The Behaviour of Finely Ground Bottom Ash in Portland Cement

The aim of this project was to assess the effects of finely ground MSWI bottom ash in Portland cement. Mortar mixes were prepared with 10% and 40% replacement of cement by ground IBA and then tested with regards to their material composition and engineering behaviour. IBA was found not to be inert, but showed some degree of reactivity. Replacement of cement with IBA was found to have no detrimental effects at low concentrations. This was not the case for 40% replacement, where cement replacement greatly affected strength, creep and drying shrinkage

Theoretical and Experimental Adsorption Studies of Polyelectrolytes on an Oppositely Charged Surface

Using self-assembly techniques, x-ray reflectivity measurements, and computer simulations, we study the effective interaction between charged polymer rods and surfaces. Long-time Brownian dynamics simulations are used to measure the effective adhesion force acting on the rods in a model consisting of a planar array of uniformly positively charged, stiff rods and a negatively charged planar substrate in the presence of explicit monovalent counterions and added monovalent salt ions in a continuous, isotropic dielectric medium. This electrostatic model predicts an attractive polymer-surface adhesion force that is weakly dependent on the bulk salt concentration and that shows fair agreement with a Debye-Huckel approximation for the macroion interaction at salt concentrations near 0.1 M. Complementary x-ray reflectivity experiments on poly(diallyldimethyl ammonium) chloride (PDDA) monolayer films on the native oxide of silicon show that monolayer structure, electron density, and surface roughness are likewise independent of the bulk ionic strength of the solution.Comment: Revtex, prb format; uses amssym

Neuroinflammation is a putative target for the prevention and treatment of perioperative neurocognitive disorders.

IntroductionThe demographics of aging of the surgical population has increased the risk for perioperative neurocognitive disorders in which trauma-induced neuroinflammation plays a pivotal role.Sources of dataAfter determining the scope of the review, the authors used PubMed with select phrases encompassing the words in the scope. Both preclinical and clinical reports were considered.Areas of agreementNeuroinflammation is a sine qua non for development of perioperative neurocognitive disorders.Areas of controversyWhat is the best method for ameliorating trauma-induced neuroinflammation while preserving inflammation-based wound healing.Growing pointsThis review considers how to prepare for and manage the vulnerable elderly surgical patient through the entire spectrum, from preoperative assessment to postoperative period.Areas timely for developing researchWhat are the most effective and safest interventions for preventing and/or reversing Perioperative Neurocognitive Disorders

Using Different Approaches to Evaluate Individual Social Equity in Transport

Inequalities not only exist in the field of economics in relation to income and wealth, but also in other areas, such as the transport sector, where access to and use of different transport modes varies markedly across population groups, and which provides the means to access everyday living activities. A key concern within the transport sector is that inequality has extended beyond the traditional measures of travel, and now covers a wide range of effects relating to social exclusion, freedom, well-being and being able to access reasonable opportunities and resources. In order to address the aforementioned issues, an important question to resolve is what type of methods can be used to measure inequalities in transport most effectively. Therefore, this study aims to apply different approaches, including the Capabilities Approach (CA) and a further six inequality indices, namely the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index, the Palma ratio, the Pietra ratio, the Schutz coefficient and the Theil index, to the case study using the relatively migrant-rich lower-income neighbourhood of Tuqiao, in Beijing, in order to assess individual transport-related social inequity issues. The findings suggest that the CA is useful in assessing transport-related inequalities where there are significant barriers to the take up of accessibility, for example where there are high levels of disadvantaged groups and disaggregated analysis can be undertaken. The Palma ratio appears to have a larger effect than the Gini coefficient and the other inequality indices when measuring transport-related social inequity. In addition, we also found that most income inequality methods adapted from econometrics may be better suited to measuring transport-related social inequity between different regions, cities or countries, or within the same area, but at different points in time, rather than to measuring a single neighbourhood as a whole. Finally, we argue that to what extent politicians or transport planners can use appropriate management tools to measure transport-related social inequalities may be significant in terms of the progress that can be made in the fight against social inequity in the transport field

Electromagnetic Energy for a Charged Kerr Black Hole in a Uniform Magnetic Field

With the Komar mass formula we calculate the electromagnetic energy for a charged Kerr black hole in a uniform magnetic field. We find that the total electromagnetic energy takes the minimum when the Kerr black hole possesses a non-zero net charge $Q = 2\xi B_0 J_H$ where $B_0$ is the strength of the magnetic field, $J_H$ is the angular momentum of the black hole, $\xi$ is a dimensionless parameter determined by the spin of the black hole.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur