Performance of Cold-formed Steel-framed Shear Walls: Alternative Configurations

This report presents the results of twenty shear wall tests that were conducted to evaluate the performance of wall configurations not currently (2002) permitted in the building codes. Ten (10) walls were evaluated under reversed cyclic loading and the other ten (10) under monotonic loading. Brief descriptions of the test program and results are presented in the following paragraphs. The reversed cyclic load tests comprised 4 ft. x 8 ft. 54- and 68-mil framed walls with 7/16-in. OSB rated sheathing on one or both sides of the wall and 33-mil framed walls with 27-mil sheet steel. The sheet steel wall incorporated a horizontal lap shear joint at the wall midheight. The monotonic tests focused exclusively on 8 ft. x 8 ft. gypsum sheathed shear walls with an unblocked configuration, except for two tests. Overall, the OSB tests showed that the No. 8 screws in 54-mil framing and No. 10 screws on 68-mil framing permitted a ductile mode of failure at the connection. In the doubled-sided (sheathing each side) wall tests, the load demands on the 54-mil chord studs exceeded the capacity of studs and the load demands at the holdown attachment to the 68-mil chords studs exceeded the capacity of the screws. As a result, the capacity of the double-sided wall was less than twice the capacity of the single-sided wall. In the sheet steel walls, shear buckling accompanied by diagonal tension resulted in high demands on a few screws at the mid-height joint which caused the panel to unzip prematurely along the joint. Failure in the GWB monotonic tests was characterized by breaking of the wallboard at the location of the fasteners along the “un-papered” edges and screw pull-through along the “papered” edges of the wallboard

Preliminary calibration of a generic scramjet combustor

The results of a preliminary investigation of the combustion of hydrogen fuel at hypersonic flow conditions are provided. The tests were performed in a generic, constant-area combustor model with test gas supplied by a free-piston-driven reflected-shock tunnel. Static pressure measurements along the combustor wall indicated that burning did occur for combustor inlet conditions of P(static) approximately equal to 19kPa, T(static) approximately equal to 1080 K, and U approximately equal to 3630 m/s with a fuel equivalence ratio approximately equal to 0.9. These inlet conditions were obtained by operating the tunnel with stagnation enthalpy approximately equal to 8.1 MJ/kg, stagnation pressure approximately equal to 52 MPa, and a contoured nozzle with a nominal exit Mach number of 5.5

Crafting Partnerships: Exploring Student-Led Feminist Strategies for Community Literacy Projects

Relationships have served as a cornerstone to feminist research in community-based research and service learning sites, as feminist scholars have argued for co-constructing knowledges in these sites, while being attentive to the reciprocal nature of these relationships within any context of and for learning (Bayer, Grossman, & Dubois, 2015; Parks & Goldblatt, 2000; Novek, 1999). These relationships are especially crucial when feminists attempt to create real and sustained partnerships through mentoring in their community-based literacy site (DuBois & Karcher, 2005). We stress the value of cultivating sustained relationships, as oftentimes discourses surrounding service learning exhibit a level of engagement that is not sustained and/or does not adequately expose the workings of power and privilege in a systematic way (Deans, 2002). In light of our feminist motivations, we need to continuously create spaces to foreground the value of experience and take seriously the process of cultivating relationships with students in ways that are both ethical and accountable.https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_facbooks/1122/thumbnail.jp

The built environment predicts observed physical activity

Background: In order to improve our understanding of the relationship between the built environment and physical activity, it is important to identify associations between specific geographic characteristics and physical activity behaviors. Purpose: Examine relationships between observed physical activity behavior and measures of the built environment collected on 291 street segments in Indianapolis and St. Louis. Methods: Street segments were selected using a stratified geographic sampling design to ensure representation of neighborhoods with different land use and socioeconomic characteristics. Characteristics of the built environment on-street segments were audited using two methods: in-person field audits and audits based on interpretation of Google Street View imagery with each method blinded to results from the other. Segments were dichotomized as having a particular characteristic (e.g., sidewalk present or not) based on the two auditing methods separately. Counts of individuals engaged in different forms of physical activity on each segment were assessed using direct observation. Non-parametric statistics were used to compare counts of physically active individuals on each segment with built environment characteristic. Results: Counts of individuals engaged in physical activity were significantly higher on segments with mixed land use or all non-residential land use, and on segments with pedestrian infrastructure (e.g., crosswalks and sidewalks) and public transit. Conclusion: Several micro-level built environment characteristics were associated with physical activity. These data provide support for theories that suggest changing the built environment and related policies may encourage more physical activity

The Optical, Ultraviolet, and X-ray Structure of the Quasar HE 0435-1223

Microlensing has proven an effective probe of the structure of the innermost regions of quasars, and an important test of accretion disk models. We present light curves of the lensed quasar HE 0435-1223 in the R band and in the ultraviolet, and consider them together with X-ray light curves in two energy bands that are presented in a companion paper. Using a Bayesian Monte Carlo method, we constrain the size of the accretion disk in the rest-frame near- and far-UV, and constrain for the first time the size of the X-ray emission regions in two X-ray energy bands. The R-band scale size of the accretion disk is about 10^15.23 cm (~23 r_g), slightly smaller than previous estimates, but larger than would be predicted from the quasar flux. In the UV, the source size is weakly constrained, with a strong prior dependence. The UV to R-band size ratio is consistent with the thin disk model prediction, with large error bars. In soft and hard X-rays, the source size is smaller than ~10^14.8 cm (~10 r_g) at 95% confidence. We do not find evidence of structure in the X-ray emission region, as the most likely value for the ratio of the hard X-ray size to the soft X-ray size is unity. Finally, we find that the most likely value for the mean mass of stars in the lens galaxy is ~0.3 M_sun, consistent with other studies.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Replaced with version accepted to Ap

The Social Vulnerability index as a Risk Stratification tool For Health Disparity Research in Cancer Patients: a Scoping Review

PURPOSE: The social vulnerability index (SVI), developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a novel composite measure encompassing multiple variables that correspond to key social determinants of health. The objective of this review was to investigate innovative applications of the SVI to oncology research and to employ the framework of the cancer care continuum to elucidate further research opportunities. METHODS: A systematic search for relevant articles was performed in five databases from inception to 13 May 2022. Included studies applied the SVI to analyze outcomes in cancer patients. Study characteristics, patent populations, data sources, and outcomes were extracted from each article. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. RESULTS: In total, 31 studies were included. Along the cancer care continuum, five applied the SVI to examine geographic disparities in potentially cancer-causing exposures; seven in cancer diagnosis; fourteen in cancer treatment; nine in treatment recovery; one in survivorship care; and two in end-of-life care. Fifteen examined disparities in mortality. CONCLUSION: In highlighting place-based disparities in patient outcomes, the SVI represents a promising tool for future oncology research. As a reliable geocoded dataset, the SVI may inform the development and implementation of targeted interventions to prevent cancer morbidity and mortality at the neighborhood level

A survey of Edwardsiella ictaluri in wild catfish populations in Australia

This report contains the findings of the first survey of the exotic bacterium Edwardsiella ictaluri in wild freshwater fish populations in Australia. Edwardsiella ictaluri causes enteric septicaemia of catfish (ESC), which is a serious disease of farmed channel catfish in the USA. The bacterium has previously been detected in imported ornamental fish and in native catfish held in Australian aquarium facilities, but wild fish populations in Australia are considered free of the disease. The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, through the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, funded an active surveillance program to provide further evidence for this claim of disease freedom