RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SITE SPECIFIC RISK ASSESSMENT FOR POLLUTED SITES

The present note highlights the role of geotechnical expertise for Risk Assessment of contaminated sites and illustrates specific aspects related to migration modeling. Implications of neglecting the time variable and the advantages of the direct measurements of vapors, performed by application of different techniques, are described and discussed. The comparison between direct measurements of vapor emissions and modeling outcomes show how the use of measured data is able to overcome the limitations deriving by restrictive model assumptions and effectively helps in obtaining more realistic results

Scapular dyskinesis in young, asymptomatic elite swimmers

Background: Overhead athletes are at a greater risk of developing scapular dyskinesis (SD). Although swimming is considered an overhead sport, information regarding SD in these athletes is scarce. Purpose: To determine the prevalence of SD in young, asymptomatic elite swimmers. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 661 asymptomatic elite swimmers were enrolled in this study (344 male, 317 female; mean age, 15.83 ± 2.20 years). Anthropometric characteristics, training routine, and stroke specialty were recorded. SD was assessed using a dynamic test consisting of an examination of the shoulder blades throughout synchronous forward flexion motion in the sagittal plane and was deemed to be either present or absent. Each movement was repeated 5 times. These evaluations were performed with athletes at rest, before any training or competition. Statistical analysis was performed. Results: SD was detected in 56 (8.5%) participants. Type I SD was the most common (46.5%); male participants were 2 times as likely to have SD as female participants (39 male, 17 female; P < .01). No correlation was found between the dominant limb and side affected (P = .258); rather, a correlation was found between the breathing side and side affected, in that swimmers with a preferred breathing side were more prone to develop SD in the opposite shoulder (P < .05). Swimmers involved in long-distance races were found to have a greater risk of developing SD (P = .01). Conclusion: SD may be an asymptomatic condition in elite young swimmers and is present in 8.5% of these athletes. Early diagnosis may be useful for asymptomatic athletes with SD and to avoid its possible evolution to a symptomatic condition

Detection of single amino acid mutation in human breast cancer by disordered plasmonic self-similar chain

Control of the architecture and electromagnetic behavior of nanostructures offers the possibility of designing and fabricating sensors that, owing to their intrinsic behavior, provide solutions to new problems in various fields. We show detection of peptides in multicomponent mixtures derived from human samples for early diagnosis of breast cancer. The architecture of sensors is based on a matrix array where pixels constitute a plasmonic device showing a strong electric field enhancement localized in an area of a few square nanometers. The method allows detection of single point mutations in peptides composing the BRCA1 protein. The sensitivity demonstrated falls in the picomolar (10−12 M) range. The success of this approach is a result of accurate design and fabrication control. The residual roughness introduced by fabrication was taken into account in optical modeling and was a further contributing factor in plasmon localization, increasing the sensitivity and selectivity of the sensors. This methodology developed for breast cancer detection can be considered a general strategy that is applicable to various pathologies and other chemical analytical cases where complex mixtures have to be resolved in their constitutive components

Effects of Variation in Compaction Water Content on Geotechnical Properties of Lime-treated Clayey Soil☆

Abstract The note presents the results of an experimental research study on the behaviour of a clayey soil of high plasticity treated with 3% quicklime for the stabilization of the foundation soil of a plant to be constructed along a slope. The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of a wide range of water content and of curing time on the mechanical and hydraulic characteristics of the treated soil. Soil-lime samples were prepared by wet mixing and Standard Proctor compaction. The development of chemical reactions in the compacted soil-lime mixtures were monitored by measuring the pH values of the soaking water with curing time. In the long term, a reduction of three orders of magnitude in permeability values was observed by comparing optimum and 5% wet of optimum conditions. Also compressibility was affected by variations in the compaction water content. The shear strength was not significantly affected by water content varying in the considered range

Monitoring small-strain stiffness in cementitious porous materials and amended soils for geo-environmental applications

The paper illustrates the use of Bender Element (BE) technique to monitor the development of smallstrain shear modulus, G0, in cement-bentonite (CB) mixtures and compacted soil-lime (SL) mixtures, both commonly employed in various geo-environmental applications. Three CB mixtures of different composition and one SL mixture were investigated. The G0 of the CB mixtures was found to increase with curing time, while the hydraulic conductivity significantly decreased. The cement-to-water ratio of CBs appeared to be the controlling factor on G0 whereas the hydraulic conductivity is also significantly influenced by other variables in composition (e.g. use of additives). The small-strain shear modulus of the soil-lime was found to increase with curing time with a trend that can be related to that of soil-lime chemical reactions. The results suggested that G0 can represent a useful parameter to monitor the progress of chemical reactions in soil-lime mixtures