Product Development from Veneer-Mill Residues: An Application of the Taguchi's Method

The raw material used for decorative (face) veneer manufacturing consists mainly of hardwood logs, the highest in quality harvested for industrial purposes. Besides the common sawmill residuals, the clipping operation in the process produces quite long, strand-type vestiges, and large end-clipping cutoffs. During the course of the research project presented in this article, structural composite materials were designed and formulated using these clipping residues as principal furnish materials. A robust statistical product development technique, the Taguchi's method, helped to identify the effect of component factors on the expected mechanical properties of these novel products.Results of three-factor/three-level analyses indicated that there is a linear positive correlation between target density and performance attributes (MOE and MOR). Increasing the content of end-clippings up to 25% resulted in decline of strength and stiffness. However, when the ratio was over 1 to 4, this trend proved to be negligible. Resin solid content within the selected range had no significant control over the examined panel properties

Orthotropic Strength and Elasticity of Hardwoods in Relation to Composite Manufacture. Part I. Orthotropy of Shear Strength

The orthotropy of apparent shear strength of three Appalachian (aspen, red oak, and yellow-poplar) and two East European (true poplar and turkey oak) hardwood species was investigated. The experimental approach included shear force applications in planes parallel to the grain so that the annual ring orientation and the orientation of the grain relative to the applied force direction were systematically rotated. Statistical analyses of results demonstrated significant effects of grain and ring orientation on the shear strength for all species. Furthermore, interaction between these two factors was detected. Three models, developed to appraise the orthotropic nature of shear strength, were fitted to experimental data demonstrating acceptable to good agreement between predicted and experimental values. A combined model based on tensor theory and a modified version of Hankinson's formula provided the best fit by r2 analysis. The information obtained and the models developed might be used to explore the shear strength of structural composites in which the constituents are systematically or randomly aligned

Prevalence of bovine viral diarrhoea virus in cattle farms in Hungary

A study was performed to survey the virological prevalence of bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) virus (BVDV) in cattle herds in Hungary between 2008 and 2012. A total of 40,413 samples for BVDV detection and 24,547 samples for antibody testing were collected from 3,247 herds (570,524 animals), thus representing approximately 75% of the cattle population in Hungary. Retrospective Bayesian analysis demonstrated that (1) the herd-level true virus prevalence was 12.4%, (2) the mean individual (within-herd) true virus prevalence was 7.2% in the herds having at least one virus-positive animal and 0.89% for all investigated herds with a mean apparent prevalence of 1.15% for the same population. This is the first study about BVDV prevalence in Hungary

Orthotropic Strength and Elasticity of Hardwoods in Relation to Composite Manufacture Part III: Orthotropic Elasticity of Structural Veneers

Structural veneers approximately 3.2 mm (1/8 in.) in thickness are widely used as basic constituents in structural composites such as plywood, laminated veneer lumber (LVL), and parallel strand lumber (PSL). The veneer processing operation (peeling) may adversely alter the mechanical properties of the wood substance by introducing compression-set, cracks, and splits, etc. The modulus of elasticity (MOE) in tension of five hardwood species, which are potential raw materials for composite manufacture, was investigated in veneer form. The experimental work included dynamic MOE determination using ultrasound stress wave timing and static MOE measurements for comparison purposes. The orthotropy of MOE in the longitudinal-tangential (LT) plane was also a target of the investigation. Theoretical models were fitted to experimental data that may predict the MOE of the constituents according to their position within the consolidated composites. Experimental and analytical results indicated that a combined model including the Hankinson's formula and an orthotropic tensorial approach is the best estimator for MOE of veneers having inclined grain orientation. Furthermore, the relationship between static and dynamic MOE values may be obtained by second-order polynomial models

A parsec-scale radio jet launched by the central intermediate-mass black hole in the dwarf galaxy SDSS J090613.77+561015.2?

The population of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in nearby dwarf galaxies plays an important "ground truth" role in exploring black hole formation and growth in the early Universe. In the dwarf elliptical galaxy SDSS J090613.77+561015.2 (z=0.0465), an accreting IMBH has been revealed by optical and X-ray observations. Aiming to search for possible radio core and jet associated with the IMBH, we carried out very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations with the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 1.66 GHz. Our imaging results show that there are two 1-mJy components with a separation of about 52 mas (projected distance 47 pc) and the more compact component is located within the 1-sigma error circle of the optical centroid from available Gaia astrometry. Based on their positions, elongated structures and relatively high brightness temperatures, as well as the absence of star-forming activity in the host galaxy, we argue that the radio morphology originates from the jet activity powered by the central IMBH. The existence of the large-scale jet implies that violent jet activity might occur in the early epochs of black hole growth and thus help to regulate the co-evolution of black holes and galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication as a Letter in MNRA

NGC 5252: a pair of radio-emitting active galactic nuclei?

The X-ray source CXO J133815.6+043255 has counterparts in the UV, optical, and radio bands. Based on the multiband investigations, it has been recently proposed by Kim et al. as a rarely seen off-nucleus ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) source with a black hole mass of ≥104 M⊙ in the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 5252. To explore its radio properties at very high angular resolution, we performed very long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations with the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 1.7 GHz. We find that the radio counterpart is remarkably compact among the known ULXs. It does not show a resolved structure with a resolution of a few milliarcsecond (mas), and the total recovered flux density is comparable to that measured in earlier sub-arcsecond-resolution images. The compact radio structure, the relatively flat spectrum, and the high radio luminosity are consistent with a weakly accreting supermassive black hole in a low-luminosity active galactic nucleus. The nucleus of NGC 5252 itself has similar radio properties. We argue that the system represents a relatively rare pair of active galactic nuclei, where both components emit in the radio

Current therapy of KRAS-mutant lung cancer

KRAS mutations are the most frequent gain-of-function alterations in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) in the Western world. Although they have been identified decades ago, prior efforts to target KRAS signaling with single-agent therapeutic approaches such as farnesyl transferase inhibitors, prenylation inhibition, impairment of KRAS downstream signaling, and synthetic lethality screens have been unsuccessful. Moreover, the role of KRAS oncogene in LADC is still not fully understood, and its prognostic and predictive impact with regards to the standard of care therapy remains controversial. Of note, KRAS-related studies that included general non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) population instead of LADC patients should be very carefully evaluated. Recently, however, comprehensive genomic profiling and wide-spectrum analysis of other co-occurring genetic alterations have identified unique therapeutic vulnerabilities. Novel targeted agents such as the covalent KRAS G12C inhibitors or the recently proposed combinatory approaches are some examples which may allow a tailored treatment for LADC patients harboring KRAS mutations. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the therapeutic approaches of KRAS-mutated LADC and provides an update on the most recent advances in KRAS-targeted anti-cancer strategies, with a focus on potential clinical implications

Black Hole Powered Nebulae and a Case Study of the Ultraluminous X-ray Source IC342 X-1

We present new radio, optical, and X-ray observations of three Ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) that are associated with large-scale nebulae. We report the discovery of a radio nebula associated with the ULX IC342 X-1 using the Very Large Array (VLA). Complementary VLA observations of the nebula around Holmberg II X-1, and high-frequency Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and Very Large Telescope (VLT) spectroscopic observations of NGC5408 X-1 are also presented. We study the morphology, ionization processes, and the energetics of the optical/radio nebulae of IC342 X-1, Holmberg II X-1 and NGC5408 X-1. The energetics of the optical nebula of IC342 X-1 is discussed in the framework of standard bubble theory. The total energy content of the optical nebula is 6 x 10^52 erg. The minimum energy needed to supply the associated radio nebula is 9.2 x 10^50 erg. In addition, we detected an unresolved radio source at the location of IC342 X-1 at VLA scales. However, our Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations using the European VLBI Network likely rule out the presence of any compact radio source at milli-arcsecond (mas) scales. Using a simultaneous Swift X-ray Telescope measurement, we estimate an upper limit on the mass of the black hole in IC342 X-1 using the "fundamental plane" of accreting black holes and obtain M_BH < (1.0\pm0.3) x 10^3 M_Sun. Arguing that the nebula of IC342 X-1 is possibly inflated by a jet, we estimate accretion rates and efficiencies for the jet of IC342 X-1 and compare with sources like S26, SS433, IC10 X-1.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap