The effect of freeze/thaw cycles on the performance and microstructure of cement-treated soils

In this paper, the performance and structural changes in cement-treated soils under influence of freeze/thaw (f/t f/t) exposure are investigated. Specimens from plastic and compacted soil-cement mix designs were exposed to different f/t f/t scenarios to study the influence of f/t f/t dimensionality (i.e., one-dimensional versus three-dimensional exposure) and specimens’ age at the time of f/t f/t exposure on changes in their performance. Changes in hydraulic conductivity, unconfined compressive strength, and longitudinal resonant frequency of the specimens were studied under each exposure scenario. An examination of the microstructure of the f/t f/t exposed and control specimens using transmitted light optical microscopy was also performed to evaluate how the soil-cement matrix was disrupted after exposure to f/t f/t cycling. Observations showed increases in water content of the mix design (when wet of optimum water content), as well as increased specimen age at the time of exposure may increase f/t f/t susceptibility. On the other hand, comparison of the performance of the specimens exposed to 1D and 3D f/t f/t exposure did not show any significant variation. Microstructural analysis of petrographic thin section samples from control and f/t f/t exposed specimens showed that while optical microscopy can detect matrix disintegration for highly damaged specimens, it is not able to identify structural degradation at early stages of damage development

AKAPs integrate genetic findings for autism spectrum disorders

Contains fulltext : 115371.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are highly heritable, and six genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of ASDs have been published to date. In this study, we have integrated the findings from these GWASs with other genetic data to identify enriched genetic networks that are associated with ASDs. We conducted bioinformatics and systematic literature analyses of 200 top-ranked ASD candidate genes from five published GWASs. The sixth GWAS was used for replication and validation of our findings. Further corroborating evidence was obtained through rare genetic variant studies, that is, exome sequencing and copy number variation (CNV) studies, and/or other genetic evidence, including candidate gene association, microRNA and gene expression, gene function and genetic animal studies. We found three signaling networks regulating steroidogenesis, neurite outgrowth and (glutamatergic) synaptic function to be enriched in the data. Most genes from the five GWASs were also implicated-independent of gene size-in ASDs by at least one other line of genomic evidence. Importantly, A-kinase anchor proteins (AKAPs) functionally integrate signaling cascades within and between these networks. The three identified protein networks provide an important contribution to increasing our understanding of the molecular basis of ASDs. In addition, our results point towards the AKAPs as promising targets for developing novel ASD treatments