Dynamic excitation and static loading tests of glulam lattice floor

A wooden lattice floor with high stiffness and damping capacity has been developed to solve noise problems in wooden apartment houses. The lattice floor consisted of Douglas fir glulam beams with inserted steel plate joints and drift pins. To examine the structural performance of the floor, dynamic excitation and static loading tests were conducted on the full size floor. The first and second order resonance frequencies of the floor were 13.5Hz and 27.0Hz, respectively. These frequencies are similar to the peak frequency of a conventional wooden floor and the combined floor fabricated from glued laminated timber and iron. The maximum static load of the floor was 127kN. The apparent flexural rigidity was less than half the value of several floors studied in the past. However, it is considered that the stiffness is improved by constructing panels and this floor has almost equivalent performance. Relative deflection was not affected by the loading history.Part of this study was presented at the International Wood Engineering Conference, New Orleans, October 1996.     

On mechanical behavior of traditional timber shear wall in Taiwan I: background and theory derivation

The objectives of this study were to explore the mechanical behavior of traditional timber shear walls in Taiwan and to propose a theoretical model to predict their lateral force resistance. An extensive field investigation was conducted, and the dimensions, tectonic detail, and materials used were recorded. The data collected were used as the reference for theoretical derivation and experimental design. In the theoretical model, the moment resistance of entire shear walls was derived from the contributions of the moment-resisting capacity supplied not only by embedment and friction action between board units and beams but also the dowel action of bamboo nails. Timber shear walls with various geometric conditions and material properties are considered. The theoretical model demonstrated in this study can be used to predict the mechanical behavior of timber shear walls and will be verified by experiments in our next article.     

Bearing properties of engineered wood products I: effects of dowel diameter and loading direction

The embedment tests of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) with two moduli of elasticity (MOE; 7.8 GPa and 9.8GPa), parallel strand lumber (PSL), and laminated strand lumber (LSL) were conducted in accordance with ASTM-D 5764. The load-embedment relation for each of these engineered wood products (EWPs) was established. The directional characteristics of bearing strength (_e), initial stiffness (k _e), and effective elastic foundation depth were obtained from the tested results. The effective elastic foundation depth (=E/k _e,E = MOE), based on the theory of a beam on elastic foundation, was obtained from thek _e and MOE. An of 90° (perpendicular to the grain) was calculated by dividingE ₉₀ [MOE of 90° from the compression test, but MOE of 0° (E ₀), parallel to the grain, obtained from the bending test] byk _e90, the initial stiffness of 90°. This study aimed to obtain the bearing characteristics of each EWP, taking into consideration their anisotropic structures, for estimating the fastening strength of a dowel-type fastener. The relations between the bearing coefficients ( _e,k _e,) on the loading direction and dowel diameter were established from the load-embedment curves. Based on the results of the embedment test, tested EWPs showed different tendencies in all directions from wood and glued laminated timber.Part of this study was presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Tokyo, April 1999     

Dietary value of benthic diatoms for post-larval abalone <Emphasis Type="Italic">Haliotis diversicolor</Emphasis> associated with feeding transitions

ABSTRACT:   The feeding behavior and growth of post-larval Haliotis diversicolor with initial shell lengths (SL) of approximately 500 μm (Exp. 1-1 and 1-2), 800 μm (Exp. 2), and 1200 μm (Exp. 3) were studied in a laboratory setting while they fed on four species of benthic diatom Achnanthes longipes , Cocconeis sublittoralis , Cylindrotheca closterium , and Navicula ramosissima . Exp. 1-1 and 1-2 revealed no marked differences in post-larval growth rates (mean 24–39 μm SL/day) among the diatom species. However, marked differences in growth rates among the species were revealed in Exp. 2 and 3. Three species, A. longipes , Co. sublittoralis, and Cy. closterium , produced faster growth (Exp. 2 mean 29–51 μm/day, Exp. 3 mean 36–44 μm/day) than N. ramosissima (Exp. 2 mean 18 μm/day, Exp. 3 mean 23 μm/day). Post-larvae fed N. ramosissima had lower digestion efficiency (42.8%) than those fed other diatom species (90.7–100%). Diatom extracellular substances appeared to be principally used from post-settlement to 800 μm SL, and diatom cell contents were required to produce rapid growth of larger post-larvae (>800 μm SL). It is likely that the availability of each diatom for post-larvae was affected by diatom morphology, attachment strength, frustule strength, and post-larval size.     

Effects of heating on the interaction of lipid and zein in a dry powder system

The effects of heat treatment on the interaction of lipid and zein in a dry powder system were investigated. Linolenic acid ethyl ester (LAE) was mixed with the zein powder. The glass transition temperature (T(g)) for the dry powder zein was shown to be approximately 107 degrees C by differential scanning calorimetry. The thermogram of the zein-LAE mixed powder showed an exothermic transition near the T(g) of zein. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used for detecting the structural changes in zein by heat treatment, that is, elevating the temperature from 25 to 160 degrees C. The heat treatment of the powdery zein with and without LAE caused increases in the alpha-helix, beta-turn, and beta-sheet, concomitant with decreases in the intermolecular hydrogen-bonded beta-sheet and random coil. Such changes in the secondary structure were more drastic for the powder with LAE. The heating of the zein-LAE mixed powder also caused decreases in the peaks originating from LAE in the FT-IR spectra. These results suggest that the heat treatment induced the interaction of the zein and LAE in the powdery system. The influence of heating on the antioxidative activity of dry powder zein was studied by measurements of the peroxide value. When zein-LAE mixed powder was heated before storage, the oxidation of LAE was inhibited for 7 days, whereas LAE was oxidized within 1 day in the absence of heat treatment.     

Effects of protein and peptide addition on lipid oxidation in powder model system

The effect of protein and peptide addition on the oxidation of eicosapentaenoic acid ethyl ester (EPE) encapsulated by maltodextrin (MD) was investigated. The encapsulated lipid (powder lipid) was prepared in two steps, i.e., mixing of EPE with MD solutions (+/- protein and peptides) to produce emulsions and freeze-drying of the resultant emulsions. EPE oxidation in MD powder progressed more rapidly in the humid state [relative humidity (RH) = 70%] than in the dry state (RH = 10%). The addition of soy protein, soy peptide, and gelatin peptides improved the oxidation stability of EPE encapsulated by MD, and the inhibition of lipid oxidation by the protein and the peptides was more dramatic in the humid state. Especially, the oxidation of EPE was almost perfectly suppressed when the lipid was encapsulated with MD + soy peptide during storage in the humid state for 7 days. Several physical properties such as the lipid particle size of the emulsions, the fraction of nonencapsulated lipids, scanning electron microscopy images of powder lipids, and the mobility of the MD matrix were investigated to find the modification of encapsulation behavior by the addition of the protein and peptides, but no significant change was observed. On the other hand, the protein and peptides exhibited a strong radical scavenging activity in the powder systems as well as in the solution systems. These results suggest that a chemical mechanism such as radical scavenging ability plays an important role in the suppression of EPE oxidation in MD powder by soy proteins, soy peptides, and gelatin peptides.     

Specialized inhibitory synaptic actions between nearby neocortical pyramidal neurons

We found that, in the mouse visual cortex, action potentials generated in a single layer-2/3 pyramidal (excitatory) neuron can reliably evoke large, constant-latency inhibitory postsynaptic currents in other nearby pyramidal cells. This effect is mediated by axo-axonic ionotropic glutamate receptor-mediated excitation of the nerve terminals of inhibitory interneurons, which connect to the target pyramidal cells. Therefore, individual cortical excitatory neurons can generate inhibition independently from the somatic firing of inhibitory interneurons.