CFRP lamella stay-cable and its force measurement based on microwave radar

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) has advantageous characteristics such as lightweight, high strength, high corrosion and fatigue resistance, low creep, and high damping, etc. It is suitable to be used in bridge structures as cables, which can effectively solve the problems of easy rusting, heavyweight, low tensile strength, and low fatigue performance of steel cables. This paper firstly illustrates the advantageous properties of CFRP lamella compared with CFRP rod in terms of cable anchoring and then investigates the performance of wedge-shaped clamp anchorage for CFRP lamella cable by finite element analysis and static tensile test. Finally, the process of measuring the cable force of CFRP lamella stay-cable with non-contact microwave cable force measurement technology is introduced. The finite element analysis and experiment show that the wedge-shaped clamp anchorage can effectively anchor the CFRP lamella stay-cable with a relatively high anchorage efficiency, and the maximum stress of the CFRP lamella staycable is at the free section instead of the anchorage section, and the failure pattern is mainly the fiber explosion of the free section. The results of microwave cable force measurement are consistent with those of the traditional pressure sensor and strain gauge methods. The noncontact microwave cable force measurement technology is easy and fast to operate, and it is suitable for measuring the force of CFRP cable.Yue Liu, Jia-Zhan Xie, T. Tafsirojjaman, Qing-Rui Yue, Cheng Tan, Gong-Jian Ch

Gut Microbiota and Dietary Intake of Normal-Weight and Overweight Filipino Children

Diet and body mass index (BMI) have been shown to affect the gut microbiota of children, but studies are largely performed in developed countries. Here, we conducted a cross-sectional investigation on the differences in the bacterial gut microbiota between normal-weight and overweight urban Filipino children, and determined the relationship between their energy, macronutrient and dietary fiber intakes, and their gut microbiota composition and diversity. Forty-three children (normal-weight,n= 32; overweight,n= 11) participated in the study. Energy and fiber intakes were collected using a semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The gut microbiota was profiled using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of the V3-V4 region. The diet of the children was a mixture of traditional and Western patterns. There were no significant differences in energy, macronutrients and energy-adjusted fiber intakes between the normal-weight and overweight groups, but there were significantly more children meeting the recommended fiber intake in the overweight group. Alpha and beta bacterial diversities did not significantly differ between weight groups. Relative abundance ofBifidobacterium,TuricibacterandClostridiaceae 1were higher in the normal-weight than overweight children, andLachnospirawas higher in overweight children.Molecular basis of bacterial pathogenesis, virulence factors and antibiotic resistanc