This paper describes the experimental campaign to study the behaviour of reinforced-concrete flat slab structures with steel stirrups as punching shear reinforcement, under combined vertical and horizontal cyclic loading. The vertical load was first applied and kept constant during the test, while, regarding the cyclic horizontal loading, imposed cyclic drifts were increased until failure. Four slab specimens with shear reinforcement were tested and the results compared to a control slab specimen without shear reinforcement. The studied variables were different shear reinforcement ratios and the number of stirrup layers. The slabs were 4·15 × 1·85 m2 and 0·15 m thick, connected to two steel half-columns. The test setup used was developed by the research team and aimed to simulate the boundary conditions of a flat slab, representing the slab between middle spans in one direction and between zero bending moment points in the other direction. Results show that the use of steel stirrups as shear reinforcement is very effective, increasing shear, drift and energy dissipation capacities. The obtained results were also compared to the provisions given by European and American codes.

No contexto do Observatório de Literacia Oceânica, o estudo da coconstrução de um museu virtual online investiga a aprendizagem dos alunos pertencentes às comunidades piscatórias, contribuindo para a literacia histórica. O envolvimento em tarefas concretas associadas à aprendizagem é considerado, consensualmente, um fator de motivação. No presente estudo trabalharam as artes da pesca artesanal, enquadradas por conteú dos da disciplina de História. Utilizando ambientes tecnologicamente enriquecidos, pretende-se compreender as interações entre o conhecimento formal e informal destes alunos, desenvolvendo-se o estudo de forma a que os conhecimentos sejam signi{\textbackslash}icativos e usáveis, promovendo a intervenção na sociedade, enquanto agentes de mudança. A metodologia assentou num estudo empı́rico qualitativo, com base na etnogra{\textbackslash}ia crı́tica, combinado com design-based research, para a construção do protótipo do museu virtual online. As estratégias de ação, técnicas de recolha e aná lise de dados desenvolveram-se num contexto de observação participativa, notas de campo e aplicação de vários instrumentos, bem como na coconstrução do protótipo por aproximações sucessivas estruturantes da plataforma digital selecionada. Constatou-se a ausência de interação entre os saberes formais e informais dos alunos, um desconhecimento da história das suas comunidades, mas também a valorização das histórias de famı́lia. Os alunos foram observadores crı́ticos das suas práticas reconhecendo, por exemplo, a desvalorização dos seus saberes informais e a sua falta de relação com os conteú dos da disciplina de História. Neste processo identi{\textbackslash}icou-se a necessidade de introduzir temáticas relacionadas com a Literacia Histórica, História das Comunidades Capariquenses e Sustentabilidade, considerando-o o meio privilegiado para a disseminação do seu património cultural.

Eucalyptus globulus Labill is a hardwood species of broad growth in temperate climates, which is receiving increasing interest for structural applications due to its high mechanical properties. Knowing the fracture behaviour is crucial to predict, through finite element models, the load carrying capacity of engineering designs with possibility of brittle failures such as elements with holes, notches, or certain types of joints. This behaviour can be adequately modelled on a macroscopic scale by the constitutive cohesive law. A direct identification of the cohesive law of Eucalyptus globulus L. in Mode II was performed by combining end-notched flexure (ENF) tests with digital image correlation (DIC) for radial-longitudinal crack propagation system. The critical strain energy release for this fracture mode, which represents the material toughness to crack-growth, was determined by applying the Compliance Based Beam Method (CBBM) as data reduction scheme and resulted in a mean value of 1.54 N/mm.

One of the major disadvantages of conventional fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening techniques is the premature debonding of the FRP, leading to an underutilization of the materials. The externally bonded reinforcement on grooves (EBROG) method, which has been proven successful in postponing debonding in several structural applications, is examined in this study for the first time for realistic conditions in flat slabs. To this end, two different layouts of the strengthening solution are tested under concentric monotonic loading: one representing roof-level slab-column connections in which carbon FRP (CFRP) sheets are laid on top of the joint region (cross layout); and another one representing intermediate floors, in which the aforementioned layout is not possible due to the presence of the column (grid layout). For each layout, two FRP bonding techniques are used: conventional externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) and EBROG. Another specimen, without FRP strengthening, is used as a reference. It is shown that the EBROG technique is effective in postponing debonding for both layouts. Compared to the specimens in which EBR was used, the load capacity was increased in case of EBROG by 36% when FRP sheets were bonded on top of the joint (cross layout) and by 15% when sheets were attached outside the joint region (grid layout). Debonding strains are shown to be significantly higher in the case of EBROG compared to EBR. The experimentally observed debonding strains were compared with code provisions and predictions of models from the literature. A simple calculation method giving reasonably good results for the load capacity of the FRP-strengthened specimens is presented.

This project is inserted in Observatório de Literacia Oceânica, and its aim is the co-construction of a virtual museum of the Fishery Arts, based on History concepts and contents related with formal and informal knowledge. In these communities, the oral and intergenerational transmission of life stories occurs mainly within the family circle. Our main purpose was to find ways that allowed students to acquire usable and significant pasts, and not only fixed histories. The acquisition of historical literacy can change the way they apprehend and make use of knowledge, turning them in to agents of change, disseminators of their cultural heritage, with the help of a technologically enriched environment that enables network communication. The access to digital education should promote students' autonomy and responsibility when constructing knowledge. In the present study, artisanal fishing was the object of study, related to the contents of the discipline of History. Making use of technologically enriched environments we intended to analyse how the interactions between the formal and informal knowledge of these students occurred, developing the study in such a way that their knowledge could be meaningful and usable. It is intended to promote their intervention in society as agents of change, identifying and resolving problems associated with the communities to which they belong. In a perspective of curricular innovation, and considering that a sustainable development implies a change of paradigm in education, the adoption of differentiated, transformative pedagogies aiming an active learning, involving direct participation, collaboration and problem solving for the promotion of school success, it is intended to create a space for critical reflection, generating new knowledge and knowledge shared and enriched so that students participate in the construction of knowledge in order to make it meaningful and usable. Participation and negotiation amongst participants, within a perspective of shared responsibility and active citizenship, promotes cohesion and equality. We have considered the context of the school community and the context of the community in which the project is inserted, so that the tasks / knowledges that students have, can become meaningful and promote the quality and sustainability of the environment in which they are inserted. Education faces challenges that are a reflection of society’s problems. In the search for solutions it is essential the participation and collaboration of students who, with their formal and informal knowledge, can address problems that have cultural, social, political, economic and environmental impacts in their communities, as well as a local, regional and global scope, both in present and past times. Using digital environments and instruments we will try to understand how the interactions between formal and informal knowledge take place and how the performance of students from the fishing communities can be improved. Keywords: historical literacy; formal and informal knowledge; virtual museum.

This paper studies the influence of different longitudinal top reinforcement detailing on the behaviour and punching capacity of flat slabs. Experimental and numerical studies were carried out. The experimental campaign consisted in testing three reinforced concrete slabs 2.20 m wide with a thickness equal to 0.15 m. The numerical study was conducted using the non-linear finite element software ATENA 3D. Using numerical models, which were calibrated using the experimental tests, a parametric study was carried out to include other design solutions beyond the tested ones. The parameters that were changed in this parametric study were the steel reinforcement ratio, the concrete strength and the detailing of the top steel reinforcement, namely using a solution with uniform distribution and other with a higher concentration of reinforcement near the column. Finally, the results were compared with predictions obtained using some of the existing codes (Eurocode 2 and Model Code 2010). From this study it can be concluded that concentrating the top flexural reinforcement, keeping the same total amount of top longitudinal reinforcement, results in a stiffer response, an increment in the punching resistance, and a decrease in the maximum vertical displacement.

Understanding the specific molecular interactions between proteins and β1,3-1,4-mixed-linked d-glucans is fundamental to harvest the full biological and biotechnological potential of these carbohydrates and of proteins that specifically recognize them. The family 11 carbohydrate-binding module from Clostridium thermocellum (CtCBM11) is known for its binding preference for β1,3-1,4-mixed-linked over β1,4-linked glucans. Despite the growing industrial interest of this protein for the biotransformation of lignocellulosic biomass, the molecular determinants of its ligand specificity are not well defined. In this report, a combined approach of methodologies was used to unravel, at a molecular level, the ligand recognition of CtCBM11. The analysis of the interaction by carbohydrate microarrays and NMR and the crystal structures of CtCBM11 bound to β1,3-1,4-linked glucose oligosaccharides showed that both the chain length and the position of the β1,3-linkage are important for recognition, and identified the tetrasaccharide Glcβ1,4Glcβ1,4Glcβ1,3Glc sequence as a minimum epitope required for binding. The structural data, along with site-directed mutagenesis and ITC studies, demonstrated the specificity of CtCBM11 for the twisted conformation of β1,3-1,4-mixed-linked glucans. This is mediated by a conformation–selection mechanism of the ligand in the binding cleft through CH-π stacking and a hydrogen bonding network, which is dependent not only on ligand chain length, but also on the presence of a β1,3-linkage at the reducing end and at specific positions along the β1,4-linked glucan chain. The understanding of the detailed mechanism by which CtCBM11 can distinguish between linear and mixed-linked β-glucans strengthens its exploitation for the design of new biomolecules with improved capabilities and applications in health and agriculture. Database Structural data are available in the Protein Data Bank under the accession codes 6R3M and 6R31.