Deflection Design of Cold-formed RHS Steel Beams

The moment-deflection results of cold-formed RHS (rectangular hollow section) steel beams are examined. A simple design approach is proposed to account for the effect that material nonlinearity has on deflection. A general expression is also derived to predict the deflection of cold-formed RHS steel beams

Chiral microstructures (spirals) fabrication by holographic lithography

We present an optical interference model to create chiral microstructures (spirals) and its realization in photoresist using holographic lithography. The model is based on the interference of six equally-spaced circumpolar linear polarized side beams and a circular polarized central beam. The pitch and separation of the spirals can be varied by changing the angle between the side beams and the central beam. The realization of the model is carried out using the 325 nm line of a He-Cd laser and spirals of sub-micron size are fabricated in photoresist.Comment: 6 page

Effects of different wall materials on the physicochemical properties and oxidative stability of spray-dried microencapsulated red-fleshed Pitaya (Hylocereus polyrhizus) seed oil.

The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of the composition of the wall material on the encapsulation and stability of microencapsulated red-fleshed pitaya seed oil. Hylocereus polyrhizus seed oil was homogenized with various wall material solutions at a core/wall material ratio of 0.33 and was microencapsulated by spray-drying. The microstructure and morphology of pitaya seed oil powder (PSOP) were observed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). PSOP encapsulated with gum Arabic exhibited a lower degree of microencapsulation efficiency (MEE; 77.61–85.3%) compared to PSOP encapsulated with proteinaceous bases (90.12–98.06%). The study on oil retention revealed that sodium caseinate > whey protein > gum Arabic as effective wall materials for pitaya seed oil encapsulation. The effects of different wall systems on the oxidation stability of PSOP were studied under accelerated storage conditions; the peroxide value (POV) was determined throughout the test interval at several storage times. This study indicates that the use of lactose as wall material is able to increase the oxidation stability of PSOP; however, further research is needed to evaluate its antioxidative retention toward the oxidative stability of PSOP

Influenza Morbidity and Mortality in Elderly Patients Receiving Statins: A Cohort Study

BACKGROUND: Statins possess immunomodulatory properties and have been proposed for reducing morbidity during an influenza pandemic. We sought to evaluate the effect of statins on hospitalizations and deaths related to seasonal influenza outbreaks. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a population-based cohort study over 10 influenza seasons (1996 to 2006) using linked administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. We identified all adults older than 65 years who had received an influenza vaccination prior to the start of influenza season and distinguished those also prescribed statins (23%) from those not also prescribed statins (77%). Propensity-based matching, which accounted for each individual's likelihood of receiving a statin, yielded a final cohort of 2,240,638 patients, exactly half of whom received statins. Statins were associated with small protective effects against pneumonia hospitalization (odds ratio [OR] 0.92; 95% CI 0.89-0.95), 30-day pneumonia mortality (0.84; 95% CI 0.77-0.91), and all-cause mortality (0.87; 95% CI 0.84-0.89). These protective effects attenuated substantially after multivariate adjustment and when we excluded multiple observations for each individual, declined over time, differed across propensity score quintiles and risk groups, and were unchanged during post-influenza season periods. The main limitations of this study were the observational study design, the non-specific outcomes, and the lack of information on medications while hospitalized. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Statin use is associated with a statistically significant but minimal protective effect against influenza morbidity that can easily be attributed to residual confounding. Public health officials and clinicians should focus on other measures to reduce morbidity and mortality from the next influenza pandemic

Chemical composition and DSC thermal properties of two species of Hylocereus cacti seed oil: hylocereus undatus and Hylocereus polyrhizus.

Two types of pitaya (Hylocereus cacti) seeds (Hylocereus undatus and Hylocereus polyrhizus) were investigated in this study. The fatty acid, phenolic, tocopherol, and sterol contents of the extracted seed oil were analysed. The results showed that the pitaya seeds contained a high amount of oil (18.33–28.37%). The three major fatty acids in the H. undatus seed oil (WFSO) and H. polyrhizus seed oil (RFSO) were linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acids. The total tocopherol contents in the WFSO and RFSO were 36.70 and 43.50 mg/100 g, respectively. The phytosterol compounds identified in the WFSO and RFSO were cholesterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, and β-sitosterol. Seven phenolic acid compounds were identified in the WFSO and RFSO, namely, gallic, vanillic, syringic, protocatechuic, p-hydroxybenzoic, p-coumaric, and caffeic acids. WFSO and RFSO can be differentiated by their Toff and Ton values in the DSC thermal curves. This study reveals that pitaya seed oil has a high level of functional lipids and can be used as a new source of essential oil

Review on recent advances in information mining from big consumer opinion data for product design

In this paper, based on more than ten years' studies on this dedicated research thrust, a comprehensive review concerning information mining from big consumer opinion data in order to assist product design is presented. First, the research background and the essential terminologies regarding online consumer opinion data are introduced. Next, studies concerning information extraction and information utilization of big consumer opinion data for product design are reviewed. Studies on information extraction of big consumer opinion data are explained from various perspectives, including data acquisition, opinion target recognition, feature identification and sentiment analysis, opinion summarization and sampling, etc. Reviews on information utilization of big consumer opinion data for product design are explored in terms of how to extract critical customer needs from big consumer opinion data, how to connect the voice of the customers with product design, how to make effective comparisons and reasonable ranking on similar products, how to identify ever-evolving customer concerns efficiently, and so on. Furthermore, significant and practical aspects of research trends are highlighted for future studies. This survey will facilitate researchers and practitioners to understand the latest development of relevant studies and applications centered on how big consumer opinion data can be processed, analyzed, and exploited in aiding product design

Compositional and thermal characteristics of palm olein-based diacylglycerol in blends with palm super olein

Palm olein-based diacylglycerol (POL-DAG) was blended with palm super olein (POoo) in various concentrations (10–90%), with increments of 10% (wt/wt) POL-DAG. The physical and chemical characteristics, i.e., iodine value, acylglycerol content, fatty acid composition, melting and crystallization profiles and solid fat content, for POL-DAG, POoo and their binary blends were evaluated. The mid-infrared FTIR was used to determine the absorption bands of the different concentrations of the oil blends. Only slight differences of FAC and IV were observed. POL-DAG:POoo blends showed significant changes (p < 0.05) in DAG content and decreases in TAG content with increasing POL-DAG content. The DSC thermograms showed that the addition of different concentrations of POL-DAG changed the melting and crystallization behavior of the oil blends (POL-DAG:POoo). The crystallization onset point increased (p < 0.05) with an increasing POL-DAG concentration (10–90%). POL-DAG has the same absorption bands as POoo, with the exception of several minor peaks that appeared at (I) 2954 cm− 1, (II) 1267 cm− 1, (III) 1199 cm− 1, (IV) 1222 cm− 1 and (V) 966 cm− 1. This study will provide essential information for the palm oil industry to identify the most suitable POL-DAG blends with desirable physicochemical properties for food application purposes

Navigation/Prop Software Suite

Navigation (Nav)/Prop software is used to support shuttle mission analysis, production, and some operations tasks. The Nav/Prop suite containing configuration items (CIs) resides on IPS/Linux workstations. It features lifecycle documents, and data files used for shuttle navigation and propellant analysis for all flight segments. This suite also includes trajectory server, archive server, and RAT software residing on MCC/Linux workstations. Navigation/Prop represents tool versions established during or after IPS Equipment Rehost-3 or after the MCC Rehost

On Hadronic Production of the BcB_c Meson

Two of the approaches to the hadronic productions of the double heavy mesons $B_c$ and $B_c^*$ are investigated. Comparison in various aspects on the results obtained by the approaches is made and shown in figures and a table. Some trial understanding of the approaches themselves and the achieved results is presented. The results may be used as some references for discovering the mesons at Tevatron and LHC.Comment: 18 pages, the revised version of hep-ph/940824