The first form of damage in composite laminates is often matrix microcracks that are defined as intralaminar or ply cracks across the thickness of the ply and parallel to the fibers in that ply (see reviews in [1,2]). Tensile loading, fatigue loading, environment, and thermal cycling can all lead to microcrack formation. Microcracks can form in any ply that has a significant component of the ap...

This paper presents a multi-agent search technique to design an optimal composite box-beam helicopter rotor blade. The search technique is called particle swarm optimization (‘inspired by the choreography of a bird flock’). The continuous geometry parameters (cross-sectional dimensions) and discrete ply angles of the box-beams are considered as design variables. The objective of the design prob...

Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the most common etiologic agents of community-acquired pneumonia, particularly bacteremic pneumonia. Pneumolysin, a multifunctional cytotoxin, is a putative virulence factor for S. pneumoniae; however, a direct role for pneumolysin in the early pathogenesis of pneumococcal pneumonia has not been confirmed in vivo. We compared the growth of a pneumolysin-defici...

• Forty-seven dowelled cross-laminated timber (CLT) connections were tested. Increased row spacing and end distance significantly increased ductility. Reinforcement by screws or threaded dowels with nuts enhanced performance. 3-ply (135 mm), 5-ply (175 mm ), 7-ply (275 mm) CLT panels employed. Overstrength ductility of determined. Dowel embedment tests performed to determine theoretical overstr...

We evaluated the applicability of ply PCR for confirmation of the identification of Streptococcus pneumoniae. lytA PCR, 16S rRNA sequencing, and amplified-fragment length polymorphism were used as reference methods. In contrast to the lytA gene, the ply gene proved to be not specific for S. pneumoniae. The presence of the ply gene in other streptococci, in particular Streptococcus mitis, sugges...

Trucking fleets and owners of commercial vehicles utilize both new and retread tires on their vehicles in the United States. Retread tires are used primarily for the cost advantage they provide over a similar new tire. Despite the advantages that retreaded tires may bring, public perception is that retread tires are less safe than new tires as evidenced by the amount of tire debris frequently f...

Streptococcus pneumoniae is the world's leading cause of pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis and otitis media. A major pneumococcal virulence factor is the cholesterol-dependent cytolysin, which has the defining property of forming pores in cholesterol-containing membranes. In recent times a clinically significant and internationally successful serotype 1 ST306 clone has been found to express a n...

Tires that were either crudely chopped or more finely processed into shreds contained viable eggs. Field-collected remnants of 2-3 chopped tires contained viable Aedes albopictus eggs. After shredding tires seeded with mosquito eggs, 34 (4.6%) of an estimated 746 Ae. albopictus eggs and 21 (2.7%) of an estimated 774 Aedes triseriatus eggs survived. Chopped and shredded tire remnants may serve a...

The ply number of a drawing is a new criterion of interest for graph drawing. Informally, the ply number of a straight-line drawing of a graph is defined as the maximum number of overlapping disks, where each disk is associated with a vertex and has a radius that is half the length of the longest edge incident to that vertex. This paper reports the results of an extensive experimental study tha...

The generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method is used to obtain the computational results of two-layer cross-ply laminated shell under rapid uniform heat induced vibration. In the thermally insulated vibration analyses of a laminated shell, the sudden uniform heat input over its lower surface only and temperature load is linear of axial coordinate. The GDQ method provides a method for ca...