Experimental study on load sharing characteristics of long-short CFG pile composite foundation adjacent to rigid retaining wall rotating about its base

Practicing geoengineers and researchers generally consider the load sharing behavior in multi-type pile composite foundation as an important design aspect. On the other hand, due to urbanization, such foundation system in cities will inevitably appear next to supported excavation. This paper discusses the result from relatively large-scale indoor experiment conducted to investigate the load sharing behavior of loaded long-short CFG pile composite foundation behind a neighboring rigid retaining wall undergoing rotation around the bottom. It was found that with progression of wall movement, the hidden load from soil displacement was borne by the piles with marked reduction in soil load sharing. At the end of wall rotation, the percentage of long piles’ head load increment needed to arrive at a new static equilibrium was about 12.57~32.22% while the end bearing increased by more than 97%. The consequences on the short piles, however, were manifested with an increasing pile head (13.42%) and toe (28.9%) load for the pile far from the wall whereas the closest one experienced a certain increment up to 15×10-4rad wall rotation and finally the head load and end bearing decreased to 8.28% and 12.63%, respectively. The 3D numerical back analysis conducted using FE software ABAQUS yielded the pile – soil stress ratio lower than the value obtained from the experiment but provided great insight into pile settlement characteristics during wall rotation.

Book Review of “Hidden Persuasion”: 33 Psychological Influence Techniques in Advertising

“Hidden Persuasion”: 33 psychological influence techniques in advertising by Andrews, van Leeuwen, and van Baaren has demonstrated that the book has great insight to offer. Its potential audience ranges from the public who can learn hidden advertising techniques to undergraduate students interested in learning more about the techniques from actual campaigns. The book is full of real examples and principles that were written interestingly and cohesively. Its layout and guideline to use the book in a different setting make the book unique and worth reading. Even with some room for improvement, the authors did a great job of making the book enjoyable and educational for various audiences.

Modeling the airflow field of vortex spinning

Vortex spinning technology adopts a high-speed swirling airflow to rotate the fibers with open-ends to form yarn with real twists. The airflow behavior within the nozzle has a great effect on the yarn-formation process. In this study, a three-dimensional calculation nozzle model and corresponding three-dimensional airflow region model were established to enable the numerical calculation; airflow behavior—pressure, velocity, and the turbulent airflow field, and the streamline of airflow—was investigated in the presence of fiber bundles within the vortex spinning nozzle. Hybrid hexahedral/tetrahedral control volumes were utilized to mesh the grids in the calculation region. To consider airflow diffusion and convection in the nozzle, the Realizable k- ε turbulence model with wall function was adopted to conduct the calculation. Dynamic and static pressure values were obtained by numerical analysis to predict the action of the inner surface of nozzle and the wall resistance on the high-speed swirling airflow. The numerical simulation of dynamic airflow behavior can generate great insight into the details of airflow behavior and its distribution characteristics, and is helpful for understanding the spinning mechanism and promoting optimization of the spinning process.

The Role of STEM Program Directors in Broadening the Impact of STEM Interventions

STEM transformation has been a longstanding goal for higher education institutions who not only wish to maintain global economic competitiveness but most recently have also aimed efforts at achieving STEM equity. While researchers have typically looked to students’ and faculty’s experiences for answers, STEM program directors possess great insight from working closely with students in both faculty and administrative roles. This study explores the views of 45 STEM program directors at 10 institutions across the U.S. that had high STEM bachelor’s degree-completion rates relative to similarly resourced institutions. We document the lessons and strategies that STEM program directors have used to broaden institutional impact, including demonstrating their program’s efficacy through assessments and evaluations, coordinating, and streamlining efforts to ensure program efficiency and longevity, incentivizing support for labor, and consolidating support from institutional leaders. We also disentangle the roles STEM program directors play as grassroots leaders or institutional agents, distinguishing them by their authority and decision-making power and by whether they work to transform the institution to better serve students or to transform students’ behaviors to adapt to the institution. Our findings provide avenues to leverage STEM program directors’ efforts in order to move toward STEM education transformation in higher education.

Mouse models of aneuploidy to understand chromosome disorders

An organism or cell carrying a number of chromosomes that is not a multiple of the haploid count is in a state of aneuploidy. This condition results in significant changes in the level of expression of genes that are gained or lost from the aneuploid chromosome(s) and most cases in humans are not compatible with life. However, a few aneuploidies can lead to live births, typically associated with deleterious phenotypes. We do not understand why phenotypes arise from aneuploid syndromes in humans. Animal models have the potential to provide great insight, but less than a handful of mouse models of aneuploidy have been made, and no ideal system exists in which to study the effects of aneuploidy per se versus those of raised gene dosage. Here, we give an overview of human aneuploid syndromes, the effects on physiology of having an altered number of chromosomes and we present the currently available mouse models of aneuploidy, focusing on models of trisomy 21 (which causes Down syndrome) because this is the most common, and therefore, the most studied autosomal aneuploidy. Finally, we discuss the potential role of carrying an extra chromosome on aneuploid phenotypes, independent of changes in gene dosage, and methods by which this could be investigated further.

Book Review: Reid, S. and Valasik, M., Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White.

In the book, Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White, authors Shannon E. Reid and Matthew Valasik begin by advocating for alternative rights gangs to be included in research about street gang activity. Reid and Valasik explain the extent of youth activity in the White Power Movement (WPM). For years, white youth participating in white power movement activities have been excluded from research (Reid and Valasik, 2020). This book aims to provide researchers, scholars, and criminal justice practitioners a great insight into the structure of these alt-right gangs to push for their inclusion in future research (Reid and Valasik, 2020). According to our authors, these youth have been excluded from research because no precise definition defines this group (Reid and Valasik, 2020). These youth have been misclassified when being compared to traditional street gangs. Several definitions have been provided that do not adequately describe these youth.

Using a Homeogram to Detect Sleep in Free-living Animals

Sleep is appreciated as a behavior critical to homeostasis, performance, and fitness. Yet, most of what we know about sleep comes from humans or controlled laboratory experiments. Assessing sleep in wild animals is challenging, as it is often hidden from view, and electrophysiological recordings that define sleep states are difficult to obtain. Accelerometers have offered great insight regarding gross movement, although ambiguous quiescent states like sleep have been largely ignored, limiting our understanding of this ubiquitous behavior. We developed a broadly applicable sleep detection method called a homeogram that can be applied to accelerometer data collected from wild animals. We applied our methodology to detect sleep in free-ranging North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) in a region that experiences drastic seasonal shifts in light, temperature, and behavioral demands. Our method characterized sleep in a manner consistent with limited existing studies and expanded those observations to provide evidence that red squirrels apply unique sleep strategies to cope with changing environments. Applying our analytical strategy to accelerometer data from other species may open new possibilities to investigate sleep patterns for researchers studying wild animals.

See How We Roll

In See How We Roll Melinda Hinkson follows the experiences of Nungarrayi, a Warlpiri woman from the Central Australian desert, as she struggles to establish a new life for herself in the city of Adelaide. Banished from her hometown, Nungarrayi energetically navigates promises of transformation as well as sedimented racialized expectations on the urban streets. Drawing on a decades-long friendship, Hinkson explores these circumstances through Nungarrayi's relationships: those between her country and kin that sustain and confound life beyond the desert, those that regulate her marginalized citizenship, and the new friendships called out by displacement and metropolitan life. An intimate ethnography, See How We Roll provides great insight into the enduring violence of the settler colonial state while illuminating the efforts of Indigenous people to create lives of dignity and shared purpose in the face of turbulence, grief, and tightening governmental controls.

Filling in the holes: The reproductive biology of the understudied Mahali mole-rat (Cryptomys hottentotus mahali)

African mole-rats have provided great insight into mammalian evolution of sociality and reproductive strategy. However, some species have not received attention, and these may provide further insights into these evolutionary questions. The cooperatively breeding Mahali mole-rat (Cryptomys hottentotus mahali (Roberts, 1913)) is one such species. Body mass, reproductive-tract morphometrics, gonad histology, and plasma reproductive hormone concentrations were studied for breeding and non-breeding males and females over 1 year. This study aimed to discern if this species exhibits a seasonal or aseasonal breeding pattern and whether there is a relaxation of reproductive suppression at any point in the year in non-breeding animals. The pattern of reproductive relaxation during the wetter months is similar to other African mole-rat species. Interestingly, births and pregnant breeding females were recorded throughout the year, thus indicating an aseasonal breeding strategy, despite inhabiting a region that experiences seasonal rainfall. However, there were periods of the year favouring increased reproduction to enable an increased likelihood of offspring survival. This suggests that the Mahali mole-rat may be an opportunistic breeder possibly brought about by the benefits of living in a cooperatively breeding group and potentially moving into more arid environments that were previously unexploited by the genus Cryptomys Gray, 1864.

Frequency and analysis of acute kitchen burn injuries at Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Objective: To describe the frequency and outcomes of acute kitchen burn patients who were admitted to the burn center. Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Setting: Allied Burn & Reconstructive Surgery Center, Faisalabad Medical University. Period: August 2019 to August 2020. Material & Methods: A total of 566 cases were registered. In 293 cases, accident took place in kitchen, 153 cases occurred in home settings, 51 cases occurred at workplace and other 27 cases were in industry. 42 cases were reported at other different places. Results: A total of 566 burn cases occurring at different places including kitchen, home settings, workplace, industry and others, were included in the study. In 293 cases (51.766%) accidents took place in kitchen. Other 153 cases (27.03%) occurred in home settings. 51 cases (0.9%) occurred at workplace, 27 cases (0.45%) were in industry and 42 other cases (19.845%) were in different places. In 2019, total 172 cases were reported. Out of which 113 (65.7%) were males and 59 (34.3%) were females. In 2020, total 394 cases were reported. Out of which 237 (60.15%) were males and 157(39.85%) were females. All ages and both sexes were included. Our results showed that maximum accidents (51.766%) took place in kitchen. Males (61.84%) were affected more than females (38.16%). Regarding age, the group of children (˃10) was most to be effected (49%). Overall statistical analysis for patients was p ˂ 0.046, df =4, 95% CI. Conclusion: Combined with the previous knowledge, our research work provided great insight into the risk factors and detailed knowledge of burn injuries at different levels especially at home kitchen level.