Improving hydro-formability of stainless steel tubes by tube channel pressing

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. Tube channel pressing (TCP), which is one of the severe plastic deformation (SPD) technologies to refine grain size into submicron size for tubular materials, have been applied to ferritic stainless steel tubes for one pass, in order to alleviate ridging and enhance the hydro-formability. It was found that grain-scale shear bands were introduced by one-pass TCP, and texture and microstructure was successfully modified by promoting recrystallization of deformation microstructure, which is otherwise hard-to-recrystallize, in the post-TCP annealing. Elongation to failure, strain-hardening exponent (n-value) and Lankford values of both longitudinal and circumferential directions increased in comparison to with the tube fabricated by conventional process.Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) matching planner program

The relationship between a plant-based diet and mental health: Evidence from a cross-sectional multicentric community trial (LIPOKAP study)

BACKGROUND: Dietary patterns emphasizing plant foods might be neuroprotective and exert health benefits on mental health. However, there is a paucity of evidence on the association between a plant-based dietary index and mental health measures. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to examine the association between plant-based dietary indices, depression and anxiety in a large multicentric sample of Iranian adults. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in a sample of 2,033 participants. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to evaluate dietary intakes of participants. Three versions of PDI including an overall PDI, a healthy PDI (hPDI), and an unhealthy PDI (uPDI) were created. The presence of anxiety and depression was examined via a validated Iranian version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). RESULTS: PDI and hPDI were not associated to depression and anxiety after adjustment for potential covariates (age, sex, energy, marital status, physical activity level and smoking). However, in the crude model, the highest consumption of uPDI approximately doubled the risk of depression (OR= 2.07, 95% CI: 1.49, 2.87; P<0.0001) and increased the risk of anxiety by almost 50% (OR= 1.56, 95% CI: 1.14, 2.14; P= 0.001). Adjustment for potential confounders just slightly changed the associations (OR for depression in the fourth quartile= 1.96; 95% CI: 1.34, 2.85, and OR for anxiety in the fourth quartile= 1.53; 95% CI: 1.07, 2.19). CONCLUSIONS: An unhealthy plant-based dietary index is associated with a higher risk of depression and anxiety, while plant-based dietary index and healthy plant-based dietary index were not associated to depression and anxiety

The factors relevant to the onset of vascular complications after coronary intervention in Shahid Rajaei Cardiovascular Center in Tehran, Iran

&quot;nBackground: Vascular complications, as the most common complications of diagnostic catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), are important factors in the morbidity of patients undergoing such procedures; thus, this study was done to evaluate the prevalence of these complications and their related factors.&quot;n &quot;nMethods: This is a descriptive study composed of 2097 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in Shahid Rajaei Cardiovascular Center in Tehran, Iran from January 2008 to January 2009. Occurrence of vascular complications in course of hospitalization and the related factors leading to the complications were investigated.&quot;n &quot;nResults: Out of 2097 patients, 1544 (73.6%) were male and 553 (26.4%) were female, and the mean age of the participants was 57&amp;plusmn;10 years. Vascular complications from the time of PCI to the time discharge were observed in 19 (0.9%) patients. The other complications included: hematoma in 10 cases (52.6%), pseudoaneurysm in five cases (26.3%), retroperitoneal hemorrhage and arteriovenous fistula in 2 (10.5%) patients each. The complications were significantly more common in female patients (P=0.003), in patients with a history of hypertension (P=0.02), people of shorter stature (P=0.004), and being on gp IIIa/IIb inhibitors (P=0.003).&quot;n &quot;nConclusion: The rate of vascular complications post-percutaneous coronary interventions is low and it is considered to be a good treatment option for patients with coronary stenosis; provided that sufficient compression is applied on the vascular access point in the right time after removal of the arterial sheath. PCI is of fewer vascular complications, especially in female patients, history of hypertension, and higher anticoagulant concentrations

A Decision Support System for Pattern-Driven Software Architecture

The selection process of architectural patterns is challenging for software architects, as knowledge about patterns is scattered among a wide range of literature. Knowledge about architectural patterns must be collected, organized, stored, and quickly retrieved when it needs to be employed. In this tool paper, we introduce a decision support system that uses a decision model for supporting software architects with the pattern selection problem according to their requirements, including functional and quality requirements. The decision model is built based on a technology selection framework for modeling multi-criteria decision-making problems in software production. Twenty-four software architects in the Netherlands have evaluated the tool. They confirm that the tool supports them with their daily decision-making process

Investigation of Wet-Process Asphalt Rubber Binder Testing with Modified Dynamic Shear Rheometer: Interim Report on Screening Tests

In the United States, the Superpave Asphalt Binder Performance Grading (PG) system proposed by the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) is the most common method used to characterize the performance-related properties of conventional and polymer-modified asphalt binders. Dynamic modulus (G*) and phase angle (δ) are the two main binder properties and they are measured using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) with parallel plate geometry and either a 1 mm or 2 mm gap between the plates. Since these Superpave parameters were developed for binders that do not contain additives or particulates, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) does not use them as asphalt rubber binder specification criteria. Instead, penetration and viscosity are used as acceptance of quality control; however, these parameters do not necessarily provide a satisfactory link between the measured binder properties and potential performance in the field over a range of operating temperatures. In California, current specifications require that crumb rubber particles used to produce asphalt rubber binder in the “wet process” must be smaller than 2.36 mm (i.e., 100 percent passing the #8 sieve), and typically these particles vary in size between 1 mm and 2 mm. As a consequence, when the parallel plate geometry is used to test this type of binder, the larger rubber particles can contact the plates; if this occurs, the rubber particle rheology can potentially dominate the results, which in turn may not be representative of the modified binder as a whole. To address this problem, a potentially more appropriate DSR testing protocol using concentric cylinder geometry was investigated in this study to explore an alternative means of determining the performance properties of asphalt rubber binders. In the first phase of the study, documented in this technical memorandum, a series of tests were undertaken to compare the two geometries and to assess which binder properties influence the results from the testing approaches. The interim results indicate that there is no significant difference between the concentric cylinder and parallel plate geometries in terms of the G*/sinδ after testing on a range of different binders and asphalt rubber binders with finer crumb rubber particle sizes (i.e.  &lt;250 μm). However, the correlations between results from the geometries were increasingly weaker with increasing crumb rubber particle size, indicating some potential influence of larger sizes on the results of the testing using parallel plates. The concentric cylinder geometry resulted in relatively lower values of G*/sinδ compared to samples tested with the parallel plate geometry. This difference is provisionally attributed to large rubber particles touching both plates, and to edge effects issues. The proposed alternative approach to measuring the rheological properties of asphalt rubber binder is considered feasible, and that with its use the edge effect and trimming issues can be eliminated. However, the concentric cylinder method requires a longer testing time and a larger binder sample than the parallel plate test method. The testing will be continued to develop proposed revised quality control procedures for testing asphalt rubber binders used on Caltrans projects.

Evaluating blockchain risks by using a MCDM methodology based on pythagorean fuzzy sets

International Conference on Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems, INFUS 2019 -- 23 July 2019 through 25 July 2019 -- -- 228529Using blockchain technology (BT) in companies has become more common nowadays. But implementing a new BT contains many risk factors from different perspectives. Some of these risks can be critical for companies’ processes. These risks should be carefully identified and analyzed to minimize the negative effects of them. Evaluation of the risks can be considered as a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. In this study, the risks that can occur when implementing BT are evaluated by using a MCDM methodology based on Pythagorean fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (PF-AHP). By using Delphi method, the risks are determined and the problem is constructed as a hierarchical form. After that, the risks are prioritized by using PF-AHP and the most important risks are obtained. The main aim of this paper is to help companies to determine which risks are more critical and to which of them should be given more priority during BT implementation. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.2-s2.0-8506948556