An Embedded-Sensor Approach for Concrete Resistivity Measurement in On-Site Corrosion Monitoring: Cell Constants Determination

[EN] The concrete electrical resistivity is a prominent parameter in structural health monitoring, since, along with corrosion potential, it provides relevant qualitative diagnosis of the reinforcement corrosion. This study proposes a simple expression to reliable determine resistivity from the concrete electrical resistance (R-E) provided by the corrosion sensor of the Integrated Network of Sensors for Smart Corrosion Monitoring (INESSCOM) we have developed. The novelty here is that distinct from common resistivity sensors, the cell constants obtained by the proposed expression are intended to be valid for any sensor implementation scenario. This was ensured by studying most significant geometrical features of the sensor in a wide set of calibration solutions. This embedded-sensor approach is intended to be applicable for R-E measurements obtained both using potential step voltammetry (PSV, used in the INESSCOM sensor for corrosion rate measurement) and alternating current methods. In this regard, we present a simple protocol to reliably determine R-E, and therefore resistivity, from PSV measurements. It consists in adding a very short potentiostatic pulse to the original technique. In this way, we are able to easy monitor resistivity along with corrosion rate through a single sensor, an advantage which is not usual in structural health monitoring.This research was funded by the pre-doctoral scholarship granted to Jose Enrique Ramon Zamora by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, grant number FPU13/00911. Funding was also provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the national program for research, development and innovation geared to societal challenges; project number BIA2016-78460-C3-3-R. The research activity reported in this paper has been partially possible thanks to the project Voltammetric Electronic Tongue for Durability Control in Concrete funded by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, project number SP20180245.Ramón, JE.; Martínez, I.; Gandía-Romero, JM.; Soto Camino, J. (2021). An Embedded-Sensor Approach for Concrete Resistivity Measurement in On-Site Corrosion Monitoring: Cell Constants Determination. Sensors. 21(7):1-23. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21072481S12321

Hydronium Detection in Hardened Concrete

[EN] The monitoring of reinforced concrete structures allows us to detect the presence of aggressive agents into of the concrete matrix, on site and in a real time. These aggressive agents can produce the unexpected failure of the structures, thus discovering their presence is a fundamental aspect in the preservation of people safety and the durability of the structure. On the other hand, helps to reduce the cost of maintenance and repair operations, due to allow us to identify the problems faster, minimizing the intervention to be done. The present research paper was focused in the hydronium detection; the reduction of this species generates hydrogen, the hydrogen produces the embrittlement and cracking of the steel, which seriously compromises the right behaviour of the structure. The problem of hydrogen appears in industries such as ammonia processing or petrochemistry industries and nuclear power plants. All of them are industries in which a failure seriously compromises the welfare of people and the environment. Therefore, the detection of hydrogen penetration in reinforcement concrete structures in these cases are very interesting. In this study, with the purpose to detect the hydronium or hydrogen in the hardened concrete matrices is proposed the use of voltammetric sensor, which is part of a multisensory system called Electronic-Tongue. This is a preliminary study. The objective of these initial steps was to evaluate the detection capability of the sensor. Currently, have been designing a sequential test in order to evaluate the sensor in different partial hydrogen pressures with the purpose to develop mathematical models to the hydronium or hydrogen detection and quantification in hardened concrete matrix.The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the pre-doctoral scholarship granted to Ana Martínez Ibernón (FPU 16/00723). Also, to the Universitat Politècnica de València for the financial support in the project ¿Ayudas a Primeros Proyectos de Investigación (PAID-06-18)Martínez-Ibernón, A.; Gandía-Romero, JM.; Gasch, I.; Valcuende Payá, MO. (2020). Hydronium Detection in Hardened Concrete. International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE). 843-850. https://doi.org/10.23967/dbmc.2020.151S84385

Stainless Steel Voltammetric Sensor to Monitor Variations in Oxygen and Humidity Availability in Reinforcement Concrete Structures

[EN] The present work presents the results obtained with a stainless steel (SS) voltammetric sensor to detect variations in humidity (H2O) and oxygen (O2) availability in concretes. First, studies in solution were run by preparing several solutions to represent the different conditions that can be found in concrete pores. Second, the sensor's response was studied by varying O2 availability by argon or synthetic air bubbling. Then concrete conditions with different degrees of carbonation were simulated using solutions with a pH between 13 and 8.45. After characterization in solution, a study by means of concrete samples with several water/cement ratios (0.6, 0.5 and 0.4) was performed, in which sensors were embedded and studied under different O2 and H2O saturation conditions. The obtained results revealed that with the voltagram, it is possible to evaluate O2 availability variation from the slopes of the lines identified logarithmically in the voltagram for the obtained cathodic sweeping. All the results obtained with the sensor were correlated/validated by standard assays to characterize porosity in hardened concretes.The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the pre-doctoral scholarship granted to Ana Martinez Ibernon (FPU 16/00723). To the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for the financial support in the project "Ayudas a Primeros Proyectos de Investigacion (PAID-06-18): Lengua Electronica Voltametrica para el control de durabilidad en hormigones, SP20180245"Martínez-Ibernón, A.; Lliso-Ferrando, JR.; Gandía-Romero, JM.; Soto Camino, J. (2021). Stainless Steel Voltammetric Sensor to Monitor Variations in Oxygen and Humidity Availability in Reinforcement Concrete Structures. Sensors. 21(8):1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21082851S12121

Corrosion Assessment in Reinforced Concrete Structures by Means of Embedded Sensors and Multivariate Analysis-Part 1: Laboratory Validation

[EN] Reinforced Concrete Structures (RCS) are a fundamental part of a country's civil infrastructure. However, RCSs are often affected by rebar corrosion, which poses a major problem because it reduces their service life. The traditionally used inspection and management methods applied to RCSs are poorly operative. Structural Health Monitoring and Management (SHMM) by means of embedded sensors to analyse corrosion in RCSs is an emerging alternative, but one that still involves different challenges. Examples of SHMM include INESSCOM (Integrated Sensor Network for Smart Corrosion Monitoring), a tool that has already been implemented in different real-life cases. Nevertheless, work continues to upgrade it. To do so, the authors of this work consider implementing a new measurement procedure to identify the triggering agent of the corrosion process by analysing the double-layer capacitance of the sensors' responses. This study was carried out on reinforced concrete specimens exposed for 18 months to different atmospheres. The results demonstrate the proposed measurement protocol and the multivariate analysis can differentiate the factor that triggers corrosion (chlorides or carbonation), even when the corrosion kinetics are similar. Data were validated by principal component analysis (PCA) and by the visual inspection of samples and rebars at the end of the study.This research was funded by the Spanish Government, grant number PID2020-119744RB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.Ramón Zamora, JE.; Lliso-Ferrando, JR.; Martínez-Ibernón, A.; Gandía-Romero, JM. (2023). Corrosion Assessment in Reinforced Concrete Structures by Means of Embedded Sensors and Multivariate Analysis-Part 1: Laboratory Validation. Sensors. 23(21):1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/s23218869119232

OC, HPC, UHPC and UHPFRC Corrosion Performance in the Marine Environment

[EN] This work aims to study the corrosion performance of six concretes in the marine environment: three ordinary concretes (C30, C40 and C50); one high-performance concrete (C90); two ultra high-performance concretes, one without fibres (C150-NF) and another one with steel fibres (C150-F). To this end, porosity and chloride ingress resistance were analysed at different ages. Resistivity was also evaluated and the corrosion rate in the embedded rebars was monitored. The results showed that C30, C40 and C50 had porosity accessible to water percentages and capillary absorption values between six- and eight-fold higher than C90 and C150-NF and C150-F, respectively. Similar differences were obtained when oxygen permeability was analysed. Chloride ingress resistance in the ordinary concretes was estimated to be one-fold lower than in C90 and two-fold lower than in C150-NF and C150-F. Presence of fibres in C150-F increased the diffusion coefficient between 5% and 50% compared to C150-NF. Fibres also affected resistivity: C150-NF had values above 5500 ohm m, but the C150-F and C90 values were between 700 and 1000 ohm m and were one-fold higher than the ordinary concretes. After 3 years, the corrosion damage in the embedded rebars exposed to a marine environment was negligible in C90, C150-NF and C150-F (9.5, 6.2 and 3.5 mg mass loss), but with higher values (between 170.4 and 328.9 mg) for C3, C40 and C50. The results allow a framework to be established to make comparisons in future studies.This research was funded by the Spanish Government, grant number PID2020-119744RB-C21 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033Lliso-Ferrando, JR.; Gandía-Romero, JM.; Soto Camino, J.; Valcuende Payá, MO. (2023). OC, HPC, UHPC and UHPFRC Corrosion Performance in the Marine Environment. Buildings. 13(10):1-27. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13102439127131

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended genome-wide association meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3255 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12 488 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.31 to a ~0.9-Mb inversion polymorphism that creates two highly differentiated haplotypes and characterized the potential effects of the inversion in detail. Our data, together with the 5th release of summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative including non-Caucasian individuals, also identified a new locus at 19q13.33, including NAPSA, a gene which is expressed primarily in alveolar cells responsible for gas exchange in the lung.S.E.H. and C.A.S. partially supported genotyping through a philanthropic donation. A.F. and D.E. were supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and COVID-19 grant Research (BMBF; ID:01KI20197); A.F., D.E. and F.D. were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence ‘Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation’ (EXC2167). D.E. was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the Computational Life Sciences funding concept (CompLS grant 031L0165). D.E., K.B. and S.B. acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF14CC0001 and NNF17OC0027594). T.L.L., A.T. and O.Ö. were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), project numbers 279645989; 433116033; 437857095. M.W. and H.E. are supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Research Training Group 1743, ‘Genes, Environment and Inflammation’. L.V. received funding from: Ricerca Finalizzata Ministero della Salute (RF-2016-02364358), Italian Ministry of Health ‘CV PREVITAL’—strategie di prevenzione primaria cardiovascolare primaria nella popolazione italiana; The European Union (EU) Programme Horizon 2020 (under grant agreement No. 777377) for the project LITMUS- and for the project ‘REVEAL’; Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda ‘Ricerca corrente’, Fondazione Sviluppo Ca’ Granda ‘Liver-BIBLE’ (PR-0391), Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda ‘5permille’ ‘COVID-19 Biobank’ (RC100017A). A.B. was supported by a grant from Fondazione Cariplo to Fondazione Tettamanti: ‘Bio-banking of Covid-19 patient samples to support national and international research (Covid-Bank). This research was partly funded by an MIUR grant to the Department of Medical Sciences, under the program ‘Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022’. This study makes use of data generated by the GCAT-Genomes for Life. Cohort study of the Genomes of Catalonia, Fundació IGTP (The Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol) IGTP is part of the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya. GCAT is supported by Acción de Dinamización del ISCIII-MINECO and the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya (ADE 10/00026); the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017-SGR 529). M.M. received research funding from grant PI19/00335 Acción Estratégica en Salud, integrated in the Spanish National RDI Plan and financed by ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)-Una manera de hacer Europa’). B.C. is supported by national grants PI18/01512. X.F. is supported by the VEIS project (001-P-001647) (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ‘A way to build Europe’). Additional data included in this study were obtained in part by the COVICAT Study Group (Cohort Covid de Catalunya) supported by IsGlobal and IGTP, European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, COVID-19 Rapid Response activity 73A and SR20-01024 La Caixa Foundation. A.J. and S.M. were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant numbers: PSE-010000-2006-6 and IPT-010000-2010-36). A.J. was also supported by national grant PI17/00019 from the Acción Estratégica en Salud (ISCIII) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). The Basque Biobank, a hospital-related platform that also involves all Osakidetza health centres, the Basque government’s Department of Health and Onkologikoa, is operated by the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research-BIOEF. M.C. received Grants BFU2016-77244-R and PID2019-107836RB-I00 funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, EU). M.R.G., J.A.H., R.G.D. and D.M.M. are supported by the ‘Spanish Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Competition, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ (PI19/01404, PI16/01842, PI19/00589, PI17/00535 and GLD19/00100) and by the Andalussian government (Proyectos Estratégicos-Fondos Feder PE-0451-2018, COVID-Premed, COVID GWAs). The position held by Itziar de Rojas Salarich is funded by grant FI20/00215, PFIS Contratos Predoctorales de Formación en Investigación en Salud. Enrique Calderón’s team is supported by CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), ‘Instituto de Salud Carlos III’. J.C.H. reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312780 during the conduct of the study. E.S. reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no. 312769. The BioMaterialBank Nord is supported by the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Airway Research Center North (ARCN). The BioMaterialBank Nord is member of popgen 2.0 network (P2N). P.K. Bergisch Gladbach, Germany and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. He is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). O.A.C. is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy—CECAD, EXC 2030–390661388. The COMRI cohort is funded by Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. This work was supported by grants of the Rolf M. Schwiete Stiftung, the Saarland University, BMBF and The States of Saarland and Lower Saxony. K.U.L. is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG, LU-1944/3-1). Genotyping for the BoSCO study is funded by the Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn. F.H. was supported by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Arts. Part of the genotyping was supported by a grant to A.R. from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant: 01ED1619A, European Alzheimer DNA BioBank, EADB) within the context of the EU Joint Programme—Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). Additional funding was derived from the German Research Foundation (DFG) grant: RA 1971/6-1 to A.R. P.R. is supported by the DFG (CCGA Sequencing Centre and DFG ExC2167 PMI and by SH state funds for COVID19 research). F.T. is supported by the Clinician Scientist Program of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence ‘Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation’ (EXC2167). C.L. and J.H. are supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). T.B., M.M.B., O.W. und A.H. are supported by the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen. M.A.-H. was supported by Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion program, grant IJC2018-035131-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. E.C.S. is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SCHU 2419/2-1).Peer reviewe

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended GWAS meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3,260 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12,483 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.31 to a highly pleiotropic ∼0.9-Mb inversion polymorphism and characterized the potential effects of the inversion in detail. Our data, together with the 5th release of summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, also identified a new locus at 19q13.33, including NAPSA, a gene which is expressed primarily in alveolar cells responsible for gas exchange in the lung.Andre Franke and David Ellinghaus were supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01KI20197), Andre Franke, David Ellinghaus and Frauke Degenhardt were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (EXC2167). David Ellinghaus was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the Computational Life Sciences funding concept (CompLS grant 031L0165). David Ellinghaus, Karina Banasik and Søren Brunak acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant NNF14CC0001 and NNF17OC0027594). Tobias L. Lenz, Ana Teles and Onur Özer were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), project numbers 279645989; 433116033; 437857095. Mareike Wendorff and Hesham ElAbd are supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Research Training Group 1743, "Genes, Environment and Inflammation". This project was supported by a Covid-19 grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; ID: 01KI20197). Luca Valenti received funding from: Ricerca Finalizzata Ministero della Salute RF2016-02364358, Italian Ministry of Health ""CV PREVITAL – strategie di prevenzione primaria cardiovascolare primaria nella popolazione italiana; The European Union (EU) Programme Horizon 2020 (under grant agreement No. 777377) for the project LITMUS- and for the project ""REVEAL""; Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda ""Ricerca corrente"", Fondazione Sviluppo Ca' Granda ""Liver-BIBLE"" (PR-0391), Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda ""5permille"" ""COVID-19 Biobank"" (RC100017A). Andrea Biondi was supported by the grant from Fondazione Cariplo to Fondazione Tettamanti: "Biobanking of Covid-19 patient samples to support national and international research (Covid-Bank). This research was partly funded by a MIUR grant to the Department of Medical Sciences, under the program "Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022". This study makes use of data generated by the GCAT-Genomes for Life. Cohort study of the Genomes of Catalonia, Fundació IGTP. IGTP is part of the CERCA Program / Generalitat de Catalunya. GCAT is supported by Acción de Dinamización del ISCIIIMINECO and the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya (ADE 10/00026); the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017-SGR 529). Marta Marquié received research funding from ant PI19/00335 Acción Estratégica en Salud, integrated in the Spanish National RDI Plan and financed by ISCIIISubdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER-Una manera de hacer Europa").Beatriz Cortes is supported by national grants PI18/01512. Xavier Farre is supported by VEIS project (001-P-001647) (cofunded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), “A way to build Europe”). Additional data included in this study was obtained in part by the COVICAT Study Group (Cohort Covid de Catalunya) supported by IsGlobal and IGTP, EIT COVID-19 Rapid Response activity 73A and SR20-01024 La Caixa Foundation. Antonio Julià and Sara Marsal were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant numbers: PSE-010000-2006-6 and IPT-010000-2010-36). Antonio Julià was also supported the by national grant PI17/00019 from the Acción Estratégica en Salud (ISCIII) and the FEDER. The Basque Biobank is a hospitalrelated platform that also involves all Osakidetza health centres, the Basque government's Department of Health and Onkologikoa, is operated by the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research-BIOEF. Mario Cáceres received Grants BFU2016-77244-R and PID2019-107836RB-I00 funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, EU). Manuel Romero Gómez, Javier Ampuero Herrojo, Rocío Gallego Durán and Douglas Maya Miles are supported by the “Spanish Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Competition, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (PI19/01404, PI16/01842, PI19/00589, PI17/00535 and GLD19/00100), and by the Andalussian government (Proyectos Estratégicos-Fondos Feder PE-0451-2018, COVID-Premed, COVID GWAs). The position held by Itziar de Rojas Salarich is funded by grant FI20/00215, PFIS Contratos Predoctorales de Formación en Investigación en Salud. Enrique Calderón's team is supported by CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), "Instituto de Salud Carlos III". Jan Cato Holter reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312780 during the conduct of the study. Dr. Solligård: reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312769. The BioMaterialBank Nord is supported by the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Airway Research Center North (ARCN). The BioMaterialBank Nord is member of popgen 2.0 network (P2N). Philipp Koehler has received non-financial scientific grants from Miltenyi Biotec GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. He is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).Oliver A. Cornely is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – CECAD, EXC 2030 – 390661388. The COMRI cohort is funded by Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Genotyping was performed by the Genotyping laboratory of Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM Technology Centre, University of Helsinki. This work was supported by grants of the Rolf M. Schwiete Stiftung, the Saarland University, BMBF and The States of Saarland and Lower Saxony. Kerstin U. Ludwig is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG, LU-1944/3-1). Genotyping for the BoSCO study is funded by the Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn. Frank Hanses was supported by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Arts. Part of the genotyping was supported by a grant to Alfredo Ramirez from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant: 01ED1619A, European Alzheimer DNA BioBank, EADB) within the context of the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). Additional funding was derived from the German Research Foundation (DFG) grant: RA 1971/6-1 to Alfredo Ramirez. Philip Rosenstiel is supported by the DFG (CCGA Sequencing Centre and DFG ExC2167 PMI and by SH state funds for COVID19 research). Florian Tran is supported by the Clinician Scientist Program of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (EXC2167). Christoph Lange and Jan Heyckendorf are supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). Thorsen Brenner, Marc M Berger, Oliver Witzke und Anke Hinney are supported by the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen. Marialbert Acosta-Herrera was supported by Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion program, grant IJC2018-035131-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Eva C Schulte is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SCHU 2419/2-1).N

Scientific research in Bachelor's Degree in Technical Architecture (ETSIE-UPV)

[EN] The statistics on the employment of graduates of the Bachelor¿s Degree in Technical Architecture show that there are very few students who decide to focus on scientific research at the end of their studies. The causes of this situation may be the current high demand for technical architects as a result of the increasement of the activity in the building sector. Because of this, a few years ago the School of Building Engineering (ETSIE-UPV) proposed to organize some training days in order to show the possibilities of research to students of the last years of degree/ master¿s degree. The aim of this workshop is twofold: on the one hand, showing the options if they wish to continue their studies (PhD), and, on the other hand, showing the fields on which, they can focus their AB and MA.[ES] Las estadísticas de inserción laboral de los egresados del Grado de Arquitectura Técnica muestran la escasa existencia de estudiantes que deciden optar por la investigación científica al finalizar sus estudios. Las causas de esta situación pueden ser la alta demanda actual de arquitectos técnicos como consecuencia del incremento de la actividad del sector de la construcción. Debido a esto, en la Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de la Edificación (ETSIE-UPV) se propuso hace unos años llevar a cabo unas jornadas orientadas a mostrar las posibilidades de la investigación a los estudiantes de los últimos cursos de grado/máster. Estas jornadas tratan de orientar a los estudiantes sobre las líneas de investigación existentes en la escuela con una doble finalidad: por un lado, mostrar las opciones existentes si desean continuar sus estudios con un doctorado, y, por otro lado, mostrar los campos en los que pueden centrarse sus TFG o TFM.Lliso-Ferrando, JR.; Gandía-Romero, JM.; Martínez-Ibernón, A. (2021). Investigación científica en el Grado en Arquitectura Técnica (ETSIE-UPV). REDINE. 739-743. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/19131873974

Improved Tafel-Based Potentiostatic Approach for Corrosion Rate Monitoring of Reinforcing Steel

[EN] Potential step voltammetry (PSV) was introduced in earlier works as an advantageous alternative to traditional methods for measuring corrosion rate in reinforced concrete. The present study aims to improve PSV to maximize its applicability in corrosion rate monitoring, that is, beyond the narrowly-defined steel¿concrete systems in which was initially validated. It was therefore identified necessary to address the most suitable PSV pulse amplitudes to accurately obtain the Tafel lines and, therefore, corrosion rate in steel-mortar systems with well-differentiated ohmic drop. PSV findings were compared to reference methods, i.e. Tafel intersection and linear polarization resistance. As a novelty, we propose a procedure to improve the reliability of the PSV-determined Tafel lines, which is based on three protocols (P1, P2 and P3). P1 consists of a specific pulse sequence to accurately characterize the morphology of the polarization curve without disturbing the system. P2 consists of two short pulses for determining the ohmic drop compensation factor. Finally, P3 consists of a simple calculation procedure to accurately adjust the PSV pulse amplitudes (V) to the steel¿concrete system assessed, thus obviating the need for preset values and, therefore, ensuring accurate corrosion rate results. The procedure proposed is intended to improve PSV with a view to its consolidation as a reliable tool for the unsupervised monitoring of real structures.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was supported by the pre-doctoral scholarship granted to Jose Enrique Ramon Zamora by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Grant Number FPU13/00911). We would also like to acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the national programs of oriented research, development and innovation to societal challenges (Project Numbers BIA2016-78460-C33-R, PID2020-119744RB-C21 and PID2020-119744RB-C22). To the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for the financial support in the project "Ayudas a Primeros Proyectos de Investigacion (PAID-0618)"-SP20180245.Ramón, JE.; Martínez, I.; Gandía-Romero, JM.; Soto Camino, J. (2022). Improved Tafel-Based Potentiostatic Approach for Corrosion Rate Monitoring of Reinforcing Steel. Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation. 41:1-25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10921-022-00903-z1254

Hardened Concrete State Determination System Based on a Stainless Steel Voltammetric Sensor and PCA Analysis

[EN] Monitoringreinforced concrete structures (RCS) is essential to ensure their service life. Monitoring the parameters associated with deterioration processes can be key for proactive maintenance. A gap exists between engineering practices and sensor technology innovation in the construction field, which prevents more development and widespread applications of using voltammetric sensors and a multivariate analysis. This review demonstrates the effectiveness of voltammetric stainless steel (SS) sensors, plus a principal component analysis (PCA), to detect the aspects involved in corrosion processes; e.g. concrete carbonation or presence of chlorides. Sensors were embedded in different concrete mixtures and exposed to different conditions. Electrochemical techniques were applied. Then the results were analysed by a PCA, which defined the durability control model. This model is able accurately detect the concrete state, which is verified by the model¿s validation. This novel system helps to sustainably preserve the service life of RCS.This work was supported by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Ayudas a Primeros Proyectos de Investigacion (PAID-06-18) through the Lengua Electronica Voltametrica para el Control de Durabilidad en Hormigones under Grant SP20180245. The work of Ana Martinez Ibernon was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the Predoctoral Scholarship under Grant FPU 16/00723. The associate editor coordinating the review of this article and approving it for publication was Prof. Rosario Morello.Martínez-Ibernón, A.; Gasch, I.; Gandía-Romero, JM.; Soto Camino, J. (2022). Hardened Concrete State Determination System Based on a Stainless Steel Voltammetric Sensor and PCA Analysis. IEEE Sensors Journal. 22(13):12947-12958. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2022.31676121294712958221