Calibrattions of Cold-Formed Steel Welded Connections

The purpose of this project was to recalibrate the welded connection equations currently contained in the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Specification for the Design of Cold Formed Steel Structural Members (AISI 1996a). Only one factor of safety of 2.50 is presented for the each of the various types of welded connections when using allowable stress design (ASD), but different respective resistance factors are given for load and resistance factor design (LRFD). The data used was solely taken from the research conducted by Pekoz and McGuire (Pekoz and McGuire 1979). Calibrations were carried out and based on both the AISI Specification (AISI 1996a) and the Canadian Sl36 Standard (CSA 1994). The results of this study have already been adopted by both of these cold formed steel design agencies, as well as by the North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members (NAS 2001)

Vibration Characteristics of Lightweight Floors Using Cold-formed Steel Joist

Presented in this paper are the results of a recent study carried out at the University of Waterloo on vibration characteristics of cold-formed steel-supported residential floor systems and different design criteria available for the evaluation of lightweight floor systems. Laboratory tests were conducted for the floors with different spans and assemblies. Both static and dynamic tests were carried out on the floor systems. The static tests were used to evaluate the stiffness and the load sharing among the joists, while the dynamic tests were used to evaluate the relevant dynamic characteristics, such as natural frequencies and damping ratios, of the floor systems. The test results were then compared with those obtained from different design methods. Concluding remarks regarding the acceptance criteria from the comparison are also presented

The Use of Infrared Thermography fort he Monitoring of Udder Teat Stress Caused by Milking Machines

The aim of this study was to test infrared thermography (IRT) as a possible tool for scoring teat color changes after cluster removal; thus, indirectly, to classify the short-term stress of teats caused by milking machines. Thermographic images (n = 137) from three farms were collected and evaluated to calculate the average and maximum skin surface temperatures (SSTs) at the base, center, and tip of each teat (Tavg,B, Tavg,C, Tavg,T, Tmax,B, Tmax,C, and Tmax,T). Obtained results confirmed a significant relationship between the indicators Tavg, Tmax and the levels of teat color change (level one: pink-colored teat; level two: red-colored teat; level three: blue or purple-colored teat). Nevertheless, when a teat was considered to be stressed because its scoring fell in level 3 of the color-change scale used, sensitivity and specificity in the classification of the teat status ranged respectively between 45.6% and 54.3%, and 54.4% and 59.2%, for the indicators Tavg; and 56.5% and 60.9%, and 59.7% and 61.8%, for the indicators Tmax. When a teat was considered stressed because its scoring fell between the levels 2 and 3 of the scale adopted, sensitivity and specificity were between 49.0% and 55.8%, and 58.3% and 61.8%, for the indicators Tavg; and 55.8% and 59.9%, and 60.6% and 61.4%, for the indicators Tmax. As a consequence, the low values of sensitivity and specificity do not seem to justify the development of an ad hoc infrared device for the monitoring of udder teat stress. Nonetheless, this technology can be a viable solution for a preliminary evaluation of the mechanical stress of teats if a milking system would be equipped with an infrared sensor already in place for other purposes (e.g., the monitoring of udder health status)

Candidemia in intensive care unit : a nationwide prospective observational survey (GISIA-3 study) and review of the European literature from 2000 through 2013

BACKGROUND: Candida bloodstream infections (BSI) represent an important problem in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). The epidemiology of candidemia is changing with an increase in the proportion of Candida (C.) non-albicans. OBJECTIVES: An Italian 2-year observational survey on ICU was conducted to evaluate the species distribution and possible differences between BSI caused by C. albicans and C. non-albicans. For comparative purposes, we performed a European literature-based review to evaluate distribution and frequency of Candida spp. causing ICU candidemia, during the period 2000-2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This laboratory-based survey involved 15 microbiology centers (GISIA-3 study). All candidemia episodes in adult patients were considered. Data were prospectively collected from 2007 to 2008. PubMed was searched for peer-reviewed articles. RESULTS: In total, 462 candidemia episodes were collected. C. albicans accounted for 49.4% of the isolates, followed by C. parapsilosis (26.2%) and C. glabrata (10.4%). Mortality was higher in patients with C. non-albicans than C. albicans (47.3% vs. 32.4 %, p > 0.05). Among risk factors, parenteral nutrition was more common (p = 0.02) in non-albicans candidemia, while surgery was more frequent (p = 0.02) in C. albicans candidemia. Twenty-four relevant articles were identified. C. albicans was the predominant species in almost all studies (range 37.9% -76.3%). C. glabrata was commonly isolated in the German-speaking countries, France, UK and North Europe; C. parapsilosis in Turkey, Greece and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: Although C. non-albicans BSI is increasing, our study shows that C. albicans is still the predominant species in ICU candidemia. There are differences in the epidemiology of Candida BSI among European countries, with a prevalence of C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis in Northern and Southern countries, respectively

LOGIC PROGRAMMING IN GROUNDWATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

This paper deals with a computer model able to verify whether there is groundwater in a given place, the quantity available and its quality. The knowledge base has been constructed using degrees of certainty and other factors. The model has been applied to a region in Southern Italy, where data are available. The first results are encouraging and further questions about groundwater quantity and quality are being examined. -from Authors

Conductimetric Milk Meter: Preliminary Results

Accurate milk yield measurement is important in maintaining production efficiency and improving farm management: yield data enable to implement and evaluate feed rations for individual cows or groups, calculate actual lactation curves and identify potential health problems proactively. Actually, many electronic milk metering devices based on different methods of measurement are available on the market. Accuracy over a wide range of flow rates, foaming effect on milk yield measurement, vacuum drop across the meter and reliability under widespread farm conditions are the key problems of currently available electronic milk meters. Aim of this project was the development of a low-cost and compact \u201cstraight-thru\u201d milk meter that bases its functionality on the measurement of the electrical conductivity of the milk flowing through the meter. A prototype of the milk meter was built up during 2004 and tested in laboratory during 2005 using as experimental setup: a conductimetric card, a portable PC with a data acquisition and A/D conversion card and a software application developed by LabVIEW\ua9 6.01 embedded, a suitable milking unit (artificial udder). The tests were made at constant flow rates, from 1.0 kg/min. to 12.0 kg/min, and carried out as requested from the approval procedures of the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR). Obtained results showed: a good accuracy at all the flows rates tested (average bias of 1.4 %) but at the same time a low reproducibility (SD of 5.0%) on the measurement

Development of HW and SW solutions for milk traceability

Fontina cheese is a DOP (Designation of Protected Origin) cheese produced in Aosta Valley (Western Alps, North Italy) by dairy farms and cheese factories members of Fontina Cheese Producers\u2019 Consortium. Since 2003 Fontina Consortium has developed an identification and branding system to trace the cheese from the factories to the consumers, but till now no operative instruments were developed for the traceability of the milk produced by the farms members of the Consortium. This lack is mainly due to the traditional dairy cattle breeding system of Aosta Valley that is based on small family-operated dairy farms characterized by a low technological level. In these farms cows are housed in stall barns during winter, while in spring and summer livestock are herded to upland pastures located at the highest elevations (up to 2300 m a.s.l.). The average number of lactating cows is lower than 20 and they are milked by mobile milking units, bucket or pipeline milking systems. Following the European Union Regulation (EC Reg. 178/2002), a traceability system of the milk was developed for the dairy farms located in mountain areas. The project has been articulated in three sequential phases: \u2022 development of a database model (Entity and Relationship model) to identify all the farm data (livestock treatments, feed registration, external foodstuff records, etc) required and useful to trace the milk yield; \u2022 implementation of the database model by a user friendly software application to simplify the storage and the management of all the farm data; \u2022 development of a special mobile milking unit to record milking data (cows production and milk electric conductivity). The mobile milking unit was equipped with: a RFID antenna to identify the cows by transponders (ruminal bolus); a mastitis detection device, based on the measurement of the milk electrical conductivity, to monitor the quality of the milk produced by each cow; a milk meter to measure the milk yield of each cow; a palm PC with a customized software application to record milking data and then transfer them to the farm database. Presently a field test of the developed system is in progress in a farm of Aosta Valley. Preliminary results showed a fairly good effectiveness of the system in tracing milk production from the stable to the dairy factory nailing the traceability system implemented by Fontina Consortium