Thermal behaviour of single ply triaxial woven fabric composites

This paper studies the complex thermal deformation of single-ply triaxial weave com- posites. This behaviour is studied experimentally, by testing ?at plates and narrow strips of TWF, and numerically, by carrying out ?nite-element simulations that capture the e?ects of the thermo-mechanical anisotropy of the individual tows that make up the composite. It is shown that the dominating e?ect is the development of a thermally-induced twist

Transverse slab reinforcement design of concrete bridge deck: A review

This paper reviews the current design practices of transverse slab reinforcement design in concrete bridge deck, which consist of concrete deck slab on wide concrete T-beams. The conventional bridge design method results in the provision of excessive transverse steel reinforcement in the concrete bridge deck slab due to the fact that, the slab is assumed to bear the applied vehicular loadings alone without considering the contribution of the wide T-beam flanges. Thus, the design which is based on bending and failure proved to be too conservative. Through critical review, issues regarding some design approaches were discussed. It has been found that, designing the deck slab in transverse direction would enable the vehicle wheel loads to be supported by the wide T- beam flanges and performance enhancement can be achieved by compressive membrane action resulted from the natural stiffness of the wide girder flanges. The presence of this membrane forces provides a punching shear capacity, which is far beyond the flexural design capacity for the new bridge deck system. This capacity would result in substantial reduction of the transverse reinforcement within the slab

Extension of Time (EoT) Considerations in Construction Duration Estimate for Public Construction Projects

Construction duration is defined as the time frame given by the Client of a project use to complete the project under normal working conditions, practice of construction. However, often times, projects faced time overruns and hence, needing to activate contractual remedies like Extension of Time (EoT). This paper aims to investigate the factors related to award the Extension of Time (EoT) for construction projects in especially in the public sector in Sarawak. A structured checklist was created as an instrument and employed to accomplish the objective of this research. A total of 111 previous public projects which were granted EoT were studied. The findings revealed several detailed factors that had typically led to project delays in the State. These findings are expected to offer the construction industry stakeholders in Sarawak a focal point on those delay that could be included in construction project duration estimates and management of construction performances, followed by the appropriate corrective and improvement measures for time management for construction projects

Evaluation of the performance of helmet prototypes fabricated from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene composites filled with natural resource

The performance of helmet prototypes fabricated from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene composites filled with oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers was evaluated. The fibers were produced using a milling procedure, while the composites were fabricated using a single-screw extrusion. The physical characteristics of the produced fibers, which are water content, size, and density, were investigated. In addition, the mechanical properties of the produced helmets, including shock absorption, yield stress, frequency, and head injury criterion (HIC), were examined. The impact strength of the produced helmets increases with the rise of filler content. In addition, the helmets were also able to withstand a considerable pressure such that the transmitted pressure was far under the maximum value acceptable by the human skull. The present work also found that HICs exhibited by the investigated helmet prototypes fulfill all the practical guidelines as permitted by the Indonesian government. In terms of novelty, such innovation can be considered the first invention in Indonesia since the endorsement of the use of motorcycle helmets

Silver nanoparticles in the water environment in Malaysia: inspection, characterization, removal, modeling, and future perspective

The current status of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the water environment in Malaysia was examined and reported. For inspection, two rivers and two sewage treatment plants (STPs) were selected. Two activated carbons derived from oil palm (ACfOPS) and coconut (ACfCS) shells were proposed as the adsorbent to remove AgNPs. It was found that the concentrations of AgNPs in the rivers and STPs are in the ranges of 0.13 to 10.16 mg L−1 and 0.13 to 20.02 mg L−1, respectively, with the highest concentration measured in July. ACfOPS and ACfCS removed up to 99.6 and 99.9% of AgNPs, respectively, from the water. The interaction mechanism between AgNPs and the activated carbon surface employed in this work was mainly the electrostatic force interaction via binding Ag+ with O− presented in the activated carbon to form AgO. Fifteen kinetic models were compared statistically to describe the removal of AgNPs. It was found that the experimental adsorption data can be best described using the mixed 1,2-order model. Therefore, this model has the potential to be a candidate for a general model to describe AgNPs adsorption using numerous materials, its validation of which has been confirmed with other material data from previous works

Notch signaling during human T cell development

Notch signaling is critical during multiple stages of T cell development in both mouse and human. Evidence has emerged in recent years that this pathway might regulate T-lineage differentiation differently between both species. Here, we review our current understanding of how Notch signaling is activated and used during human T cell development. First, we set the stage by describing the developmental steps that make up human T cell development before describing the expression profiles of Notch receptors, ligands, and target genes during this process. To delineate stage-specific roles for Notch signaling during human T cell development, we subsequently try to interpret the functional Notch studies that have been performed in light of these expression profiles and compare this to its suggested role in the mouse

Transplantation of canine olfactory ensheathing cells producing chondroitinase ABC promotes chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan digestion and axonal sprouting following spinal cord injury

Olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC) transplantation is a promising strategy for treating spinal cord injury (SCI), as has been demonstrated in experimental SCI models and naturally occurring SCI in dogs. However, the presence of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans within the extracellular matrix of the glial scar can inhibit efficient axonal repair and limit the therapeutic potential of OECs. Here we have used lentiviral vectors to genetically modify canine OECs to continuously deliver mammalian chondroitinase ABC at the lesion site in order to degrade the inhibitory chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans in a rodent model of spinal cord injury. We demonstrate that these chondroitinase producing canine OECs survived at 4 weeks following transplantation into the spinal cord lesion and effectively digested chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans at the site of injury. There was evidence of sprouting within the corticospinal tract rostral to the lesion and an increase in the number of corticospinal axons caudal to the lesion, suggestive of axonal regeneration. Our results indicate that delivery of the chondroitinase enzyme can be achieved with the genetically modified OECs to increase axon growth following SCI. The combination of these two promising approaches is a potential strategy for promoting neural regeneration following SCI in veterinary practice and human patients

Asynchronous combinatorial action of four regulatory factors activates Bcl11b for T cell commitment

During T cell development, multipotent progenitors relinquish competence for other fates and commit to the T cell lineage by turning on Bcl11b, which encodes a transcription factor. To clarify lineage commitment mechanisms, we followed developing T cells at the single-cell level using Bcl11b knock-in fluorescent reporter mice. Notch signaling and Notch-activated transcription factors collaborate to activate Bcl11b expression irrespectively of Notch-dependent proliferation. These inputs work via three distinct, asynchronous mechanisms: an early locus 'poising' function dependent on TCF-1 and GATA-3, a stochastic-permissivity function dependent on Notch signaling, and a separate amplitude-control function dependent on Runx1, a factor already present in multipotent progenitors. Despite their necessity for Bcl11b expression, these inputs act in a stage-specific manner, providing a multitiered mechanism for developmental gene regulation

Asynchronous combinatorial action of four regulatory factors activates Bcl11b for T cell commitment

During T cell development, multipotent progenitors relinquish competence for other fates and commit to the T cell lineage by turning on Bcl11b, which encodes a transcription factor. To clarify lineage commitment mechanisms, we followed developing T cells at the single-cell level using Bcl11b knock-in fluorescent reporter mice. Notch signaling and Notch-activated transcription factors collaborate to activate Bcl11b expression irrespectively of Notch-dependent proliferation. These inputs work via three distinct, asynchronous mechanisms: an early locus 'poising' function dependent on TCF-1 and GATA-3, a stochastic-permissivity function dependent on Notch signaling, and a separate amplitude-control function dependent on Runx1, a factor already present in multipotent progenitors. Despite their necessity for Bcl11b expression, these inputs act in a stage-specific manner, providing a multitiered mechanism for developmental gene regulation