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This article presents the findings of a study on the directionality effect observed in strong motion records. We set out to establish ratios between several seismic intensity measures that depend on sensor orientation (e.g., GMar, Larger) and others that are orientation-independent (e.g., RotDpp, GMRotDpp, and GMRotIpp), with the intention of proposing multiplicative correction factors. The analysis included an evaluation of the impact of site conditions, ground motion intensity, earthquake magnitude, and hypocentral distance on these ratios. Following a concise overview of the directionality effects and the associated intensity measures, the Costa Rican Strong Motion Database, comprising a total of 4199 horizontal accelerograms (two components), was employed to determine the correction factors. The analysis was carried out for 5% damped response spectra within the 0.01–5 s period range. The study focuses on orientation-independent intensity measures that are derived by combining the maximum values from the recorded motions. In the comprehensive analysis of the complete database, a trend was observed between these intensity measures and the magnitude of the earthquake along with the hypocentral distance. Specifically, records from earthquakes with greater magnitudes exhibited a lower maximum spectral response to the geometric mean of the response spectra of the as-recorded (ar) components ratio (RotD100/GMar), similar to records from earthquakes with larger hypocentral distances. Based on these findings, a proposal was put forth to estimate RotD100 values using GMar values. This ratio can prove useful in transforming data from previous seismic hazard studies, including those applied in many seismic codes, and in defining the maximum anticipated seismic intensity for design purposes in a more straightforward manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional literature that gives cultural identity and heritage differentiation to intermediate cities in Colombia is recognized and resignified by literary tourism. The objective of the reflection article is to characterize the opportunities and limitations of literary tourism as an alternative tourism product through provincial routes. The qualitative methodology was mediated by content analysis, based on a selection of 135 literary works that led to the selection of the works of three representative authors for the design of literary routes. The conclusion reiterates the opportunities of experiential literature for provincial cultural tourism by intertwining the most representative places of the territorial heritage with tours in the vital spaces of the authors or their characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studies urban form and function in Hispanic American colonial port cities. By combining different research questions and points of view, new insights are given into matters such as the origin of their urban grids, the development of their fortifications throughout the colonial era, and the military versus trade function they accomplished. The focus is on Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, with other Hispanic colonial cities also included in the discussion. The field work is based on primary literature about colonial laws and ordinances and the reports of several viceroys in the eighteenth century as well as a wide array of secondary literature in different languages. The results show that, while these cities fulfilled an important role as trade nodes, this function was second to their military role. However, both functions are found to be interdependent in a number of ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin America is a continent living amidst strong inequalities, and the region’s cities reflect this in a distinct way. In order to analyse and explain urban inequality in the region, this article studies the case of Cartagena de Indias, on the Colombian Caribbean coast, from the points of view of different historical studies about the racial gaze, gentrification, racial capitalism, and the research connecting urban planning and racial segregation, among others. By applying the historical method, the authors delve into institutional primary and secondary sources from the contemporary historiography, which relate urban development to racial issues. The main outcome is a deeper understanding of the urban and racial phenomena in the context of current theories, with some re-weighing of their impacts. Much of the discussion about racial segregation in Latin America has revolved around metropolises and forgotten medium-sized cities. To remedy this, an overview of studies and theories is offered and subsequently applied to a medium-sized city such as Cartagena, with examples from this city’s planning history in conjunction with its social history and tourist development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processes of gentrification can be seen in the historic center of Cartagena de Indias, which arise from the colonial city and the republican capital, suitable as a military fort, maritime port, railway station and cultural district. This led to the occupation of the peripheral areas and the displacement of the people who lived there to give way to walls, urban walkways, railway lines and motorized avenues. The objective of the text is to describe the processes of the urban transformation of the peripheral areas of Cartagena to consolidate the fort-city, adapted as a historic center and tourist district. To this end, the historical method is used of contrasting printed documental evidence with articles and studies on urban policies that allow the recognition of four periods of geodemographic changes. In conclusion, the current historic center has experienced the processes of the expansion of the dominant classes into the lands occupied by the popular sectors, combined with the construction of roads, the protection of walls and bulwarks, the urbanization of the nearby islands and beaches for touristic ends, as well as the sociocultural expulsion of the poorer classes from the popular sectors towards faraway places, invisible and distant from the tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the soil profile of the Costa Rican Strong-Motion Network (CRSMN) stations is classified based on actual measurements and seismic regulations. The soil classification of the Costa Rican Seismic Code based on the average shear-wave velocity of the top 30 m (VS30) is used as a reference. The site fundamental period (Tf) is included as a parameter to complement the existing characterization. For this, VS30 measurements from 52 accelerometric stations are related to the site fundamental period obtained through horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) using ground motion records from the Costa Rican Strong-Motion Database. The H/V ratios are estimated with 5% damped acceleration response spectra and with traditional Fourier amplitude spectra from the S-wave window. From the relation between VS30 and Tf, different ranges of Tf are assigned to the existing soil profile classification and a graph with three-lines and four-areas is proposed to classify the stations of the CRSMN. These lines are plotted from the intersection between values assigned to each site class. The assigned classification at each station will be the one corresponding to the area where the pair of values (VS30 - Tf) falls. With this proposal, both parameters take relevance and are compensated, reducing the differences due to possible errors in measurements or interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

e-learning is the recommended formative modality for dealing with the the COVID-19 situation. The purpose of this article is to describe the prospects for online learning derived from the unab-uoc agreement and its effects on promoting teaching innovation mediated by digital technologies. The qualitative methodology of textual contrast text of 200 research papers enabled a descriptive study that identifies the causes of the institutionalization of e-learning in education, describes the theoretical constructs and typologies of connectivism, and analyzes teacher outcomes and experiences for online learning from inter-agency contexts. Finally, a discussion is offered on the importance and challenges of techno-educational innovation to support teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Economic indicators and commercial perspectives have promoted health tourism without considering the local health care system's development, improvement and internationalization perspectives of Bucaramanga's doctor-entrepreneurs. Objective: To identify the medical-entrepreneurial perspectives of Bucaramanga's hospitals that promote well-being and health tourism as a business development and socioeconomic growth segment. Methodology: This is a deductive interpretation of the selected texts based on the documentary comparison technique, showing the general state of health tourism until Bucaramanga's medical tourism experience is specified. Topics Discussed: The main types of tourism associated with health are identified in sectorial perspectives. The historical health care trends in Bucaramanga's free trade zones are reaffirmed through medical perspectives. Conclusions: Well-being and health tourism, apart from being a world-class strategic product, it is an alternative for health care professionals' development, their hospitals' internationalization, adopting strict standards and protocols to attend foreign patients and offering innovations or services to improve Colombia's public health care system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Liberation Campaign is a historical topic whose interest and recurrence in the Colombian History magazines allows a historiographical balance of content, productivity and citation of articles associated with this subject. The quantitative study proposed compares the approaches of each journal and the bibliometric indicators of editorial productivity of journals indexed in categories A1 and A2 by Publindex of Colciencias. In conclusion, are demonstrates the characteristics of the impact factor, the importance of the dossier numbers and the relevance that since 1983 have the articles related to facts and characters of the liberating campaign. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an iterative procedure for the time domain deconvolution in nonlinear elastoplastic materials. The approach is intended for the generation of input motions for dynamic soil–structure interaction (DSSI) numerical analyses when the desired earthquake is specified at the surface of a nonlinear soil deposit. The main advantage is that the same constitutive model (or models) to be used in the DSSI simulation to characterise the soil deposit is also employed in the deconvolution procedure. Therefore, the desired surface motion is recovered from the free-field propagation of the resulting input motion at the base of the numerical model, accounting for the assumed constitutive behaviour of the ground. An application example is also presented, where the potential of the proposed approach is shown. • A procedure for the time domain deconvolution in nonlinear materials is presented. • Is intended for the generation of input motions for DSSI numerical analyses. • The desired surface motion is successfully recovered from the resulting input motion. • An example is presented demonstrating the potential of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

the literary creation in the region of Santander is characterized by the positions and arguments between the promoters and opponents of a "santanderean literature". Following Schmidt-Welle's postulates on regional literature, the content analysis of interviews with creators and literary promoters, as well as the review and critique of documentary sources of Santander's literary inventories, the article characterizes the visibility that the santanderean writers have had, the regional determinisms that have fostered the "santanderean literature" inspired by the authors of the 20th century, as well as a dynamic internationalist evocation of the santanderean people and landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical events such as the battle of Cachirí (1816) demostrate that there is no narrative or explicative unity between different generations that have studied the national history, nor among the social classes that promote discourses based on their different imaginaries. This article describes the variation in explanations between oficial history, popular memory and monument heritage of the regional elite, regarding the battle that deined the triumph of the expeditionary army of the Reconquista. For this purpose, we analyze historical discourses that characterize the oficial version of the events taken place, and contrast them with the regional and national historical representations. At the same time as we highlight the silences and anachronisms of these histories and representations from the point of view of popular memory. All of this leads to identifying the different national distortions that coexist regarding one event (the battle of Cachirí) and one historical character (Custodio García Rovira) in the New Granada of 1816. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literary tourism is an emerging field of human geography and cultural history that rediscovers the most significant spaces in each territory through the narrative representations about them. Based on an investigation, the paper shows the results of source criticism and discourse analysis of two hundred literary works that focus on the territory of Santander (Colombia) during the first half of the twentieth century. It demonstrates that the construction of the imaginary of "Santanderness" is associated with a vast literary tradition and the creation of new identity and collective recreation spaces such as the Chicamocha National Park (Panachi). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the recurring environmental conflict associated with the products derived from logging. It takes as reference the confrontations for the monopoly of the cinchonas in western Santander and southern Bolivar, specifically from the perspective of the struggle between the federal and state political elites that took sides in the conflict for extraction starred by foreign executives allied to each of these sides during a time of transition between political regimes. This irregular war from 1878-1882 prevented each opponent to have full control of empty lands and the compliance of their contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of the victors' public investments and the editorial efforts of the defeated ones after the Thousand Days' War to present their history versions and reaffirm the importance of the processes of peace and national reconciliation. In order to do this, it is demonstrated the importance that the inclusion of some of these speeches and literary representations in textbooks had for elementary and advanced reading courses in local schools according to the official program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research article analyzes the new conceptions of techniques and methodology of the research from the new information and communication technologies in the training of researchers in social sciences as in conducting research projects. The technological transformations that have experienced the process of collecting and research of historical memory are identified, changing pedagogical practices in the teaching of social sciences, the causes of prevention and resilience of researchers associated with the "New History" to use innovations and mediations promoted with the use of the informatics technologies and techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the role of literature in reshaping conceptions of history, memory and region from the landholders, peasants and priests analyzed by Eduardo Caballero Calderon in his narrative of the towns located in the Chicamocha river canyon in the mid-twentieth century, especially Tipacoque and Capitanejo. We also found of great importance for this work the author's qualitative descriptions based on his political convictions, the party conflicts and his socio-political concerns about the transformations of the notions of modernity and mixture of historic memory and literary tradition to the north of Boyacá and Santander southeast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the traditional speeches and imaginaries on the Revolution of the Communards in Colombia and contrasts it with sociocultural analysis and etiopathological descriptions of two illustrated parish priests and medical physicist of the eighteenth century in New Granada with the purpose of demonstrate how determinant factors of popular revolt of 1781 the tax difficulties to access the herbs, fruits and popular beverages considered medicinal and healthy, and sources of environmental welfare and socio-economic prosperity of the poorest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some perceptions about prostate cancer were identified in a group of over 45 years old men in Santa Rosa de Cabal-Risaralda, in order to generate strategies for health promotion on the subject. Descriptive study of 150 volunteer males who signed informed consent. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using 30 questions designed using the Hochbaum et al. beliefs in health model which were organized, codified and categorized. The participants were mostly married (53%), from the urban area (69%), with elementary school schooling level (53%), from lower social strata (81%), having subsidized health (73%), and belonging to the Catholic Religion (95%). 76% from the respondents were considered vulnerable to prostate cancer if they were older than 60 years. The following risk factors were identified: smoking (29%), promiscuous sexual behavior (8%), poor nutrition (5%) and inheritance (7%). Additionally, 60% of them considered they had knowledge about the disease and 97% were aware of its severity; 98% of the men acknowledged the benefits of timely diagnosis, but only a few (27%) had taken the exam. Three barriers for the implementation of the test were explained: lack of knowledge (37%), affectation of masculinity (33%), and difficulty in treatment (94%), this last one because of the high cost and low access to specialized services. Cultural, economic and access to health services barriers overcome the benefits perceived with the treatment which is reflected in the low intention to take the diagnostic test. It is required to implement participatory education strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Context: Knowledge about factors influencing the place of death may be very useful for the planning of public health strategies to improve the situation of terminally ill patients. Objectives: The aim of our study was to determine where people died in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 2008. We further wanted to detect which factors had an influence on the place of death. Methods: Our cross-sectional survey was based on a random sample of 5000 inhabitants of Rhineland-Palatinate who had died between May 25, 2008 and August 24, 2008. Relatives of these randomly drawn deceased persons were interviewed by means of a written survey. Results: After removing duplicates, 4967 questionnaires were sent out. In total, 3832 questionnaires were delivered and 1378 completed, leading to a response rate of 36.0%. Of this group, 38.2% of the deceased died at home, 39.3% in a hospital, 13.4% in a nursing home, 7.5% in a palliative care facility, and 1.6% elsewhere. Suffering from cancer (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01–1.68), social support (AOR being married: 1.33; 95% CI: 1.04–1.70; AOR having a nonworking relative: 1.71; 95% CI: 1.28–2.29), a high care level (AOR Care Level II: 2.79; 95% CI: 2.06–3.79, AOR Care Level III: 4.96; 95% CI: 3.40–7.24), and living in a rural municipality (AOR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.01–1.84) were major factors favoring home death compared with institutional death. Conclusion: Compared with other European countries, home death is still a frequent event in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Regional health policy should consider the actual distribution of place of death and corresponding predicting factors when establishing specialized palliative care home services as designed by recent German health legislation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: In order to tackle the deficits in the provision of palliative home care, profound structural changes in the outpatient sector were introduced by law in Germany in 2007. The EPACS study was carried out (Research Accompanying the Establishment of Hospice and Palliative Care Services in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) to document the quality of inpatient and outpatient end-of-life care in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, before the implementation of these changes. With this article we focus on the study design and methods of the EPACS-Study. We further report first results regarding several aspects of outpatient end-of-life care. Methods: The cross-sectional survey was based on a random sample of 5000 inhabitants of Rhineland-Palatinate that had died from May 25 until August 24 of the year 2008. Relatives of these randomly drawn deceased persons were interviewed by means of a written survey. Results: The overall response proportion considering only those questionnaires that actually were delivered (n = 3833) was 36.0%. Factors influencing participation were age, sex, and marital status. 355 (25.8%) deceased persons had used professional home care in the four weeks prior to their death, but only very few persons had used a specialised palliative home care service (n = 30; 8.5%). There was a clear gap between the need for specialised outpatient care and the actual utilisation of these services. Conclusions: Satisfaction with professional home care was relatively high, but physicians were rated less favourable than nurses. There were deficits especially with respect to physicians' communicative and supportive skills. Further analyses are necessary to provide more detailed information about quality of care in different care settings and for distinct groups. Predictors of good care, as well as obstacles to it, must be further investigated. In the long run, a follow-up survey must be conducted to compare quality of home care before and after the structural changes in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To revise the medical notions and the historic representations about public health in Santander require to contrast the results of researches did by different historians trough of thesis, books and papers published in local universities journals. This paper proposes a history of public health implicate to surpass the academic studies about of politic and medical-scientific personalities to be assumed as a interdisciplinary and new-institutional process orientated to the analysis of the State politics about institutions, employees and patient care according to the impact of illness (endemic and epidemic) and the pressure by socio-economical groups interested in it. In this way, the sources and uses of the concept "Public Health" are explored, and its begin in Santander with sanitary politics about "leprosy colonies" are described, including medical and hospitalarian changes as consequence of the creation of the Ministry of Public Health and the Social Security Institute, and finally, a review is realized about the academic production that health and socio-humanistic professionals from Santanderan universities did related with this theme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the directionality effects during the MW 7.8 earthquake, which occurred in Muisne (Ecuador) on 16 April 2016, were analyzed under two perspectives. The first one deals with the influence of these effects on seismic intensity measures (IMs), while the second refers to the assessment of the expected damage of a specific building located in Manta city, Ecuador, as a function of its azimuthal orientation. The records of strong motion in 21 accelerometric stations were used to analyze directionality in seismic actions. At the closest station to the epicenter (RRup = 20 km), the peak ground acceleration was 1380 cm/s2 (EW component of the APED station). A detailed study of the response spectra ratifies the importance of directionality and confirms the need to consider these effects in seismic hazard studies. Differences between IMs values that consider the directionality and those obtained from the as-recorded accelerograms are significant and they agree with studies carried out in other regions. Concerning the variation of the expected damage with respect to the building orientation, a reinforced concrete building, which was seriously affected by the earthquake, was taken as a case study. For this analysis, the accelerograms recorded at a nearby station and detailed structural documentation were used. The ETABS software was used for the structural analysis. Modal and pushover analyses were performed, obtaining capacity curves and capacity spectra in the two main axes of the building. Two advanced methods for damage assessment were used to obtain fragility and mean damage state curves. The performance points were obtained through the linear equivalent approximation. This allows estimation and analysis of the expected mean damage state and the probability of complete damage as functions of the building orientation. Results show that the actual probability of complete damage is close to 60%. This fact is mainly due to the greater severity of the seismic action in one of the two main axes of the building. The results are in accordance with the damage produced by the earthquake in the building and confirm the need to consider the directionality effects in damage and seismic risk assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seismic regulations for the seismic performance assessment of buildings use the maximum interstory drift, θmax, as a measure to control damage. This article presents a study of the seismic performance based on the θmax for steel buildings using Mexico's regulations and the RISK-UE and HAZUS guidelines. The capacity spectrum method is used to evaluate the performance of buildings with 3 different heights located in 4 cities in Mexico with different seismicity, as well as for soft and rock soil types. The HAZUS criterion is conservative in its assement of damage, while the RISK-UE criterion is more in line with the expected damage. The service state, Sstate, and the collapse prevention state, CPstate, in Mexico's regulations are suitable for damage control, and are consistent with the damage proposed by the RISK-UE guidelines. In very high seismicity zones, the CPstate for seismic actions equal to or greater than the expected, prevent building collapse; however, significant damage to buildings can still occur. The θmax of the CPstate must be established for different seismic intensities and not only for building types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimations of seismic risk in urban areas should include quantifications of the expected damage to civil structures subjected to earthquakes. In buildings, this quantification depends on the maximum inter-story drift (MIDR), among other aspects. In this study, the correlation between several intensity measures (IMs) and the maximum inter-story drift of steel structures was investigated. Three steel frame buildings of 3, 7 and 13 stories were used as a testbed. These buildings were modelled as 2D framed structures. For the seismic hazard, forty strong ground motion pairs were selected (80 individual horizontal components) from the Italian database. These records were scaled to a specific peak ground acceleration (PGA) and matched to a design spectrum from Eurocode 8. Nonlinear dynamic analysis was used to estimate the seismic response of the structures. Thus, 720 nonlinear dynamic analyses (NLDA) were performed [3 structures × (80 as recorded accelerograms + 80 scaled records + 80 matched records)]. Preliminary results indicate that PGA and MIDR show the worst correlation. A higher correlation was observed for peak ground velocity, root-mean-square velocity and specific energy density intensity-based measures. Finally, a new IM, which is highly correlated with MIDR, is proposed. This IM is called I Δ-PGV and considers both the PGV and the significant duration. • Correlations between some intensity measures (IMs) and the maximum inter-story drift (MIDR) are investigated. • Preliminary results indicate that PGA and MIDR shows the worst correlation. • A higher correlation was observed for the PGV, vel RMS and specific energy density IMs. • A new IM, which is highly correlated with MIDR is proposed. • This IM is named I D-PGV and it considers both the PGV and the significant duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates directionality effects of ground motions in the context of dynamic soil-structure interaction (DSSI) analyses. The problem addressed corresponds to a nonlinear soil deposit, overlaying firm ground, where the input motion was derived from an acceleration time history recorded at a rock outcrop. A simplified procedure is proposed to incorporate directionality effects. The main objective is to identify in advance the incidence angle producing the maximum response of a structure for a given earthquake. Results from the simplified procedure were evaluated by comparison with what is called here the complete rotational approach, where the behaviour of the structure, as a function of the incidence angle of the input motion, is derived through a large number of nonlinear dynamic soil-structure interaction analyses. The obtained results show the importance of considering directionality effects in DSSI analyses. The maximum response of the system was reasonably captured with the simplified approach. • Directionality effects of ground motions in dynamic soil-structure interaction analyses were investigated. • A simplified rotational approach (SRA) is proposed to incorporate these effects. • Results from the SRA were compared with the complete rotational procedure. • The SRA, using the PGV as intensity measure, appears to be an adequate alternative to account for directionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Normally, the average of the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) ratios of the 5% damped response spectra of ground motions is used to classify the site of strong-motion stations. In these cases, only the three-orthogonal as-recorded acceleration components are used in the analysis, and all the vector compositions that can generate a different response for each period oscillator are excluded. In this study, the Spanish strong-motion database was used to classify the sites of accelerometric stations based on the predominant periods through the average horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) of recorded ground motions. Moreover, the directionality effects using the vector composition of the horizontal components of ground motions were also considered in the estimations of H/V ratios. This consideration is a relevant novelty compared to the traditional H/V ratios methods. Only earthquakes with magnitudes above 3.5 and hypocentral distances below 200 km were selected, which resulted in 692 ground-motion records, corresponding to 86 stations, from events in the period between 1993 and 2017. After the analysis, a predominant-period site classification was assigned to each station. On the whole, the obtained mean and standard deviation values of the spectral ratios are comparable to those shown by other researchers. Therefore, the advantages of the proposed procedure, which takes the directionality effects into account, can be summarized as follows: (a) The obtained information is richer and gives enables more sophisticated and realistic analyses on the basis of percentiles and (b) it is easier to detect anomalous stations, sites, and/or accelerograms. Moreover, the method eliminates the effect of directionality as a contributor to epistemic uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil-structure interaction is a key aspect when calculating the dynamic response of nuclear structures in front of ground motions induced by earthquakes. However, modelling the seismic response in the time-domain using FEM-based models to represent the soil volume is computationally expensive because of the large number of elements involved. For this reason, it is a common practice to employ 1-D models, which allows an explicit solution of the dynamic response of the system in a fraction of time. Yet, due to the importance of nuclear structures, sometimes it is mandatory to employ 3D FEM-based models. In addition, based on probabilistic estimations of the seismic hazard at a site, it is generally necessary that the seismic response of the model comply with the spectral ordinates of the input action at the surface level. In doing so, specific accelerograms acting at the bedrock should be developed. If these signals are obtained by deconvolution using the 1D model, and then applied to the 3D one, the response calculated at the surface level will always be somewhat different from the target free field motion (the one considered in the deconvolution process at the surface level). There are several sources, like the Poisson effect in the 3D model, explaining this difference. Therefore, it is necessary to modify the input signal so that the dynamic response obtained with the FEM model fit the target spectrum. This article presents an innovative approach to achieve this goal, developing an enhanced transfer function stemming from the 1D and 3D models. Two seismic scenarios and a specific soil profile have been used as benchmark. Results show that this approach provides an adequate solution for the studied problem. • Soil-structure interaction is a key aspect when calculating the seismic response of nuclear structures. • Modelling this response in the time-domain using FEM models to represent the soil volume is computationally expensive. • The seismic response of the model must comply with specific spectral ordinates related to the hazard of the site. • This article presents an innovative approach to achieve this goal, using an enhanced transfer function from 1D and 3D models. • Two seismic scenarios and a specific soil profile have been used as benchmark. • Results show that this approach provides an adequate solution for the studied problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To evaluate an adequate strategy for biological monitoring of aluminium (Al), a group of 62 Al welders (age in 1999: 23–51 years, median 35 years) was surveyed annually from 1999 to 2003 by determination of pre- and post-shift Al in urine and plasma. Biomonitoring was supplemented by personal air measurements of the total dust concentration. The welders’ internal exposure was compared to the exposure of 60 non-exposed assembly workers (age in 1999: 21–51 years, median: 36 years) who were surveyed in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Having a nearly constant dust exposure, median concentrations of Al in urine (Al in plasma) of the welders decreased from 40.1μg/g to 19.8μg/g creatinine (8.7 to 4.6μg/l). For the control group the median levels of Al in urine (plasma) ranged from 4.8μg/g to 5.2μg/g creatinine (2.4–4.3μg/l) indicating a higher sensitivity for the marker Al in urine. No systematic differences have been found between pre- and post-shift internal exposure. This might be caused by the slow elimination kinetics and low systemic bioavailability of Al. A correlation analysis did not yield close relationships between dust exposure, Al in plasma and Al in urine underlining the importance of biomonitoring for assessment of Al exposure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, remote and in situ techniques to estimate the dynamic response of a building to ambient vibration are reported: data acquired through a real-aperture radar (RAR) interferometer and conventional accelerometers are analyzed. A five-story reinforced concrete housing building, which was damaged during the May 11th 2011 Lorca (Spain) earthquake, is used as a case study. The building was monitored using both types of instruments. The dynamic properties of the building are estimated first taking acceleration measurements using a set of 10 high-precision accelerometers installed on the roof of the building. Further, the displacement–time histories, recorded with the RAR device pointing to a corner of the building, are analyzed. Then, the ability and shortcomings of RAR measurements to deal with the fundamental frequencies of vibration of the structure are investigated. The advantages and limitations of from-inside (accelerometric) and from-outside (RAR) measurements are highlighted and discussed. A relevant conclusion is that, after strong earthquakes, RAR may be an interesting and useful tool, as it allows surveying the structural response of mid-rise buildings remotely, without the need to enter the structures, which may be dangerous for inspectors or technicians in cases of severely damaged buildings. Given that the instrumented building suffered significant damage, the ability of these kinds of measurements to detect damage is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]