Since the ratification of the Salamanca agreement in 1994 that it is the concern of schools to seek inclusive approaches that may lead all students to academic success through differentiated strategies and adaptations or curricular and environmental

Abstract Probabilistic fatigue models are required to account conveniently for several sources of uncertainty arising in the prediction procedures for structural details, such as the scatter in material behaviour. In this paper, a procedure to derive probabilistic S-N fields for structural details [1] is applied to a notched geometry with elliptic central hole made of puddle iron from the Eiffel bridge, based on the local approaches supported by the probabilistic ɛa–N or Smith–Watson–Topper (SWT)–N fields [1,2]. This procedure suggests an extension of the fatigue crack propagation model proposed by Noroozi et al. [3,4] to structural details, in order to cover both the fatigue crack initiation and fatigue crack propagation, based on local strain approaches to fatigue. Both fatigue crack initiation and fatigue crack propagation mechanisms are accounted for in the proposed approach. The numerical results are compared with available experimental S-N fatigue data for the notched plate under consideration.

AMATLAB/SIMULINK software simulation model (structure and component blocks) has been constructed in order to view and analyze the potential of the PSD (Position Sensitive Detector) array concept technology before it is further expanded or developed. This simulation allows changing most of its parameters, such as the number of elements in the PSD array, the direction of vision, the viewing/scanning angle, the object rotation, translation, sample/scan/simulation time, etc. In addition, results show for the first time the possibility of scanning an object in 3D when using an a-Si:H thin film 128 PSD array sensor and hardware/software system. Moreover, this sensor technology is able to perform these scans and render 3D objects at high speeds and high resolutions when using a sheet-of-light laser within a triangulation platform. As shown by the simulation, a substantial enhancement in 3D object profile image quality and realism can be achieved by increasing the number of elements of the PSD array sensor as well as by achieving an optimal position response from the sensor since clearly the definition of the 3D object profile depends on the correct and accurate position response of each detector as well as on the size of the PSD array. © 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Glucans are polymers of D-glucose with differing linkages in linear or branched sequences. They are constituents of microbial and plant cell-walls and involved in important bio-recognition processes including immunomodulation, anti-cancer activities, pathogen virulence and plant cell-wall biodegradation. Translational possibilities for these activities in medicine and biotechnology are considerable. High-throughput micro-methods are needed to screen proteins for recognition of specific glucan sequences as a lead to structure-function studies and their exploitation. We describe construction of a glucome microarray, the first sequence-defined glycome-scale microarray, using a designer approach from targeted ligand-bearing glucans in conjunction with a novel high-sensitivity mass spectrometric sequencing method, as a screening tool to assign glucan recognition motifs. The glucome microarray comprises 153 oligosaccharide probes with high purity, representing major sequences in glucans. The negative-ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry with collision-induced dissociation was used for complete linkage analysis of gluco-oligosaccharides in linear homo and hetero and branched sequences. The system is validated using antibodies and carbohydrate-binding modules known to target α- or β-glucans in different biological contexts, extending knowledge on their specificities, and applied to reveal new information on glucan recognition by two signalling molecules of the immune system against pathogens: Dectin-1 and DC-SIGN. The sequencing of the glucan oligosaccharides by the MS method and their interrogation on the microarrays provides detailed information on linkage, sequence and chain length requirements of glucan-recognizing proteins, and are a sensitive means of revealing unsuspected sequences in the polysaccharides.

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) waste glasses produced from dismantling TV sets were used to prepare glass foams by a simple and economic processing route, consisting of a direct sintering process of mixtures of CRT waste as glass powder with different foaming agents (coal fly ash and limestone quarrying residues). The influence of firing temperature, amount and type of foaming agent on the apparent density, pore size distribution and compressive strength have been studied. The aim of the work was to investigate the possibility to obtain glass foams using exclusively wastes as starting materials, and therefore replacing the conventional raw materials. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, London.