Yuhao Jiang, Jialan Yao, Chengfei Zhu^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 135-148, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016304 - 27 July 2021

Abstract Poly(urea-formaldehyde) (PUF) microcapsules were prepared by in-situ polymerization with four different processes in this paper. The chemical composition, surface morphology, particle size distribution, and thermal stability were characterized by FTIR, SEM, particle size analyzer, and TGA, respectively. The results demonstrated that the agglomeration of the PUF microcapsules was related to the agglomeration of the emulsion particles caused by the changes of emulsion interface during the shell polymerization. Due to the slow deposition of the shell material, the PUF microcapsules with the core-shell structure prepared by the process with ammonium chloride as the last additive showed More > Graphic Abstract

Yousef Y. Sewar¹, Zhancheng Zhang¹, Xinmiao Meng^1,*, Mohammed Y. Wahan¹, Hanxiao Qi^1,2, Qahtan M. Al-Shami^1,3, Shijiao Luo¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 219-235, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016013 - 27 July 2021

Abstract Engineered bamboo has recently received lots of attention of civil engineers and professional researchers due to its better mechanical performance than that of softwood timber. Parallel strand bamboo is one important part of engineered bamboo for its excellent durable performance compared to the laminated veneer bamboo. The required curing temperature in hot-pressing process is usually higher than 120°C to reduce the content of nutritional ingredients and hemy cellulose, and to avoid the decay from the environment and insects. Nonetheless, the appearance of engineered bamboo gets darker with the increase of temperature during the hot-pressing process.… More > Graphic Abstract

Zhentao Chen¹, Weidong Lu^1,2,*, Yingwei Bao¹, Jun Zhang¹, Lu Wang¹, Kong Yue¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 89-104, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015925 - 27 July 2021

Abstract The timber-concrete composite (TCC) slabs have become a preferred choice of floor systems in modern multi story timber buildings. This TCC slab consisted of timber and a concrete slab which were commonly connected together with inclined self-tapping screws (STSs). To more accurately predict the fire performance of TCC slabs, the mechanical behavior of TCC connections under high temperature was investigated by numerical simulation in this study. The interface slip of TCC connections was simulated by a proposed Finite Element (FE) model at room temperature, and different diameter and penetration length screws were considered. The effectiveness… More > Graphic Abstract

Xiushao Zhao¹, Qijing Yang^1,2,*, Jianglong Rao¹, Daxin Geng¹, Zhouyong Tan¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 203-218, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015854 - 27 July 2021

Abstract Completely weathered phyllite (CWP) soil is a kind of special soil with high swell potential, while red clay is a special soil with high shrinkage. This means that these two kinds of special soils are usually not suitable for direct use as subgrade fill. To reduce the swell index of the CWP soil and the shrinkage of red clay at the same time, it was proposed to blend the CWP soil with red clay to improve their basic characteristics. A series of swell index tests and dry-wet cycle tests of the blended soils have been… More > Graphic Abstract

Nan Guo¹, Jing Ren¹, Ling Li^1,*, Yan Zhao², Mingtao Wu¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 183-201, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015756 - 27 July 2021

Abstract Due to creep characteristics of wood, long-term loading can cause a significant stress loss of steel bars in reinforced glulam beams and high long-term deflection of the beam midspan. In this study, 15 glulam beams were subjected to a 90-day long-term loading test, and the effects of long-term loading value, reinforcement ratio and prestress level on the stress of steel bars, midspan long-term deflection, and other parameters were compared and analyzed. The main conclusions drawn from this study were that the long-term deflection of the reinforced glulam beams accounted for 22.5%, 20.6%, and 18.2% of… More >

Huifeng Yang^1,*, Junfeng Ji¹, Haotian Tao², Benkai Shi¹, Junbin Hu¹, Bo Wen³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 105-117, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016118 - 27 July 2021

Abstract Experimental investigation on the pull-out behaviour, including the withdrawal capacity, slip stiffness and interfacial shear stress, of axially loaded screwed-in threaded rod embedded in cross laminated timber (CLT) was conducted. Specimens with varying embedment length and different number of threaded rods were tested in this study. To prevent premature splitting failure of timber, some specimens were reinforced in the direction perpendicular to the timber grain with self-tapping screws. Test results showed that the screwed-in threaded rod connections exhibited good pull-out behaviour with high withdrawal capacity and slip stiffness. Within a certain range, the withdrawal capacity More > Graphic Abstract

Jian Gong¹, Lingzhi Xie^1,2,*, Yongxue Li¹, Zhichun Ni³, Qingzhu Wei³, Yupeng Wu⁴, Haonan Cheng⁵

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 33-51, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016262 - 27 July 2021

Abstract Based on the recent development of renewable energy utilization technology, in addition to centralized photovoltaic power plants, distributed photovoltaic power generation systems represented by building-integrated photovoltaic systems are frequently employed for power supply. Therefore, in the architectural design, the double-glass photovoltaic module used in the integrated photovoltaic building system puts forward a higher load-bearing capacity requirement and the corresponding simplified method of carrying capacity check. This article focuses on the simplified method of checking the bearing capacity of the four-sided simply supported double-glass photovoltaic module. First, the principle of equivalent stiffness is used to calculate… More > Graphic Abstract

Jingjing Liao^1,2, Jinxing Li², Hongyan Wang³, Yan Zhu², Hisham Essawy⁴, Guanben Du^1,2,*, Xiaojian Zhou^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 19-31, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016152 - 27 July 2021

Abstract The current work explores the potential use of commercial Chinese bayberry tannin (BT) to develop antioxidant PVA-based films using solvent casting process for packaging applications. The effect of BT concentration on opacity, water resistance and antioxidant capacity of resulting films was investigated. Properties like tensile strength, thermal behavior, and morphological aspects were also characterized. The experimental results showed that PVA/BT films formed with uniformly brown color and generally good transparency, offering good antioxidant ability. The PVA film containing BT presented slightly higher water resistance according to the results of moisture content and water vapor permeability, More > Graphic Abstract

Ali Ariafar^1,2,a, Mohammadrasul Zareinejad^3,4,a, Mohammadreza Soltani¹, Yasmin Vahidi³, Zahra Faghih³

European Cytokine Network, Vol.32, No.1, pp. 1-7, 2021, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2021.0462

Abstract Background: Bladder cancer (BC) is the tenth common cancer worldwide. Despite progress in treatment and the use of chemotherapeutic drugs, the survival rate of BC patients is still low. Manipulation of the immune system was recently introduced as an interesting alternative treatment for this immunogenic cancer with fewer side effects. Accordingly, in the present study, we assessed the frequency of GM-CSF-producing lymphocytes in tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) of BC patients and evaluated their relationship with clinicopathological factors and survival rate. Methods: Fifty-four patients with BC who had received no treatment were recruited. Mononuclear cells were… More >

Qingzhu Song¹, Fenglan Zhang², Tian Yuan², Yulong Wei²

European Cytokine Network, Vol.32, No.2, pp. 39-47, 2021, DOI:10.1684/ecn.2021.0468

Abstract Breast cancer is by far the most common malignancy found in women and causes a significant public health problem around the world. Early diagnosis of cancer plays an important role in successful treatment and survival of patients. This study aims to investigate the possibility of plasma Tie2 to be used as a biomarker for diagnosis of breast cancer. In total, 20 healthy volunteers and 33 breast cancer patients were considered for this study. The level of Tie2 in plasma was detected using the ELISA technique and immunohistochemistry was performed to measure the expression of Tie2… More >