Design and fabrication of novel auxetic weft-knitted fabrics with Kevlar yarns

For the purpose of fabricating three kinds of auxetic weft knitted fabrics, three different geometrical structures namely rotational structure, foldable structure and double-headed arrow topological structures with three different knit loop lengths were produced using computerized flat knitting machine. Experimental results show that all three different weft knitted fabrics have auxetic effect. The Poisson’s ratio values of the three fabrics are inversely proportional to knit loop lengths. However, differences exist between the curves of Poisson’s ratio relative to strain. With regards to the rotational and double-headed arrow topological structures, the curves tend to be monotonic, whilst that of the foldable structure takes the form of a parabola. This research thus confirms the possibility of producing auxetic fabrics based on several geometrical structures using flat knitting technology     

Physicochemical Properties and Consumer Acceptance of Wheat-Germinated Brown Rice Bread during Storage Time

Abstract: Selected physicochemical properties and consumer acceptance of bread prepared from composite flour (wheat:germinated brown rice:germinated glutinous brown rice flours at 60:30:10 ratio) were evaluated during storage for 0, 3, and 5 d, and compared with wheat bread (0 d, control). During storage, color profiles and water activity (from 0.947 to 0.932) of crumbs of composite flour breads slightly changed, but moisture content drastically decreased along with increasing crumb hardness (from 4.16 N to 10.37 N). Higher retrogradation in bread crumb was observed particularly for 5-d stored bread (ΔH = 2.24 J/g) compared to that of the fresh composite bread and the control (ΔH = 0.70 and 0.51 J/g, respectively). Mean (n = 116) overall liking score of the fresh composite flour bread (0 d) was slightly lower than that of the control (7.1 compared with 7.6 based on a 9-point hedonic scale). At least 76% of consumers would purchase the fresh composite flour bread if commercially available. Breads were differentiated by textural (moistness, smoothness, and softness) acceptability with canonical correlation of 0.84 to 0.87. The signal-to-noise ratio values of the 5-d stored breads were lower than the control, due mainly to the non-JAR (not-enough) intensity responses for moistness, smoothness, and softness; the mean drop of liking scores for these attributes ranged from 2.42 to 2.98. Flavor acceptability and overall liking were factors influencing consumers’ purchase intent of composite flour breads based on logistic regression analysis. This study demonstrated feasibility of incorporating up to 40% germinated brown rice flour in a wheat bread formulation. Practical Application: Our previous study revealed that flours from germinated brown rice have better nutritional properties, particularly gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), than the nongerminated one. This study demonstrated feasibility of incorporating up to 40% germinated brown rice flour in a wheat bread formulation. In the current U.S. market, this type of bread may be sold as frozen bread that would have a longer shelf life, or may be supplied as a food-service product that would be made-to-order or made fresh daily as currently practiced in some major grocery stores.     

Low-energy school design: a case study

Clacton St. John's primary school in Essex, UK, resulted from a development exercise which studied different design options. Built last year, the school is now being rigorously monitored for thermal performance. Peter Page, Assistant County Architect, and Brian King, Environmental Engineer in the Architects' Department, Essex County Council, here explain the step-by-step evaluation process which led to a design with a selective solar passive approach combined with a groundwater-to-water heat pump for underfloor heating, with controlled ventilation. The design is expected to halve the applied energy requirements for a primary school compared to the maximum values in the current DES design note.     

Alignment of Fluid Molecules in an EHD Contact

Dichroic infrared emission spectra have been obtained from an operating elastohydrodynamic contact under conditions showing unequivocally that the molecules of the fluid are aligned under shear flow in the bulk of the fluid and that the extent of the alignment is increased by the presence of an additive in a small concentration. This work applied particularly to polyphenyl ether and to 1,1,2-trichloroethane as the additive, but similar results have been obtained with polycyclohexyls and the same additive. The observation of two separate glass transition for the polycyclohexyl solution is an indication of the occurrence of a phase separation in the Hertzian inlet zone. A model has been developed to explain the effect of these phenomena and their relation to traction.     

High‐uniformity 2T1C AMOLED panels by a built‐in trimming method

Abstract— A new built‐in trimming scheme boosting the OLED driving current through analog programming of the driver p‐channel TFT is proposed. By using a selective programming operation, the current variation on the LTPS panel can be reduced to less than 1%. Another blanket‐boosting method is investigated for concurrent programming of the entire panel. This blanket‐boosting scheme has been successfully demonstrated on a 2.4‐in. AMOLED panel where the non‐uniformity improved from 8.1 to 4.9% under a worst‐case condition.