Accelerated swell testing of artificial sulfate bearing lime stabilised cohesive soils

This paper reports on the physico-chemical response of two lime stabilised sulfate bearing artificial soils subject to the European Accelerated Volumetric Swell Test (EN13286-49). At various intervals during the test, a specimen was removed and subject to compositional and microstructural analysis. Ettringite was formed by both soils types, but with significant differences in crystal morphology. Ettringite crystals formed from kaolin based soils were very small, colloidal in size and tended to form on the surface of other particles. Conversely, those formed from montmorillonite were relatively large and typically formed away from the surface in the pore solution. It was concluded that the mechanism by which ettringite forms is determined by the hydroxide ion concentration in the pore solution and the fundamental structure of the bulk clay. In the kaolin soil, ettringite forms by a topochemical mechanism and expands by crystal swelling. In the montmorillonite soil, it forms by a through-solution mechanism and crystal growth

A Low-Frequency Inactivating Akt2 Variant Enriched in the Finnish Population is Associated With Fasting Insulin Levels and Type 2 Diabetes Risk

To identify novel coding association signals and facilitate characterization of mechanisms influencing glycemic traits and type 2 diabetes risk, we analyzed 109,215 variants derived from exome array genotyping together with an additional 390,225 variants from exome sequence in up to 39,339 normoglycemic individuals from five ancestry groups. We identified a novel association between the coding variant (p.Pro50Thr) in AKT2 and fasting insulin, a gene in which rare fully penetrant mutations are causal for monogenic glycemic disorders. The low-frequency allele is associated with a 12% increase in fasting plasma insulin (FI) levels. This variant is present at 1.1% frequency in Finns but virtually absent in individuals from other ancestries. Carriers of the FI-increasing allele had increased 2-hour insulin values, decreased insulin sensitivity, and increased risk of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio=1.05). In cellular studies, the AKT2-Thr50 protein exhibited a partial loss of function. We extend the allelic spectrum for coding variants in AKT2 associated with disorders of glucose homeostasis and demonstrate bidirectional effects of variants within the pleckstrin homology domain of AKT2.Academy of Finland (129293, 128315, 129330, 131593, 139635, 139635, 121584, 126925, 124282, 129378, 258753); Action on Hearing Loss (G51); Ahokas Foundation; American Diabetes Association (#7-12-MN-02); Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency; Augustinus foundation; Becket foundation; Benzon Foundation; Biomedical Research Council; British Heart Foundation (SP/04/002); Canada Foundation for Innovation; Commission of the European Communities, Directorate C-Public Health (2004310); Copenhagen County; Danish Centre for Evaluation and Health Technology Assessment; Danish Council for Independent Research; Danish Heart Foundation (07-10-R61-A1754-B838-22392F); Danish Medical Research Council; Danish Pharmaceutical Association; Emil Aaltonen Foundation; European Research Council Advanced Research Grant; European Union FP7 (EpiMigrant, 279143; FP7/2007-2013; 259749); Finland's Slottery Machine Association; Finnish Cultural Foundation; Finnish Diabetes Research Foundation; Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research; Finnish Foundation of Cardiovascular Research; Finnish Medical Society; Finnish National Public Health Institute; Finska Läkaresällskapet; Folkhälsan Research Foundation; Foundation for Life and Health in Finland; German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) ; German Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Health Care Centers in Vasa, Närpes and Korsholm; Health Insurance Foundation (2012B233) ; Helsinki University Central Hospital Research Foundation; Hospital districts of Pirkanmaa, Southern Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, and Northern Savo; Ib Henriksen foundation; Juho Vainio Foundation; Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (4845–301); Korea National Institute of Health (2012-N73002-00); Li Ka Shing Foundation; Liv och Hälsa; Lundbeck Foundation; Marie-Curie Fellowship (PIEF-GA-2012-329156); Medical Research Council (G0601261, G0900747-91070, G0601966, G0700931); Ministry of Education in Finland; Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Finland; MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health;Municipal Heath Care Center and Hospital in Jakobstad; Närpes Health Care Foundation; National Institute for Health Research (RP-PG-0407-10371); National Institutes of Health (U01 DK085526, U01 DK085501, U01 DK085524, U01 DK085545, U01 DK085584, U01 DK088389, RC2-DK088389, DK085545, DK098032, HHSN268201300046C, HHSN268201300047C, HHSN268201300048C, HHSN268201300049C, HHSN, R01MH107666 and K12CA139160268201300050C, U01 DK062370, R01 DK066358, U01DK085501, R01HL102830, R01DK073541, PO1AG027734, R01AG046949, 1R01AG042188, P30AG038072, R01 MH101820, R01MH090937, P30DK020595, R01 DK078616, NIDDK K24 DK080140, 1RC2DK088389, T32GM007753); National Medical Research Council; National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2012R1A2A1A03006155); Nordic Center of Excellence in Disease Genetics; Novo Nordisk; Ollqvist Foundation; OrionFarmos Research Foundation; Paavo Nurmi Foundation; Perklén Foundation; Samfundet Folkhälsan; Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation; Sigrid Juselius Foundation; Social Insurance Institution of Finland; South East Norway Health Authority (2011060); Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland; Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation; Swedish Research Council; Swedish Research Council (Linné and Strategic Research Grant); The American Federation for Aging Research; The Einstein Glenn Center; The European Commission (HEALTH-F4-2007-201413); The Finnish Diabetes Association; The Folkhälsan Research Foundation; The Påhlssons Foundation; The provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick; The Sigrid Juselius Foundation; The Skåne Regional Health Authority; The Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation; Timber Merchant Vilhelm Bang’s Foundation; Turku University Foundation; Uppsala University; Wellcome Trust (064890, 083948, 085475, 086596, 090367, 090532, 092447, 095101/Z/10/Z, 200837/Z/16/Z, 095552, 098017, 098381, 098051, 084723, 072960/2/ 03/2, 086113/Z/08/Z, WT098017, WT064890, WT090532, WT098017, 098051, WT086596/Z/08/A and 086596/Z/08/Z). Detailed acknowledgment of funding sources is provided in the Additional Acknowledgements section of the Supplementary Materials

Swelling and shrinkage behaviour of expansive soil blended with lime and fibres

Expansive soils are considered to be highly problematic because of their capacity to significant volume change. They swell during the rainy season as they absorb water and shrink when water evaporates from them during the summer season. Because of this dual swell-shrink behaviour, an expansive soil causes severe distress to many civil engineering structures. Several mitigating techniques are adopted to counteract the problems posed by the expansive soils, either by modifying the properties of the soil by adopting stabilization techniques using lime, cement, fly ash, calcium chloride etc. or by adopting special foundation technique such as construction of belled piers, under-reamed piles, etc. In recent years polymeric fibres have also been used to stabilize the soil as well as to improve the strength of the expansive soils. Hence in the present study lime and fibres have been used in different proportions to study the swelling and shrinkage behavior of expansive soils. Swell tests were performed by varying the fibre content and lime with expansive soils. Tests were also conducted by blending fibres and lime together with expansive soils. In a similar way, shrinkage tests were also performed for the various proportions. The test result show that swelling tends to decrease slightly with an increase in the fibre content, whereas shrinkage tends to decrease significantly upon addition of fibres. Both swelling and shrinkage tends to decrease significantly with increasing lime content. The optimum content of fibre was found to be 2%. So the expansive soil specimens blended with 2% fibres and with varying lime content was tested. It is found that blending 2% fibres and 15% lime together in expansive soils is considered to be more effective in controlling the swelling and shrinkage behaviour

Forensic investigations to evaluate sulfate-induced heave attack on a tunnel shotcrete liner

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive research study to determine the potential causes for an inordinate distress developed on a shotcrete liner material of a tunnel located near Dallas, TX. This tunnel was originally founded on a limestone material. Distress locations were identified where possible delamination of shotcrete layer and moisture leaks were either suspected or noticed. As a part of the research, rock cores and white powderlike substance behind the liner were collected around the distressed locations, and these cores and powder material were subjected to chemical, mineralogical, and engineering tests to understand the potential causes of this distress. Mineralogical tests, in particular, X-ray powder diffraction analysis on a powder material and gel-like substances collected on the liner, showed the presence of anhydrite, gypsum, and ettringite traces. High amounts of sulfate measurements in chemical and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy studies also showed that both gypsum and ettringite formations were possible in and around the limestone material. Upon hydration, mineral expansion of ettringite and anhydrite led to heaving and subsequent cracking of the adjacent shotcrete layer. Engineering characterization tests including unconfined compression strength (UCS), indirect tensile strength (ITS), and triaxial tests on rock cores embedded with a powder type sulfate material revealed that low strength cores were obtained near high distress zones and high strength cores were collected at low distress zones. The UCS values ranged from 6.2 (high distress) to 13.8 MPa (low distress) whereas the ITS values of the cores varied from 0.5 to 1.1 MPa for the same distress locations. This indicates the potential loss of strength of these rock materials from the presence of gypsum material in them. Possible methods to mitigate this heaving problem behind the liner are also discussed

Environmental geotechnics in the US region: a brief overview

The present contribution to the Regional Editors themed issue offers a concise yet focused overview of some of the key technical and scientific issues, as well as of current trends and future challenges, related to the broad discipline of environmental geotechnics in the US region. Particular attention is devoted to current policy and societal drivers as well as future professional and research capacity requirements in critical areas such as innovative recycling and improvement of compost, construction and geologic materials; solid waste management, landfilling and geoenvironmental remediation techniques; and crucial geotechnical engineering aspects of renewable energy production, storage and distribution