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The flexural behavior of a new sandwich panel proposed for cladding of buildings is studied. The panel is fabricated by laminating two glass fiberreinforced polymer skins to a prefabricated polyurethane foam core. Two different densities for the core are explored, namely; a 0.31 kN/m 3 , referred to herein as 'soft' foam, and a 0.63 kN/m 3 , referred to as 'hard' foam. Ten 1500 Â 300 Â 76 mm 3 panels were tested in flexure. For each core density, three similar panels were tested to establish the reproducibility of test results as a measure of quality control of fabrication. The panels were tested in three-point and four-point bending as well as under uniform load. The effect of wind pressure and suction was simulated for some panels by applying cyclic bending. It was shown that flexural strength and stiffness increased substantially, by 165% and 113%, respectively, as the core density was doubled. The contributions of shear deformation of the soft and hard cores to mid-span deflection were 75% and 50%, respectively. Panels with soft cores were vulnerable to localized effects under concentrated loads, and suffered inwards wrinkling of the compression skin at a lower ultimate strength. Low cycle fatigue resulted in some residual deflection upon unloading but insignificant stiffness degradation.

BackgroundDiabetes first detected during pregnancy is currently divided into gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and diabetes mellitus (DM)- most of which are type 2 DM (T2DM). This study aims to define the prevalence and outcomes of diabetes first detected in pregnancy based on 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)using the recent WHO/IADPSG guidelines in a high-risk population.MethodsThis is a retrospective study that included all patients who underwent a 75 g (OGTT) between Jan 2016 and Apr 2016 and excluded patients with known pre-conception diabetes.ResultsThe overall prevalence of newly detected diabetes in pregnancy among the 2000 patients who fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria was 24.0% (95% CI 22.1–25.9) of which T2DM was 2.5% (95% CI 1.9–3.3), and GDM was 21.5% (95% CI 19.7–23.3). The prevalence of newly detected diabetes in pregnancy was similar among the different ethnic groups.The T2DM group was older (mean age in years was 34 ±5.7 vs 31.7±5.7 vs 29.7 ±5.7, p<0.001); and has a higher mean BMI (32.4±6.4 kg/m2 vs 31.7±6.2 kg/m2 vs 29.7± 6.2 kg/m2, p< 0.01) than the GDM and the non-DM groups, respectively. The frequency of pre-eclampsia, pre-term delivery, Caesarean-section, macrosomia, LGA and neonatal ICU admissions were significantly higher in the T2DM group compared to GDM and non-DM groups.ConclusionDiabetes first detected in pregnancy is equally prevalent among the various ethnic groups residing in Qatar. Newly detected T2DM carries a higher risk of poor pregnancy outcomes; stressing the importance of proper classification of cases of newly detected diabetes in pregnancy.

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