Case Study of a Water Tank Behaviour on an Improved Collapsible Soil

The geotechnical report performed for the design stage of a water tank revealed a soil profile consisting in a thick layer of collapsible/loessial soil. The paper firstly presents the complex characterization of the natural ground conditions before and after the soil cushion performance, during the water filling tests of the tank. Specific charts are presented to emphasize the physical and mechanical parameter differences of the natural and improved ground by the soil cushion. The prediction of the supplementary settlement profile on the construction site of the water tank has been performed due to a significant water leakage from the tank during the filling tests, and thus endangering the tank stability and serviceability. Charts presenting the soil-tank interaction during service are included together with settlement diagrams related to potential water leakage from the tank. The paper presents in the second part the stress and strain states that have been comparatively analyzed for various moistening hypotheses with different risk level, according to the settlement increase based on the up going of the moistening front

Photothermal Desorption of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and Coconut Shell-Activated Carbons Using a Continuous Light Source for Application in Air Sampling

Many techniques exist to measure airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs), each with differing advantages; sorbent sampling is compact, versatile, has good sample stability, and is the preferred technique for collecting VOCs for hygienists. Development of a desorption technique that allows multiple analyses per sample (similar to chemical desorption) with enhanced sensitivity (similar to thermal desorption) would be helpful to field hygienists. In this study, activated carbon (AC) and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) were preloaded with toluene vapor and partially desorbed with light using a common 12-V DC, 50-W incandescent/halogen lamp. A series of experimental chamber configurations were explored starting with a 500-ml chamber under static conditions, then with low ventilation and high ventilation, finally a 75-ml high ventilation chamber was evaluated. When preloaded with toluene and irradiated at the highest lamp setting for 4min, AC desorbed 13.9, 18.5, 23.8, and 45.9% of the loaded VOC mass, in each chamber configuration, respectively; SWNT desorbed 25.2, 24.3, 37.4, and 70.5% of the loaded VOC mass, respectively. SWNT desorption was significantly greater than AC in all test conditions (P = 0.02?<0.0001) demonstrating a substantial difference in sorbent performance. When loaded with 0.435mg toluene and desorbed at the highest lamp setting for 4min in the final chamber design, the mean desorption for AC was 45.8% (39.7, 52.0) and SWNT was 72.6% (68.8, 76.4) (mean represented in terms of 95% confidence interval). All desorption measurements were obtained using a field grade photoionization detector; this demonstrates the potential of using this technique to perform infield prescreening of VOC samples for immediate exposure feedback and in the analytical lab to introduce sample to a gas chromatograph for detailed analysis of the sampleFil: Floyd, Evan L.. Oklahoma State University; Estados UnidosFil: Sapag, Manuel Karim. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Física Aplicada; ArgentinaFil: Oh, Jonghwa. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm; Estados UnidosFil: Lungu, Claudiu T.. University Of Alabama At Birmingahm; Estados Unido

Taylor dispersion with absorbing boundaries: A Stochastic Approach

We describe how to solve the problem of Taylor dispersion in the presence of absorbing boundaries using an exact stochastic formulation. In addition to providing a clear stochastic picture of Taylor dispersion, our method leads to closed-form expressions for all the moments of the convective displacement of the dispersing particles in terms of the transverse diffusion eigenmodes. We also find that the cumulants grow asymptotically linearly with time, ensuring a Gaussian distribution in the long-time limit. As a demonstration of the technique, the first two longitudinal cumulants (yielding respectively the effective velocity and the Taylor diffusion constant) as well as the skewness (a measure of the deviation from normality) are calculated for fluid flow in the parallel plate geometry. We find that the effective velocity and the skewness (which is negative in this case) are enhanced while Taylor dispersion is suppressed due to absorption at the boundary.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Liver procurement as part of multiple organ procurement

Departamentul de Chirurgie Generală şi Transplant Hepatic “Dan Setlacec”, Institutul Clinic Fundeni, Bucureşti, România, Al XII-lea Congres al Asociației Chirurgilor „Nicolae Anestiadi” din Republica Moldova cu participare internațională 23-25 septembrie 2015Scop: Prelevarea hepatică, etapă premergătoare transplantului hepatic, parte din prelevarea multiorgan, contribuie prin acuratețea și corectitudinea intervenției la obținerea unei grefe hepatice de bună calitate cu rezultate bune ale transplantului atît imediate cât și pe termen lung. Lucrarea de față își propune să evidențieze importantul rol al identificării variantelor anatomice și adaptarea metodelor de prelevare în funcție de acestea.Material şi metode: Pe parcursul perioadei 1 ianuarie 2000-16 iunie 2015 s-au efectuat în Centrul nostru 666 prelevări multiorgan. O importanță deosebită a fost acordată recunoașterii variantelor anatomice arteriale, acestea adaugând un grad de dificultate procedurii, dar fiind totodată esențiale pentru asigurarea succesului intervenției. Rezultate: Caracteristicile heterogene ale donatorilor au obligat la aplicarea unei game variate de tehnici de prelevare, adaptate fiecărei situații, așa cum au fost descrise în lucrarea de față, un pas cheie pentru obținerea unei grefe viabile pentru transplant. Concluzii: Multiplele tehnici de prelevare hepatică pot fi aplicate cu succes când sunt adaptate fiecarui donator, scurtând timpul de prelevare și furnizând o grefă de cea mai bună calitate.Purpose: Liver procurement, the preliminary stage of liver transplantation, is a part of multi-organ procurement, and it contributes, with its accuracy and correctness to the high quality liver graft, with the best results in the transplantation process (both immediate and long term). This paper is framed to enlighten the important role of identification of anatomical variants and the selection of the procurement technique that suits most. Material and methods: During 1st Jan 2000-16th Jun 2015 a number of 666 multi-organ procurements were performed in our center. A special attention was paid in recognizing of anatomical variants of blood vessels (especially arterial blood vessels), which added a high degree of difficulty to the procedures, but was considered to be vital in order to ensure the success of the intervention. Results: Heterogeneous characteristics of donors imposed the implementation of a variety of sampling techniques, adapted on each situation as was described in the paper, an essential step to obtain a viable liver / organ graft suitable for the transplant. Conclusions: The multiple methods of liver procurement can be successfully applied when it is adapted to each of the donors, thus shortening the actual time of the liver harvesting, delivering the best quality of the new liver graft

Effects of Compost Manure on Soil Microbial Respiration, Plant-Available-Water, Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Yield and Pre-Harvest Aflatoxin Contamination

Peanut production in Zambia is often characterized by low yields and high aflatoxin incidence in harvested kernels. Soil amendments such as farmyard manure have shown potential to increase yields and reduce pre-harvest aflatoxin incidence. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of composted cattle manure on soil properties that relate to yield and pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination of peanut kernels. Research evaluated the effects of composted cattle manure on soil respiration, plant-available water (PAW), peanut yield and pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination in a field experiment conducted in two successive rain-fed cropping seasons starting in December, 2015 and ending in April 2017, in Chongwe District, Zambia. Six (6) levels of compost were incorporated into the top 10 cm of the soil at rates of 0, 4.5, 12.0, 19.5, 27.0, and 34.5 metric tons/ha 1 wk before planting. There was a strong positive relationship between levels of compost and soil microbial respiration (R2=0.84) and PAW (R2=0.86). Secondly, compost manure was associated with increases in pod (R2=0.65) and kernel (R2=0.61) yield. The kernel yield potential of the planted cultivar was achieved at the rate of 12 metric tons per ha. Thirdly, there was a reduction in total aflatoxin levels with increasing levels of compost (R2=0.85). The improvement in peanut yield and the decrease in aflatoxin concentrations in kernels can be attributed to the improvement in soil moisture retention capacity and soil microbial activity arising from manure amendments. This study demonstrated the potential of compost manure to increase soil microbial activity, PAW, peanut yield and minimize aflatoxin contamination at field level

NATURE OF RESISTANCE OF COWPEA ALECTRA VOGELII INFESTATION

Alectra vogelii (benth) is parasitic weed which causes significant yield reductions in cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata Walp) in Africa. The objective of this study was to identify the type of gene action controlling the trait for resistance to Alectra vogelii in cowpea and estimate the heritability of the trait. Seven genotypes of cowpea were mated in half diallel and their F2 progeny, including parents, were evaluated for reaction to Alectra vogelii infection in the field in two locations at Ilonga and Hombolo Agriculture Research Stations. Highly significant (P &lt; 0.001) differences were found for Alectra emergency and infestation at Ilonga. General combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) effects for Alectra shoot emergency and infestation were significant (P &lt; 0.05). The estimate of Baker\u2019s ratio for Alectra shoot emergency and infestation were 0.62 and 0.66, respectively. This indicates that both additive and non-additive gene actions influenced the trait for resistance to Alectra emergency and infestation. Narrow sense heritability estimates were 41.28 and 44.39 for shoot and emergency, respectively. These results imply that introgression of a desirable trait in an elite genotype would involve careful crossing with a resistance genotype, accompanied by selection in the advanced population.Alectra vogelii (benth) est une herbe parasite qui engender des reductions significatives dans les rendements du ni\ue9b\ue9 ( Vigna unguiculata Walp) en Afrique. L\u2019objectif de la pr\ue9sente \ue9tude \ue9tait d\u2019identifier le type d\u2019action de g\ue8ne controllant la r\ue9sistance \ue0 Alectra vogelii chez le ni\ue9b\ue9 et d\u2019estimer les valeurs d\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9. Sept g\ue9notypes de ni\ue9b\ue9 ont \ue9t\ue9 crois\ue9s selon le mode half diallel et leurs descendants F2, ainsi que les parents, ont \ue9t\ue9 \ue9valu\ue9s pour leur reaction face \ue0 \u2018linfestation en plein champs du Alectra vogelii dans les stations de recherch\ue9 agricole de Ilonga et Hombolo. Des differences tr\ue8s significatives (P &lt; 0,001) ont \ue9t\ue9 observ\ue9es pour l\u2019\ue9mergence, la croissance v\ue9g\ue9tative et l\u2019infestation de Alectra \ue0 Ilonga. L\u2019habilet\ue9 \ue0 la combinaison g\ue9n\ue9rale (GCA) et sp\ue9cifique (SCA) pour l\u2019\ue9mergence, la croissance v\ue9g\ue9tative et infestation de Alectra \ue9taient significative (P &lt; 0,05). les valeurs du ratio de Baker pour l\u2019\ue9mergence, la croissance v\ue9g\ue9tative et l\u2019infestation de Alectra \ue9taient respectivement de 0,62 et 0,66. Ceci indique que les deux effets de g\ue8ne; additif et non-additif sont responsables de la r\ue9sistance \ue0 l\u2019\ue9mergence, la croissance v\ue9g\ue9tative et \ue0 l\u2019infestation de Alectra. Les valeurs de l\u2019h\ue9ritabilit\ue9 au sens strict \ue9taient respectivement de 41,28 et 44,39 pour la croissance v\ue9g\ue9tative et l\u2019\ue9mergence. Ces r\ue9sultats indiquent que l\u2019introgression d\u2019un caract\ue8re d\ue9sirable dans un g\ue9notype \ue9lite n\ue9cessiterait des croisements avec un genotype r\ue9sistant, suivi de selection au cours des g\ue9n\ue9rations avanc\ue9es