Enhancement of curing properties of cold in-place recycling asphalt mixtures by induction heating

[Abstract:] In this study, samples of cold in-place recycling mix (CIR) with steel fibres were manufactured and heated by electromagnetic induction. Heating was conducted to accelerate the curing process and make the CIR mixtures more competitive against other less-sustainable road materials. Heating can also be applied after years of service life to reduce the viscosity of the binder and make it flow through cracks, healing damage. Cylindrical Marshall samples were heated by induction for different durations immediately after production and their mechanical performance was assessed over different curing periods. In addition, 3-point bending healing tests were carried out on cured semicircular samples. The results showed that the remaining water content in samples heated for 180 s was lower than in control samples (not heated) after 21 days. The Marshall stability and flow after compaction increased by 147% and 144%, respectively, when heating was applied for 240 s. Healing tests produced encouraging results with strength recoveries higher than 50%.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; BIA2016-80317-

Patterns and impact of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose variability on inpatients with insulin-treated cystic fibrosis-related diabetes

Introduction: Mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) is higher than that in patients with cystic fibrosis without diabetes. Hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose variability confer excess mortality and morbidity in the general inpatient population with diabetes. Methods: We investigated patterns of hypoglycemia and the association of hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and glucose variability with mortality and readmission rate in inpatients with CFRD. All capillary blood glucose (CBG) readings (measured using the Abbott Precision web system) of patients with insulin-treated CFRD measured within our health board between January 2009 and January 2015 were. Frequency and timing of hypoglycemia (<4 mmol/L) and was recorded. The effect of dysglycemia on readmission and mortality was investigated with survival analysis. Results: Sixty-six patients were included. A total of 22,711 CBG results were included in the initial analysis. Hypoglycemia was common with 1433 episodes (6.3%). Hypoglycemia ascertainment was highest between 2400 and 0600 h. Hypoglycemia was associated with a significantly higher rate of readmission or death over the 3.5-year follow-up period (P = 0.03). There was no significant association between hyperglycemia or glucose variability and the rate of readmission and mortality. Conclusion: Among inpatients with CFRD hypoglycemia is common and is associated with an increased composite endpoint of readmission and death. As with previously reported trends in general inpatient population this group shows a peak incidence of hypoglycemic during the night

Book Reviews

Book Review 1Book Title: Mammoths, Mastodonts & Elephants; Biology, Behaviour, and the Fossil RecordBook Author: Gary HaynesCambridge University Press 1991. 413 pp.Book Review 2Book Title: A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar (Second Edition)Book Authors: Frank Glaw & Miguel VeneesM, Venees & F. Glaw Verlags GbR,  Köln, December 1994. 48O pagesBook Review 3Book Title: The Physiology of Reproduction; Second edition 1993Book Authors: Editors in Chief: E, Knobil & J.D. Neill Associate Editors: G.S. Greenwald, C.L. Markert & D.W. PfaffA two volume set, 3302 pages. Raven Press, New YorkBook Review 4Book Title: The Economics of Non-Human SocietiesBook Author: Gordon TullockPallas Press, March 1994 Tuscon, Arizona. 87 pages.Book Review 5Book Title: Bird Atlas of BotswanaBook Author: Huw PenryUniversity of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg. 319 pages.Book Review 6Book Title: Colobine Monkeys: their Ecology, Behaviour and EvolutionBook Authors: A. Glyn Davies & John F. OatesCambridge University Press, Cambridge UK (1994). Pages xiii + 415.Book Review 7Book Title: Water Relations of Terrestrial ArthropodsBook Author: N.F. HadleyAcademic Press. 1994. 356 page

Discrimination, labour markets and the Labour Market Prospects of Older Workers: What Can a Legal Case Teach us?

As governments become increasingly concerned about the fiscal implications of the ageing population, labour market policies have sought to encourage mature workers to remain in the labour force. The ‘human capital’ discourses motivating these policies rest on the assumption that older workers armed with motivation and vocational skills will be able to return to fulfilling work. This paper uses the post-redundancy recruitment experiences of former Ansett Airlines flight attendants to develop a critique of these expectations. It suggests that policies to increase older workers’ labour market participation will not succeed while persistent socially constructed age- and gender- typing shape labour demand. The conclusion argues for policies sensitive to the institutional structures that shape employer preferences, the competitive rationality of discriminatory practices, and the irresolvable tension between workers’ human rights and employers’ property rights

Auger decay of degenerate and Bose-condensed excitons in Cu2_2O

We study the non-radiative Auger decay of excitons in Cu$_2$O, in which two excitons scatter to an excited electron and hole. The exciton decay rate for the direct and the phonon-assisted processes is calculated from first principles; incorporating the band structure of the material leads to a relatively shorter lifetime of the triplet state ortho excitons. We compare our results with the Auger decay rate extracted from data on highly degenerate triplet excitons and Bose-condensed singlet excitons in Cu$_2$O.Comment: 15 pages, revtex, figures available from G. Kavoulaki

Inflationary models inducing non-Gaussian metric fluctuations

We construct explicit models of multi-field inflation in which the primordial metric fluctuations do not necessarily obey Gaussian statistics. These models are realizations of mechanisms in which non-Gaussianity is first generated by a light scalar field and then transferred into curvature fluctuations. The probability distribution functions of the metric perturbation at the end of inflation are computed. This provides a guideline for designing strategies to search for non-Gaussian signals in future CMB and large scale structure surveys.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Children\u27s Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables: Do School Environment and Policies Affect Choices at School and Away from School?

School environment and policies may affect children\u27s ability to make healthy food choices both at and away from school. Using data from the third School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study conducted in 2005 we estimate the effect of environment and policies on children\u27s fruit and vegetable intakes. We use an instrumental variable approach to control for the endogeneity of participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). On an average school day, school lunch participants consume more fruits and vegetables, including relatively more at school and less away from school compared to nonparticipants. Meal policies had little effect on NSLP participation itself. Policies that restrict high fat milks or desserts and restrict the sale of competitive foods are associated with greater fruit and/or vegetable intake at school; some policies affected consumption at home as well

Genomic occupancy of Runx2 with global expression profiling identifies a novel dimension to control of osteoblastogenesis

BACKGROUND: Osteogenesis is a highly regulated developmental process and continues during the turnover and repair of mature bone. Runx2, the master regulator of osteoblastogenesis, directs a transcriptional program essential for bone formation through genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. While individual Runx2 gene targets have been identified, further insights into the broad spectrum of Runx2 functions required for osteogenesis are needed. RESULTS: By performing genome-wide characterization of Runx2 binding at the three major stages of osteoblast differentiation--proliferation, matrix deposition and mineralization--we identify Runx2-dependent regulatory networks driving bone formation. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing over the course of these stages, we identify approximately 80,000 significantly enriched regions of Runx2 binding throughout the mouse genome. These binding events exhibit distinct patterns during osteogenesis, and are associated with proximal promoters and also non-promoter regions: upstream, introns, exons, transcription termination site regions, and intergenic regions. These peaks were partitioned into clusters that are associated with genes in complex biological processes that support bone formation. Using Affymetrix expression profiling of differentiating osteoblasts depleted of Runx2, we identify novel Runx2 targets including Ezh2, a critical epigenetic regulator; Crabp2, a retinoic acid signaling component; Adamts4 and Tnfrsf19, two remodelers of the extracellular matrix. We demonstrate by luciferase assays that these novel biological targets are regulated by Runx2 occupancy at non-promoter regions. CONCLUSIONS: Our data establish that Runx2 interactions with chromatin across the genome reveal novel genes, pathways and transcriptional mechanisms that contribute to the regulation of osteoblastogenesis

Out-of-equilibrium singlet-triplet Kondo effect in a single C_60 quantum dot

We have used an electromigration technique to fabricate a $\rm{C_{{60}}}$ single-molecule transistor (SMT). Besides describing our electromigration procedure, we focus and present an experimental study of a single molecule quantum dot containing an even number of electrons, revealing, for two different samples, a clear out-of-equilibrium Kondo effect. Low temperature magneto-transport studies are provided, which demonstrates a Zeeman splitting of the finite bias anomaly.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Complement-Mediated Differential Immune Response of Human Macrophages to Sporothrix Species Through Interaction With Their Cell Wall Peptidorhamnomannans

Funding This work was supported by Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAP-DF)/CNPq, PRONEX grant ID: (FAP-DF, 0193.001.200/2016). VA is supported by the Centre Franco-Indien pour la Promotion de la Recherche Avancée (CEFIPRA) grant No. 5403-1 and ANR-DFG AfuINF grant. IG, VA, and CS were supported by the ANR-FUNHYDRO (ANR-16S-CE110020-01) grant. NG, GB and JW are supported by the Welcome Trust (102705, 097377, 101873, 215599 and 200208) and the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/2). Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge Dr. Lars Erwig, Dr. Jude Bain, and Dr. Kevin MacKenzie of University of Aberdeen for the scientific and technical support in the video microscopy experiments. LMLB was a research fellow of Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). We acknowledge Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do estado do Rio de Janeiro (Faperj) and Pasteur-Roux-Cantarini postdoctoral fellowship for the research fellowships given to GWPN and SSWW, respectively.Peer reviewedPublisher PD