Rational Understanding

Reliable performance of beams and slabs in shear is essential for the safety and also for the serviceability of reinforced concrete structures. A possible failure in shear is usually a brittle failure, which underlines the importance of the correct specification of the load carrying capacity in shear. The knowledge of performance in shear is steadily developing and it is now obvious that older structures were not always designed in accordance with contemporary requirements. The increasing load – mainly on bridges – requires the assessment of existing structures, often followed by their strengthening. An appropriate understanding of actual performance of concrete structures in shear is therefore of primary interest. The workshop which was held in Zürich in 2016 brought together a significant number of outstanding specialists working in the field of shear design, who had a chance to exchange their opinions and proposals for improving the current knowledge of shear behaviour in beams and slabs. The specialists came from different parts of the world, which made the workshop general and representative. The workshop was organised by fib Working Party 2.2.1 “Shear in Beams” (convened by O. Bayrak), which is a part of fib Commission 2 "Analysis and Design". Individual contributions mainly address shear in beams with low transversal reinforcement. It is crucial because many existing structures lack such reinforcement. Different theories, e.g. Critical Shear Crack Theory (CSCT), Modified Compression Field Theory (MCFT), Multi-Action Shear Model (MASM), etc. were presented and compared with procedures used in selected national codes or in the fib Model Code 2010. The models for shear design were often based to a great extent on empirical experience. The refined presented models tend to take into account the physical mechanisms in structures more effectively. A brittle behaviour in shear requires not only to check the equilibrium and failure load, but also to follow the progress of failure, including the crack development and propagation, stress redistribution, etc. The significance of the size effect – which causes the nominal strength of a large structure to be smaller than that of a small structure – was pointed out. Nowadays, the fibre reinforcement is used more than before since it allows significant labour costs savings in the construction industry. The contribution of fibres is suitable for shear transfer. It is very convenient that not only ordinary fibre reinforced elements were addressed but also the UHPFRC beams. The production of this new material is indeed growing, while the development of design recommendations has not been sufficiently fast. Fatigue resistance of structures with low shear reinforcement is also an important issue, which was also addressed in this bulletin. It cannot be neglected in prestressed bridges, which are exposed to dynamic loads. A comprehensive understanding of the shear behaviour is necessary. Although many laboratory experiments are carried out, they are suitable only to a limited extent. New testing methods are being developed and show promising results, e.g. digital image correlation. An actual structure performance should rather be tested on a large scale, ideally on real structures under realistic loading conditions.ii The papers presented in the bulletin are a basis for the discussion in view of the development of updated design rules for the new fib Model Code (MC2020), which is currently under preparation. fib Bulletins like this one, dealing with shear, help to transfer knowledge from research to design practice. The authors are convinced that it will lead to better new structures design of as well as to savings and to a safety increase in older existing structures, whose future is often decided now.

The selections are taken from chapters of Kuhn's books, including his Catholic Dogmatics, and from various articles that appeared in the Tübingen quarterly, Die theologische Quartalschrift. They are arranged according to the following topics: faith and reason; revelation and the personhood of God; responses to Protestant liberalism; theological topics, including grace and freedom, theology and the university; and Catholic fundamental theology. Though diverse in subject, when read together the essays yield a complete theological vision that derives from a carefully constructed theological foundation.

In this text, first published in 1993, Barrow decisively rejects the traditional assumption that intelligence has no educational significance and contends instead that intelligence is developed by the enlargement of understanding. Arguing that much educational research is driven by a concept of intelligence that has no obvious educational relevance, Dr Barrow suggests that this is partly due to a widespread lack of understanding about the nature and point of philosophical analysis, and partly due to a failure to face up to the value judgements that are necessarily involved in analysing a concept such as intelligence. If intelligence is to be of educational significance, it must be understood in terms that allow it to be educable. Written by a philosopher of education, this study offers a reasoned and extended argument in favour of an original view of philosophical analysis. It focuses on the issue of intelligence from a philosophical perspective. It should be of interest to students of education, philosophy and the philosophy of education alike.

First Published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book is essential reading for students and professionals in the fields of mental health, criminal justice, and law, as well as for forensic practitioners who may not be familiar with the special requirements of death penalty cases. It is also an important resource for attorneys who work with forensic mental health professionals.

In this unprecedented collection, Donald N. Levine rejuvenates the field of social theory in the face of lagging institutional support. The work canvasses the universe of types of theory work in sociology and offers probing examples from his array of scholarly investigations.Social Theory as a Vocation throws fresh light on the texts of classic authors (Comte, Durkheim, Simmel, Weber, Park, Parsons, and Merton). Ranging widely, its substantive chapters deal with the sociology of strangers and the somatic dimensions of social conflict; the social functions of ambiguity and the use of metaphors in science; contemporary dilemmas of Ethiopian society; logical tensions in the ideas of freedom and reason; and the meaning of nationhood in our global era. The book includes Levine's transformative analysis of the field of Ethiopian studies, and his acclaimed interpretation of the discontents of modernity. It makes the bold move to merge philosophically informed analyses with empirical work.Finally, Levine focuses on what he views as the contemporary crisis of liberal education, and offers suggestions for ways to stimulate new efforts in teaching and learning to do social theory. This book is an integral contribution to social science collections and should be read by all interested in the future of the social sciences.

This book is a concise introduction to the growing field of philosophy of psychiatry. Divided into the three main aspects of psychiatric clinical judgement, values, meanings and facts, it examines the key debates about mental health care, and the philosophical ideas and tools needed to assess those debates.

Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Laval University, 1999.