Prolonged human spaceflight to another planet or an asteroid will introduce unique challenges of mitigating the risk of infection. During space travel, exposure to microgravity, radiation, and stress alter human immunoregulatory responses, which can in turn impact an astronaut's ability to prevent acquisition of infectious agents or reactivation of latent infection. In addition, microgravity af...

Synthetic microswimmers are envisioned to be useful in numerous applications, many of which occur in tightly confined spaces. It is therefore important to understand how confinement influences swimmer dynamics. Here we study the motility of bimetallic microswimmers in linear and curved channels. Our experiments show swimmer velocities increase, up to 5 times, with the degree of confinement, and...

Masonry is a composite material that can be defined as a material incorporating a visible internal structure and having a low strength in tension. The latter characteristic has shaped most civil engineering structures up to the advent of reinforced concrete and iron/steel. The paper will detail two separate modelling issues: micro-modelling and homogenisation techniques, which represent both a ...

While openings are an essential requirement in buildings as a source of access, fresh air and sunlight, these cause reduction the lateral stiffness torsional resistance masonry wall units. A detailed numerical investigation was carried out to explore impact opening percentage on in-plane strength unconfined confined panels prepared using calcium silicate bricks, for sustainable structures. comm...

The Roman Pantheon is among the largest unreinforced masonry dome ever built and is an unparalleled example of the construction capabilities of the ancient Romans. As one of the most well-known buildings in the world, its preservation remains important because of its cultural and societal significance, and the methods used to assess the safety of historic masonry structures continue to be devel...

Two modeling techniques for practical nonlinear static analysis are implemented to support the development and usage of a new Limit Design method for special reinforced masonry shear walls. The new seismic design alternative is under consideration for future versions of the building code requirements for masonry structures in the U.S. The proposed simplified models were applied to a planar one-...

The assessment of the seismic vulnerability of all school buildings located at Chorrillos and Barranco districts in Lima, the capital city of Peru, was conducted using the Rapid Visual Screening procedure of ATC-21. A total of 28 school buildings were evaluated in Barranco, and 80 in Chorrillos, comprising all kindergarten, primary, and secondary school buildings existing in these two districts...

The voltage-driven passage of biological polymers through nanoscale pores is an analytically, technologically, and biologically relevant process. Despite various studies on homopolymer translocation there are still several open questions on the fundamental aspects of pore transport. One of the most important unresolved issues revolves around the passage of biopolymers which vary in charge and v...