The RATAS-project, in the Light of 25 Years of Development Towards Computer-Integrated Construction

In smaller countries where the key players in construction IT development tend to know each other personally and where public R&D funding is concentrated to a few channels, IT roadmaps and strategies would seem to have a better chance of influencing development than in the bigger industrial countries. In this paper Finland and the RATAS-project is presented as a historical case illustrating such impact. RATAS was initiated as a construction IT roadmap project in 1985, involving many of the key organisations and companies active in construction sector development. Several of the individuals who took an active part in the project have played an important role in later developments both in Finland and on the international scene. The central result of RATAS was the identification of what is nowadays called Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology as the central issue in getting IT into efficient use in the construction sector. BIM, which earlier was referred to as building product modelling, has been a key ingredient in many roadmaps since and the subject of international standardisation efforts such as STEP and IAI/IFCs. The RATAS project can in hindsight be seen as a forerunner with an impact which also transcended national borders.

Chiral synthons from carvone, Part 40. A simple, enantiospecific approach to both enantiomers of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-3 A-ring precursors from R-carvone

A simple and direct approach to both enantiomeric series of A-ring derivatives of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D-3 and the corresponding 1 alpha,3 alpha-derivatives, starting from the abundantly available R-carvone, is described. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structural and magnetic properties of Sr2Fe1+xMo1-xO6 (-1 <= x <= 0.25)

We have synthesized the solid solution Sr2Fe1+xMo1-xO6 with -1 <= x <= 0.25, the composition x=0 corresponding to the well-known double-perovskite system Sr2FeMoO6. We report structural and magnetic properties of the above system, exhibiting systematic variations across the series. These results restrict the range of models that can explain magnetism in this family of compounds, providing an understanding of the magnetic structure.

Silva Fennica Vol. 25, 1991.

Julkaistu Silva Fennica Vol. 25(4) -numeron liitteenä.

Structure of bovine prothrombin fragment 1 refined at 2.25 Å resolution

The structure of bovine prothrombin fragment 1 has been refined at 2.25 Å resolution using high resolution measurements made with the synchrotron beam at CHESS. The synchrotron data were collected photographically by oscillation methods (R-merge = 0.08). These were combined with lower order diffractometer data for refinement purposes. The structure was refined using restrained least-squares methods with the program PROLSQ to a crystallographic R-value of 0.175. The structure includes 105 water molecules with occupancies of >0·6. The first 35 residues (Ala1-Leu35) of the N-terminal ?-carboxy glutamic acid-domain (Ala1-Cys48) of fragment 1 are disordered as are two carbohydrate chains of Mr ? 5000; the latter two combine to render 40% of the structure disordered. The folding of the kringle of fragment 1 is related to the close intramolecular contact between the inner loop disulfide groups. Half of the conserved sequence of the kringle forms an inner core surrounding these disulfide groups. The remainder of the sequence conservation is associated with the many turns of the main chain. The Pro95 residue of the kringle has a cis conformation and Tyr74 is ordered in fragment 1, although nuclear magnetic resonance studies indicate that the comparable residue of plasminogen kringle 4 has two positions. Surface accessibility calculations indicate that none of the disulfide groups of fragment 1 is accessible to solvent.

Synthesis, structure and ionic conductivity in scheelite type Li(0.5)Ce(0.5-x)Ln(x)MoO(4) (x=0 and 0.25, Ln = Pr, Sm)

Scheelite type solid electrolytes, Li(0.5)Ce(0.5-x)Ln(x)MoO(4) (x = 0 and 0.25, Ln = Pr, Sm) have been synthesized using a solid state method. Their structure and ionic conductivity (a) were obtained by single crystal X-ray diffraction and ac-impedance spectroscopy, respectively. X-ray diffraction studies reveal a space group of I4(1)/a for Li(0.5)Ce(0.5-x)Ln(x)MoO(4) (x = 0 and 0.25, Ln = Pr, Sm) scheelite compounds. The unsubstituted Li0.5Ce0.5MoO4 showed lithium ion conductivity similar to 10(-5)-10(-3) Omega(-1)cm(-1) in the temperature range of 300-700 degrees C (sigma = 2.5 x 10(-3) Omega(-1) cm(-1) at 700 degrees C). The substituted compounds show lower conductivity compared to the unsubstituted compound, with the magnitude of ionic conductivity being two (in the high temperature regime) to one order (in the low temperature regime) lower than the unsubstituted compound. Since these scheelite type structures show significant conductivity, the series of compounds could serve in high temperature lithium battery operations.

Influence of initial texture on the microstructural instabilities during compression of commercial ?-Titanium at 25 °C to 400 °C

Cylindrical specimens of textured commercial pure alpha-titanium plate, cut with the cylinder axis along the rolling direction for one set of experiments and in the long transverse direction for the other set, were compressed at strain rates in the range of 0.001 to 100 s-1 and temperatures in the range of 25-degrees-C to 400-degrees-C. At strain rates greater-than-or-equal-to 1 s-1, both sets of specimens exhibited adiabatic shear bands, but the intensity of shear bands was found to be higher in the rolling direction specimens than in the long transverse direction specimens. At strain rates -0.1 s-1, the material deformed in a microstructurally inhomogeneous fashion. For the rolling direction specimens, cracking was observed at 100-degrees-C and at strain rates -0.1 s-1. This is attributed to dynamic strain aging. Such cracking was not observed in the long transverse specimens. The differences in the intensity of adiabatic shear bands and that of dynamic strain aging between the two sets of test specimens are attributed to the strong crystallographic texture present in these plates.

A study of the influence of mischmetal additions to Al-7Si-0.3Mg (LM 25/356) alloy

This article deals with the effect of 0.25-1.5 wt pct mischmetal (MM) addition on the mechanical properties, microstructure, electrical conductivity, and fracture behavior of cast Al-7Si-0.3Mg (LM 25/356) alloy. Modification of eutectic silicon by MM is compared with strontium modification in terms of microstructure, mechanical properties, and fading behavior. Loss of magnesium encountered on holding the molten alloy and its resultant effect on mechanical properties of alloys modified with MM and Sr are compared with those in the unmodified alloy.

Diperoxovanadate can substitute for H(2)O(2) at much lower concentration in inducing features of premature cellular senescence in mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3)

Stress induced premature senescence (SIPS) in mammalian cells is an accelerated ageing response and experimentally obtained on treatment of cells with high concentrations of H(2)O(2), albeit at sub-lethal doses, because H(2)O(2) gets depleted by abundant cellular catalase. In the present study diperoxovanadate (DPV) was used as it is known to be stable at physiological pH, to be catalase-resistant and to substitute for H(2)O(2) in its activities at concentrations order of magnitudes lower. On treating NIH3T3 cells with DPV, SIPS-like morphology was observed along with an immediate response of rounding of the cells by disruption of actin cytoskeleton and transient G2/M arrest. DPV could bring about growth arrest and senescence associated features at 25 mu M dose, which were not seen with similar doses of either H(2)O(2) or vanadate. A minimal dose of 150 mu M of H(2)O(2) was required to induce similar affects as 25 mu M DPV. Increase in senescent associated markers such as p21, HMGA2 and PAI-1 was more prominent in DPV treated cells compared to similar dose of H(2)O(2). DPV-treated cells showed marked relocalization of Cyclin D1 from nucleus to cytoplasm. These results indicate that DPV, stable inorganic peroxide, is more efficient in inducing SIPS at lower concentrations compared to H(2)O(2). (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mossbauer study of La1-xCaxMn1-y (57)FeyO(3) with x = 0, 0.25; y=0.01

Temperature dependent Mossbauer measurements are done on the samples of La1- xCaxMn1-y (FeyO3)-Fe-57 with x=0 and 0.25, and y=0.01. With decreasing temperature, the specimen with x=0.25 shows a paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition around 175 K. In the specimen x=0.0, the temperature dependence of both the center shift (delta) and the recoilless fraction (f) can be fitted very well with the Debye theory with a theta(D)=320+/-50 K. But for the specimens with x=0.25, f and delta show distinct deviations from the Debye behavior in the temperature range in which the resistivity shows a sharp decrease. Dips observed in both the f and delta around the transition temperature suggest that the Jahn-Teller distortion observed in these systems is dynamic in nature.