Search results

A decade of growth in the health food market is typified by the case of cereal bars. They have undoubtedly benefited from an increased consumer awareness about healthier ways to eat, but to what extent do consumers perceive these bars to be the “healthy alternative snack”, and how healthy are they? The results of a consumer survey (n=200) are reported which suggests that cereal bars are perceived as being healthy. Chemical analysis revealed that on sugar, fat, salt and fibre content, these bars were only marginally better than favourite traditional snacks. Sensory analysis showed that consumers much preferred cereal bars which contain chocolate but that these were not the healthiest. The gap between consumers′ perception of product benefits and actual benefits is something which should be further investigated in other products within the health food market.

The corrosion of reinforcing steel bars reduces significantly the life and durability of concrete structures. This critical concern causes great losses to the economy and industry. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effects of corrosion on the tensile mechanical properties of embedded steel bars B500c in concrete.

The concept is based on the curve fitting modelling, as well the mathematical correlation of the tensile mechanical properties between corroded bare and corroded embedded steel bars. In order to achieve this, extensive experiments were carried out on both bare (Ø8, 10, 12, 16 and 18 mm) and embedded (Ø8 mm) steel bars B500c, which were subjected to artificially accelerated corrosive conditions in a chloride‐rich atmosphere for several exposure times.

The research results show that the estimation method is available and effective in simulating the tensile mechanical behaviour of corroded reinforcing steel bars B500c.

As far as is known, this is the first time that an advanced data processing technique has been employed to try to find the mathematical correlation of the existing corrosion damage on the residual tensile properties between bare and embedded steel bars. It is argued that these models can be developed in order to reduce the need for expensive experimental investigation in materials.

This study aims to determine the effect of replacing a portion of the cement in the concrete mixture with silica fume (SF) on the corrosion resistance of reinforcing bars, the compressive strength of concrete and the tensile strength of hook bars in both corroded and non-corroded external joints of structures. The external beam-column connection was studied because of its critical role in maintaining structural continuity in all three directions and providing resistance to rotation.

In external concrete joints, the bars at the end of the beams are often bent at 90° to form hooks that embed in columns. Owing to the importance of embedding distance and the need to understand its susceptibility to corrosion damage from chloride attack, a series of experiments were conducted on 12 specimens that accurately simulate real-site conditions in terms of dimensions, reinforcement and hook bars. SF was replaced with 10% and 15% of the weight of cement in the concrete mixture. To simulate corrosion, the specimens were subjected to accelerated corrosion in the laboratory by applying a low continuous current of 0.35 mA for 58 days.

The results revealed the effect of SF in improving the compressive strength of concrete, the pullout resistance of the hook bars and the corrosion resistance. In addition, it showed an apparent effect of the corrosion of reinforcing bars in reducing the bonding strength of hook bars with concrete and the effect of SF in improving this strength.

It was noted that the improvement of the results, achieved by replacing 10% of the weight of cement with SF, was significantly close to the results obtained by replacing 15% of the SF. It is recommended that an SF ratio of 10% be adopted to achieve the greatest economic savings.

This chapter draws on 10 years of ethnographic fieldwork collected in gay bars from three American cities to explore the strategies LGBTQ subcultures deploy to recreate meaningful places within the vestiges of local queer nightlife. As gentrification and social acceptance accelerate the closures of LGBTQ-specific bars and nightclubs worldwide, venues that once served a specific LGBTQ subculture (i.e., leather bars) expand their offerings to incorporate displaced LGBTQ subcultures. Attending to how LGBTQ subcultures might appropriate designated spaces within a gay venue to support community (nightlife complexes), how management and LGBT subcultures temporally circumscribe subcultural practices and traditions to create fleeting, but recurring places (episodic places), and how patrons might disrupt an existing production of place by imposing practices associated with a discrepant LGBTQ subculture(place ruptures), this chapter challenges the notion of “the gay bar” as a singular place catering to a specific subculture. Instead, gay bars increasingly constitute a collection of places within the same space, which may shift depending on its use by patrons occupying the space at any given moment. Beyond the investigation of gay bars, this chapter contributes to the growing sociological literature exploring the multifaceted, unstable, and ephemeral nature of place and place-making in the postmodern city.

This study aims to investigate the effects of using circular spirals as the longitudinal reinforcing bars on the performance of the concrete beams subjected to four-point bending load.

The effects of using circular spirals as the longitudinal reinforcing bars on the performance of the concrete beams subjected to four-point bending load are investigated in this study. Employing circular spirals as the main longitudinal reinforcement is a novel idea presented in this paper. In this regard, a finite element model of the beam with spiral longitudinal reinforcement was developed. After model verification, several configurations of concrete beams reinforced by longitudinal spirals were simulated under the four-point loading condition.

Obtained results showed that using the longitudinal spirals in place of the conventional longitudinal reinforcing bars can improve the bearing capacity of the concrete beam, but at the same time, increases its ductility unacceptably. In other words, the spirals reduce the initial stiffness of the beam significantly. To solve the problem, the authors decided to use the longitudinal spirals as the auxiliary bars added to the main conventional longitudinal bars in the beams. New gained results were satisfactory. By adding the longitudinal spirals to the conventional bars, not only the bearing capacity of the beam increases between 24% and 63%, but also the initial stiffness and ductility of the beam raises between 11%–29% and 3%–57%, respectively, in comparison to the corresponding beam reinforced with conventional longitudinal bars.

Employing circular spirals as the main longitudinal reinforcement is a novel idea presented in this paper.

The steel bars account for a high percentage of material costs for the current construction projects. At the present time, most of the construction projects for the factories of thin‐film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT‐LCD) complete the transactions of steel bars when the suppliers ship the steel bars to the temporary storage/processing sites. This paper applies the buy‐in concept in the Theory of Constraint (TOC) on the supply chain of steel bars. In this study, suppliers are required to establish warehouses at the construction sites and complete the transactions when the formed and processed steel bars are shipped into the factory sites. The aim is to find a win‐win solution to meet with the expectations from constructors as they hope that there is no need to build up inventories but supply is ready at any time. Also, this paper compares and analyzes the traditional supply/inventory model of steel bars and the Demand‐Pull (D‐P) model under the TOC framework. It is proved that Vendor Management Inventory (VMI) in the D‐P model is able to more effectively manage steel bars as a material.

This paper aims to examine the bioactive compounds and texture properties of cereal bars formulated with banana peel flour during storage.

Seven cereal bars were produced and stored during 11 months, under vacuum and protected from the light. The total phenolic compounds, the activity antioxidant by ABTS [2,2′-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] method, the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) method expressed as EC50 (concentration required to reduce the original amount of free radicals by 50 per cent) and texture properties were evaluated over the storage period.

In general, total phenolic compounds decreased during storage (from 4.19 to 1.11 mg GAE. g-1f.w.). Although the total antioxidant activity (ABTS method) increased during the fifth month, it reduced during storage (from 3.41 to 0.30 µmol TE.g-1f.w.); and the EC50 was not modified in many formulations, though it decreased in other formulations during storage period (from 3913 to 19221 g fruit.g-1 DPPH). The force of rupture began to increase in the fourth month (reaching 62.4 N), and hardness began to increase in the ninth month (reaching 444 N). The formulation and time factors influenced the total phenolic compounds, total antioxidant activity (ABTS method), force of rupture and hardness, while EC50 was only influenced by the formulation (p-value = 0.001). A principal component analysis showed that time had little effect on the most important characteristics considered in description of the cereal bars.

Cereal bars can be consumed up to the third month of storage, considering the texture of the products. Moreover, the presence of bioactive compounds in cereal bars depends on the addition of banana peel flour, which it contributes to the insertion of total phenolic compounds and total antioxidant activity in cereal bars, aggregating functional properties in these products.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of experimental testing of steel rebars at elevated temperatures. Three types of bars available in the local market in Pakistan were used. These data are not available in Pakistan.

Three types of bars were used, which included cold-twisted ribbed (CTR), hot-rolled deformed (HRD) and thermo-mechanically treated (TMT) bars. The diameter of the bar of each type was 16 mm. The bars were heated in an electrical furnace at temperatures which were varied from 100°C to 900°C in increment of 100°C. Bars of each type were also tested at ambient temperature as control specimens. The change of strength, strain and modulus of elasticity of the bars at high temperatures were determined.

The mechanical properties of the bars were nearly unaffected by the temperatures up to 200°C. CTR bars did not show yield plateau and strain hardening both at ambient and high temperatures. The high temperature yield strength and elastic modulus for all the three types of bars were similar at all temperatures. The yield plateau of both the HRD and TMT bars disappeared at temperatures greater than 300°C. The ultimate strength at high temperature of the HRD and TMT bars was also similar. The behaviours of the HRD and TMT bars changed to brittle beyond 400°C as compared to their behaviours at ambient temperature. The CTR bars exhibited ductile characteristics at failure at all the exposure temperatures relative to their behaviour at ambient temperature.

The parameters of the paper included the rebar type and heating temperature and the effects of temperature on strength and stiffness properties of the steel bars.

Building fire incidents have increased in Pakistan. As reinforced concrete (RC) buildings exist in the country in significant numbers, the data related to elevated temperature properties of steel is required. These data are not available in Pakistan presently. The presented paper aims at providing this information for the design engineers to enable them to assess and increase fire resistance of RC structural members.

The presented paper is unique in its nature in that there is no published contribution to date, to the best of authors’ knowledge, which has been carried out to assess the temperature-dependent mechanical properties of steel reinforcing bars available in Pakistan.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a cereal bar supplemented with coffee beverage that has health benefits.

Six types of cereal bars containing raisins or prunes with different concentrations of coffee were developed. Acceptability tests and physicochemical characterizations were performed by analysis of moisture, ash, protein, lipids, fibres and carbohydrates. Moreover, the levels of phenolic compounds, the fatty acid profile and the in vitro antioxidant activity were evaluated by the DPPH free radical scavenging and iron-chelating activity methods. The bars were assessed using the check-all-that-apply (CATA) methodology. The phenolic compound and antioxidant activity data were evaluated by analysis of variance. Averages were compared by the Scott–Knott test. To verify the characteristics of the food bar per the attributes cited in CATA, main component analysis was performed using the SensoMaker software.

The concentration of coffee did not affect the centesimal composition values. The highest percentage of scavenging activity of free radicals was observed in the food bar containing raisins, with a maximum concentration of coffee beverage equivalent to 10 mL. These values were higher in cereal bars containing raisins than in bars containing prunes with the same concentrations of coffee. The acceptance sensory test showed good acceptability ratios, ranging from 74.33 to 85.22 among different food bar formulations.

The bar consisting raisins and 100 per cent coffee presented high values of protection against oxidative stress, phenolic content and satisfying acceptability, thereby making it a novel possible alternative as a differentiated product with possible health-beneficial effects.

This paper provides a differentiated product, through healthy ingredients, with convenience of purchase, besides having added value and possible health beneficial effects.

The bar consisting of raisins and 100 per cent coffee presented high values of phenolic content and protection against oxidative stress, as well as satisfying acceptability, thereby making it a novel possible alternative as a differentiated product with possible health-beneficial effects.

This work numerically investigates the effects of two square bars placed in various arrangements in a channel on pressure drop and heat transfer. Tandem arrangements and the two bars arranged side by side to the approaching flow are considered. The separation distance between the bars is varied in both types of arrangements. The Reynolds number Re based on channel height is 10⁴, whereas the bar height to channel height (d/H) is 0.152. The channel walls are subjected to a constant wall temperature. The k‐ε turbulence model was used in conjunction with the Reynolds‐averaged momentum and energy equations for the simulations. A finite volume technique with staggered grids combined with the SIMPLEC algorithm is applied with a fine grid resolution. Results show that the local and global Nusselt numbers on the channel walls are strongly increased by the unsteady vortex shedding induced by the bars.