Effect of pozzolans with different physical and chemical characteristics on concrete properties

The durability of concrete structures is an important issue nowadays. Specifically in the case of reinforced concrete bridges or other infrastructures one of the main form of environmental attack is the penetration of chloride ions, which leads to corrosion of concrete steel reinforcement. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the introduction of metakaolin and diatomite, two chemically and physically different pozzolans, on the resistance of concrete to the penetration of chlorides but also the effect on other properties of concrete, namely, its compressive strength and its porosity distribution. The results of this study show that the pozzolans physical and chemical characteristics have a strong influence on the pozzolans behavior and, consequently, on the concrete properties

Measuring Adherence to Inhaled Control Medication in Patients with Asthma: Comparison Among an Asthma App, Patient Self‐Report and Physician Assessment

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using an asthma app to support medication management and adherence but failed to compare with other measures currently used in clinical practice. However, in a clinical setting, any additional adherence measurement must be evaluated in the context of both the patient and physician perspectives so that it can also help improve the process of shared decision making. Thus, we aimed to compare different measures of adherence to asthma control inhalers in clinical practice, namely through an app, patient self-report and physician assessment. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of three prospective multicentre observational studies with patients (≥13 years old) with persistent asthma recruited from 61 primary and secondary care centres in Portugal. Patients were invited to use the InspirerMundi app and register their inhaled medication. Adherence was measured by the app as the number of doses taken divided by the number of doses scheduled each day and two time points were considered for analysis: 1-week and 1-month. At baseline, patients and physicians independently assessed adherence to asthma control inhalers during the previous week using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS 0-100). Results: A total of 193 patients (72% female; median [P25-P75] age 28 [19-41] years old) were included in the analysis. Adherence measured by the app was lower (1 week: 31 [0-71]%; 1 month: 18 [0-48]%) than patient self-report (80 [60-95]) and physician assessment (82 [51-94]) (p 0.05). There was a moderate correlation between patient self-report and physician assessment (ρ = 0.596, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Adherence measured by the app was lower than that reported by the patient or the physician. This was expected as objective measurements are commonly lower than subjective evaluations, which tend to overestimate adherence. Nevertheless, the low adherence measured by the app may also be influenced by the use of the app itself and this needs to be considered in future studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Measuring adherence to inhaled control medication in patients with asthma: Comparison among an asthma app, patient self‐report and physician assessment

Background Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using an asthma app to support medication management and adherence but failed to compare with other measures currently used in clinical practice. However, in a clinical setting, any additional adherence measurement must be evaluated in the context of both the patient and physician perspectives so that it can also help improve the process of shared decision making. Thus, we aimed to compare different measures of adherence to asthma control inhalers in clinical practice, namely through an app, patient self-report and physician assessment. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of three prospective multicentre observational studies with patients (≥13 years old) with persistent asthma recruited from 61 primary and secondary care centres in Portugal. Patients were invited to use the InspirerMundi app and register their inhaled medication. Adherence was measured by the app as the number of doses taken divided by the number of doses scheduled each day and two time points were considered for analysis: 1-week and 1-month. At baseline, patients and physicians independently assessed adherence to asthma control inhalers during the previous week using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS 0–100). Results A total of 193 patients (72% female; median [P25–P75] age 28 [19–41] years old) were included in the analysis. Adherence measured by the app was lower (1 week: 31 [0–71]%; 1 month: 18 [0–48]%) than patient self-report (80 [60–95]) and physician assessment (82 [51–94]) (p 0.05). There was a moderate correlation between patient self-report and physician assessment (ρ = 0.596, p < 0.001). Conclusions Adherence measured by the app was lower than that reported by the patient or the physician. This was expected as objective measurements are commonly lower than subjective evaluations, which tend to overestimate adherence. Nevertheless, the low adherence measured by the app may also be influenced by the use of the app itself and this needs to be considered in future studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Piezoresistive behaviour of mortars loaded with graphene and carbon fibers for the development of self-sensing composites

In recent years, infrastructures have become of primary importance for society and for the economic development. This led to the introduction of monitoring systems for their protec-tion, and for an eco-friendly saving of resources for their maintenance. In the field of rein-forced concrete, there is a growing interest for the introduction of conductive cement-based composites for monitoring the health of structures through the evaluation of their electronic parameters. In this work, resistivity and piezoresistivity of mortars added with graphene nano-platelets (GNP), and carbon fibers (CF) were evaluated. The variations in electrical resistivity as a function of strain were analyzed under cyclic uniaxial compression of the mortars sam-ples. The results shown a high piezoresistivity behavior of the mortars with an optimal disper-sion of GNP and CF, with a quite reversible relation between fractional change in resistivity (FCR) and compressive strain

Mechanics of filled carbon nanotubes

The benefits of filling carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with assorted molecular and crystalline substances have been investigated for the past two decades. Amongst the study of new structural phases, defects, chemical reactions and varied types of host-guest interactions, there is one fundamental characterisation aspect of these systems that continues to be overlooked: the mechanical behaviour of filled CNTs. In contrast to their empty counterparts, the mechanics of filled CNTs is a subject where reports appear far and apart, this despite being key to the application of these materials in technological devices. In the following paragraphs, we review the work that has been carried out up to the present on the mechanics of filled CNTs. The studies discussed range from experimental resonant frequency essays performed within electron microscopes to modelling, via molecular dynamics, of three-point bending of nanotubes filled with gases. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

O papel do metacaulim na proteção dos concretos contra a ação deletéria de cloretos

O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a capacidade de proteção de concretos produzidos com metacaulim em relação ao transporte e penetração de cloretos. Para tanto, a partir de um concreto comercial de fck igual a 30 MPa, foram produzidos mais dois concretos substituindo-se 10% da massa de cimento por metacaulim, a saber: em um dos concretos manteve-se a mesma relação água/aglomerante do traço inicial de referência (a/ag = 0,60) e no outro manteve-se fixa a resistência à compressão. Em todas as três dosagens foi mantida a mesma faixa de consistência do concreto, com abatimento igual a (100 + 10) mm. A frente de cloretos na matriz cimentícia foi avaliada por meio da aspersão de solução de nitrato de prata, após ataque de 8 ciclos semanais de molhagem e secagem em solução contendo cloretos. Foram, então, realizadas avaliações da porosidade aberta, a partir do ensaio de absorção de água por imersão, para se ter um indicativo da estrutura interna dos concretos, assim como se procederam análises de DRX e MEV em amostras de concreto. Estes estudos objetivaram verificar as potencialidades do metacaulim na fixação de cloretos na forma de sal de Friedel, além de propiciar as análises microestruturais dos concretos. Concluiu-se com o trabalho que a incorporação de metacaulim diminui a difusividade de cloretos, na medida em que essa adição mineral produz refinamento da estrutura de poros do concreto e também porque ela induz à formação de sal de Friedel, o que a torna um agente eficaz na prevenção da corrosão das armaduras em ambientes ricos em cloretos

InspirerMundi—remote monitoring of inhaled medication adherence through objective verification based on combined image processing techniques

The adherence to inhaled controller medications is of critical importance for achieving good clinical results in patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Self-management strategies can result in improved health outcomes and reduce unscheduled care and improve disease control. However, adherence assessment suffers from difficulties on attaining a high grade of trustworthiness given that patient self-reports of high-adherence rates are known to be unreliable. Objective Aiming to increase patient adherence to medication and allow for remote monitoring by health professionals, a mobile gamified application was developed where a therapeutic plan provides insight for creating a patient-oriented self-management system. To allow a reliable adherence measurement, the application includes a novel approach for objective verification of inhaler usage based on real-time video capture of the inhaler's dosage counters. This approach uses template matching image processing techniques, an off-the-shelf machine learning framework, and was developed to be reusable within other applications. The proposed approach was validated by 24 participants with a set of 12 inhalers models. Results Performed tests resulted in the correct value identification for the dosage counter in 79% of the registration events with all inhalers and over 90% for the three most widely used inhalers in Portugal. These results show the potential of exploring mobile-embedded capabilities for acquiring additional evidence regarding inhaler adherence. This system helps to bridge the gap between the patient and the health professional. By empowering the first with a tool for disease self-management and medication adherence and providing the later with additional relevant data, it paves the way to a better-informed disease management decision.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio