Strength of Cold-Formed Steel Clip Angle in Combined Bending and Shear Loading

Thin-walled cold-formed steel (CFS) clip angles have been commonly used for connecting CFS framing members or attaching CFS members to the major building structure. The implementation of clip angles involves consideration of ultimate strength for combined bending moments and shear forces. Therefore, a test program of CFS clip angle was recently conducted to investigate the behavior and strength of cold-formed steel clip angle subjected to combined bending moments and shear forces at different boundary conditions. The research included connection tests on clip angle. The testing method was adopted from the AISI S914 Test Standard for Joist Connectors Attached to Clod-Formed Structural Framing. This paper presents the details of the test program, test results as well as recommendations for CFS clip angle configurations

Load Bearing Clip Angle Design -- Phase II

The report presents the second phase of a research project aimed at developing design methods for three limit states of CFS clip angles: shear, compression, and pull-over of the screw connections. In the Phase II work, the research focus was on investigating (1) the fastener pattern effects on the behavior and strength of clip angles; (2) the serviceability of clip angles subjected to tension; (3) the strength and behavior of clip angles subjected to combined shear and bending. Based on the research findings, revision to the Phase I method was proposed to account for the impact of the fastener spacing. Analytical approach to evaluate the serviceability of clip angles in tension was developed. The experimental results of the combined loading verified design equations proposed in this research project

Graph-Regularized Dual Lasso for Robust eQTL Mapping

Motivation: As a promising tool for dissecting the genetic basis of complex traits, expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) mapping has attracted increasing research interest. An important issue in eQTL mapping is how to effectively integrate networks representing interactions among genetic markers and genes. Recently, several Lasso-based methods have been proposed to leverage such network information. Despite their success, existing methods have three common limitations: (i) a preprocessing step is usually needed to cluster the networks; (ii) the incompleteness of the networks and the noise in them are not considered; (iii) other available information, such as location of genetic markers and pathway information are not integrated. Results: To address the limitations of the existing methods, we propose Graph-regularized Dual Lasso (GDL), a robust approach for eQTL mapping. GDL integrates the correlation structures among genetic markers and traits simultaneously. It also takes into account the incompleteness of the networks and is robust to the noise. GDL utilizes graph-based regularizers to model the prior networks and does not require an explicit clustering step. Moreover, it enables further refinement of the partial and noisy networks. We further generalize GDL to incorporate the location of genetic makers and gene-pathway information. We perform extensive experimental evaluations using both simulated and real datasets. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methods can effectively integrate various available priori knowledge and significantly outperform the state-of-the-art eQTL mapping methods

Tensile Strength and Serviceability of Cold-Formed Steel Clip Angles

This paper reports the recent research findings of cold-formed steel clip angles in tension. The relevant experimental program and the proposed design methods are presented. The test program involved two phases of testing: Phase I of program focused on the pull-over strength of screw connections on the anchored leg of the clip angles, and Phase II of program concentrated on the tensile strength of the anchored leg of the clip angles within the service deflection limit. Design methods for predicting the pull-over strength as well as tensile strength within the serviceability deformation limit are proposed based on the test results and analytical analysis. The Allowable Strength Design safety factors and the Load and Resistance Factor Design, Limit State Design resistance factors are also produced to support the proposed design methods

NiSn bimetallic nanoparticles as stable electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction

Nickel is an excellent alternative catalyst to high cost Pt and Pt-group metals as anode material in direct methanol fuel cells. However, nickel presents a relatively low stability under operation conditions, even in alkaline media. In this work, a synthetic route to produce bimetallic NiSn nanoparticles (NPs) with tuned composition is presented. Through co-reduction of the two metals in the presence of appropriate surfactants, 3–5¿nm NiSn NPs with tuned Ni/Sn ratios were produced. Such NPs were subsequently supported on carbon black and tested for methanol electro-oxidation in alkaline media. Among the different stoichiometries tested, the most Ni-rich alloy exhibited the highest electrocatalytic activity, with mass current density of 820¿mA¿mg-1 at 0.70¿V (vs. Hg/HgO). While this activity was comparable to that of pure nickel NPs, NiSn alloys showed highly improved stabilities over periods of 10,000¿s at 0.70¿V. We hypothesize this experimental fact to be associated to the collaborative oxidation of the byproducts of methanol which poison the Ni surface or to the prevention of the tight adsorption of these species on the Ni surface by modifying its surface chemistry or electronic density of states.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Compositionally tuned NixSn alloys as anode materials for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries with a high pseudocapacitive contribution

Nickel tin alloy nanoparticles (NPs) with tuned composition NixSn (0.6 ≤ x ≤ 1.9) were synthesized by a solution-based procedure and used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) and Na-ion batteries (SIBs). Among the compositions tested, Ni₀₉Sn-based electrodes exhibited the best performance in both LIBs and SIBs. As LIB anodes, Ni₀₉Sn-based electrodes delivered charge-discharge capacities of 980 mAh g⁻¹ after 340 cycles at 0.2 A g⁻¹ rate, which surpassed their maximum theoretical capacity considering that only Sn is lithiated. A kinetic characterization of the charge-discharge process demonstrated the electrode performance to be aided by a significant pseudocapacitive contribution that compensated for the loss of energy storage capacity associated to the solid-electrolyte interphase formation. This significant pseudocapacitive contribution, which not only translated into higher capacities but also longer durability, was associated to the small size of the crystal domains and the proper electrode composition. The performance of NixSn-based electrodes toward Na-ion storage was also characterized, reaching significant capacities above 200 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ but with a relatively fast fade over 120 continuous cycles. A relatively larger pseudocapacitive contribution was obtained in Ni Sn-based electrodes for SIBs when compared with LIBs, consistently with the lower contribution of the Na ion diffusion associated to its larger size

Co–Sn nanocrystalline solid solutions as anode materials in lithium-ion batteries with high pseudocapacitive contribution

Co–Sn solid-solution nanoparticles with Sn crystal structure and tuned metal ratios were synthesized by a facile one pot solution-based procedure involving the initial reduction of a Sn precursor followed by incorporation of Co within the Sn lattice. These nanoparticles were used as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. Among the different compositions tested, Co0.7Sn and Co0.9Sn electrodes provided the highest capacities with values above 1500 mAh¿g-1 at a current density of 0.2 A¿g-1 after 220 cycles, and up to 800 mAh¿g-1 at 1.0 A¿g-1 after 400 cycles. Up to 81¿% pseudocapacitance contribution was measured for these electrodes at a sweep rate of 1.0 mV¿s-1, thereby indicating fast kinetics and long durability. The excellent performance of Co–Sn nanoparticle alloy-based electrodes was attributed to both the small size of the crystal domains and their suitable composition, which buffered volume changes of Sn and contributed to a suitable electrode restructuration.Postprint (author's final draft

Circular RNA circNOL10 Inhibits Lung Cancer Development by Promoting SCLM1-Mediated Transcriptional Regulation of the Humanin Polypeptide Family

circNOL10 is a circular RNA expressed at low levels in lung cancer, though its functions in lung cancer remain unknown. Here, the function and molecular mechanism of circNOL10 in lung cancer development are investigated using in vitro and in vivo studies, and it is shown that circNOL10 significantly inhibits the development of lung cancer and that circNOL10 expression is co‐regulated by methylation of its parental gene Pre‐NOL10 and by splicing factor epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 (ESRP1). circNOL10 promotes the expression of transcription factor sex comb on midleg‐like 1 (SCML1) by inhibiting transcription factor ubiquitination and thus also affects regulation of the humanin (HN) polypeptide family by SCML1. circNOL10 also affects mitochondrial function through regulating the humanin polypeptide family and affecting multiple signaling pathways, ultimately inhibiting cell proliferation and cell cycle progression, and promoting the apoptosis of lung cancer cells, thereby inhibiting lung cancer development. This study investigates the functions and molecular mechanisms of circNOL10 in the development of lung cancer and reveals its involvement in the transcriptional regulation of the HN polypeptide family by SCML1. The results also demonstrate the inhibitory effect of HN on lung cancer cells growth. These findings may identify novel targets for the molecular therapy of lung cancer