Use of stone powder in concrete and mortar as an alternative of sand

Stone powder produced from stone crushing zones appears as a problem for effective disposal. Sand is a common fine aggregate used in construction work as a fine aggregate. In this study, the main concern is to find an alternative of sand. Substitution of normal sand by stone powder will serve both solid waste minimization and waste recovery. The study focuses to determine the relative performance of concrete by using powder sand. From laboratory experiments, it was revealed that concrete made of stone powder and stone chip gained about 15% higher strength than that of the concrete made of normal sand and brick chip. Concrete of stone powder and brick chip gained about 10% higher strength than that of the concrete normal sand and stone chip concrete. The highest compressive strength of mortar found from stone powder which is 33.02 Mpa, shows that better mortar can be prepared by the stone powder. The compressive strength of concrete from stone powder shows 14.76% higher value than that of the concrete made of normal sand. On the other hand, concrete from brick chip and stone powder produce higher compressive value from that of brick chip and normal sand concrete.Key words: Stone powder, concrete, mortar, concrete, compressive strength

Ammonia Removal using Organic Acid Modified Activated Carbon from Landfill Leachate

This study was conducted to enhance the ability of activated carbon to remove ammonia by modifying its surface as ion exchanger. The study involved the determination of the capabilities of modified activated carbon to remove ammonia from leachate using fixed bed column. Adsorption capability was determined based on the percentage of ammonia removal. Thomas and Yoon and Nelson models were used to determine the adsorption capacity for both modified and bare activated carbon. Results indicated that modified activated carbon has higher removal ability for ammonia with the maximum removal up to 94.30% compared to bare activated carbon with maximum removal of 64.05%. Based on Yoon and Nelson model, the maximum capacity value, qo was found to be 3.063 mg/g using modified activated carbon which is higher than bare activated carbon with the value of 1.478 mg/g. It can be concluded that the modified activated carbon has a higher ion-exchange capacity for removing ammonia removal compared to bare activated carbon

IFN-γ production by alloantigen-reactive regulatory T cells is important for their regulatory function in vivo

The significance of cytokine production by CD4+ regulatory T (T reg) cells after antigen exposure in vivo and its impact on their regulatory activity remains unclear. Pretreatment with donor alloantigen under the cover of anti-CD4 therapy generates alloantigen reactive T reg cells that can prevent rejection of donor-specific skin grafts that are mediated by naive CD45RBhighCD4+ T cells. To examine the kinetics and importance of cytokine gene transcription by such alloantigen-reactive T reg cells, pretreated mice were rechallenged with donor alloantigen in vivo. CD25+CD4+ T cells, but not CD25−CD4+ T cells, showed a fivefold increase in IFN-γ mRNA expression within 24 h of reencountering alloantigen in vivo. This expression kinetic was highly antigen-specific and was of functional significance. Neutralizing IFN-γ at the time of cotransfer of alloantigen reactive T reg cells, together with CD45RBhighCD4+ effector T cells into Rag−/− skin graft recipients, resulted in skin graft necrosis in all recipients; the generation and function of alloantigen-reactive T reg cells was impaired dramatically in IFN-γ–deficient mice. These data support a unique role for IFN-γ in the functional activity of alloantigen-reactive T reg cells during the development of operational tolerance to donor alloantigens in vivo

The Influence of Incorporating Plastic within Concrete and the Potential Use of Microwave Curing; A Review

In recent decades, researchers have used plastic to replace natural aggregates (NAs), or as filler and fibre within the concrete. This particular paper puts forward a review that gives comprehensive consideration to the properties and drawbacks, of concrete that contains plastic. As such, it may be hypothesised that poor bond capacity and higher air content due to inclusion of plastic aggregate (PA) within concrete are the predominant factors that reduce the properties in terms of mechanics and durability. In that regard, this study has put forward a new method of curing using microwave irradiation for improvement with respect to those factors. So, that there can be further improvement with regard to overall durability with respect to advanced chemical and hydrophobic resistivity and enhanced performance for conventional concrete with respect to bonding and ductility

The role of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in a mouse transplantation tolerance model

Clinical transplantation continues to rely on the use of non-specific immunosuppressive therapy, which reduces the incidence of graft rejection but also carries with it undesirable side effects such as infection and malignancy. A preferable option would be to induce operational graft tolerance without the need for such non-specific therapy, for example by harnessing natural mechanisms. In recent years there has been much progress in the characterisation of CD4+ cells that possess suppressive or regulatory properties in experimental systems; particular attention has been focussed upon CD4+ cells expressing CD25, the α subunit of the IL-2 receptor, which have been shown to possess regulatory capacity both in vitro and in vivo in autoimmune disease and transplantation models. The aim of this study was to examine the potential role of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in the induction phase of tolerance in a transplantation model. Pre-treatment of mice with fully allogeneic blood administered under the cover of anti-CD4 antibody is shown to lead to the generation of CD4+CD25+ cells capable of preventing the rejection of donor type, but not third party, skin allografts mediated by CD4+CD45RBhigh cells in secondary recipients. In addition to their suppressive properties in vivo, these CD4+CD25+ cells also display the ability to regulate the proliferation of target T cell populations in vitro. Generation of CD4+CD25+ Treg by the pre-treatment protocol is not reliant upon an intrathymic selection process nor upon the expansion of a pre-existing CD4+CD25+ Treg population, but can occur through the conversion of peripheral CD4+CD25- cells to a regulatory phenotype. Although the regulatory function of the CD4+CD25+ cells generated by pre-treatment is donor strain-specific in vivo, this specificity can be overcome by activating the cells before their regulatory capacity is tested. Moreover, CD4+CD25+ cells generated by pre-treatment with a non-cellular protein antigen completely unrelated to the graft can also regulate skin allograft rejection provided that these Treg are first activated. It is hoped that the principles defined by these findings identify a strategy that may be applicable in clinical transplantation and in the therapy of autoimmune disease

The role of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in a mouse transplantation tolerance model

Clinical transplantation continues to rely on the use of non-specific immunosuppressive therapy, which reduces the incidence of graft rejection but also carries with it undesirable side effects such as infection and malignancy. A preferable option would be to induce operational graft tolerance without the need for such non-specific therapy, for example by harnessing natural mechanisms. In recent years there has been much progress in the characterisation of CD4+ cells that possess suppressive or regulatory properties in experimental systems; particular attention has been focussed upon CD4+ cells expressing CD25, the α subunit of the IL-2 receptor, which have been shown to possess regulatory capacity both in vitro and in vivo in autoimmune disease and transplantation models. The aim of this study was to examine the potential role of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in the induction phase of tolerance in a transplantation model. Pre-treatment of mice with fully allogeneic blood administered under the cover of anti-CD4 antibody is shown to lead to the generation of CD4+CD25+ cells capable of preventing the rejection of donor type, but not third party, skin allografts mediated by CD4+CD45RBhigh cells in secondary recipients. In addition to their suppressive properties in vivo, these CD4+CD25+ cells also display the ability to regulate the proliferation of target T cell populations in vitro. Generation of CD4+CD25+ Treg by the pre-treatment protocol is not reliant upon an intrathymic selection process nor upon the expansion of a pre-existing CD4+CD25+ Treg population, but can occur through the conversion of peripheral CD4+CD25- cells to a regulatory phenotype. Although the regulatory function of the CD4+CD25+ cells generated by pre-treatment is donor strain-specific in vivo, this specificity can be overcome by activating the cells before their regulatory capacity is tested. Moreover, CD4+CD25+ cells generated by pre-treatment with a non-cellular protein antigen completely unrelated to the graft can also regulate skin allograft rejection provided that these Treg are first activated. It is hoped that the principles defined by these findings identify a strategy that may be applicable in clinical transplantation and in the therapy of autoimmune disease.</p

Equipment management system for Sarawak information system

The fast growth of technology is the ability to access the internet from everywhere from many perspectives. This situation drives the usage of web based application in everywhere. The scenario leads the idea to develop a web based system for SAINS Network System & Engineering in order to increase inventory management performance of the current manual-based system. The currently manual-based management system is time consuming, confusing and hard to search for the item. With the proposed system, will help the staff to manage and monitored the inventory more systematically everywhere