Reconstruction of a Deteriorating, Tiered, MSE Wall Structure in Connecticut

At a retail development site in Southington, Connecticut, a multi-tiered Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining wall system was constructed in the early 1990’s to facilitate development of the site. Specifically, the retaining wall system constructed consisted of a sloped structure with three tiers of MSE wall that was approximately 56-feet tall at its highest point. The MSE walls within the slope were spaced approximately 30 to 40 feet apart horizontally, were between six and nine feet in height, and ranged in length from about 375 feet to 1,325 feet. Overall, grades on the slope ranged from about elevation 225 feet at the top to about elevation 163 feet at the fire lane at the base of the slope. The graded portions of the slope between the MSE walls had an inclination of about 2H:1V. Subsurface conditions at the site generally consisted of up to about eight feet of granular fill on the slope in the areas disturbed by the initial grading activities underlain by medium dense to dense coarse to fine sand with varying proportions of silt and gravel. Based on borings conducted at the top of the slope during remedial construction, the sand layer extends to at least elevation 145 feet, or about 15 to 20 feet below the base of the slope. Groundwater was not encountered in any of the borings conducted or during the construction phase. Due to the lack of available information regarding the freeze-thaw effects on the modular block facing at the time of construction, the impact of this behavior was not properly considered in the original design. Consequently, less than 20 years later, freeze-thaw effects deteriorated the majority of the facing to the point where the overall stability of the wall was in question. Specifically, facing block failure was leading to localized raveling of soils and creating erosion zones at the face of the wall. If left unchecked, these areas of erosion would have continued to extend deeper into the slope, compromising the integrity of the MSE structures, and thereby the overall slope. Several options were evaluated to achieve a cost efficient design to stabilize the walls and slope. Conceptual designs were developed and included 1) a single 25-foot tall MSE wall with a reinforced slope in front of the existing wall system and 2) a proposed tiered wall scheme. The selected design concept included a 15-foot tall large block Stone Strong gravity wall in front of the bottom tier and a 10-foot tall Stone Strong gravity wall in front of the center portion of the middle tier of the existing retaining wall system. The remainder of the upper slope was significantly regraded. Re-construction of the wall was completed between November 2008 and August 2009. This paper describes the investigation, design, and construction methodologies that were implemented to provide an economical solution to this unique issue and mitigate long-term wall stability issues

Experiences in deploying metadata analysis tools for institutional repositories

Current institutional repository software provides few tools to help metadata librarians understand and analyze their collections. In this article, we compare and contrast metadata analysis tools that were developed simultaneously, but independently, at two New Zealand institutions during a period of national investment in research repositories: the Metadata Analysis Tool (MAT) at The University of Waikato, and the Kiwi Research Information Service (KRIS) at the National Library of New Zealand. The tools have many similarities: they are convenient, online, on-demand services that harvest metadata using OAI-PMH; they were developed in response to feedback from repository administrators; and they both help pinpoint specific metadata errors as well as generating summary statistics. They also have significant differences: one is a dedicated tool wheres the other is part of a wider access tool; one gives a holistic view of the metadata whereas the other looks for specific problems; one seeks patterns in the data values whereas the other checks that those values conform to metadata standards. Both tools work in a complementary manner to existing Web-based administration tools. We have observed that discovery and correction of metadata errors can be quickly achieved by switching Web browser views from the analysis tool to the repository interface, and back. We summarize the findings from both tools' deployment into a checklist of requirements for metadata analysis tools

Inhibiting Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH) Induces Apoptosis in Breast Cancer Cells

Background: Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous, aggressive disease that has poor prognosis. Current treatment is present, but research on a therapeutic alternative is ongoing. Endocannabinoids, members of the endocannabinoid system, are naturally produced by cells in our bodies. They are diverse signaling components that have several functions, including regulation of the apoptosis mechanism. Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH) is an integral membrane enzyme that hydrolyzes endocannabinoids, rendering them inactive. Since FAAH is upregulated in cancer cells, FAAH inhibition is predicted to increase the apoptotic rate. Methods: To test the effects of FAAH inhibitors and exogenous endocannabinoids, cells were cultured, probed for FAAH expression using Western blot analysis, treated with FAAH inhibitors, exogenous endocannabinoids, and combinations of both, all in varying doses, and cell viability was measured using MTT assays. Results: High levels of FAAH were observed in two breast cancer cell lines. The greatest change was observed at 50 μm PF-750 treatment, which is the most selective FAAH inhibitor. URB597 combination treatments decreased cell viability in a supra-additive manner. The most significant change was observed at co-treatment levels of 50 μm URB597 and 50 μm AEA, which resulted in a 30% decrease (p<0.001) in cell viability compared to vehicle control. FAAH inhibition was more effective than exogenous endocannabinoid use, and combination treatments of FAAH inhibitors and exogenous endocannabinoids, both at the highest doses, were the most effective.Biomedical Engineering, Department ofHonors Colleg

Reliable microsatellite genotyping of the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) using faecal DNA

The potential link between badgers and bovine tuberculosis has made it vital to develop accurate techniques to census badgers. Here we investigate the potential of using genetic profiles obtained from faecal DNA as a basis for population size estimation. After trialling several methods we obtained a high amplification success rate (89%) by storing faeces in 70% ethanol and using the guanidine thiocyanate/silica method for extraction. Using 70% ethanol as a storage agent had the advantage of it being an antiseptic. In order to obtain reliable genotypes with fewer amplification reactions than the standard multiple-tubes approach, we devised a comparative approach in which genetic profiles were compared and replication directed at similar, but not identical, genotypes. This modified method achieved a reduction in polymerase chain reactions comparable with the maximumlikelihood model when just using reliability criteria, and was slightly better when using reliability criteria with the additional proviso that alleles must be observed twice to be considered reliable. Our comparative approach would be best suited for studies that include multiple faeces from each individual. We utilized our approach in a well-studied population of badgers from which individuals had been sampled and reliable genotypes obtained. In a study of 53 faeces sampled from three social groups over 10 days, we found that direct enumeration could not be used to estimate population size, but that the application of mark–recapture models has the potential to provide more accurate results

Energy embodied in household cookery: the missing part of a sustainable food system? Part 1: A method to survey and calculate representative recipes

This paper firstly reviews the current state of knowledge on sustainable cookery and the environmental impacts of the food consumption phase. It then uses the example of a dish of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding to explore energy use in food production and consumption. Part 1 of this paper conducts a meta-analysis of 33 roast beef and Yorkshire pudding recipes in order to create a representative recipe for analysis. Part 2 of this paper then uses life cycle assessment and energy use data is coupled with the representative recipe of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, to calculate the embodied energy of the meal. Seven interventions are modelled to illustrate how sustainable cookery can play a role as part of a sustainable food system. Interventions show that sustainable cookery has the potential to reduce cookery related energy use by 18%, and integrating sustainable cookery within a sustainable food system has the potential to reduce the total energy use by 55%. Finally, the paper discusses the issue of how the adoption of the sustainable cookery agenda may help or hinder attempts to shift consumers towards sustainable diets

Glutamatergic neurotransmission links sensitivity to volatile anesthetics with mitochondrial function

Actualment, Albert Quintana Romero desenvolupa la seva recerca a l'Institut de Neurociències de la Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaAn enigma of modern medicine has persisted for over 150 years. The mechanisms by which volatile anesthetics (VAs) produce their effects (loss of consciousness, analgesia, amnesia, and immobility) remain an unsolved mystery. Many attractive putative molecular targets have failed to produce a significant effect when genetically tested in whole-animal models [1-3]. However, mitochondrial defects increase VA sensitivity in diverse organisms from nematodes to humans [4-6]. Ndufs4 knockout (KO) mice lack a subunit of mitochondrial complex I and are strikingly hypersensitive to VAs yet resistant to the intravenous anesthetic ketamine [7]. The change in VA sensitivity is the largest reported for a mammal. Limiting NDUFS4 loss to a subset of glutamatergic neurons recapitulates the VA hypersensitivity of Ndufs4(KO) mice, while loss in GABAergic or cholinergic neurons does not. Baseline electrophysiologic function of CA1 pyramidal neurons does not differ between Ndufs4(KO) and control mice. Isoflurane concentrations that anesthetize only Ndufs4(KO) mice (0.6%) decreased the frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) only in Ndufs4(KO) CA1 neurons, while concentrations effective in control mice (1.2%) decreased sEPSC frequencies in both control and Ndufs4(KO) CA1 pyramidal cells. Spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) were not differentially affected between genotypes. The effects of isoflurane were similar on evoked field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) and paired pulse facilitation (PPF) in KO and control hippocampal slices. We propose that CA1 presynaptic excitatory neurotransmission is hypersensitive to isoflurane in Ndufs4(KO) mice due to the inhibition of pre-existing reduced complex I function, reaching a critical reduction that can no longer meet metabolic demands

Analysis of repetitive element DNA methylation by MethyLight

Repetitive elements represent a large portion of the human genome and contain much of the CpG methylation found in normal human postnatal somatic tissues. Loss of DNA methylation in these sequences might account for most of the global hypomethylation that characterizes a large percentage of human cancers that have been studied. There is widespread interest in correlating the genomic 5-methylcytosine content with clinical outcome, dietary history, lifestyle, etc. However, a high-throughput, accurate and easily accessible technique that can be applied even to paraffin-embedded tissue DNA is not yet available. Here, we report the development of quantitative MethyLight assays to determine the levels of methylated and unmethylated repeats, namely, Alu and LINE-1 sequences and the centromeric satellite alpha (Satα) and juxtacentromeric satellite 2 (Sat2) DNA sequences. Methylation levels of Alu, Sat2 and LINE-1 repeats were significantly associated with global DNA methylation, as measured by high performance liquid chromatography, and the combined measurements of Alu and Sat2 methylation were highly correlative with global DNA methylation measurements. These MethyLight assays rely only on real-time PCR and provide surrogate markers for global DNA methylation analysis. We also describe a novel design strategy for the development of methylation-independent MethyLight control reactions based on Alu sequences depleted of CpG dinucleotides by evolutionary deamination on one strand. We show that one such Alu-based reaction provides a greatly improved detection of DNA for normalization in MethyLight applications and is less susceptible to normalization errors caused by cancer-associated aneuploidy and copy number changes

Making soft intelligence hard: a multi-site qualitative study of challenges relating to voice about safety concerns.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare organisations often fail to harvest and make use of the 'soft intelligence' about safety and quality concerns held by their own personnel. We aimed to examine the role of formal channels in encouraging or inhibiting employee voice about concerns. METHODS: Qualitative study involving personnel from three academic hospitals in two countries. Interviews were conducted with 165 participants from a wide range of occupational and professional backgrounds, including senior leaders and those from the sharp end of care. Data analysis was based on the constant comparative method. RESULTS: Leaders reported that they valued employee voice; they identified formal organisational channels as a key route for the expression of concerns by employees. Formal channels and processes were designed to ensure fairness, account for all available evidence and achieve appropriate resolution. When processed through these formal systems, concerns were destined to become evidenced, formal and tractable to organisational intervention. But the way these systems operated meant that some concerns were never voiced. Participants were anxious about having to process their suspicions and concerns into hard evidentiary facts, and they feared being drawn into official procedures designed to allocate consequence. Anxiety about evidence and process was particularly relevant when the intelligence was especially 'soft'-feelings or intuitions that were difficult to resolve into a coherent, compelling reconstruction of an incident or concern. Efforts to make soft intelligence hard thus risked creating 'forbidden knowledge': dangerous to know or share. CONCLUSIONS: The legal and bureaucratic considerations that govern formal channels for the voicing of concerns may, perversely, inhibit staff from speaking up. Leaders responsible for quality and safety should consider complementing formal mechanisms with alternative, informal opportunities for listening to concerns

Do position and species identity of neighbours matter in 8–15-year-old post harvest mesic stands in the boreal mixedwood?

Neighbourhood competition indices (NCI), where position and species identity of neighbours are known, have been used to investigate growth and competitive interactions among adult trees. In this study, we used NCI in 8–15-year-old stands following clear-cutting in a boreal mixedwood forest of eastern Canada to improve our understanding of early successional forest dynamics. Trees of increasing diameter from the center (≥1 cm) to the edge (≥5 cm) were mapped in twenty-five circular 450m2 plots. Target trees (DBH≥1 cm) were sampled in plot center to determine their annual radial stem growth. For each species, we compared a set of growth models using either a spatially explicit NCI or a non-spatial competition index. Both types of indices estimated a species-specific competition coefficient for each pair of competitor–target species. NCI were selected as the best competition model for all target species although differences in variance explained relative to the non-spatial index were small. This likely indicates that competition occurs at the local level but that the high density and the relative uniformity of these young stands creates similar neighbourhoods for most trees in a given stand. The effective neighbourhood radius for competitors varied among species and was smaller for shade tolerant species. Intraspecific neighbours were the strongest competitors for most species. Aspen (Populus tremuloides) was a weak competitor for all species as opposed to balsam fir (Abies balsamea) which was a strong competitor in all cases. These results are in contradiction with some widely used forest policies in North America (e.g. free-to-grow standards) that consider broadleaf species, such as aspen, as the strongest competitors. For these early successional forests, the decision regarding the use of spatial or non-spatial competition indices should rest on the intended use. For even-age management, spatial indices might not justify their use in highdensity stands but they are needed for the simulation of novel harvest techniques creating complex stand structure