Ultimate Strength of RC Wall Panels in One-Way In-Plane Action

Test results of 24 reinforced concrete wall panels in one-way in-plane action are presented. The panels were loaded at a small eccentricity to reflect possible eccentric loading in practice. Influences of slenderness ratio, aspect ratio, vertical steel, and horizontal steel on the ultimate load are studied. An empirical equation modifying two existing methods is proposed for the prediction of ultimate load. The modified equation includes the effects of slenderness ratio, amount of vertical steel, and aspect ratio. The results predicted by the proposed modified method and five other available equations are compared with 48 test data. The proposed modified equation is found to be satisfactory and, additionally, includes the effect of aspect ratio which is not present in other methods.

Examining effectiveness of an immigrant labor market integration intervention. The role of acculturation, discrimination, self-efficacy, outcome expectances, action and coping planning.

The designing of effective intervention tools to improve immigrants’ labor market integration remains an important topic in contemporary Western societies. This study examines whether and how a new intervention tool, Working Life Certificate (WLC), helps unemployed immigrants to find employment and strengthen their belief of their vocational skills. The study is based on quantitative longitudinal survey data from 174 unemployed immigrants of various origins who participated in the pilot phase of WLC examinations in 2009. Surveys were administered in three waves: before the test, right after it, and three months later. Although it is often argued that the unemployment among immigrants is due either to their lack of skills and cultural differences or to discrimination in recruitment, scholars within social psychology of behavior change argue that the best way of helping people to achieve their goals (e.g. finding employment) is to build up their sense of self-efficacy, alter their outcome expectances in a more positive direction or to help them to construct more detailed action and coping plans. This study aims to shed light on the role of these concepts in immigrants’ labor market integration. The results support the theories of behavior change moderately. Having positive expectances regarding the outcomes of various job search behaviors was found to predict employment in the future. Together with action and coping planning it also predicted increase in job search behavior. The intervention, WLC, was able to affect participants’ self-efficacy, but contrary to expectations, self-efficacy was found not to be related to either job search behavior or future labor market status. Also, perceived discrimination did not explain problems in finding employment, but hints of subtle or structural discrimination were found. Adoption of Finnish work culture together with strong family culture was found to predict future employment. Hence, in this thesis I argue that awarding people diplomas should be preferred in immigrant integration training as it strengthens people’s sense of self-efficacy. Instead of teaching new information, more attention should be directed at changing people’s outcome expectances in a more positive direction and helping them to construct detailed plans on how to achieve their goals.

Mode of action of antitumour antibiotics-III: Modulation of permeability of nuclear membrane in the presence of the antibiotics

The binding characteristics of the antibiotics to nuclei and their effect on the permeability of nuclear membrane with respect to histones and ribonucleic acids have been investigated. The binding constant for chromomycin A3 was found to be 1.4 × 104M?1 and number of binding sites was equal to 3.48 ± 1.08 × 1012 molecules/nuclei. The antibiotic chromomycin A3 enhanced the uptake of lysine-rich histone, actinomycin D decreased the uptake and ethidium bromide had no effect. Chromomycin A3 also enhanced the release of acid insoluble fraction containing RNA from the nuclei, actinomycin D and ethidium bromide inhibited the release of acid insoluble fraction containing RNA. The relevance of this finding to the role of nuclear envelope in understanding the mechanism of action of the antibiotic has been discussed.

Computer modelling studies on the mechanism of action of ribonuclease T1

The mechanism of action of ribonuclease (RNase) T1 is still a matter of considerable debate as the results of x-ray, 2-D nmr and site-directed mutagenesis studies disagree regarding the role of the catalytically important residues. Hence computer modelling studies were carried out by energy minimisation of the complexes of RNase T1 and some of its mutants (His40Ala, His40Lys, and Glu58Ala) with the substrate guanyl cytosine (GpC), and of native RNase T1 with the reaction intermediate guanosine 2',3'-cyclic phosphate (G greater than p). The puckering of the guanosine ribose moiety in the minimum energy conformer of the RNase T1-GpC (substrate) complex was found to be O4'-endo and not C3'-endo as in the RNase T1-3'-guanylic acid (inhibitor/product) complex. A possible scheme for the mechanism of action of RNase T1 has been proposed on the basis of the arrangement of the catalytically important amino acid residues His40, Glu58, Arg77, and His92 around the guanosine ribose and the phosphate moiety in the RNase T1-GpC and RNase T1-G greater than p complexes. In this scheme, Glu58 serves as the general base group and His92 as the general acid group in the transphosphorylation step. His40 may be essential for stabilising the negatively charged phosphate moiety in the enzyme-transition state complex.