During the last years several projects and studies have improved the knowledge about Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) technology. TRM has already been used in strengthening masonry and reinforced concrete structural elements such as walls, arches, columns and beams. This material is presented as a real alternative to the use of fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) in situations where these composites have presented some drawbacks or their use is banned. Textile Reinforced Mortar show a complex mechanical behaviour derived from the heterogeneity of the constituent materials. This paper aims to deepen the knowledge of this composite material in terms of tensile behaviour. Following this scope, this paper presents an experimental campaign focused on thirty one TRM specimens reinforced with four different reinforcing ratios. The results are analysed and contrasted with two distinct models. i) the Aveston-Cooper-Kelly theory (ACK) which is based on a tri-linear analytical approach; and ii) a nonlinear numerical simulation with a 3D Finite Element code. The Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the TRM tensile tests also showed no significant dependence on the basalt-to-mortar interface, i.e., the choice of a bond-slip curve in order to reproduce the bond stresses and slippages along the interface is irrelevant and it can be simply considered as rigid interface.

This paper presents a tool, dubbed FaultySheet Detective, for aiding in spreadsheet fault localization, which combines the detection of bad smells with a generic spectrum-based fault localization algorithm.

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This paper presents a graphical interface to query model-driven spreadsheets, based on experience with previous work and empirical studies in querying systems, to simplify query construction for typical end-users with little to no knowledge of SQL. We briefly show our previous text based model-driven querying system. Afterwards, we detail our graphical model-driven querying interface, explaining each part of the interface and showing an example. To validate our work, we executed an empirical study, comparing our graphical querying approach to an alternative querying tool, which produced positive results.

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The lipoxygenase (LOX) products have been identified as mediators of a series of inflammatory diseases, namely rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, allergic rhinitis, atherosclerosis and certain types of cancer. Hence, LOX inhibitors are of interest for the modulation of these phenomena and resolution of the inflammatory processes. During LOX activity, peroxyl radical complexes are part of the reaction and may function as sources of free radicals. Thus antioxidants, such as flavonoids, capable of inhibiting lipid peroxidation and scavenging free radicals, may act as LOX inhibitors. The aim of this work was to assess the structure–activity relationship among a series of flavonoids concerning 5-LOX inhibition, through a systematic study of the inhibition of the formation of LTB4 in human neutrophils. The type of inhibition of the flavonoids was further studied using soybean LOX, type I, and Saturation Transfer Difference 1H NMR (STD-1H NMR) was used to characterize the binding epitopes of the compounds to LOX-1. The obtained results reinforce flavonoids as effective inhibitors of LTB4 production in human neutrophils. It was also possible to establish a structure/activity relationship for the inhibitory activity and the type of inhibition.

This paper showcases MDSheet, a framework aimed at improving the engineering of spreadsheets. This framework is model-driven, and has been fully integrated under a spreadsheet system. Also, its practical interest has been demonstrated by several empirical studies.

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Given graphs G and H, and a coloring of the edges of G with k colors, a monochromatic H-decomposition of G is a partition of the edge set of G such that each part is either a single edge or forms a monochromatic graph isomorphic to H. Let f_{k}(n,H) be the smallest number t such that any graph G of order n and any coloring of its edges with k colors, admits a monochromatic H-decomposition with at most t parts. Here we study the function f_{k}(n,K_r) for k≥ 2 and r≥ 3.

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Let $X$ be a finite or infinite chain and let $\O(X)$ be the monoid of all endomorphisms of $X$.
In this paper, we describe the largest regular subsemigroup of $\O(X)$ and Green's relations on $\O(X)$.
In fact, more generally, if $Y$ is a nonempty subset of $X$ and $\O(X,Y)$ is the subsemigroup of $\O(X)$ of all elements with range contained in $Y$,
we characterize the largest regular subsemigroup of $\O(X,Y)$ and Green's relations on $\O(X,Y)$.
Moreover, for finite chains, we determine when two semigroups of the type $\O(X,Y)$ are isomorphic and calculate their ranks.

In this paper, we develop uniform bounds for the sequence of distribution functions of g(Vn+μn), wheregis some smooth function,is a sequence of identically distributed random variables with common distribution having a bounded derivative and {μn} are constants such that μn→∞. These bounds allow us to identify a suitable sequence of random variables which is asymptotically of the same type of g(Vn+μn) showing that the rate of convergence for these uniform approximations depends on the ratio of the second derivative to the first derivative ofg. The corresponding generalization to the multivariate case is also analyzed. An application of our results to the STATIS-ACT method is provided in the final section.

In this paper, we discuss the solution of an Inverse Eigenvalue Complementarity Problem. Two nonlinear formulations are presented for this problem. A necessary and sufficient condition for a stationary point of the first of these formulations to be a solution of the problem is established. On the other hand, for assuring global convergence to a solution of this problem when it exists, an enumerative algorithm is designed by exploiting the structure of the second formulation. The use of additional implied constraints for enhancing the efficiency of the algorithm is also discussed. Computational results are provided to highlight the performance of the algorithm.

http://docentes.fct.unl.pt/lblm/files/inorgchem-2014-53-12799.pdf

Mosasaurs are marine squamates with a 32.5 million-year history from their appearance at 98 Ma to their extinction at the K-Pg boundary (65.5 Ma). Using a database of 43 generic and 94 species-level taxa, we compare the taxonomic diversity and patterns of morphological disparity in mosasaurs with sea level, sea surface temperature, and stable carbon isotope curves for the Upper Cretaceous to explore factors that may have influenced their evolution. No single factor unambiguously accounts for all radiations, diversification, and extinctions; however, the broader patterns of taxonomic diversification and
morphological disparity point to niche differentiation in a “fishing up” scenario under the influence of “bottom-up” selective pressures. The most likely driving force in mosasaur evolution was high productivity in the Late Cretaceous, driven by tectonically controlled sea levels and climatically controlled ocean stratification and nutrient delivery. When productivity collapsed at the end of the Cretaceous, coincident with bolide impact, mosasaurs became extinct.

We present a stratigraphic log supporting a preliminary magnetostratigraphy of a Tithonian–Berriasian section in Porto da Calada (Portugal). Based on biostratigraphy and reversed and normal magnetostratigraphy, the location of the Tithonian–Berriasian boundary is tentatively located at ca. 52 m, not in disagreement
with former proposals. Due to the occurrence of later remagnetization (diagenesis), the magnetostratigraphic definition of the Tithonian–Berriasian section at the Cabo Espichel (Portugal) location was not able to be established.

An edge-coloured path is rainbow if its edges have distinct colours. The rainbow connection number of a connected graph G, denoted by rc(G), is the minimum number of colours required to colour the edges of G so that any two vertices of G are connected by a rainbow path. The function rc(G) was first introduced by Chartrand et al.~[Math.~Bohem., 133(1) (2008), pp.85-98], and has since attracted considerable interest. In this paper, we introduce two extensions of the rainbow connection number to hypergraphs. We study these two extensions of the rainbow connection number in minimally connected hypergraphs, hypergraph cycles and complete multipartite hypergraphs.

Some asymptotic expansions not necessarily related to the central limit theorem are studied. We first observe that the smoothing inequality of Esseen implies the proximity, in the Kolmogorov distance sense, of the distributions of the random variables of two random sequences satisfying a sort of general asymptotic relation. We then present several instances of this observation. A first example, partially motivated by the the statistical theory of high precision measurements, is given by a uniform asymptotic approximation to gX + nn∈, where g is some smooth function, X is a random variable and nn∈ is a sequence going to infinity; a multivariate version is also stated and proved. We finally present a second class of examples given by a randomization of the interesting parameter in some classical asymptotic formulas; namely, a generic Laplace’s type integral, randomized by the sequence nXn∈, X being a Gamma distributed random variable.