Non-steady state chloride migration and binding in cracked self-compacting concrete

We adopted a notch method to study the influence of crack width (macro level) on chloride transport and binding of cracked concrete under a non-steady state migration test. The results show that migration coefficient of cracked concrete increases with increasing crack width up to a critical value (0.43 mm), for the whole concrete or the area close to crack; the increase of migration coefficient could be independent from crack parameter when a critical crack width is reached. For chloride binding, Langmuir isotherms of cracked concrete samples exhibit the similar decreasing trend as crack width increases from 0.27 to 1.96 mm. The increased current value could be responsible for the trend based on the hypothesis of electric force

Stabilization of Cr(III) wastes by C3S and C3S hydrated matrix : comparison of two incorporation methods

In the present study, the influence of Cr(III) on the properties of C3S and its stabilization in C3S hydrates was investigated by either direct incorporation as Cr2O3 during C3S preparation or introduced as nitrate salt during hydration. Levels of Cr used were from 0.1 to 3.0 wt% of C3S. The effect of Cr on the polymorph and hydration of C3S and its immobilization in the hydrates was detected by means of DTA/TG, XRD, isothermal calorimeter and ICP-AES, etc. When doped during sintering process, Cr caused a C3S polymorph transformation from T1 to T2 and led a decomposition of C3S into C2S and CaO resulting in high f-CaO content. Cr doping showed an obvious promotion effect on the hydration properties. The promotion effect decreased when the Cr addition increased to 3.0 wt%. When Cr was added as nitrate salt, Cr showed a retardation effect on the hydration of C3S due to the formation of Ca2Cr(OH)7 center dot 3H(2)O, which resulted in a high degree of Cr stabilization

catena-Poly[[[diaqua­iron(II)]-μ-pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxyl­ato] dihydrate]

The crystal structure of the title compound, {[Fe(C6H2N2O4)(H2O)2]·2H2O}n, was synthesized by a diffusion method. It has a one-dimensional polymeric chain structure and the chains are further connected into a three-dimensional structure by hydrogen bonds. The FeII ion has a distorted octa­hedral coordination environment, with two N and two O atoms from the pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxyl­ate ligands in the equatorial plane and with two water mol­ecules in axial positions. The Fe atom lies on a crystallographic centre of symmetry and a twofold rotation axis passes through the pyrazine ring

Neuropathologic damage induced by radiofrequency ablation at different temperatures

Objective: To explore the molecular mechanism of neuropathologic damage induced by radiofrequency ablation at different temperatures. Methods: This is basic research, and 36 SD rats were used to construct the neuropathological injury model. The rats were subjected to radiofrequency stimulation at different temperatures and were divided into 6 groups according to the temperature injury: 42°, 47°, 52°, 57°, 62°, and 67°C groups. Conduction time, conduction distance, and nerve conduction velocity were recorded after temperature injury. HE-staining was used to observe the histopathological morphology of the sciatic nerve. The expression of SCN9A, SCN3B, and NFASC protein in sciatic nerve tissue were detected by western blot. Results: With the increase in temperature, nerve conduction velocity gradually decreased, and neurons were damaged when the temperature was 67°C. HE-staining showed that the degrees of degeneration of neurons in rats at 47°, 52°, 57°, 62°, and 67°C were gradually increased. The expression of SCN9A, SCN3B protein in 57°, 62°, 67°C groups were much higher than that of NC, 42°, 47°, 52°C groups. However, the expression of NFASC protein in 57°, 62°, 67°C groups was much lower than that of the NC, 42°, 47°, 52°C groups. Conclusion: There was a positive correlation between temperature caused by the radiofrequency stimulation to neuropathological damage. The mechanism is closely related to the expression of SCN9A, SCN3B, and NFASC protein in nerve tissue caused by heat transfer injury

Nitrogen loss in vegetable field under the simulated rainfall experiments in Hebei, China

Agricultural non-point source pollution is one of the main factors contaminating the environment. However, the impact of rainfall on loss of non-point nitrogen is far from well understood. Based on the artificial rainfall simulation experiments to monitor the loss of dissolved nitrogen (DN) in surface runoff and interflow of vegetable field, this study analyzed the effects of rainfall intensity and fertilization scheme on nitrogen (N) loss. The results indicated that fertilizer usage is the main factor affecting the nitrogen loss in surface runoff, while runoff and rainfall intensity play important roles in interflow nitrogen loss. The proportion of DN lost through the surface runoff was more than 91%, and it decreased with increasing rainfall intensity. There was a clear linear trend (r2 > 0.96) between the amount of DN loss and runoff. Over 95% of DN was lost as nitrate nitrogen (NN), which was the major component of nitrogen loss. Compared with the conventional fertilization treatment (CF), the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied in the optimized fertilization treatment (OF) decreased by 38.9%, and the loss of DN decreased by 28.4%, but root length, plant height and yield of pak choi increased by 6.3%, 2.7% and 5.6%, respectively. Our findings suggest that properly reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer can improve the utilization rate of nitrogen fertilizer but will not reduce the yield of pak choi. Controlling fertilizer usage and reducing runoff generation are important methods to reduce the DN loss in vegetable fields

Whole-genome sequencing of the snub-nosed monkey provides insights into folivory and evolutionary history

Colobines are a unique group of Old World monkeys that principally eat leaves and seeds rather than fruits and insects. We report the sequencing at 146× coverage, de novo assembly and analyses of the genome of a male golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) and resequencing at 30× coverage of three related species (Rhinopithecus bieti, Rhinopithecus brelichi and Rhinopithecus strykeri). Comparative analyses showed that Asian colobines have an enhanced ability to derive energy from fatty acids and to degrade xenobiotics. We found evidence for functional evolution in the colobine RNASE1 gene, encoding a key secretory RNase that digests the high concentrations of bacterial RNA derived from symbiotic microflora. Demographic reconstructions indicated that the profile of ancient effective population sizes for R. roxellana more closely resembles that of giant panda rather than its congeners. These findings offer new insights into the dietary adaptations and evolutionary history of colobine primates