Compressive membrane action in composite floor slabs in the Cardington LBTF

This paper presents the results of an experimental study (the ultimate load capacity of composite metal decking/concrete floor slabs. Full-scale in situ testing of composite floor slabs was carried out in the Building Research Establishment's Large Building Test Facility (LBTF) at Cardington. A parallel laboratory test programme, which compared the behaviour of composite floor slabs strips, also carried out at Queen's University Belfast (QUB). Articular attention was paid to the contribution of compressive membrane action to the load carrying capacity. The results of both test programmes were compared with predictions by yield line theory and a theoretical prediction method in which the amount of horizontal restraint mid be assessed. The full-scale tests clearly demon-wed the significant contribution of compressive membrane effects to the load capacity of interior floor panels with a lesser contribution to edge/corner panels.

Load Testing of Floor Slabs in a Full-Scale Reinforced Concrete Building

A series of short and long term service load tests were undertaken on the sixth floor of the full-scale, seven storey, reinforced concrete building at the Large Building Test Facility of the Building Research Establishment at Cardington. By using internally strain gauged reinforcing bars cast into an internal and external floor bay during the construction process it was possible to gain a detailed record of slab strains resulting from the application of several arrangements of test loads. Short term tests were conducted in December 1998 and long term monitoring then ensued until April 2001. This paper describes the test programmes and presents results to indicate slab behaviour for the various loading regimes.

Temporal Variability in Predator-Prey Relationships of a Forest Floor Food Web

Connectance webs represent the standard data description in food web ecology, but their usefulness is often limited in understanding the patterns and processes within ecosystems. Increasingly, efforts have been made to incorporate additional, biologically meaningful, data into food web descriptions, including the construction of food webs using data describing the body size and abundance of each species. Here, data from a terrestrial forest floor food web, sampled seasonally over a 1-year period, were analysed to investigate (i) how stable the body size abundance and predator prey relationships of an ecosystem are through time and (ii) whether there are system-specific differences in body size abundance and predator prey relationships between ecosystem types.

Understanding controls on cirque floor altitudes: insights from Kamchatka

Glacial cirques reflect former regions of glacier initiation, and are therefore used as indicators of past climate. One specific way in which palaeoclimatic information is obtained from cirques is by analysing their elevations, on the assumption that cirque floor altitudes are a proxy for climatically controlled equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) during former periods of small scale (cirque-type) glaciation. However, specific controls on cirque altitudes are rarely assessed, and the validity of using cirque floor altitudes as a source of palaeoclimatic information remains open to question. In order to address this, here we analyse the distribution of 3520 ice-free cirques on the Kamchatka Peninsula (eastern Russia), and assess various controls on their floor altitudes. In addition, we analyse controls on the mid-altitudes of 503 modern glaciers, currently identifiable on the peninsula, and make comparisons with the cirque altitude data. The main study findings are that cirque floor altitudes increase steeply inland from the Pacific, suggesting that moisture availability (i.e., proximity to the coastline) played a key role in regulating the altitudes at which former (cirque-forming) glaciers were able to initiate. Other factors, such as latitude, aspect, topography, geology and neo-tectonics seem to have played a limited (but not insignificant) role in regulating cirque floor altitudes, though south-facing cirques are typically higher than their north-facing equivalents, potentially reflecting the impact of prevailing wind directions (from the SSE) and/or variations in solar radiation on the altitudes at which former glaciers were able to initiate. Trends in glacier and cirque altitudes across the peninsula are typically comparable (i.e., values typically rise from both the north and south, inland from the Pacific coastline, and where glaciers/cirques are south-facing), yet the relationship with latitude is stronger for modern glaciers, and the relationship with distance to the coastline (and to a lesser degree with aspect) is notably weaker. These differences suggest that former glacier initiation (leading to cirque formation) was largely regulated by moisture availability (during winter months) and the control this exerted on accumulation; whilst the survival of modern glaciers is also strongly regulated by the variety of climatic and non climatic factors that control ablation. As a result, relationships between modern glacier mid-altitudes and peninsula-wide climatic trends are more difficult to identify than when cirque floor altitudes are considered (i.e., cirque-forming glaciers were likely in climatic equilibrium, whereas modern glaciers may not be).

Strange, But True? Object-oriented Programming Is Best Taught, And Learnt, While Sitting On The Floor.

There is a perception amongst some of those learning computer programming that the principles of object-oriented programming (where behaviour is often encapsulated across multiple class files) can be difficult to grasp, especially when taught through a traditional, didactic ‘talk-and-chalk’ method or in a lecture-based environment.
We propose a non-traditional teaching method, developed for a government funded teaching training project delivered by Queen’s University, we call it bigCode. In this scenario, learners are provided with many printed, poster-sized fragments of code (in this case either Java or C#). The learners sit on the floor in groups and assemble these fragments into the many classes which make-up an object-oriented program.
Early trials indicate that bigCode is an effective method for teaching object-orientation. The requirement to physically organise the code fragments imitates closely the thought processes of a good software developer when developing object-oriented code.
Furthermore, in addition to teaching the principles involved in object-orientation, bigCode is also an extremely useful technique for teaching learners the organisation and structure of individual classes in Java or C# (as well as the organisation of procedural code). The mechanics of organising fragments of code into complete, correct computer programs give the users first-hand practice of this important skill, and as a result they subsequently find it much easier to develop well-structured code on a computer.
Yet, open questions remain. Is bigCode successful only because we have unknowingly predominantly targeted kinesthetic learners? Is bigCode also an effective teaching approach for other forms of learners, such as visual learners? How scalable is bigCode: in its current form can it be used with large class sizes, or outside the classroom?