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The production of waste glass in China was more than 20 million tonnes, but the current recycling rate was only around 30%. How to recycle this glass was a problem that urgently needed to be solved. This study used green glass and TFT-LCD glass to replace manufactured sand in 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%. Different proportions of mixed sand were composed to prepare cement-based specimens to investigate the effect of varying waste glass on the strength and pore structure of the cement-based materials through the mechanical test, porosity and water absorption test, resistivity test, mercury intrusion porosimetry. Finally, the hydration products generated in the interfacial transition zone were observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to explain the mechanism of the action of waste glass on cement-based materials containing manufactured sands. The test results showed that adding the two types of glass sands reduced the flowability of the cement-based materials while adversely affecting the flexural strength of the cement-based materials. The compressive strength reached the optimum at 20% substitution, higher than the compressive strength of river sand and manufactured sand groups. From the SEM observations, the specimen mixed with 20% glass sand generated more types of hydration products than the manufactured sand group at three days and optimized the pore structures. At 28 days, the compressive strength of GG20 specimens was 8% higher than that of the RS group. Therefore, the replacement amount of GG up to 20% had optimum admixture.

The study aims to investigate the engineering properties of concrete incorporating water purification sludge (WPS). The design compressive strengths of concrete are 14 MPa and 21 MPa at 28 days. The rates of WPS for replacing natural aggregate are 0%, 30%, and 60%. The test results show that the slump and unit weight of fresh concrete decrease with the increase of the WPS content, and the development of concrete compressive strength and splitting strength also have the same phenomenon. The replacement ratio of WPS reaches 60%, and the ultrasonic pulse velocity is less than 3000 m/sec, meaning that the quality of the concrete is poor. Concrete with WPS has lower resistance to permeability than that control concrete, which means the durability of the concrete presents lower than that of control concrete. The concrete incorporating WPS has lower compressive strength and durability because of existing WPS particles in the interfacial transition zone around the aggregate.

The 14.6‐inch 202‐ppi rollable micro LED display was fabricated on flexible LTPS TFT backplanes. The tiny micro LEDs, those size are less than 30 um, were bonded on backplanes by flip‐chip soldering technologies. More than 11 million micro LEDs were transferred to achieve brightness of >1000 nits, contrast ratio of >1,000,000:1 and resolution of 2560xRGBx1440. We investigated the structure and mechanism to achieve the rollable capability for micro LED displays.

This study aimed to investigate conductivity behavior of concrete containing graphite and its sensitivity to the effects of pressure. Graphite powder was added to concrete to replace partial cement (4 wt.%, 8 wt.%, 12 wt.%, and 16 wt.%) as conductive fillers with a water-to-cementitious ratio of 0.45. Specimens with 0.5 vol.% Kuralon fibers were treated to enhance the performance of self-sensing properties to investigate the influence of graphite and fiber contents on electrical resistivities. The relationship between the axial load and changes in resistivity was determined using cyclic loading tests, indicating the existence and development of internal cracking in concrete. The results indicated that the compressive strength presented a linear decline proportional to the addition of graphite. Specimens with 8% graphite reached the lower bound of self-sensing properties, and with an increase in the amount of graphite, resistivity gradually decreased. In the cyclic loading tests, specimens containing >8% graphite were able to better reflect the relationship between loading and resistivity. Kuralon fibers in concrete had further improvement in resistance and self-sensing properties. In inclusion, the mixture with 8% graphite provided the best self-sensing properties to warn for preventing the effects of cracking, as well as achieved better mechanical properties.

A flexible PI‐less micro‐LED display, 228 PPI, has been achieved by transferring the display devices from rigid glass to plastic. By forming this micro‐LED display on a mold with round edge and lowering the edge radius to 100um, a more cubic waterfall display is realized.

This study examines the influence of SiO2and Na2O mix proportions on the properties of alkali-activated slag (AAS) pastes. In order to solve the rapid setting problem associated with AAS, phosphoric or silicic acid is commonly added to the alkaline activator. The retarding effect of these additions suggests a close relationship between pH and setting time. In this study, AAS pastes with various SiO2and Na2O dosages were analyzed. Regression analysis was carried out using pH value and setting time to identify the main parameters affecting the setting time. Results showed that the alkali modulus (i.e., the weight ratio of SiO2over Na2O) is correlated with the pH value. Specifically, the initial and final setting times were significantly reduced under lower SiO2and Na2O dosages. Therefore, a higher alkali modulus prolonged the setting time.

In this study, two industrial wastes – circulating fluidized bed combustion co-fired fly ash (CFA) and ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) – were used as green materials instead of cementitious materials in controllable low strength material (CLSM). CLSM was used to backfill the pavement. CLSM should meet the compressive strength requirements of the CLSM specification (under 8.24 MPa), and it had the self-consolidating characteristics of fluidized concrete. In order to comply with the characteristics of self-consolidation, a mix design including superplasticizers, adhesives, and accelerators were used to ensure that the proportion could meet the requirements of both CLSM and the self-consolidating properties. The test methods included the slump flow test, ball drop test, strength activity index, compressive strength, mercury intrusion porosimetry, chlo-ride migration test, and scanning electron microscope. A water/cement ratio of 0.85 was used as the mix design for the CLSM requirements. The CFA and GGBS used in CLSM could replace 78 wt.% of the cement, and CLSM could effectively meet the requirements of the workability, strength and microscopic properties.

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is a pathophysiological construct that derives a series of metabolic disturbances that promote cardiometabolic dysfunction. This study evaluated mediating and modifying effects of homeostatic model assessment-based IR (HOMA-IR) on the association between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and a constellation of adolescent cardiometabolic abnormalities. Methods: Comprehensive data on sociodemographics, diet, physical activity, and anthropometric and biochemical parameters for 1454 adolescents were obtained from a large-scale representative study for adolescent metabolic syndrome (MetS) conducted in Taiwan. The original (HOMA1-IR) and updated nonlinear (HOMA2-IR) HOMA-IR indicators were used as IR biomarkers. Principal component (PC) analysis was employed to create reduced groups of variables and risk scores for retained PCs. Results: Higher SSB intake was associated with higher levels of HOMA1-IR and HOMA2-IR, and the two IR biomarkers were positively correlated with metabolic dysfunction clustering. Compared with SSB nondrinkers, adolescents who consumed >500 mL/day of hand-shaken high-fructose corn syrup beverages (HHB) had a 0.22 increase in the number of abnormal MetS components, and HOMA-IR mediation explained 33.9–37.9% of the effect. IR biomarkers accounted for 26.5–31.0% of the relationship between >500 mL/day of SSB consumption and bodyweight-enhanced PC scores. The effects of HOMA-IR indicators on all bodyweight-related factors were consistently intensified among >350 mL/day HHB drinkers (all Pinteraction< 0.05). Conclusions: Fructose-rich SSB intake correlates with a constellation of cardiometabolic abnormalities in adolescents, and this association may be partly mediated by HOMA-IR levels. The adverse effects of HOMA-IR on bodyweight-associated cardiometabolic risk factors depend on the type of SSB consumption, with enhanced risks observed in the intake of high amounts of HFCS-containing SSBs.

•The optimal duration of short-course antibiotic treatment for community acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and whether a 5-day antibiotic course is as effective as a long-duration course (≥7 d) remain uncertain•The difference in the overall clinical response rates between the 5-day and longer courses (88.3% vs 88.8%, odds ratio [OR], 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70–1.28, I2= 19%) was nonsignificant.•The microbiological eradication rates did not differ significantly between the groups, at 94.8% and 95.8% in the 5-day and longer courses groups, respectively (OR, 0.84, 95% CI, 0.38–1.87, I2= 0%).•The 5-day and longer course antibiotics were associated with similar risks of adverse events and all-cause mortality•Five-day treatment and longer antibiotic courses for CABP yield similar clinical and microbiological responses and exhibit similar safety profiles.

Objectives: This study aims to (1) assess the associations between sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) consumption and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and (2) evaluate the modifying effect of body mass index (BMI) on the association between SSB consumption and CRP levels. Methods: A total of 6856 eligible adults were selected from the 2007–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Average quantity of SSB consumption was calculated from 2-day 24-h dietary recalls. All data analyses were performed with appropriate sampling weights. Results: Compared with non-SSB drinkers, a 0.26 mg/l higher CRP was observed in heavy SSB drinkers after adjusting for demographic characteristics, lifestyle patterns, and BMI. An effect modification of BMI on SSB intake and CRP levels was detected (P < 0.05). Medium and heavy SSB consumers with obesity had 0.58 and 0.50 higher CRP than non-SSB consumers, respectively (P = 0.014 and 0.013). No association was found in SSB drinkers who were normal weight or overweight. Conclusions: These findings emphasize that SSB intake is positively associated with CRP levels. Obesity might strengthen CRP levels in individuals with medium/heavy amount of SSB consumption.

The organization of magnetic nanorods in microphase-separated diblock copolymers composed of poly(styrene-b-2-vinylpyridine) (PS-PVP) as a function of rod length and rod concentration was investigated using both transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering. Our results reveal that the nanorods were sequestered into the PVP domains, which is attributed to the preferential interaction between pyridine-tethered nanorods and PVP. Meanwhile, the addition of nanorods in PS-PVP caused chain stretching. To minimize the energy penalty, nanorods tended to align parallel to the interface between PS and PVP to increase the conformational entropy. As the length of nanorods increased, the increasing van der Waals interaction and magnetic interaction caused extensive rod aggregation, which suppressed the domain size of PVP and amplified the local compositional fluctuations. This creates conditions to induce disorder in the polymer morphology and nanorods undergo macrophase separation.

This study aimed to verify the role and feasibility of co-fired fly ash (CFA) as an alternative construction material. It also demonstrated the engineering properties of CFA mortar and compared them with those of pulverized coal fly ash (PCFA) mortar. Further, CFA-PCFA-cement mortar specimens were mixed to produce ternary eco-binder mortars and find the optimal application proportion. The results pointed out that the pozzolanic strength activity index of CFA was 76%, with only a slight pozzolanic reaction. The sum of the chemical composition (SiO2+Al2O3+Fe2O3) of CFA was insufficient to meet ASTM C618 requirements, and it was deduced that a small amount of CFA should be used as the substitute for cement or fine aggregates. Specimens with CFA replacing fine aggregates contributed to lower water absorption, improved sulfate resistance, and increased compressive strength; Specimens with CFA replacing cement reduced shrinkage and improved sulfate resistance but decreased compressive strength and increased absorption. Blended CFA-cement mortars consisting of 5% CFA as a replacement material for cement and fine aggregates had excellent engineering properties. Ternary blended CFA-PCFA-cement mortar exhibits superior engineering properties. The optimum proportion is an economy-friendly binder composed of 10% CFA (5% as cement and 5% as fine aggregates) and 10% PCFA (as a replacement for cement).

In recent years, 3D printing of structural components and elements has become a popular method of construction automation. The key to the development of 3D printing was its diversity of printable spraying materials, which offered fast construction, material savings, and stable quality. A cementless blended material was made from three industrial by-products (fly ash, ultra-fine fly ash and ground-granulated blast furnace slag) without adding an alkaline activator. Various tests were conducted to compile the results, including viscosity, setting time, spray, and flow tests. The test results showed that viscoelastic solid pastes with viscosities of more than 6000 cP could be used as spraying materials for 3D printers. 3D printing can be accomplished with a ternary cementless blend consisting of 10 % ground-granulated blast furnace slag, 40 % ultra-fine fly ash and 50 % fly ash at a water to cementitious ratio of 0.25. Furthermore, the printer's spray flow rate should be set at 40 % to achieve the best aesthetic integrity. The compressive strength test verified that the 3D printed specimens had similar compressive strengths to conventional molded specimens and it confirmed that the source of strength of cementless materials was C-A-S-H colloids. According to the study, the cementless blended material developed can be used in 3D printing as a spraying material and is consistent with promoting high-value industrial by-product technology.

An effective patient transfer, or handover, among healthcare professionals can help prevent communication-related medical errors, and a reliable electronic handover informatics system can standardize the handoff process. Adapting to a new handover system may cause stress for nurses. This descriptive qualitative study aimed to explore the perceptions and transition experiences of hospital nurses in adopting and adapting to a new handover informatics system. Thirty-eight nurses at a medical center in Taiwan participated in the study from December 2016 to January 2017. The researcher conducted five focus group interviews and analyzed all responses using content analysis. Results showed three major themes: “Perceptions of challenges and barriers related to the transition to a new handover informatics system,” “Perceptions of benefits and strategies to the transition to a new handover informatics system,” and “Suggestions for successful implementation of a new handover informatics system.” Five subthemes emerged from the first theme, and six subthemes emerged from the second theme. The results of this study could enhance our understanding of nurses' perceptions and experiences with transition to a new handover informatics system and could provide a reference for hospitals to develop individualized strategies to facilitate the implementation of a handover informatics system.

ITC reveals the increasingly importance of entropy for heavier lanthanides binding to nucleotides. The phosphate group forming chelating effect with purine bases but not with pyrimidines.

To investigate the clinical manifestations and bacteriological features of culture-proven, Gram-negative bacterial arthritis.

The repair of damaged structures is a complicated problem in the construction industry and it is no uniform standard for evaluating the effectiveness of repair materials. Two different redispersible polymer powders, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyvinyl acetate-vinyl carboxylate (VA/VeoVa), were added in the repair mortars with two water-cement ratios and three polymer-cement ratios. The effectiveness of repair materials was evaluated according to the physical, mechanical properties and micrographs. Testing program includes setting time, drying shrinkage, thermal expansion, compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, bond strength, X-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy observation.Test results show that the specimens with VA/VeoVa and w/c of 0.5 have highest compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength and bond strength. The specimen with EVA also has higher strength than control one at the age of 28 days. The drying shrinkage deformation of VA/VeoVa specimen is close to the control one. The specimens with VA/VeoVa have lower thermal expansion than EVA specimen when the water-cement ratio is 0.5 and there is no difference between EVA and VA/VeoVa specimens for the water-cement ratio of 0.6. The micrographs show that adding polymer powder can reduce the pore and improve the durability.

Holographic display based on liquid crystal on silicon spatial light modulator is capable of changing image position without mechanical movement, and this feature is especially suitable for vehicle head up display to resolve accommodation issue and apply for augmented reality scenario. A prototype has demonstrated the capability of changing image position between 3 m to 30 m from the windshield.

This study is aimed to investigate the effects of four kinds of pro-coating coarse aggregate included air-dried condition, 50 degrees Celsius curing for 24 hours, saturated lime water curing for 28 days and original recycled aggregate for a comparison group. Performance testing included slump, compressive strength, ultrasonic velocity, absorption and resistivity tests and were evaluated the fresh, mechanical and durability properties. Test results indicated that the specimens containing four kinds of recycled aggregates performed batter workability due to the smooth surface pro-coated with slag. The specimens containing pro-coating aggregate with 50 degrees Celsius curing had lower absorption, higher compressive strength, ultrasound velocity and resistivity than others due to the better denseness and compactness. At the age of 28 days, the recycled aggregates specimens with 50 degrees curing had 22 % higher compressive strength and 40 % lower absorption than the original recycled aggregate specimens. For engineering requirements, pro-coating technology should be applied to improve the engineered properties of concrete and promote the natural resources recycling technology.

This study aims to examine the mechanical properties and microstructures of steel/iron slag blended mortar (SISBM), which contains two by-products of the steel and iron industries: steel slag (basic oxygen furnace slag, BOFS) and iron slag (blast furnace slag, BFS). Test results indicate that steel slag will have effective hydration reactions with iron slag and contribute strength. The optimal mixing ratio of steel to iron slags was 3:7 (by weight), and the compressive strength was about 83.59% compared with that of ordinary Portland cement mortar (OPM). The strength development was similar to that of OPM and the strength increased as the curing period increased. The X-ray diffraction analysis results implied that the main products of hydration could be C–S–H, C–A–S–H, CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2, Fe0.974O, and C4AF. The scanning electron microscope images indicated that the distribution of Ca(OH)2and CaCO3increased as the inclusion of steel slag increased, perhaps resulting from insufficient reactions between BFS and Ca(OH)2and f-CaO due to excessive BOFS. In addition, the results indicated that the density of OPM was superior to that of SISBM. This may be the reason for lower strength of SISBM compared to OPM.

Fiber cementitious materials are composed of fibers, pozzolan and cementitious. Addition of fibers in cementitious materials may enhance its mechanical properties, particularly tensile strength, and ductility. This project is aimed to evaluate the mechanical properties of fiber cementitious materials which comprise fibers and silica fume in the mixes. Test variables include dosage of silica fume, mix proportions, steel fiber dosage and type. Compressive strength, direct tensile strength and splitting tensile strength of the specimen were obtained through tests. Test results indicate that the splitting tensile strength, direct tensile strength, strain capacity and ability of crack-arresting increase with increasing steel fiber and silica fume dosages. The optimum composite is the mixture with 5 % replacement silica fume and 2 % fiber volume. In addition, the nonlinear regression analysis was used to determine the best-fit relationship between mechanical properties and test parameters.

This study is aimed to evaluate the tensile strength and impact resistance of cementitious materials which comprise steel fibers and silica fume in the mixes. Material variables include water-binder ratio, dosage of silica fume, steel fiber length and dosage. A designed tensile strength was used to perform the direct tensile in this study. Test results indicate that the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and direct tensile strength of specimens for fiber length of 60 mm are higher than that of 35 mm. The inclusion of fibers in specimens containing silica fume has higher compressive and tensile strength; and lower impact resistance than the specimens made with silica fume. Incorporation of steel fiber and silica fume in composites achieves significantly higher increase in compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and direct tensile strength than only individual use of steel fiber or silica fume and decrease in impact resistance than only individual use of steel fiber. Finally, the proposed direct tensile testing method is suitable for determining the tensile strength of fiber reinforce cementitious materials and generating the tensile stress-strain curves easily.

The pore distribution in cement mortar, which is highly related to compressive strength and permeability, vary with water-cement ratios and curing periods. This study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to observe the pore distribution. Compressive strength tests, the rapid chloride-ion permeability test, and electrical resistivity tests were performed to determine the influence of pore distribution on durability. The results reveal that lower water-cement ratios and longer curing periods contributes to fewer pores in mortar specimens. SEM images illustrated how this may be influenced by the rate at which the hydration product, C-S-H colloids, is generated. In addition, the results of durability testing indicate that porosity and compressive strength, total charge passed, and resistivity display linear relationships, as porosity increases, the total charge passed increases, resistivity decreases, and compressive strength declines. The linear regression determined that the R2 of all relationships exceeded 0.90, thereby demonstrating the feasibility of applying MRI to assess the durability of concrete.

A 1/25 scale-down specimen was constructed of a reinforced concrete reactor building used in the nuclear power plant. The non-demoulding technology and self-consolidating concrete were used to cast the specimen with a length of 2.9 m, width of 2.9 m, height of 2.9 m and weight of 28 tons. The entirety struc-ture was composed of a primary containment (thickness of 10 cm), a secondary containment (thickness of 7.5 cm) and three floors (thickness of 30 and 15 cm). Shaking table tests were conducted on it in the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering. Testing results indicated that the scale-down specimen kept the structural integrity under a 0.6 g specific seismic wave hit. In addition, the ETABS model accurately represented the dynamic characteristics of the scale-down specimen by numerical method obtained the conservative results.

This study is aim to evaluate the dynamic response variation of the scale-down reinforced concrete frame specimen under accelerated corrosion conditions. The specimens achieved the accelerated corrosion test by immersing in the accelerated corrosion test. Open circuit potential, corrosion rate, natural frequencies, displacements, accelerations and response spectral curves were tested and discussed. Test results presented that the corroded reinforced concrete specimens presented the changes in the dynamic response especially natural frequencies and response spectrum. This study provided further insight on the variation of seismic response behaviors in the deteriorated reinforced concrete structures and hoped to useful for structural assessments and appraisals applied to full-scale structures.

This study is aimed to investigate the seismic behavior of the freestanding dry storage cask for spent fuel, several shaking table tests were conducted using a scaled cask model for a real assessment of the characteristics of the seismic response of the cask. First, the harmonic excitation test on the pedestal of the cask was performed to estimate the friction coefficient at the interface between the cask and the pad according to the sliding acceleration response of the pedestal. Then, tests for the seismic response of the cask were conducted for two different setups, the vertical cylindrical concrete cask (VCC) and the concrete cask with an add-on shield which has a square pedestal (VCC+AOS), respectively, using the artificial earthquakes compatible to the design spectrum. In order to verify the often-used analysis method for the seismic response of the cask in engineering practice, the explicit finite element software LS-DYNA was adopted to generate the finite element model of the scale cask with the cask/pad interface modeled by Coulomb’s law of friction and to simulate the shaking table tests. Results indicate that the utilized method gave reasonable cask responses if the variation of the friction coefficient at the cask/pad interface was small during the sliding process.

Stabilization of the relative carrier-envelope (CE) phase for hybridly synchronized two-color fs Yb and Er fiber-laser systems is demonstrated for the first time by utilizing the feed-forward scheme based on an acousto-optic frequency shifter. The slow drift issues arising from the feed-forward scheme are solved by adding the in-loop relative CE frequency coarse stabilization via modulating the laser pump current. Sub-fs timing locking between the two-color pulses is still maintained due to the fast response and large locking range of hybrid synchronization. The approach provides an alternative way to obtain phase-stable synchronized two-color pulses with higher pulse energies.