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

Качество предоставления анестезиологической помощи: предварительное исследование

Catedra Anesteziologie şi Reanimatologie nr. 1, USMF “Nicolae Testemiţanu”This prospective and descriptive study was carried out on 50 women who underwent minimally invasive gynaecological interventions under general, regional or combined anaesthesia. The purpose was to evaluate the quality of anaesthetic assistance in terms of the information provided the patients, the doctor-patient relationships, and the patients’comfort, general needs and anxieties prior to intervention. The study verified the hypothesis that the difference in quality is related to the level of education of the patients. The quality of information about anaesthesia and eventual complications were considered “unsatisfactory by 43% (95CI 36-51%, p<0,0001) of respondents. Significant differences in the quality of information (p=0,033) were identified, as well as in the quality of the anaesthesiologist-patient relationship (p=0,019) in persons with only a primary education as contrasted with those patients with secondary or higher education. Anaesthetic techniques seemed not to affect the patients’ views (significance at limit, p=0,051). The attention paid to comfort and needs was considered „unsatisfactory” by 46% (95CI 28-63%, p<0,0001) patients. Each woman had at least one preoperative inexplicable fear; 80% of fears were focused on anaesthesia and not specifically on intervention.Исследование было проведено проспективным, дескриптивным методом, на основе данных, полученных после проведения миниинвазивных гинекологических операций у 50 пациенток под общей, невраксиальной или комбинированной анестезией. Цель исследования – определить качество предоставления анестезиологической помощи, оценив аспекты информирования, отношения врач-пациент, степени комфорта с учетом предоперационных опасений, а также выявить возможное влияние на перечисленные параметры уровня образования пациенток. Качество информации об анестезии и возможных осложнениях было оценено как неудовлетворительное» 43% (95CI 36-51%, p<0,0001) опрошенных. Былa выявленa существенная разница в качестве предоставленной информации (p=0,033) и в аспектах отношений анестезиолог – пациент (p=0,019) у лиц с начальным, средним и высшим образованием. Вид проведенной анестезии не повлиял на оценку качества анестезиологической помощи, хотя выявленная разница находится на рубеже статистической достоверности (p=0,0051). Внимание, уделенное комфорту и потребностям, оценено как «неудовлетворительное» 46% (95CI 28-63%, p<0,0001) пациенток. Каждая пациентка испытала, по меньшей мере, одно нeразъясненное опасение; 80% из опасений были связаны с анестезией, а не с самой операцией

No multi-graviton theories in the presence of a Dirac field

The cross-couplings among several massless spin-two fields (described in the free limit by a sum of Pauli-Fierz actions) in the presence of a Dirac field are investigated in the framework of the deformation theory based on local BRST cohomology. Under the hypotheses of locality, smoothness of the interactions in the coupling constant, Poincare invariance, (background) Lorentz invariance and the preservation of the number of derivatives on each field, we prove that there are no consistent cross-interactions among different gravitons in the presence of a Dirac field. The basic features of the couplings between a single Pauli-Fierz field and a Dirac field are also emphasized.Comment: 48 page

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

Neural changes associated with appetite information processing in schizophrenic patients after 16 weeks of olanzapine treatment

There is evidence that some atypical antipsychotics, including olanzapine, can produce unwanted metabolic side effects, weight gain and diabetes. However, neuronal correlates of change related to food information processing have not been investigated with these medications. We studied the effect of a pharmacological manipulation with an antipsychotic known to cause weight gain on metabolites, cognitive tasks and neural correlates related to food regulation. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging in conjunction with a task requiring visual processing of appetitive stimuli in schizophrenic patients and healthy controls before and after 16 weeks of antipsychotic medication with olanzapine. In patients, the psychological and neuronal changes associated following the treatment correlated with appetite control measures and metabolite levels in fasting blood samples. After 16 weeks of olanzapine treatment, the patients gained weight, increased their waist circumference, had fewer positive schizophrenia symptoms, a reduced ghrelin plasma concentration and an increased concentration of triglycerides, insulin and leptin. In premotor area, somatosensory cortices as well as bilaterally in the fusiform gyri, the olanzapine treatment increased the neural activity related to appetitive information in schizophrenic patients to similar levels relative to healthy individuals. However, a higher increase in sensitivity to appetitive stimuli after the treatment was observed in insular cortices, amygdala and cerebellum in schizophrenic patients as compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, these changes in neuronal activity correlated with changes in some metabolites and cognitive measurements related to appetite regulation

The new generation CMB B-mode polarization experiment: POLARBEAR

We describe the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization experiment called Polarbear. This experiment will use the dedicated Huan Tran Telescope equipped with a powerful 1,200-bolometer array receiver to map the CMB polarization with unprecedented accuracy. We summarize the experiment, its goals, and current status

Ultra High Energy Cosmology with POLARBEAR

Observations of the temperature anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) lend support to an inflationary origin of the universe, yet no direct evidence verifying inflation exists. Many current experiments are focussing on the CMB's polarization anisotropy, specifically its curl component (called "B-mode" polarization), which remains undetected. The inflationary paradigm predicts the existence of a primordial gravitational wave background that imprints a unique B-mode signature on the CMB's polarization at large angular scales. The CMB B-mode signal also encodes gravitational lensing information at smaller angular scales, bearing the imprint of cosmological large scale structures (LSS) which in turn may elucidate the properties of cosmological neutrinos. The quest for detection of these signals; each of which is orders of magnitude smaller than the CMB temperature anisotropy signal, has motivated the development of background-limited detectors with precise control of systematic effects. The POLARBEAR experiment is designed to perform a deep search for the signature of gravitational waves from inflation and to characterize lensing of the CMB by LSS. POLARBEAR is a 3.5 meter ground-based telescope with 3.8 arcminute angular resolution at 150 GHz. At the heart of the POLARBEAR receiver is an array featuring 1274 antenna-coupled superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers cooled to 0.25 Kelvin. POLARBEAR is designed to reach a tensor-to-scalar ratio of 0.025 after two years of observation -- more than an order of magnitude improvement over the current best results, which would test physics at energies near the GUT scale. POLARBEAR had an engineering run in the Inyo Mountains of Eastern California in 2010 and will begin observations in the Atacama Desert in Chile in 2011.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, DPF 2011 conference proceeding

The bolometric focal plane array of the Polarbear CMB experiment

The Polarbear Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization experiment is currently observing from the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. It will characterize the expected B-mode polarization due to gravitational lensing of the CMB, and search for the possible B-mode signature of inflationary gravitational waves. Its 250 mK focal plane detector array consists of 1,274 polarization-sensitive antenna-coupled bolometers, each with an associated lithographed band-defining filter. Each detector's planar antenna structure is coupled to the telescope's optical system through a contacting dielectric lenslet, an architecture unique in current CMB experiments. We present the initial characterization of this focal plane

Constraints to Implementing the Essential Health Package in Malawi

Increasingly seen as a useful tool of health policy, Essential or Minimal Health Packages direct resources to interventions that aim to address the local burden of disease and be cost-effective. Less attention has been paid to the delivery mechanisms for such interventions. This study aimed to assess the degree to which the Essential Health Package (EHP) in Malawi was available to its population and what health system constraints impeded its full implementation. The first phase of this study comprised a survey of all facilities in three districts including interviews with all managers and clinical staff. In the second and third phase, results were discussed with District Health Management Teams and national level stakeholders, respectively, including representatives of the Ministry of Health, Central Medical Stores, donors and NGOs. The EHP in Malawi is focussing on the local burden of disease; however, key constraints to its successful implementation included a widespread shortage of staff due to vacancies but also caused by frequent trainings and meetings (only 48% of expected man days of clinical staff were available; training and meetings represented 57% of all absences in health centres). Despite the training, the percentage of health workers aware of vital diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to EHP conditions was weak. Another major constraint was shortages of vital drugs at all levels of facilities (e.g. Cotrimoxazole was sufficiently available to treat the average number of patients in only 27% of health centres). Although a few health workers noted some improvement in infrastructure and working conditions, they still considered them to be widely inadequate. In Malawi, as in similar resource poor countries, greater attention needs to be given to the health system constraints to delivering health care. Removal of these constraints should receive priority over the considerable focus on the development and implementation of essential packages of interventions