Dynamic assessment of reinforced concrete beams repaired with externally bonded FRP sheets

This research deals with RC beams strengthened with FRP. An experimental research is presented which is aimed at evaluating the capability of an experimental modal analysis to assess the stiffness decrease due to damage, as well as the stiffness recovery due to strengthening. Ten beams were tested. All of them were subjected to loading cycles with increasing load levels in order to induce cracking of different severity in them. The beams were then retrofitted by externally bonded FRP sheets. Three types of composites were used. The number of layers was varied, too. Modal tests were carried out after each loading-unloading cycle. The modal frequencies and damping ratios were determined for the first four vibration modes. The results obtained indicate that an experimental modal analysis can give useful information on the severity of damage and the effectiveness of strengthening. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 3–20, January–February, 2006.     

NO2 disproportionation for the IR characterisation of basic zeolites

NO2 disproportionation on alkaline zeolites is used to generate nitrosonium (NO+) and nitrate ions on the surface, and the infrared vibrations observed are very sensitive to the cation chemical hardness and to the basicity of zeolitic oxygen atoms.     

Collapse temperature of bacterial suspensions: the effect of cell type and concentration

The characterisation of the physical state of frozen and freeze dried biological products delivers powerful information for freeze-drying process optimisation. The influence of lactic acid bacterial cell size, shape and concentration on collapse temperature of concentrated bacterial suspensions was investigated. Lactobacillus bulgaricus (long rods), and Streptococcus thermophilus (small spherical cells) were used as cellular models for this study. Whatever the strain, when lactic acid bacterial cells were added to protective solutions, the collapse temperature increased, thus allowing the use of higher sublimation temperatures during primary drying than expected from the protective medium alone. Moreover, the higher the cell concentration, the greater the effect, linear relationships existing between the collapse temperatures and the total dried matter. Cells of both strains gave a kind of robustness to the freeze-dried product, but the increase observed in collapse temperature was considerably higher (3 - 5 degree C) for L. bulgaricus compared to S. thermophilus. This result was ascribed to the different size and shape of the strains.     

A Besov class functional calculus for bounded holomorphic semigroups

It is well-known that -sectorial operators generally do not admit a bounded H^∞ calculus over the right half-plane. In contrast to this, we prove that the H^∞ calculus is bounded over any class of functions whose Fourier spectrum is contained in some interval [ε,σ] with 0<ε<σ<∞. The constant bounding this calculus grows as as and this growth is sharp over all Banach space operators of the class under consideration. It follows from these estimates that -sectorial operators admit a bounded calculus over the Besov algebra of the right half-plane. We also discuss the link between -sectorial operators and bounded Tadmor-Ritt operators.     

Functional calculus under the Tadmor-Ritt condition, and free interpolation by polynomials of a given degree

For Banach space operators T satisfying the Tadmor-Ritt condition ||(zI−T)⁻¹||?C|z−1|⁻¹, |z|>1, we prove that the best-possible constant C_T(n) bounding the polynomial calculus for T, ||p(T)||?C_T(n)||p||_∞, deg(p)?n, behaves (in the worst case) as as n→∞. This result is based on a new free (Carleson type) interpolation theorem for polynomials of a given degree.     

Integral Estimates for Transport Densities

The integration-by-parts methods introduced in this paper improveupon the L^p estimates on transport densities given in the recentpaper by L. De Pascale and A. Pratelli (Calc. Var. Partial DifferentialEquations 14 (2002) 249–274). 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification 35Q99, 35B99.     

Polyphenol Profiling of Chestnut Pericarp,Integument and Curing Water Extracts to Qualify These Food By-Products as a Source of Antioxidants

Plant polyphenols have beneficial antioxidant effects on human health; practices aimed at preserving their content in foods and/or reusing food by-products are encouraged. The impact of the traditional practice of the water curing procedure of chestnuts, which prevents insect/mould damage during storage, was studied to assess the release of polyphenols from the fruit. Metabolites extracted from pericarp and integument tissues or released in the medium from the water curing process were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and electrospray-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (ESI-qTOF-MS). This identified: (i) condensed and hydrolyzable tannins made of (epi)catechin (procyanidins) and acid ellagic units in pericarp tissues; (ii) polyphenols made of gallocatechin and catechin units condensed with gallate (prodelphinidins) in integument counterparts; (iii) metabolites resembling those reported above in the wastewater from the chestnut curing process. Comparative experiments were also performed on aqueous media recovered from fruits treated with processes involving: (i) tap water; (ii) tap water containing an antifungal Lb. pentosus strain; (iii) wastewater from a previous curing treatment. These analyses indicated that the former treatment determines a 6–7-fold higher release of polyphenols in the curing water with respect to the other ones. This event has a negative impact on the luster of treated fruits but qualifies the corresponding wastes as a source of antioxidants. Such a phenomenon does not occur in wastewater from the other curing processes, where the release of polyphenols was reduced, thus preserving the chestnut’s appearance. Polyphenol profiling measurements demonstrated that bacterial presence in water hampered the release of pericarp metabolites. This study provides a rationale to traditional processing practices on fruit appearance and qualifies the corresponding wastes as a source of bioactive compounds for other nutraceutical applications.