Factors Influencing Members’ Perceptions of Success in Agricultural Cooperatives in Cambodia: A Case Study in Tram Kak District, Takeo Province

Without members’ satisfaction, agricultural cooperatives would not be successful or sustainable. This study aims to determine members’ satisfaction regarding the degree of success in agricultural cooperatives and the relationship with members’ socioeconomic factors. This study should contribute to identify appropriate policies for maintaining and improving agricultural cooperatives in Cambodia. The results show that providing more training could increase the perception of success regarding economic benefits, livestock technical improvements, and marketing information. Furthermore, providing rice bank services could increase the perception of success regarding economic benefits, livestock technical improvements, credit access, and satisfaction with services. Moreover, helping increase the paddy yield could result in greater satisfaction among members with the services provided. Key words: agricultural cooperatives, perception of success, multiple linear regression

Study on Electric Properties of Gadolinium Nitrate Crystals

Frequency dependence of ac conductivity from 20Hz to 10MHz and time series of the conductivity at 2kHz along c-axis of gadolinium nitrate crystal Gd(NO3)36H2O were measured in the temperature range from 210K to 290K. Meta-stable phenomena were observed. Dynamical property given by the frequency dependence of the conductivity is compared to those in disorder system. Non-periodic instability (burst) was found in the time series data of the conductivity. The frequency dependence of the power spectrum densities is well represented by the power law 1/f α . The exponent α is discussed with the nonlinear dynamical property.学術論

Flexural anisotropy of rift-sawn softwood boards induced by the end-grain orientation

Inspired by the use of rift-sawn softwood board for covering curved surfaces in Kokerabuki, a traditional Japanese roofing method, we investigated the flexural anisotropy of wood caused by its end-grain orientation. We measured the flexural displacement of softwood species, Chamaecyparis obtusa and Cryptomeria japonica, and hardwood species, Populus suaveolens and Cerasus serrulata. For the softwood species, this was approximately five times longer for the rift-sawn specimens than for the other grain patterns. Using the replica method to measure the softwood tracheid deformation with different flexural displacements, we confirmed the different deformation mechanisms of the tracheid in the flat- and quarter-sawn specimens, and rift-sawn specimens. In the flat- and quarter-sawn woods, on-axis loading was generated, in which the stress was concentrated on the radial and tangential cell walls parallel to the direction of tension or compression. By contrast, in the rift-sawn wood, off-axis loading was generated, in which the stress was evenly distributed throughout the corner cell walls without the wall directly resisting the tensile and compressive forces. We also concluded that the tapered shape of the tracheid walls contributes to the excellent flexibility of rift-sawn softwood

An Analytical Method to Reproduce Seismic Behavior of a Two-Story Cross-Laminated Timber Building at Large Deformation

Understanding the seismic resistance mechanisms and safety limits of cross-laminated timber (CLT) buildings and performing an accurate evaluation of their seismic performance is critical in earthquake-prone areas such as Japan, the US, and Italy to ensure that human lives are protected against major earthquakes. However, the knowledge from shaking table tests of full-scale CLT buildings is limited, and most tests’ maximum interstory drift is less than 4%. As a first step toward collapse analysis, this study replicated a full-scale two-story shake table experiment with a maximum interstory drift of 8.77%. The analysis software was developed by the authors and modified to consider the restoring force and the P–δ effect to replicate seismic behavior at large deformation. The skeleton curve parameters were employed in the analysis model and then changed. The results that matched the experimental results well were searched comprehensively by performing data assimilation. As a result, both the overall behavior (story shear force–interstory drift relationship) and the detailed behavior (uplift displacement of CLT wall foot of the first story) were consistent with the experimental results, indicating that the proposed analytical method can replicate the seismic behavior of CLT buildings even at large deformation

Seismic Response Comparison of Full-Scale Moment-Resisting Timber Frame and Joint Test Result

This paper presents the seismic performance of the moment-resisting timber frame (MRTF). In Japanese urban areas, there are many urban small houses, and it is difficult to design a wooden building to ensure both the seismic performance and the comfortable plan that effectively makes use of small and constrained sites, and it also lacks flexibility in the design. Therefore, expectations are rising for high performance of MRTF using residential members. In this study, to clarify the seismic performance and the dynamic behavior under the heavy seismic wave, we conducted a full-shaking table test of the 2-story MRTF composed of residential members with short sides. The structure was designed by the allowable stress design (ASD) to resist 1.5 times the earthquake ground motion required in Japanese Building Standard Law (BSL) and linear analysis under frequent loading conditions (snow, wind, and earthquake events corresponding to a return period of approximately 50 years), and the unidirectional full-scale shaking table tests were conducted. The structure did not collapse up to a peak ground acceleration of 0.87 g and experienced ∼1/20 rad of maximum interstory drift. This indicates that an MRTF designed by the method can secure the seismic performance for a large earthquake. The time-response analysis was also conducted based on the joint tests, but the stiffness of the analytical result is little lower than the experimental result. Then, we tried the parameter identification using quality engineering to reproduce the experimental behavior. The results indicated that the moment resistance of the joint was higher because of the stressed-skin effect of the floor

Experimental Behavior of L-Shaped and T-Shaped Cross-Laminated Timber to Evaluate Shear Walls with Openings

There is increasing interest in using cross-laminated timber (CLT) in buildings because of its high strength and stiffness. In Japan, structural design guidelines for CLT buildings were established in 2016 and construction of mid-rise buildings is increasing. Wide-panel walls can exceed widths of 10 m and integrate cut-outs for window and door openings. However, under lateral loads, corner cracks at the openings have been the most prevalent failure mechanism. To investigate the initiation and propagation of corner cracks, a series of bendings are undertaken on L- and T-shape specimens extracted from the CLT panels. In addition, three-point bending and shear tests are also carried out on beam sections extracted from the CLT panels. Three types of brittle failure were observed: bending failure of the beam or column, and rolling shear failure

Thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3 nanowire array in thickness direction

Comunicación presentada en la 12th European Conference on Thermoelectricity (ECT2014), celebrada en Madrid del 24 al 26 de septiembre de 2014.Theoretical studies have predicted a possibility of increasing thermoelectric efficiency of nanos tructure materials, owing to quantum confinement effect on the charge carriers and lattice vibrations. On the other hand, Bi2Te3 is well known to be the most efficient thermoelectric material that can be operated around room temperatureThis work has been supported by the bilateral Spanish–Japanese NANOTHERMA projects of Strategic International Reserch Cooperative Program and KAKENHI for Challenging Exploratory.Peer Reviewe

SEISMIC DESIGN OF CROSS-LAMINATED TIMBER BUILDINGS

The increasing interest in cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction has resulted in multiple international research projects and publications covering the manufacturing and performance of CLT. Multiple regions and countries have adopted provisions for CLT into their engineering design standards and building regulations. Designing and building CLT structures, also in earthquake-prone regions is no longer a domain for early adopters, but is becoming a part of regular timber engineering practice. The increasing interest in CLT construction has resulted in multiple regions and countries adopting provisions for CLT into their engineering design standards. However, given the economic and legal differences between each region, some fundamental issues are treated differently, particularly with respect to seismic design. This article reflects the state-of-the-art on seismic design of CLT buildings including both, the global perspective and regional differences comparing the seismic design practice in Europe, Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Japan, China, and Chile