Aging effects on the mechanical property of waste mixture in coastal landfill sites

AbstractCoastal landfill sites not only offer an option for disposal but also create a new land space after the completion of landfilling. To perform proper design on settlement, stability, and/or bearing capacity at landfill sites, the geotechnical properties of the waste layer such as deformation and shear strength should be investigated. This research is focused on the mechanical properties of waste mixture sampled at a coastal landfill site including municipal solid waste incinerator ash, slag, soil and others, to provide useful information on geotechnical properties in utilizing coastal landfill sites after their closure. A series of triaxial consolidated undrained compression tests (CU) and hydraulic conductivity tests were carried out on the reconstituted waste samples before and after being cured in simulated leachate water in coastal landfill sites for different periods, to understand the aging effects on mechanical properties of waste mixture. It was shown that while curing results in an increase in the peak strength and deformation modulus, the residual strength was not affected by the curing periods. Scanning electron microscope observations and X-ray diffraction analysis on the waste samples after curing confirmed that the formation of ettringite and hydration products had a densification effect on the microstructure. The higher peak shear strength and lower hydraulic conductivity of the waste samples were attributed to this effect

Characteristics of shear strength at the interface between two soil layers in ring shear apparatus

The slopes containing discontinuous planes such as bedding planes, rupture, or boundary between two soil layers are often prone to sliding. Thus, the characteristics of shear strength mobilized along the discontinuous planes should be examined. In this study, the shear strength at the interface between two different soil layers will be investigated based on ring shear test. The combined sample comprising of one kaolin layer and one kaolin + bentonite mixture layer was used to simulate the discontinuous planes between two soil layers. A number of ring shear tests were conducted on these samples at a normal stress of 98 kPa and shear rates from 0.02 to 20 mm/min using a multi-stage of shearing rates procedure. The research results indicate that the shear strength at the interface sharply increases to reach the peak value after a small shear displacement, then drops to the residual value. The residual interface strength tends to increase with increasing shear rates above 2 mm/min and the level of increase in residual interface strength depends on the contact surface. Furthermore, the effect of the order sample layer in combined samples can be ignored when determining the peak, the residual interface strengths as well as the rate effect on residual interface strength in the laboratory

Characteristics of shear strength at the interface between two soil layers in ring shear apparatus

The slopes containing discontinuous planes such as bedding planes, rupture, or boundary between two soil layers are often prone to sliding. Thus, the characteristics of shear strength mobilized along the discontinuous planes should be examined. In this study, the shear strength at the interface between two different soil layers will be investigated based on ring shear test. The combined sample comprising of one kaolin layer and one kaolin + bentonite mixture layer was used to simulate the discontinuous planes between two soil layers. A number of ring shear tests were conducted on these samples at a normal stress of 98 kPa and shear rates from 0.02 to 20 mm/min using a multi-stage of shearing rates procedure. The research results indicate that the shear strength at the interface sharply increases to reach the peak value after a small shear displacement, then drops to the residual value. The residual interface strength tends to increase with increasing shear rates above 2 mm/min and the level of increase in residual interface strength depends on the contact surface. Furthermore, the effect of the order sample layer in combined samples can be ignored when determining the peak, the residual interface strengths as well as the rate effect on residual interface strength in the laboratory

Photodegradable films based on polyethylene-cassava starch blend using benzophenone/antraquinone or Fe(II) compound as photosensitive agents

This paper is dealing with formulation of photodegradable films based on polyethylene-cassava starch blend using benzophenone/antraquinone or Fe(II) compound as photosensitive compound. Benzophenone, antraquinone and Fe(II) compound were synthesized in the laboratory and characterized by IR and NMR spectra. The films were obtained by extrusion-blowing method and showed good mechanical properties. They were exposed outdoor and indoor for photo-degradability testing. It showed that after four months outdoor their tensile at break decreased 85% and elongation at break about 90%. It is interesting to note that the films keeping 4 months inside the room showed little decrease in mechanical properties. The films are suitable to be used as mulch films and for other purposes.Keyword: Cassava starch, photodegradable film, photosensitizer

Correlation between Resilient Modulus MR and Deviator Stress for Subgrade soils of northern provinces in Vietnam

Recently, Resilient Modulus is applied in pavement structural design in Vietnam. The resilient modulus of subgrade soil is an essential input parameter for a flexible pavement design. The resilient modulus depends on soil properties, stress state, and soil type.  However, there is limited research on resilient modulus of soils and models to estimate resilient modulus in Vietnam. Therefore, in this study, soil samples were collected from two provinces in northern Vietnam, namely Bac Giang province and Ninh Binh province, and then physical and mechanical tests were conducted for these samples. In addition, a series of cyclic triaxial tests also conducted according to AASHTO T307 specification to obtain resilient modulus of these soils.  The results showed that the resilient modulus decreased with the increase of deviator stress for Bac Giang samples and increased with the increase of deviator stress in the case of Ninh Binh samples. Simple deviator stress models have developed to estimate a resilient modulus of soils in the area

Correlation between Resilient Modulus MR and Deviator Stress for Subgrade soils of northern provinces in Vietnam

Recently, Resilient Modulus is applied in pavement structural design in Vietnam. The resilient modulus of subgrade soil is an essential input parameter for a flexible pavement design. The resilient modulus depends on soil properties, stress state, and soil type.  However, there is limited research on resilient modulus of soils and models to estimate resilient modulus in Vietnam. Therefore, in this study, soil samples were collected from two provinces in northern Vietnam, namely Bac Giang province and Ninh Binh province, and then physical and mechanical tests were conducted for these samples. In addition, a series of cyclic triaxial tests also conducted according to AASHTO T307 specification to obtain resilient modulus of these soils.  The results showed that the resilient modulus decreased with the increase of deviator stress for Bac Giang samples and increased with the increase of deviator stress in the case of Ninh Binh samples. Simple deviator stress models have developed to estimate a resilient modulus of soils in the area

Robust Global Tracker based on an Online Estimation of Tracklet Descriptor Reliability

International audienceThe complex scene conditions such as light change, high density of mobile objects or object occlusion can cause object mis-detections. When a tracker can not recover these mis-detections, the trajectory of an object is fragmented into some short trajectories called tracklets. As a result, tracking quality is reduced remarkably. In this paper, we propose a new approach to improve the tracking quality by a global tracker which merges all tracklets belonging to an object in the whole video. Particularly, we compute descriptor reliability over time based on their discrimination. On the other hand, a motion model is also combined with appearance descriptors in a flexible way to improve the tracking quality. The proposed approach is evaluated on four benchmark datasets. The obtained results show the robustness and effectiveness of our approach compared to tracking as well as tracklet linking approaches from state of the art

Intensified Antituberculosis Therapy in Adults with Tuberculous Meningitis

BACKGROUND Tuberculous meningitis is often lethal. Early antituberculosis treatment and adjunctive treatment with glucocorticoids improve survival, but nearly one third of patients with the condition still die. We hypothesized that intensified antituberculosis treatment would enhance the killing of intracerebral Mycobacterium tuberculosis organisms and decrease the rate of death among patients. METHODS We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults and HIV-uninfected adults with a clinical diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis who were admitted to one of two Vietnamese hospitals. We compared a standard, 9-month antituberculosis regimen (which included 10 mg of rifampin per kilogram of body weight per day) with an intensified regimen that included higher-dose rifampin (15 mg per kilogram per day) and levofloxacin (20 mg per kilogram per day) for the first 8 weeks of treatment. The primary outcome was death by 9 months after randomization. RESULTS A total of 817 patients (349 of whom were HIV-infected) were enrolled; 409 were randomly assigned to receive the standard regimen, and 408 were assigned to receive intensified treatment. During the 9 months of follow-up, 113 patients in the intensified-treatment group and 114 patients in the standard-treatment group died (hazard ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.73 to 1.22; P=0.66). There was no evidence of a significant differential effect of intensified treatment in the overall population or in any of the subgroups, with the possible exception of patients infected with isoniazid-resistant M. tuberculosis. There were also no significant differences in secondary outcomes between the treatment groups. The overall number of adverse events leading to treatment interruption did not differ significantly between the treatment groups (64 events in the standard-treatment group and 95 events in the intensified-treatment group, P=0.08). CONCLUSIONS Intensified antituberculosis treatment was not associated with a higher rate of survival among patients with tuberculous meningitis than standard treatment. (Funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Li Ka Shing Foundation; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN61649292.)

Leukotriene A4 Hydrolase Genotype and HIV Infection Influence Intracerebral Inflammation and Survival From Tuberculous Meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most devastating form of tuberculosis, yet very little is known about the pathophysiology. We hypothesized that the genotype of leukotriene A4 hydrolase (encoded by LTA4H), which determines inflammatory eicosanoid expression, influences intracerebral inflammation, and predicts survival from TBM. METHODS: We characterized the pretreatment clinical and intracerebral inflammatory phenotype and 9-month survival of 764 adults with TBM. All were genotyped for single-nucleotide polymorphism rs17525495, and inflammatory phenotype was defined by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leukocyte and cytokine concentrations. RESULTS: LTA4H genotype predicted survival of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-uninfected patients, with TT-genotype patients significantly more likely to survive TBM than CC-genotype patients, according to Cox regression analysis (univariate P = .040 and multivariable P = .037). HIV-uninfected, TT-genotype patients had high CSF proinflammatory cytokine concentrations, with intermediate and lower concentrations in those with CT and CC genotypes. Increased CSF cytokine concentrations correlated with more-severe disease, but patients with low CSF leukocytes and cytokine concentrations were more likely to die from TBM. HIV infection independently predicted death due to TBM (hazard ratio, 3.94; 95% confidence interval, 2.79-5.56) and was associated with globally increased CSF cytokine concentrations, independent of LTA4H genotype. CONCLUSIONS: LTA4H genotype and HIV infection influence pretreatment inflammatory phenotype and survival from TBM. LTA4H genotype may predict adjunctive corticosteroid responsiveness in HIV-uninfected individuals