• Shear performance of poplar LVL beams with a hole in bending-shear spans

  Wang, A.; Zhang, Z.; Ashour, Ashraf; Liu, Y.; Wang, C. (2024-11-13)

  To investigate the shear performance of poplar laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beams with holes in bending-shear spans, six specimens were designed and tested by four-point bending tests. Among these, five specimens were provided with a single hole of varying diameter-to-height ratio in the bending-shear span and two of these beams were also reinforced with circumferential carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) wrap layers. Furthermore, a 3D finite element models for poplar LVL beams with a hole were established, based on the extended finite element method (XFEM) using ABAQUS software. The validated model was utilized to conduct parametric studies on the diameter-to-height ratio, the hole shape, and the vertical eccentricity ratio. A simplified theoretical analysis for predicting the cracking and ultimate loads for LVL beam with a hole was also proposed. The results indicated that beams without a hole failed due to bending, characterized by mid-span tension cracks, whereas beams with a hole exhibited shear failure along the beam's grain direction due to stress concentration around the holes. The maximum normal tensile strain perpendicular to grain around the hole had an angle of 45° or 225° relative to the beam's longitudinal axis, consistent with the crack initiation angle. As the diameter-to-height ratio increased, the cracking and ultimate loads of beams with a hole decreased, indicating more brittle failure characteristics. The circular hole beam showed significant improvements in cracking and ultimate loads compared with the square hole beam with side length equal to the diameter of the circular hole. When the hole center's vertical eccentricity was in the compression zone, an increase in vertical eccentricity led to enhancements in both the cracking load and ultimate loads. Wrapping the beam with CFRP sheet around the hole effectively mitigated crack propagation, enhancing the load-bearing capacity of beams. The simplified formulas provided accurate prediction for the ultimate load, but highly overestimated the cracking and ultimate loads for poplar LVL beams with a hole. The research findings can be provided as a technical support for the design and application of LVL beams with holes.
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  Introduction of Metaverse in business

  Mishra, U.; Jayawardena, Nirma S. (Emerald, 2024-12)

  It has become obvious to companies that the metaverse may help maximize profits. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the uses and possibilities of metaverse-based virtual and augmented reality technologies in the future. Brands can now engage with customers at a completely new level of interaction through Metaverse, which cannot be achieved within current marketing channels. Immersive XR environments may require decision makers to reexamine customer journeys, demographic characteristics, and customer personas. The main purpose of this chapter is to present an overview of metaverse applications. Further this section reveals the ways in which the business and education industry can benefit through metaverse applications. Additionally, this section reveals the real-world applications of technology in metaverse for avatar, gaming, and prospects. Finally, this chapter sheds light on the academics and practitioners by showing how metaverse elements can contribute for business processes.
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  Biodegradable Polymer Composites of Metal Organic Framework-5 (MOF-5) for the Efficient and Sustained Delivery of Cephalexin and Metronidazole

  Anim, Anoff; Mahmoud, L.A.M.; Kelly, Adrian L.; Katsikogianni, Maria; Nayak, Sanjit (2023-09-01)

  The sustained and controlled delivery of antimicrobial drugs has been largely studied using nanomaterials, like metal organic frameworks (MOFs), and various polymers. However, not much attention has been given to combining MOFs and biodegradable polymers towards the potentially more sustained release of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Herein, we report a comparative study of two widely used antimicrobial drugs, cephalexin and metronidazole, from zinc-based MOF-5 incorporated into biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) and poly-lactic glycolic acid (PLGA) composites. Cephalexin and metronidazole were separately loaded into MOF-5 post-synthetically, followed by their integration into biodegradable PLGA and PCL composites. The pristine MOF-5 and the loaded MOFs were thoroughly characterised using Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy studies were carried out to assess the release of the drugs in PBS for up to 72 h, showing a cumulative release of 24.95 wt% and 27.84 wt% for cephalexin and metronidazole, respectively. The antibacterial properties of the pristine MOF, pure drugs, drug-loaded MOFs and the loaded composites were assessed against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli or Acinetobacter baumanii, respectively. A cephalexin-loaded MOF-5 composite of PCL (PCL-ceph@MOF-5) showed the best efficiency for the controlled release of drugs to inhibit the growth of the bacteria compared to the other composites. This study demonstrates that the combination of MOFs with biodegradable polymers can provide an efficient platform for the sustained release of antimicrobial drugs and can be a promising tool to manage antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
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  Educators’ Perspectives on University Technology Transfer Processes in the Philippines: A Case Study

  Garcia, L.; Ting, K.A.; Van Hoorebeek, Mark (2024-09)

  As universities extend the scope of their tasks as educational institutions to include technology transfer and commercialization of their faculty’s and students’ research outputs, it becomes necessary to investigate internal systems that facilitate such processes. Existing literature on technology transfer in the Philippines is mostly focused on the transfer of a specific technology, industry–academe research and development (R&D) collaboration, the experience in a specific industry, or the experience in public Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs). The perspectives of educators and researchers who are the recipients of technology transfer services within Philippine HEIs have, so far, not yet been investigated. This paper aims to fill that gap by interviewing eight educators from four colleges in a Philippine HEI. The findings primarily reveal the importance of internal communications in the university technology transfer process. They also reveal that, aside from entrepreneurship training, educators need to understand the intellectual property rights system to see the potential benefits of intellectual property protection and be able to relate intellectual property rights to their research work. This paper therefore recommends that, to promote intellectual property awareness and academic entrepreneurship in the country, HEIs need to allocate resources for intellectual property education and entrepreneurship training to encourage active participation of researchers in Philippine HEIs in the formal technology transfer process.
• Somatic-Variant-Discovery-from-WES-Data-Using-Control-FREEC

  Jumah, K.; Kamieniecka, K.; Maier, W.; Poterlowicz, Krzysztof (2024)

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