CLOGGING POTENTIAL OF PERMEABLE CONCRETE

Permeable concrete is used to reduce local flooding in urban areas. However, it is prone to clogging by particulate matter and requires regular maintenance. This paper reports on the performance of permeable concrete exposed to different clogging test methods to further understand this complex phenomena. New methods were developed to study the clogging effect and to define a clogging potential. The tests involve applying flowing water containing sand and/or clay in cycles through the sample and measuring the change in flow rate. Clogging depends on the applied solution and exposure method used. Significant permeability reductions were observed in all samples, particularly when simultaneously exposed to sand and clay. This is because flocculated clay adhered to surface of sand particles and this caused increased clogging

Audit of IV access sites in Medical Ward Patients

Abstract no. 24published_or_final_versio

Fidelity of SNP array genotyping using Epstein Barr virus-transformed B-lymphocyte cell lines: Implications for genome-wide association studies

Background: As availability of primary cells can be limited for genetic studies of human disease, lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) are common sources of genomic DNA. LCL are created in a transformation process that entails in vitro infection of human B-lymphocytes with the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). Methodology/Principal Findings: To test for genotypic errors potentially induced by the Epstein-Barr Virus transformation process, we compared single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype calls in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and LCL from the same individuals. The average mismatch rate across 19 comparisons was 0.12% for SNPs with a population call rate of at least 95%, and 0.03% at SNPs with a call rate of at least 99%. Mismatch rates were not correlated across genotype subarrays run on all sample pairs. Conclusions/Significance: Genotypic discrepancies found in PBMC and LCL pairs were not significantly different than control pairs, and were not correlated across subarrays. These results suggest that mismatch rates are minimal with stringent quality control, and that most genotypic discrepancies are due to technical artifacts rather than the EBV transformation process. Thus, LCL likely constitute a reliable DNA source for host genotype analysis. © 2009 Herbeck et al

Urotensin II in hypertension

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Duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent implantation: Meta-analysis of large randomised controlled trials

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Freeze–thaw durability of conventional and novel permeable pavement replacement

Permeable concrete pavements are becoming more common as a stormwater management system to mitigate urban flooding. However, they have several well-defined drawbacks including low permeability, high clogging potential, and low strength and durability, notably in cold climates exposed to freezing and thawing. A new generation of high-strength clogging-resistant permeable pavement replacement (CRP) has been developed, through extensive laboratory work, to address these shortcomings and advance the field of permeable pavements. This paper reports on new advances in permeable pavement systems and the performance of a range of conventional permeable concrete and the developed novel CRP (both prepared using Portland cement) of varying porosity exposed to freeze–thaw cycles. This will allow performance evaluations of both systems in a cold climate. The tests involved exposing samples to temperatures varying from −20°C to +20°C and measuring changes in mass, area, compressive strength, and ultrasonic pulse velocity after each cycle. These new results show that CRP is highly resistant to degradation caused by freeze–thaw cycles compared to conventional permeable concrete, reducing maintenance requirements and improving service life. This study presents the first high-strength clogging-resistant permeable pavement replacement that is durable under frost action, these findings will support and enable wider use of permeable pavements in cold regions

Hydrophobic concrete using waste paper sludge ash

The feasibility of using a low-cost super hydrophobic powder as water-resisting admixture or water-repellent surface coating for concrete has been investigated. The powder was produced from paper sludge ash (PSA), a by-product from the manufacture of recycled paper. The effect of hydrophobic PSA on workability, strength and transport properties, including sorptivity, water absorption, diffusivity, permeability and electrical conductivity is reported. Samples were prepared at water/cement ratio of 0.38, cured up to 28 days and conditioned at 50 °C to constant mass prior to testing. It was found that replacing Portland cement with 12% hydrophobic PSA reduced water absorption, sorptivity and conductivity by 84%, 86% and 85% respectively, with no major detrimental effects on hydration, strength and density. When used as a surface coating, the hydrophobic PSA reduced both absorption and sorptivity by 85–99% depending on the adhesive used. Samples surface coated with hydrophobic PSA showed excellent water repelling and self-cleaning characteristics

Deep learning resolves representative movement patterns in a marine predator species

The analysis of animal movement from telemetry data provides insights into how and why animals move. While traditional approaches to such analysis mostly focus on predicting animal states during movement, we describe an approach that allows us to identify representative movement patterns of different animal groups. To do this, we propose a carefully designed recurrent neural network and combine it with telemetry data for automatic feature extraction and identification of non-predefined representative patterns. In the experiment, we consider a particular marine predator species, the southern elephant seal, as an example. With our approach, we identify that the male seals in our data set share similar movement patterns when they are close to land. We identify this pattern recurring in a number of distant locations, consistent with alternative approaches from previous research

PubMed-supported clinical term weighting approach for improving inter-patient similarity measure in diagnosis prediction

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