strategy of super tough hydrophobic bamboo framework composites with internal network entanglement reinforcing structure

The low strength and high hygroscopicity of natural bamboo limit its use in structural building materials. Herein, lignin and hemicellulose were partially removed from natural bamboo in order to create bamboo frameworks featuring well-aligned bamboo fibers. Subsequently, these bamboo frameworks (BF) are infused with epoxy resin (EP) modified with PDMS and subjected to hot-pressing to fabricate bamboo-epoxy composites (PDMS-EP/BF). The incorporation of flexible PDMS chains facilitated intermolecular chain entanglement, which inhibited crack propagation and improved the bonding between bamboo and EP. The findings of the research indicated that the PDMS-EP/BF composites exhibited a significant enhancement in flexural strength by 98%, modulus of elasticity by 129%, toughness by 399%, and tensile strength by 177% when compared to natural bamboo. Additionally, the modification led to a decrease in the surface energy of the composites, resulting in increased hydrostatic contact angle and imparting water repellency to the material. Compared to natural bamboo, PDMS-EP/BF has 309% higher water contact angle and 143% lower surface energy. In addition, large composites have been prepared and their interface strength was tested. The findings of the study offer insights into the potential enhancement of bamboo composites to achieve increased flexural strength, modulus, and toughness. This could expand the utilization and significance of bamboo in the realm of construction materials.

Emotions Conveyed by Objects — The Colourful Sculptures of Nanzen Temple as an Example

Various kinds of objects fill our lives, and in different contexts, they carry more meanings than just their own use. Nanchan Temple is the earliest wooden mortise-and-tenon structure building of the Tang Dynasty, and the coloured sculptures enshrined in it are also rare coloured sculptures in the world, which have profound research value. This paper takes Nanchan Temple-coloured sculptures as the object of study and explores the historical information and deeper meanings contained in material historical objects through the five aspects of craft, making, biography, affect, and enchantment.

Programmable Hydrogel-Based Soft Robotics via Encoded Building Block Design

Hydrogels have revolutionized the field of soft robotics with their ability to provide dynamic and programmable responses to different stimuli, enabling the fabrication of highly adaptable and flexible robots. This continual development holds significant promise for applications in biomedical devices, active implants, and sensors due to the biocompatibility of hydrogels. Actuation in hydrogel-based soft robotics relies on variations in material properties, structural design, or a combination of both to generate desired movements and behaviors. While such traditional approaches enable hydrogel actuation, they often rely on complex material design, bringing challenges to hydrogel fabrication and hindering practical use. Therefore, this work seeks to present a simplified and versatile approach for fabricating programmable single-component hydrogel-based soft robotics using an encoded building block design concept and 3D printing. A series of structural building blocks have been designed to achieve various actuation characteristics, including the direction, degree, and kinetics of actuation. By assembling these building blocks into various configurations, a broader range of actuation responses can be encoded, allowing for the fabrication of versatile, programmable soft robotics using a single uniform material through vat photopolymerization 3D printing. This approach enables adaptation to a wide range of applications, providing highly customizable encoding designs.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ТЕХНОЛОГІЧНОЇ ПОШКОДЖЕНОСТІ БЕТОНУ

The article deals with the issue of obtaining building materials and equipment with specified quality parameters with reduced material consumption. It is shown that one of the possible ways to reduce the material density of structural building materials is the use of fillers. In this article, considering concrete as a structural material, it is stated that it is the formation of the structure or product that is difficult to control its quantitative and qualitative parameters, but it is practically possible only after receiving the finished product or structure. Properties of the structure are determined as individual properties of all subsystems (concrete, reinforcement), and changes in these properties during structural interactions. In turn, the construction material (concrete) is a subsystem that consists of characteristic structural inhomogeneities. Since the composition of concrete affects the structure, strength characteristics and deformable properties of reinforced concrete structures operating under the influence of external influences, there is a need for a more thorough study of it and the determination of optimal components in order to ensure the operational reliability of structures. During the technological processing of concrete into products, at all levels of structural in homogeneities in the material, technological cracks appear, which, being the structural parameters of concrete, determine the damage of structures, and thus their operational reliability. Research has established that technological damage significantly affects the strength and deformation properties of concrete.

Gamma irradiation effects on photoluminescence and semiconducting properties of non-conventional heavy metal binary PbO–Bi2O3 glasses

Non-conventional heavy metal oxide glasses have attracted great interest owing to their unique optical properties and their radiation shielding behavior. Non-conventional glasses of main chemical composition (100 − x) PbO–xBi2O3 where x = 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, and 5 were prepared through the conventional melting and annealing approach. X-ray diffraction measurements denoted the amorphous nature of the prepared glasses. The optical absorption in the UV–visible range recorded strong UV-near visible absorption spectra that correlated to trivalent Bi3+ ions. The optical band gap Eopt, Urbach energy ∆E, and the refractive index were identified for the prepared glasses employing the cognizant theories. The variations in the optical parameters have been associated with the increasing Bi2O3 and the doses of γ- irradiation. The photoluminescent properties of the prepared non-conventional binary Bi2O3–PbO glasses were recorded in the visible range after UV excitation and the color coordinates are located and distributed in the hue violet degree. FT-IR spectroscopic measurements before and after gamma irradiation were applied to investigate the structural changes in the binary heavy metal PbO–Bi2O3 glasses. FTIR data specified that the glass network is composed of different structural building units from BiO3/BiO6 and PbO3/PbO4 depending on the addition ratio between PbO and Bi2O3.

Mechanism of sucrose improving the mechanical characteristics of foams stabilized by soy protein isolate/gellan gum/guar gum ternary complex

Sucrose shows the potential of stabilizing foam system. This study systematically evaluated the mechanism by which sucrose improved foaming properties and mechanical characteristics of foams stabilized by soy protein isolate/gellan gum/guar gum ternary complex. Results showed that sucrose could bond to the surface of ternary complex or self-aggregate within the continuous phase, resulting in the neutralization of charges (nearly zero) and an increase in particle size (up to 62.54 μm). The addition of 30 % sucrose reinforced foam system with an increased foamability (305.99 %) but a longer foaming time (10 min) during foaming process. Moreover, the mechanical characteristics, including hardness, elastic strength (Power-law constant) and solid characteristic (frequency exponent), were also significantly enhanced to 1.26 N, 354.7956 and 2.5873, respectively, which were 1.65, 1.94 and 1.11 times than those of foams without sucrose. The microscopic mechanism lied in the reduced water freedom degree caused by sucrose, which generated a compact structural network around bubbles for providing a stable and stiff structure to foams. These findings will provide clear theoretical guidance for regulating mechanical characteristics of aerated foods by using sucrose as structural building blocks.

Dual Redox-active Covalent Organic Framework-based Memristors forHighly-efficient Neuromorphic Computing.

Organic memristors based on covalent organic frameworks (COFs) exhibit significant potential for future neuromorphic computing applications. The preparation of high-quality COF nanosheets through appropriate structural design and building block selection is critical for the enhancement of memristor performance. In this study, a novel room-temperature single-phase method was used to synthesize Ta-Cu3 COF, which contains two redox-active units: trinuclear copper and triphenylamine. The resultant COF nanosheets were dispersed through acid-assisted exfoliation and subsequently spin-coated to fabricate a high-quality COF film on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. The synergistic effect of the dual redox-active centers in the COF film, combined with its distinct crystallinity, significantly reduces the redox energy barrier, enabling the efficient modulation of 128 non-volatile conductive states in the Al/Ta-Cu3 COF/ITO memristor. Utilizing a convolutional neural network (CNN) based on these 128 conductance states, image recognition for ten representative campus landmarks was successfully executed, achieving a high recognition accuracy of 95.13% after 25 training epochs. Compared to devices based on binary conductance states, the memristor with 128 conductance states exhibits a 45.56% improvement in recognition accuracy and significantly enhances the efficiency of neuromorphic computing.

Additive manufacturing of interlocking glass masonry units

AbstractIn comparison to traditional glass casting, glass additive manufacturing (AM) presents an opportunity to increase design flexibility and reduce tooling costs for the production of highly variable geometries. While the latter has been extensively explored for masonry units, there is minimal research on the former for its viability to produce structural building components. This paper encompasses design, manufacturing, and experimental testing to assess the feasibility of using glass AM to produce interlocking masonry units for the construction industry. The glass 3D printer employed in this study is capable of printing a maximum volume of 32.5 $$\times $$ × 32.5 $$\times $$ × 38 cm–suitable for producing full-size masonry units. As part of this work, we discuss how to adapt design guidelines for glass AM to produce interlocking units. To evaluate fabrication ease and structural performance, three fabrication methods, Fully Hollow, Print-Cast, and Fully Printed, are compared. To compare the accuracy, repeatability, and structural capacity of each masonry unit, geometric analysis, surface roughness, and mechanical testing is conducted. Results varied by fabrication method, with average strength ranging from 3.64$$-$$ - 42.3 MPa for initial fracture and 64.0–118 MPa for ultimate strength. Accuracy in print dimensions was less than 1 mm with a standard deviation of 0.14–1.6 mm. Results demonstrated that Fully Hollow masonry units provide a more immediate path to implementation, while Fully Printed units have the potential to provide an entirely glass, transparent, and circular building component fabrication method.

Strength Grading of Full-Scale Chinese Fast-Growing Poplar Wood for Structural Building Applications

Strength Grading of Full-Scale Chinese Fast-Growing Poplar Wood for Structural Building Applications

Promising Functional Structural Building Unit Trisulfimide (SO2N)33– and Its Contributions to Second Harmonic Generation and Birefringence

Promising Functional Structural Building Unit Trisulfimide (SO₂N)₃^3– and Its Contributions to Second Harmonic Generation and Birefringence

Dual Redox‐active Covalent Organic Framework‐based Memristors for Highly‐efficient Neuromorphic Computing

Organic memristors based on covalent organic frameworks (COFs) exhibit significant potential for future neuromorphic computing applications. The preparation of high‐quality COF nanosheets through appropriate structural design and building block selection is critical for the enhancement of memristor performance. In this study, a novel room‐temperature single‐phase method was used to synthesize Ta‐Cu3 COF, which contains two redox‐active units: trinuclear copper and triphenylamine. The resultant COF nanosheets were dispersed through acid‐assisted exfoliation and subsequently spin‐coated to fabricate a high‐quality COF film on an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate. The synergistic effect of the dual redox‐active centers in the COF film, combined with its distinct crystallinity, significantly reduces the redox energy barrier, enabling the efficient modulation of 128 non‐volatile conductive states in the Al/Ta‐Cu3 COF/ITO memristor. Utilizing a convolutional neural network (CNN) based on these 128 conductance states, image recognition for ten representative campus landmarks was successfully executed, achieving a high recognition accuracy of 95.13% after 25 training epochs. Compared to devices based on binary conductance states, the memristor with 128 conductance states exhibits a 45.56% improvement in recognition accuracy and significantly enhances the efficiency of neuromorphic computing.

Full-scale experimental and numerical study of smoke spread and temperature distribution in a room-corridor structure building

This paper aims to study the smoke spread and temperature distribution inside a full-scale room-corridor structure building. A series of experiments and simulations with different fuel properties and fuel configurations (crib and pool fires) were carried out. There was a barrier at the top of the left end of the corridor, and the end wall was on the right side. The fire source was located in the room. The evolution of the smoke spread process, pressure distribution, and temperature distribution in rooms and corridors were obtained and analyzed. The results indicate that the barrier and the end wall hinder the smoke spread and make it to accumulate below the corridor ceiling. This causes the smoke layer height of the corridor to be lower than the top of the door, which changes the pressure distribution inside and outside the room and also affects the temperature distribution. Based on the changes of pressure distribution, some correction formulas for the gas flow rate and mass flux at the opening are proposed. Under the effect of the barrier and the end wall, the smoke temperature in the room and the corridor increases. A smoke temperature decaying model along the corridor direction is proposed. Some methods are used and compared to calculate the smoke layer height based on the vertical temperature distribution. The smoke layer height determined by the buoyancy frequency method is most consistent with the experimental observation values.

Covalent Transition Metal Borosilicides: Reaction Pathways in Molten Salts for Water Oxidation Electrocatalysis.

The properties of transition metal borides and silicides are intimately linked to the covalent character of the chemical bonds within their crystal structures. Bringing boron and silicon together within metal borosilicides can then engender different competing covalent networks and complex charge distributions. This situation results in unique structures and atomic environments, which can impact charge transport and catalytic properties. Metal borosilicides, however, hold the status of unusual exotic species, difficult to synthesize and with poor knowledge of their properties. Our strategy consists of developing a redox pathway to synthesize transition metal borosilicides in inorganic molten salts as high-temperature solvents. By studying the formation of Ni6Si2B, Co4.75Si2B, Fe5SiB2, and Mn5SiB2 with in situ X-ray diffraction, we highlight how new reaction routes, maintaining covalent structural building blocks, draw a general scheme of their formation. This pathway is driven by the covalence of the chemical bonds within the boron coordination framework. Next, we demonstrate high efficiency for water oxidation electrocatalysis, especially for Ni6Si2B. We ascribe the strongly increased resistance to corrosion, high stability, and electrocatalytic activity of the Ni6Si2B-derived material to three factors: (1) the two entangled boron and silicon covalent networks; (2) the ability to codope with boron and silicon an in situ generated catalytic layer; and (3) a rare electron enrichment of the transition metal by back-donation from boron atoms, previously unknown within this compound family. With this work, we then unveil a new chemical dimension for Earth-abundant water oxidation electrocatalysts by bringing to light a new family of materials.

Food-grade emulsion gels and oleogels prepared by all-natural dual nanofibril system from citrus fiber and glycyrrhizic acid

The natural dual nanofibril system consisting of the rigid semicrystalline nanofibrils disintegrated from citrus fiber (CF) and soft semiflexible nanofibrils self-assembled from glycyrrhizic acid (GA) has been recently shown to be effective structural building blocks for fabrication of emulsion gels. In this work, the effect of the CF nanofibrils prepared by different mechanical disintegration approaches (i.e., high-pressure microfluidization and hydrodynamic cavitation) on the interfibrillar CF-GA interactions and the subsequent formation and properties of emulsion gels were investigated, with the aim of evaluating the potential of the dual nanofibril-stabilized emulsion gels as templates for synthesizing all-natural edible oleogels. The obtained results demonstrate that compared to the cavitation, the high-pressure microfluidization is more capable of generating CF nanofibrils with a higher degree of nanofibrillation and individualization, thus forming a denser CF-GA gel network with higher viscoelasticity and structural stability due to the stronger multiple intrafibrillar and interfibrillar interactions. The emulsion gels stabilized by the dual nanofibril system are demonstrated to be an efficient template to fabricate solid-like oleogels, and the structural properties of the oleogels can be well tuned by the mechanical disintegration of CF and the GA nanofibril concentration. The prepared oleogels possess high oil loading capacity, dense network microstructure, superior rheological and large deformation compression performances, and satisfactory thermal stability, which is attributed to the compact and ordered CF-GA dual nanofibrillar network via multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions in the continuous phase as well as at the droplet surface. This study highlights the unique use of all-natural dual nanofibrils to develop oil structured soft materials for sustainable applications.

Recent Advances on the Functionalities of Polyoxometalate-Based Ionic Liquids.

Polyoxometalate (POM)-based ionic liquids (POM-ILs) are gaining increasing attention due to their diverse structures and functionalities. POMs in POM-ILs not only act as essential structural building blocks but also play a crucial role in their functional performance. With the incorporation of POMs, POM-ILs find applications in various fields such as chemical catalysis, energy science, materials science, sensors, and more. The abundant availability of POMs and other building blocks in POM-ILs, along with their versatile combination possibilities, present promising opportunities for the future. Rather than focusing solely on discovering new structures of POM-ILs, current developments in this field emphasize exploring their functions, leading to the emergence of numerous new applications. Summarizing these advancements aids in understanding the latest trends and facilitates rapid evolution. This review examines the recent five years' worth of results to analyze the new functions of POM-ILs, categorizing them based on their unique characteristics.