Experimental analysis of the rising damp by the comparison between different geometrical configurations: mono and multi-blocks of carparo and pietra leccese

The rising damp is the principal cause of the deterioration of the masonry in the existing constructions. Since carparo and pietra leccese are the most used materials in southern Italy, this study aims to underline the trend of the rising damp for the two building materials considering mono and multi- block configurations. All analyzes were developed with and without the influence of the Domodry® system

Definition of a Protocol for the Experimental Monitoring of Rising Damp in Three Different Masonry Models with Tuff, Carparo, and Lecce Stone

This work presents a new protocol for monitoring rising damp, which is applied to three masonry models made of tuff, carparo, and Lecce stone. First, the physical characteristics of each stone were derived in the laboratory, which included porosity, imbibition, drying index, permeability, capillarity, and sorptivity. In this case, the protocol provided three columns, one for each material, consisting of five blocks. A layer of cotton tissue was interposed between columned blocks to simulate the hygroscopic behavior of a mortar, allowing a quick disassembly and reassembly of the multiblock columns for a quick weighing. The bottoms of the columns were immersed in water to a level of about three centimeters, providing a constant replenishment for the phenomena of evaporation and rising in the stone. The maximum height achieved by the rising damp depends on the characteristics of the building materials, i.e., the amount and size of pores, pore connectivity, etc. Since these materials have different physical characteristics, the objective was to quantify the rising moisture level of the three materials tested, block by block, in a controlled indoor microclimate environment. The three columns were periodically weighed, the quantity of collected water was evaluated, and a thermographic survey was performed. The results show that at the end of the test, the highest level of rising damp is reached by tuff with a height of 43 cm, followed by Lecce stone and carparo with a height of 40 cm and 21 cm, respectively. The innovation of this study is the proposal of a new flexible and easy‐to‐apply method for monitoring this phenomenon. It gives clear and numerically comparable results. Moreover, it is applicable to any type of stone, allowing the user to evaluate both the existing state and different design solutions

Attribute-aware Diversification for Sequential Recommendations

Users prefer diverse recommendations over homogeneous ones. However, most previous work on Sequential Recommenders does not consider diversity, and strives for maximum accuracy, resulting in homogeneous recommendations. In this paper, we consider both accuracy and diversity by presenting an Attribute-aware Diversifying Sequential Recommender (ADSR). Specifically, ADSR utilizes available attribute information when modeling a user's sequential behavior to simultaneously learn the user's most likely item to interact with, and their preference of attributes. Then, ADSR diversifies the recommended items based on the predicted preference for certain attributes. Experiments on two benchmark datasets demonstrate that ADSR can effectively provide diverse recommendations while maintaining accuracy.Comment: AIIS 2020, as part of SIGIR 2020 https://aiis.newidea.fun

Analysis and performance assessment of the use of ammonia-based nano additive for lean combustion

In recent years, considerable progress has been made in exploring new applications of fuel additives to reduce emissions. Reduction of total nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions can be achieved by decreasing the flame temperature by using fuel emulsified with water and/or using ammonia-based nano additives such as urea. The use of water as part of the hydrocarbon fuel is also one of the prospective directions in the development of new types of fuel systems. For the preparation of emulsified fuel, it is desirable to achieve greater stability of the emulsified fuel with minimum expenditure of chemicals and energy, so that the emulsified fuel can be used for a longer period. The paper analyzed the influence of nano-dispersed urea particles, water, and surfactant (Span 80/ Tween 80) on the combustion stability and emission characteristics of aviation fuel. The experimental campaign was conducted on a test stand (a 300kW liquid vortex combustor of 300 kW) consisting of a cylindrical combustion chamber with four optical windows and equipped with high-precision pressure sensors, thermocouples, and an exhaust gas analyzer for acquiring emissions. The experimental campaign was conducted at a constant fuel/air ratio (Φ). One of the main focus is related to the stability of the emulsion. Chemiluminescence imaging was performed to characterize the effects of the additive on flame emissions. In addition, a statistical and spectral analysis was performed using the pressure sensor for instability analysis. Exhaust gas analysis was performed both with the additive described above and without additive for a constant Φ condition. The analysis was performed for NOx, carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O 2)

Reexamination of 6Li + p elastic scattering in inverse kinematics

Elastic-scattering measurements have been performed for the Li6+p system in inverse kinematics at the energies of 16, 20, 25, and 29 MeV. The heavy ejectile was detected by the large acceptance MAGNEX spectrometer at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud in Catania, Italy. The results are considered in a Jeukenne-Lejeune-Mahaux and a continuum discretized coupled-channel calculation framework

Height and timing of growth spurt during puberty in young people living with vertically acquired HIV in Europe and Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe growth during puberty in young people with vertically acquired HIV. DESIGN: Pooled data from 12 paediatric HIV cohorts in Europe and Thailand. METHODS: One thousand and ninety-four children initiating a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor or boosted protease inhibitor based regimen aged 1-10 years were included. Super Imposition by Translation And Rotation (SITAR) models described growth from age 8 years using three parameters (average height, timing and shape of the growth spurt), dependent on age and height-for-age z-score (HAZ) (WHO references) at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Multivariate regression explored characteristics associated with these three parameters. RESULTS: At ART initiation, median age and HAZ was 6.4 [interquartile range (IQR): 2.8, 9.0] years and -1.2 (IQR: -2.3 to -0.2), respectively. Median follow-up was 9.1 (IQR: 6.9, 11.4) years. In girls, older age and lower HAZ at ART initiation were independently associated with a growth spurt which occurred 0.41 (95% confidence interval 0.20-0.62) years later in children starting ART age 6 to 10 years compared with 1 to 2 years and 1.50 (1.21-1.78) years later in those starting with HAZ less than -3 compared with HAZ at least -1. Later growth spurts in girls resulted in continued height growth into later adolescence. In boys starting ART with HAZ less than -1, growth spurts were later in children starting ART in the oldest age group, but for HAZ at least -1, there was no association with age. Girls and boys who initiated ART with HAZ at least -1 maintained a similar height to the WHO reference mean. CONCLUSION: Stunting at ART initiation was associated with later growth spurts in girls. Children with HAZ at least -1 at ART initiation grew in height at the level expected in HIV negative children of a comparable age

Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead.

Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology

The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect in Exoplanet Research

The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect occurs during a planet's transit. It provides the main means of measuring the sky-projected spin-orbit angle between a planet's orbital plane, and its host star's equatorial plane. Observing the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect is now a near routine procedure. It is an important element in the orbital characterisation of transiting exoplanets. Measurements of the spin-orbit angle have revealed a surprising diversity, far from the placid, Kantian and Laplacian ideals, whereby planets form, and remain, on orbital planes coincident with their star's equator. This chapter will review a short history of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, how it is modelled, and will summarise the current state of the field before describing other uses for a spectroscopic transit, and alternative methods of measuring the spin-orbit angle.Comment: Review to appear as a chapter in the "Handbook of Exoplanets", ed. H. Deeg & J.A. Belmont