Gas migration in a Cenozoic clay: experimental results and numerical modelling

Gas migration through a potential host clay formation for the geological disposal of radioactive waste in Belgium is experimentally investigated in the laboratory, and numerical modelling is performed to help in the interpretation of the results. Selected air injection tests under oedometer conditions on initially saturated Boom Clay samples with oriented bedding planes are presented in the paper. Priority in the experimental programme was given to the study of the deformation response along the injection and dissipation stages, as well as to the analysis of the pore network changes, which detect the opening of fissures that can act as preferential air pathways. The experimental results were simulated using a fully coupled hydro-mechanical finite element code, which incorporates an embedded fracture permeability model to account for the simulation of the gas flow along preferential pathways. Clay intrinsic permeability and its retention curve were assumed to be dependent on strains through fracture aperture changes. The numerical results could reproduce upstream/downstream pressures, outflow volume and soil volume change accurately. The experimental results, combined with the numerical simulation, provide good insight into the role of the volumetric response and of the bedding planes on the air transport properties of Boom Clay samples, confirming that fracture aperture occurs during gas injection, which eventually dominates further injection and pressure release stages.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Ageing effects on the small-strain stiffness of a bio-treated compacted soil

The effect of ageing on the small-strain shear stiffness of compacted silty-clayey sand following a ‘soft’ biological treatment is discussed. Samples were prepared by static compaction, adding urea-degrading bacteria to the compaction water. No nutrients were artificially added, relying on the natural availability of urea and calcium ions (Ca2 +) in the humic soil and in the compaction water for the bacteria to precipitate calcium carbonate. After compaction, to replicate different environmental boundary conditions, some of the samples were cured in a system open to vapour transfer and some were cured in a closed system. The small-strain shear stiffness was periodically tracked with bender elements during the ageing period. Tests were run in parallel to investigate the unconfined compression strength, the water retention properties and soil pore size distribution changes during ageing. The test results revealed a small but consistent increase in the small-strain shear stiffness during the ageing period due to the microbiological treatment, in both the closed and open systems. In the latter case, the contribution of the microbiological treatment to the increase in stiffness could be estimated after correcting the data for the suction increase due to evaporation.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Development and validation of a patient-reported outcome tool to assess cancer-related financial toxicity in Italy

Introduction. Financial toxicity (FT) is a well-recognized problem in oncology. US-based studies have shown that: (a) cancer patients have a 2.7 times risk of bankruptcy; (b) patients who declare bankruptcy have a 79% greater hazard of death; (c) financial burden significantly impairs quality of life (QoL), and (d) reduces compliance and adherence to treatment prescriptions. The aim of the project is to develop and validate a patient-reported-outcome (PRO) measure to assess FT of cancer patients in Italy, where, despite the universal health coverage given by the national health service, FT is an emerging issue. Methods and analysis. Our hypothesis is that a specific FT measure, which considers the relevant socio-cultural context and health care system, would allow to understand the main determinants of cancer-related financial toxicity in Italy and to contrast them. According to the International Society for Pharmaco-economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) guidelines on PROs, the project will include the following steps: (1) concept elicitation (from focus groups with patients and caregivers; literature; oncologists; nurses) and analysis, creating a coding library; (2) item generation (using a format that includes a question and a response on a 4-point Likert scale) and analysis through patients’ cognitive interviews of item importance within different coding categories to produce the draft instrument; (3) factor analysis and internal validation (with Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest for reliability) to produce the final instrument; (4) external validation with QoL anchors and depression scales. The use of the FT measure in prospective trials is also planned. Ethics and dissemination. The protocol is approved by the ethical committees of all the participating centres. The project will tentatively produce a validated tool by the spring 2021.The project might also represent a model and the basis for future cooperation with other European countries, with different health care systems and socio-economic conditions

Pharmaceutical companies and Italian Regional Governments: Managing relationships in an increasing institutional complexity

In Italy, the process of power decentralization to Regional Governments has particularly affected pharmaceutical care policies. Regions are experimenting with various strategies to govern drugs utilization and expenditure, and differentiating their approaches, leading to an ever-changing and complex institutional scenario. Pharmaceutical companies have created new professional roles, the Regional Affairs Managers (RAM), with the mandate to monitor the different regional contexts and measures, and to establish relationships with the public actors in charge of pharmaceutical policies. This analysis shows how public affairs/lobbying actions at regional level and the creation of a solid political competence within companies are still in an early phase. The activities carried out by RAMs remain limited to an exchange of information and only rarely are perceived by Regional public servants (RRs) as giving support to their work or influence decisions. The interaction with RAMs is often seen as little relevant and still too concentrated on products and a marketing/commercial approach rather than on broader issues of interest to RRs who need to manage the pharmaceutical care system at large. The level of acceptance of this type of activity is also variable and RRs' attitudes alternate between diffidence, polite tolerance, and openness to a constructive dialogue about pharmaceuticals and their management in a regional healthcare system.

Pharmaceutical companies and Italian Regional Governments: managing relationships in an increasing institutional complexity

In Italy, the process of power decentralization to Regional Governments has particularly affected pharmaceutical care policies. Regions are experimenting with various strategies to govern drugs utilization and expenditure, and differentiating their approaches, leading to an ever-changing and complex institutional scenario. Pharmaceutical companies have created new professional roles, the Regional Affairs Managers (RAM), with the mandate to monitor the different regional contexts and measures, and to establish relationships with the public actors in charge of pharmaceutical policies. This analysis shows how public affairs/lobbying actions at regional level and the creation of a solid political competence within companies are still in an early phase. The activities carried out by RAMs remain limited to an exchange of information and only rarely are perceived by Regional public servants (RRs) as giving support to their work or influence decisions. The interaction with RAMs is often seen as little relevant and still too concentrated on products and a marketing/commercial approach rather than on broader issues of interest to RRs who need to manage the pharmaceutical care system at large. The level of acceptance of this type of activity is also variable and RRs\u2019 attitudes alternate between diffidence, polite tolerance, and openness to a constructive dialogue about pharmaceuticals and their management in a regional healthcare system. \ua9 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Feasibility of a soft biological improvement of natural soils used in compacted linear earth construction

Increasing demand for infrastructures requires innovative, cheap and environmental sustainable practices in construction. The soils which are available on site for linear embankments often need to be improved to satisfy the necessary performance and strength requirements. A bio-improvement is evaluated here, for use in compacted earth construction. To the aim of sustainability and cost reduction, a soft technique was chosen by the industrial party, which consisted in adding bacteria to a superficial soil retrieved in situ, and letting them precipitate calcium carbonate with the aid of the nutrients available in the organic matter of the soil and in the compaction water. The effects of the soft biological treatment on silty clayey sand were studied systematically in a comprehensive laboratory investigation, focused on the properties mostly affecting the performance of earth constructions: compaction energy, water retention, hydraulic conductivity, small-strain shear stiffness, collapse potential and shear strength. Mercury intrusion porosimetry tests and scanning electron microscopy were performed to help in providing a comprehensive picture of the consequences of the soft biological treatment on the natural soil. Lack in artificial nutrients reduces the efficiency of the biological treatment with respect to other cases reported in the literature. Nonetheless, organogenic aggregates and bonds are created during mixing and ageing, as detected from small-stiffness measurement during the curing time lapse. The bio-cemented bonds are mostly broken during compaction, while the aggregated structure remains, and the fine fraction generated by broken bonds ends in acting as filler of some inter-grain and inter-aggregate porosity. Eventually, the effects of the adopted technique on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of the compacted soil can be described in a coherent picture as the result of bio-filling of an aggregated compacted soil fabric

Exploring fissure opening and their connectivity in a cenozoic clay during gas injection

Gas transport properties in argillaceous rocks are becoming an important issue within different contexts of energy-related geomechanics (disposal of radioactive waste, production of shale gas, CO2 sequestration). The present investigation aims at describing the pathways generated on a deep Cenozoic clay during gas injection using different microstructural techniques. Mercury intrusion porosimetry results have allowed detecting fissures after gas injection tests that have not been observed on intact samples. The opening of these pressure-dependent fissures plays a major role on gas permeability. A complementary insight into the connectivity of these fissures has been quantified by micro-computed tomography

Non-perturbative studies of gauge theories Their renormalisation and hierarchies of scales

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D81710 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Modelling criteria for a microbiologically stabilised compacted soil in the framework of elastoplasticity.

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version