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To achieve national and international climate goals, the greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector must be reduced. One option is the use of renewable energies, which must be stored. Building parts with thermal activation have the potential to store heat. As those building parts feature new active energetic functionalities – active heat storage and heating – they are called multifunctional building parts (MBP). To investigate the potential of MBP, a thermal model is deployed and verified. The model is used to examine the influence of the distance between thermal activation and the MBP’s inside.

The level of energy consumption in renovation activities of buildings has huge advantages over the demolition of old buildings and the construction of new structures. Such renovation activities are usually associated with the simultaneous strengthening of their elements, such as externally bonded carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) lamellas or sheets on vertical and horizontal surfaces as structural reinforcements. This means the process of refurbishing a building, as well as the raw materials themselves have a significant impact on CO 2 emissions and energy consumption. This research paper demonstrates possibilities of replacing state of the art, highly energy-intensive CFRP lamellas with basalt fibre reinforced plastics as energy-efficient structural reinforcements for building constructions. The mechanical and thermal properties of basalt fibre reinforced polymer (BFRP) composites with variable matrix formulations are investigated. The article considers macro- and microstructures of innovative BFRP. The investigations focus on fibre-matrix interactions with different sizing formulations and their effect on the tensile strength, strain as well as modulus of elasticity.

High performance fiber-reinforced concrete (HPFRC) has been frequently investigated in recent years. Plenty of studies have focused on different materials and types of fibers in combination with the concrete matrix. Experimental tests show that fiber dosage improves the energy absorption capacity of concrete and enhances the robustness of concrete elements. Fiber reinforced concrete has also been illustrated to be a material for developing infrastructure sustainability in RC elements like façade plates, columns, beams, or walls. Due to increasing costs of the produced fiber reinforced concrete and to ensure the serviceability limit state of construction elements, there is a demand to analyze the necessary fiber dosage in the concrete composition. It is expected that the surface and length of used fiber in combination with their dosage influence the structure of fresh and hardened concrete. This work presents an investigation of the mechanical parameters of HPFRC with different polymer fiber dosage. Tests were carried out on a mixture with polypropylene and polyvinyl alcohol fiber with dosages of 15, 25, and 35 kg/m 3 as well as with control concrete without fiber. Differences were observed in the compressive strength and in the modulus of elasticity as well as in the flexural and splitting tensile strength. The flexural tensile strength test was conducted on two different element shapes: square panel and beam samples. These mechanical properties could lead to recommendations for designers of façade elements made of HPFRC.

Background: Firearm injuries are a major cause of mortality in the USA. Few recent studies have simultaneously examined the impact of multiple state gun laws to determine their independent association with homicide and suicide rates., Objective: To examine the relationship between state firearm laws and overall homicide and suicide rates at the state level across all 50 states over a 26-year period., Design: Using a panel design, we analyzed the relationship between 10 state firearm laws and total, age-adjusted homicide and suicide rates from 1991 to 2016 in a difference-in-differences, fixed effects, multivariable regression model. There were 1222 observations for homicide analyses and 1300 observations for suicide analyses., Participants: Populations of all US states., Main Measures: The outcome measures were the annual age-adjusted rates of homicide and suicide in each state during the period 1991-2016. We controlled for a wide range of state-level factors., Key Results: Universal background checks were associated with a 14.9% (95% CI, 5.2-23.6%) reduction in overall homicide rates, violent misdemeanor laws were associated with a 18.1% (95% CI, 8.1-27.1%) reduction in homicide, and "shall issue" laws were associated with a 9.0% (95% CI, 1.1-17.4%) increase in homicide. These laws were significantly associated only with firearm-related homicide rates, not non-firearm-related homicide rates. None of the other laws examined were consistently related to overall homicide or suicide rates., Conclusions: We found a relationship between the enactment of two types of state firearm laws and reductions in homicide over time. However, further research is necessary to determine whether these associations are causal ones.

Objectives: To describe a new database containing detailed annual information on firearm-related laws in place in each of the 50 US states from 1991 to 2016 and to summarize key trends in firearm-related laws during this time period., Methods: Using Thomson Reuters Westlaw data to access historical state statutes and session laws, we developed a database indicating the presence or absence of each of 133 provisions of firearm laws in each state over the 26-year period. These provisions covered 14 aspects of state policies, including regulation of the process by which firearm transfers take place, ammunition, firearm possession, firearm storage, firearm trafficking, and liability of firearm manufacturers., Results: An examination of trends in state firearm laws via this database revealed that although the number of laws nearly doubled during the study period, there was substantial heterogeneity across states, leading to a widening disparity in the number of firearm laws., Conclusions: This database can help advance firearm policy research by providing 26 years of comprehensive policy data that will allow longitudinal panel study designs that minimize the limitations present in many previous studies.

Six hepatic angiosarcomas, one hepatoma and one hepatic "fibrosis" with portal hypertension in patients chronically exposed to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) are reported. The industrial methods of synthesis and current knowledge concerning the carcinogenic role of VCM are reviewed. Histogenetic and pathogenetic concepts of "fibrosis" and angiosarcomas of liver are exposed.