226 research outputs found
El Islam europeo: entre la integración y la radicalización
No full textDocumento procedente de la colección Fundación FAESEl concepto de Islam europeo es un término más geográfico que político o religioso. Se trata de construir un espacio público común para diferentes comunidades musulmanas que están viviendo en Europa y que buscan mejorar su integración en las secularizadas sociedades no-musulmanas. La idea de la creación de un Islam europeo procede de algunos intelectuales musulmanes como Tariq Ramadan, Jusuf al-Qaradiwi y Bassam Tibi, y algunos líderes religiosos como el reis-ul-ulema de Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mustafa Ceric, autor de la Declaración de los Musulmanes Europeos.The concept of European Islam is a more geographical than political or religious term. It is about building a common public space for different Muslim communities that are living in Europe and that seek to improve their integration in the secularized non-Muslim societies. The idea of the creation of a European Islam comes from some Muslim intellectuals such as Tariq Ramadan, Jusuf al-Qaradiwi and Bassam Tibi, and some religious leaders such as the reis-ul-ulema of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mustafa Ceric, author of the Declaration of the European Muslims
Nano-modification in digital manufacturing of cementitious composites
No full textRemarkable attention from both academia and industry has been attracted to extrusion-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP) during the last decade. Many companies in the Netherlands, e.g., Royal BAM Group, CyBe, Twente Additive Manufacturing, and Bruil, are attempting to implement this technology in practice. 3DCP is the focused digital concrete manufacturing technique in this study. The development of printable cementitious composites is possibly the most critical aspect in 3DCP. Compared to mold-cast concrete process, several essential material parameters need to be controlled in 3DCP process, i.e., pumpability, extrudability, buildability, and others. Conventional materials technology appears to have limited resources to offer for further enhancing the capabilities of 3D printing. Therefore, there is a dire need for adopting non-conventional materials solutions for which nanomaterials can play a vital role. Controlling the rheology is the key to successful 3DCP, as achieving dimensional stability and the minimum required mechanical properties in green state are the main challenges. Furthermore, achieving a required strength development rate and enabling smart monitoring of the 3DCP are the other goals that are desired in designing such materials. Recent research shows that successful modification of cementitious materials can be achieved by incorporating nanomaterials in the materials design for the enhanced fresh and hardened state properties. In this chapter, a summary of these developments is compiled in the light of potential applications, safety issues, and technological challenges.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Materials and Environmen
An analytical study of the theatre of the Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannous, with particular emphasis on the plays written after the 1967 war
No full textThis study is an examination of the life and work of
the Syrian dramatist Saadallah Wannous (1941-1997). Wannous's name is virtually unknown in the West; only two academic studies of any significance have appeared in English on this eminent and challenging writer, who was honoured by UNESCO at the end of his life. Even in the Arab world his standing rests largely upon his celebrity as a cultural icon, since professional performances of his plays are rare due to the decline of the theatre in the region, and little attention has been devoted to theatre studies by Arab academics. The two studies in English do not attempt to be comprehensive but focus on particular stages of Wannous's career. This study is, therefore, the first to encompass the full range of Wannous's work. To do so it combines an account of his life which seeks to comprehend the various forces that shaped his thinking with an analysis of his dramatic works. The study concentrates on the plays written in the years following the trauma inflicted on the Arab world by the catastrophe of their
defeat in the Arab-Israeli war of June, 1967. Wannous's career can be divided into three phases: the immature plays of his young manhood which are influenced by European models and generally focus on the social condition of the individual; his middle period - the `theatre of politicisation', when his Marxist politics were the main
factor shaping his drama; and his late works, which are characterised by an extraordinary freedom of thought and expression. The introduction places Wannous in his historical and sociocultural context and provides a brief background explaining the literary and theatrical traditions of the Arab world that influenced his activity as a dramatist. Each phase is then examined in turn and the plays are analysed in accordance with the focus of the study. This means that emphasis is given to the middle period,
but no significant work is neglected. The study aims to trace the trajectory of Wannous's development using a
variety of sources: the plays themselves, Wannous's own journalism and critical writings, interviews with his widow, his friends and colleagues, and numerous
journals, books and articles, some of which contain
important interviews with Wannous that shed light on his thought and ways of working. Use is also made of the
two studies mentioned above. The study shows that Wannous's theatre was influenced by the key political, social and cultural developments of his time, and that he
constantly sought to find forms that would express those transformations in dramatic terms
Shear transfer mechanism in reinforced engineered cementitious composite (ECC) beams: Quantification of Vs and Vc
No full textTo enhance the structural and seismic resistance, as well as durability of concrete structures, an ultra ductile fiber reinforced cementitious composites called Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), also known as Strain Hardening Cementitious Composite (SHCC), was developed. ECC has a similar compressive and tensile strength to conventional concrete, but it exhibits a pseudo-strain-hardening behaviour under uniaxial tension with excellent crack control ability. The ultimate tensile strain of ECC can reach 3–12%, which is 300–1200 times higher than that of concrete. It is reported that ECC can also exhibit at least twice as high shear carrying capacity compared to traditional concrete, signifying a potential to use ECC material in shear-resistance elements. However, the shear resisting mechanism of reinforced ECC (R/ECC) members is still not clear. In most existing codes and models, the shear strength of reinforced structural members (Vu) is divided into two parts, i.e., shear resistance coming from the matrix (Vc) and from the transverse reinforcement (Vs). To quantify accurately Vc and Vs and also their development throughout the loading, a well-designed testing method consisting of continuous strain quantification along the stirrups, was used in this research. Six steel reinforced beams incorporating different matrix (ECC, concrete and mortar) were tested under four-point bending. The test results indicated that Vc changed continuously with the propagation of shear crack, whereas the stirrups that crossed the critical shear crack, did not always yield at the ultimate shear resistance.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Concrete Structure
Showing the essential science structure of a scientific domain and its evolution
No full textCategory cocitation and its representation through social networks is proving to be a very adequate technique for the visualization and
analysis of great scientific domains. Its combination with pathfinder networks using pruning values r=∞and q=n−1 makes manifest the essence of research in the domain represented, or what we might call the `most salient structure'. The possible loss of structural information, caused by aggressive pruning in peripheral areas of the networks, is overcome by creating heliocentric maps for each category. The depictions obtained with this procedure become tools of great usefulness in view of their capacity to reveal the evolution of a given scientific domain over time, to show differences and similarities between different domains, and to suggest possible new lines for development. This article presents the scientogram of the United States for the year 2002, identifying its essential structure. We also show the scientograms of China for the years 1990 and 2002, in order to study its particular national evolution.
Finally, we try to detect patterns and tendencies in the three scientograms that would allow one to predict or flag the evolution of a scientific domain
Numerical Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders Failing in Shear
No full textThe safety of existing slab-between-girder bridges is subject to discussion in the Netherlands. Current design codes are conservative for shear-critical girders, and nonlinear finite element analysis is considered a more accurate assessment method. This paper investigates if the Dutch guidelines for nonlinear finite element analysis, which were largely based on laboratory experiments, can safely predict the behavior of large-scale shear-critical post-tensioned girders. The simulation results are compared with experimental observations on girders taken from a demolished bridge (the Helperzoom bridge) after serving for more than 50 years. Predicted and experimentally observed material properties are used as inputs for numerical models. For both, safe predictions of inclined cracking and ultimate capacities are obtained. Parameter studies for load positions and prestress levels are also performed to get a deeper insight into the structural behavior of such girders. This work shows that the guidelines can be used for assessment.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Concrete Structure
Health insurance reform in four Latin American countries : theory and practice
No full textThe author examines public economics rationales for public intervention in health insurance markets, draws on the literature of organizational design to examine alternative intervention strategies, and considers health insurance reforms in four Latin American countries -- Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia -- in light of the theoretical literature. Equity has been the main reason for large-scale public intervention in the health insurance sector, despite the well-known failures of insurance and health care markets associated with imperfect information. Recent reforms have sought less to make private markets more efficient than to make public provision more efficient, sometimes by altering the focus and function of existing institutions (such as the obras sociales in Argentina) or by encouraging the growth of new ones (such as Chile's ISAPREs). Generally, these four Latin American countries have reformed the ways insurance and care are organized and delivered, have tried to extend formal coverage to previously marginalized groups, and have tried to finance this extension fairly. Colombia instituted an implicit two-tiered voucher scheme financed through a proportional wage tax. Chile's financing mechanism is similar but the distribution of benefits is less progressive, so the net effect is less redistributive. Argentina's remodeled obras system went halfway: the financing base is similar and there is some implicit redistribution from richer to poorer obras, but the quality of insurance increases with income. On the face of it, Brazil's health insurance system is less redistributive than those of the other three countries, as no tax is earmarked for financing health insurance. But taxes paid by higher-income taxpayers are not reduced when they choose private insurance, highlighting the problem of examining the health sector independent of the general tax and transfer system.Health Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Insurance Law,Economic Theory&Research
Bolivar and Atatürk: In Kaldone G. Nweihed’s work
No full textEl Dr. Kaldone G. Nweihed fue autor de importantes estudios en los campos del Derecho Internacional Público, siendo sus áreas de especialidad el Derecho del Mar y la Fronterología. Sin embargo, fue también un estudioso de la vida y obra del Libertador Simón Bolívar y del líder fundador de la República de Turquía, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. El propósito del presente ensayo es presentar una aproximación crítica a las obras y estudios realizados por el autor sobre ambos personajes, en el contexto de su producción intelectual y en su quehacer como diplomático e internacionalista.Recibido: 24.6.20 Revisado: 30.6.20 Aprobado: 2.7.20Dr. Kaldone G. Nweihed was the author of important studies in the fi elds of Public International Law, his areas of specialization being the Law of the Sea and Borderology. However, he was also a scholar of the life and work of the Liberator Simón Bolívar and the founding leader of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Th e purpose of this essay is to present a critical approach to the works and studies carried out by the author on both fi gures, in the context of his intellectual production and his work as a diplomat and internationalist
DFT-based molecular modeling, NBO analysis and vibrational spectroscopic study of 3-(bromoacetyl)coumarin
No full textWOS: 000295956500018PubMed ID: 21831702The NIR-FT Raman and FT-IR spectra of 3-(bromoacetyl)coumarin (BAC) molecule have been recorded and analyzed. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation of two BAC conformers has been performed to find the optimized structures and computed vibrational wavenumbers of the most stable one. The obtained vibrational wavenumbers and optimized geometric parameters were seen to be in good agreement with the experimental data. Characteristic vibrational bands of the pyrone ring and methylene and carbonyl groups have been identified. The lowering of HOMO-LUMO energy gap clearly explains the charge transfer interactions taking place within the molecule. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Ahi Evran UniversityAhi Evran University [A10/2009]We thank referees for their valuable suggestions. The author (Y. Erdogdu) would like to thank Ahi Evran University Research Fund for its financial support, Project Numbers: A10/2009. We also thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt for the Gaussian 03W program package
Electronic home monitoring of children with cystic fibrosis to detect and treat acute pulmonary exacerbations and its effect on 1-year FEV1
No full textBackground: We aimed to investigate the effect of the use of electronic home spirometry in children with cystic fibrosis (CF) on 1-year FEV1 (% predicted, pp) change. Methods: This is a randomised, one-year prospective study including children with CF between 6 and 18 years of age. Subjects were randomised into home spirometry group (HSG) and usual care group (UCG). Children in HSG performed two pulmonary function tests (PFT) per week. Data regarding acute pulmonary exacerbations (PEx) was obtained from patients’ records. At baseline and 12th month, health related quality of life questionnaire for CF patients (CFQ-R) and lung clearance index (LCI) were performed. Results: Sixty children were recruited with a median (IQR) age of 13.3 (11.4–15.4) years. Absolute change in FEV1pp from baseline to 12th month as median (IQR) was +1% (-6.75–9.75) in HSG and -2.50% (-7.50–3.25) in UCG (p = 0.10). Sensitivity analysis including only adherent children in HSG (n = 22), yielded an increase of 5% (-3.50–12) in HSG and a decrease of 2.50% (-7.50–3.25) in UCG (p = 0.009). A total of 29 (96.7%) subjects in HSG and 23 (76.7%) in UCG had PEx (p = 0.05). Absolute change in median (IQR) LCI2.5 from baseline to the 12th month was -1.6 [-2.9–0] (p<0.001) in HSG and -1.5 [-2.8-(-0.6)] (p<0.001) in UCG (p = 0.94). There was a significant increase in the social domain of the CFQ-R in HSG (from 59.1 to 76.2, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Electronic home monitoring of children with CF by spirometry may result in improvement in lung function
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