Study of the damage evolution of the concrete under freeze-thaw cycles using traditional and non-traditional techniques

Some experiments have been performed to investigate the cyclic freeze-thaw deterioration of concrete, using traditional and non-traditional techniques. Two concrete mixes, with different pore structure, were tested in order to compare the behavior of a freeze-thaw resistant concrete from one that is not. One of the concretes was air entrained, high content of cement and low w/c ratio, and the other one was a lower cement content and higher w/c ratio, without air-entraining agent. Concrete specimens were studied under cyclic freeze-thaw conditions according to UNE-CENT/TS 12390-9 test, using 3% NaCl solution as freezing medium (CDF test: Capillary Suction, De-icing agent and Freeze-thaw Test). The temperature and relative humidity were measured during the cycles inside the specimens using embedded sensors placed at different heights from the surface in contact with the de-icing agent solution. Strain gauges were used to measure the strain variations at the surface of the specimens. Also, measurements of ultrasonic pulse velocity through the concrete specimens were taken before, during, and after the freeze-thaw cycles. According to the CDF test, the failure of the non-air-entraining agent concrete was observed before 28 freeze-thaw cycles; contrariwise, the scaling of the air-entraining agent concrete was only 0.10 kg/m 2 after 28 cycles, versus 3.23 kg/m 2 in the deteriorated concrete, after 28 cycles. Similar behavior was observed on the strain measurements. The residual strain in the deteriorated concrete after 28 cycles was 1150 m versus 65 m, in the air-entraining agent concrete. By means of monitoring the changes of ultrasonic pulse velocity during the freeze-thaw cycles, the deterioration of the tested specimens were assesse

Optimization Model that Minimizes the Penalty Caused by Delayed Delivery of Construction Projects

Purpose: This work aims to minimize the penalty generated by delays in delivering construction projects operated by a single machine.   Theoretical framework: The fundamental issues to develop this work are optimization and its application to delays in construction projects operated in their initial stage by a single machine.   Design/Methodology/Approach: We presented a construction case study, developed an optimization model, implemented a computational optimization tool and obtained the optimal sequence to perform the tasks.     Findings: The numerical results demonstrated the model’s usefulness in minimizing the penalty generated by delays in the delivery of projects.   Research, practical & social implications: The benefit of this study is to help managers or decision-makers schedule their construction projects with limited resources and deadlines per activity to minimize penalty costs of delay.   Originality/Value: Considering that the construction sector generates the largest labor force in Peru, the study has an important social value by providing a tool to improve operations and incentivize construction companies to continue operating. In addition, it provides a substantial basis for future work by applying optimization in a specific area of civil engineering. To our knowledge, no researcher or company in Peru has yet addressed this study

Facilely synthesized nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide functionalized and/or co-doped with metal ions as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Due to fossil fuels depletion and environmental pollution, clean and sustainable energy technologies, e.g. fuel cells and metal-air batteries, have attracted extensive attention. To push further the research on these electrochemical devices, low-cost, durable and efficient electrocatalysts alternative to platinum are required, to boost the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). A microwave-assisted method has been optimized, to obtain effective heterogeneous catalyst for ORR, starting from graphene oxide (GO), urea and a transition metal (e.g. Mn and Cu) precursor. We have proved that our synthetic method originates porphyrin-like structures containing pyrrole rings within the reduced GO (rGO) basal plane which coordinate the Mn2+. In the case of copper, however, Cu2+ forms an ionic tetra coordinated structure anchored at the rGO surface via residual oxygen containing functional groups. In both cases, metal complex acts as an ORR highly efficient catalytic reaction center and their identification were strongly supported by several characterization techniques, such as X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption spectroscopies (XAS) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), together with Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations. All synthesized materials exhibit outstanding catalytic properties toward ORR, as evidenced by electron transfer numbers larger than 3.8 and peroxide percentages lower than 7%, similar to Pt/C reference electrode

Facilely synthesized nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide functionalized with copper ions as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction

Nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide is successfully synthesized and functionalized with hydroxylated copper ions via one-pot microwave-assisted route. The presence of cationic Cu coordinated to the graphene layer is fully elucidated through a set of experimental characterizations and theoretical calculations. Thanks to the presence of these hydroxyl-coordinated Cu2+ active sites, the proposed material shows good electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction, as evidenced by an electron transfer number of almost 4 and by high onset and half-wave potentials of 0.91 V and 0.78 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode, respectively. In addition, the N-doped Cu-functionalized graphene displays a superior current retention with respect to a commercial Pt/C catalyst during the stability test, implying its potential implementation in high-performance fuel cells and metal-air batteries

Spatially resolved X-ray excited optical luminescence

Spatially resolved luminescence distributions in semiconductor heterostructures were investigated by core level excitation using hard X-ray (sub-) microbeams. Compact and mobile XEOL instruments have been developed and well adapted on the hard X-ray beamline ID22 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility for different wavelength collection ranges: UV-VIS and NIR. Linked by multimode optical fibers, their special designs provide precise scanning microscopy and allow easy access for multiple detection modes. Based on the hard X-ray microprobe station of ID22, details of the equipments, spectral data and representative examples are briefly described. Data collections from InAs and InGaN quantum heterostructures support the excellent performance of the optical devices. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work was partially supported by the NANOWIRING Marie Curie ITN (EU project No. PITN-GA-2010-265073).Peer Reviewe

Photo-acclimatory thresholds anticipate sudden shifts in seagrass ecosystem state under reduced light conditions

Seagrass ecosystems usually respond in a nonlinear fashion to increasing pressures and environmental changes. Feedback mechanisms operating at the ecosystem level and involving multiple interactions among the seagrass meadow, its associated community and the physical environment are known to play a major role in such nonlinear responses. Phenotypic plasticity may also be important for buffering these ecological thresholds (i.e., regime shifts) as many physiological processes show nonlinear responses to gradual environmental changes, conferring the appearance of resistance before the effects at the organism and population levels are visible. However, the potential involvement of plant plasticity in driving catastrophic shifts in seagrass ecosystems has not yet been assessed. In this study, we conducted a manipulative 6-month light-gradient experiment in the field to capture nonlinearities of the physiological and population responses of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa to gradual light reduction. The aim was to explore if and how the photo-acclimatory responses of shaded plants are translated to the population level and, hence, to the ecosystem level. Results showed that the seagrass population was rather stable under increasing shading levels through the activation of multilevel photo-acclimative responses, which are initiated with light reduction and modulated in proportion to shading intensity. The activation of photo-physiological and metabolic compensatory responses allowed shaded plants to sustain nearly constant plant productivity (metabolic carbon balance) along a range of shading levels before losing linearity and starting to decline. The species then activated plant- and meadow-scale photo-acclimative responses and drew on its energy reserves (rhizome carbohydrates) to confer additional population resilience. However, when the integration of all these buffering mechanisms failed to counterbalance the effects of extreme light limitation, the population collapsed, giving place to a phase shift from vegetated to bare sediments with catastrophic ecosystem outcomes. Our findings evidence that ecological thresholds in seagrass ecosystems under light limitation can be explained by the role of species’ compensatory responses in modulating population-level responses. The thresholds of these plastic responses anticipate the sudden loss of seagrass meadows with the potential to be used as early warning indicators signalling the imminent collapse of the ecosystem, which is of great value for the real-world management of seagrass ecosystems.En prens

Long-term coexistence between the macroalga Caulerpa prolifera and the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa in a Mediterranean lagoon

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Segregation scheme of indium in AlGaInAs nanowire shells

Quaternary alloys enable the independent optimization of different semiconductor properties, such as the separate tuning of the band gap and the lattice constant. Nanowire core-shell structures should allow a larger range of compositional tuning as strain can be accommodated in a more effective manner than in thin films. Still, the faceted structure of the nanowire may lead to local segregation effects. Here, we explore the incorporation of indium in AlGaAs shells up to 25%. In particular, we show the effect of In incorporation on the energy shift of the AlGaInAs single-photon emitters present in the shell. We observe a redshift up to 300 meV as a function of the group-III site fraction of In. We correlate the shift with segregation at the nanoscale. We find evidence of the segregation of the group-III elements at different positions in the nanowire, not observed before. We propose a model that takes into account the strain distribution in the nanowire shell and the adatom diffusion on the nanowire facets to explain the observations. This work provides novel insights on the segregation phenomena necessary to engineer the composition of multidinary alloys

Evidence for the long-term resistance of Posidonia oceanica meadows to Caulerpa cylindracea invasion

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