Interlaminar Shear Properties of Bamboo Composite for Structural Applications

Interlaminar shear strength in bamboo composite (BC) is mainly provided by epoxy resin as the matrix in BC. This may greatly change due to humidity. This study aims at evaluating the shear strength of BC by testing and developing probabilistic relationships. The interlaminar shear strength of bamboo composite (BC) in different moisture conditions was tested according to ASTM D2344. The results show that the maximum shear stress does not generally occur at the centroid of samples, which could be associated with imperfections in BC layers. An extreme value theory-based model is suggested to evaluate the probability of shear failure in BC samples. The shear capacity decreased from 20.4 MPa to 14 MPa as the humidity increased from 60% to 90%. A summary of findings is as follows: It was found that under transient moisture conditions, local failure is likely to happen before the first significant crack occurs. Local failure is suggested to be considered in the design for serviceability. Stress drop caused by the local failure could exceed 10% of total shear strength and, therefore, should be regarded as a serviceability design. The probabilistic model developed in this study could be used for developing structural design safety factors

Effect of common foods as supplements for the mycelium growth of Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus on solid substrates

The transition from a linear to a circular economy is urgently needed to mitigate environmental impacts and loss of biodiversity. Among the many potential solutions, the development of entirely natural-based materials derived from waste is promising. One such material is mycelium-bound composites obtained from the growth of fungi onto solid lignocellulosic substrates, which find applications such as insulating foams, textiles, packaging, etc. During growth, the fungus degrades and digests the substrate to create a web-like stiff network called mycelium. The development of the mycelium is influenced by several factors, including the substrate composition. As food waste accounts for nearly 44% of total municipal solid waste, incorporating food in the substrate composition could be a means to increase the nutrients absorbed by the fungus. In this paper, we study the effects of the addition of food supplements on the growth of two fungal species, Ganoderma lucidum and Pleurotus ostreatus. The substrates, the food supplements, and the mycelia are characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. Our results show that addition of barley as a supplement significantly boosts the growth of G. lucidum and P. ostreatus. Using a common food as a nutritious enrichment for the development of mycelium is a simple and straightforward strategy to create waste-based mycelium-bound biocomposites for a large range of applications, on-site, therefore promoting a circular economy

THOR: A Hybrid Recommender System for the Personalized Travel Experience

One of the travelers’ main challenges is that they have to spend a great effort to find and choose the most desired travel offer(s) among a vast list of non-categorized and non-personalized items. Recommendation systems provide an effective way to solve the problem of information overload. In this work, we design and implement “The Hybrid Offer Ranker” (THOR), a hybrid, personalized recommender system for the transportation domain. THOR assigns every traveler a unique contextual preference model built using solely their personal data, which makes the model sensitive to the user’s choices. This model is used to rank travel offers presented to each user according to their personal preferences. We reduce the recommendation problem to one of binary classification that predicts the probability with which the traveler will buy each available travel offer. Travel offers are ranked according to the computed probabilities, hence to the user’s personal preference model. Moreover, to tackle the cold start problem for new users, we apply clustering algorithms to identify groups of travelers with similar profiles and build a preference model for each group. To test the system’s performance, we generate a dataset according to some carefully designed rules. The results of the experiments show that the THOR tool is capable of learning the contextual preferences of each traveler and ranks offers starting from those that have the higher probability of being selected

Development of an extrudable paste to build mycelium-bound composites

Mycelium-bound composites are promising materials for sustainable packaging, insulation, fashion, and architecture. However, moulding is the main fabrication process explored to date, strongly limiting the ability to design the complex shapes that could widen the range of applications. Extrusion is a facile and low energy-cost process that has not yet been explored for mycelium-bound composites with design freedom and structural properties. In this study, we combine cheap, easily and commonly available agricultural waste materials, bamboo microfibres, chitosan, and mycelium from Ganodermalucidum, to establish a composite mixture that is workable, extrudable and buildable. We study the impact of bamboo fibre size, chitosan concentration, pH and weight ratio of bamboo to chitosan to determine the optimum growth condition for the mycelium as well as high mechanical stiffness. The resulting materials have thus low energy costs, are sustainable and can be shaped easily. The developed composition is promising to further explore the use of mycelium-bound materials for structural applications using agricultural waste

Temporal characterization of biocycles of mycelium-bound composites made from bamboo and Pleurotus ostreatus for indoor usage

Mycelium-bound composites (MBCs) are materials obtained by growing fungi on a ligno-cellulosic substrate which have various applications in packaging, furniture, and construction industries. MBCs are particularly interesting as they are sustainable materials that can integrate into a circular economy model. Indeed, they can be subsequently grown, used, degraded, and re-grown. Integrating in a meaningful biocycle for our society therefore demands that MBCs fulfil antagonistic qualities which are to be at the same time durable and biodegradable. In this study, we conduct experiments using MBCs made from the fungus species Pleurotus ostreatus grown on bamboo microfibers substrate. By measuring the variations of the mechanical properties with time, we provide an experimental demonstration of a biocycle for such composites for in-door applications. We found that the biocycle can be as short as 5 months and that the use of sustainable coatings is critical to increase the durability of the composites while maintaining biodegradability. Although there are many scenarios of biocycles possible, this study shows a tangible proof-of-concept example and paves the way for optimization of the duration of each phase in the biocycle depending on the intended application and resource availability

Assessment of stylohyoid ligament in patients with Eagle’s syndrome and patients with asymptomatic elongated styloid process: A cone-beam computed tomography study

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study was performed to evaluate and compare the calcification patterns of the stylohyoid ligament in Eagle’s syndrome (ES) patients, and asymptomatic patients with elongated styloid process (SP) via cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). METHODS: A total of 52 CBCT images in two symptomatic (ES) and asymptomatic groups (n = 26 per group) were assessed. The mean length and thickness of the SP, morphology, and pattern of calcification between the two sides in each group and between ES and asymptomatic groups were compared. The t-test was used for comparison. Fisher exact and chi-square tests were used to determine the relationship between different types of calcification pattern and morphology. The level of significance was considered at P < 0.050. RESULTS: The SP was thicker in the ES group than the asymptomatic group. However, the styloid length showed no significant difference among the ES and asymptomatic groups. The most common pattern of calcification in both groups was partially calcified with no significant difference between the two study groups. The most common morphology in the asymptomatic and ES groups was “segmented” and “elongated,” respectively. CONCLUSION: The morphology and thickness of the SP showed a significant difference between the ES and asymptomatic groups. This can be helpful in differential diagnosis of facial, pharyngeal, and tonsillar pain. KEYWORDS: Eagle Syndrome; Elongated Styloid Process Syndrome; Cone Beam Computed Tomograph

Anesthesia considerations in surgical deep brain stimulation for Tourette syndrome management

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a neuro-behavioral disease associated by phonic and motor tics with a high frequency of psychiatric co-morbidities. For these cases, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a developing neuro-modulated treatment option since the first report on a successful surgery in 1999. A male thirty-one years old (77 kg, 178 cm) with diagnosis of Gilles De La Tourette syndrome admitted to neurosurgery ward. His medication included Aripiprazole, pimozide, buspirone, clomipramine, citalopram, phenytoin, Desmopressin and Lithium. The patient underwent implanting DBS (Deep Brain Stimulator) surgery and battery implantation in two steps with two weeks interval. General anesthesia with considerations and according to behavior of disease and drug interactions was performed. The cause and symptoms may be due to central dopaminergic hyperactivity or anomalous dopamine neurotransmission and interventions and anesthesia should be done considering these abnormalities