Effect of swelling clays in the instability of clayey soils Case study: Quicksand and Quickclay

The aim of this work is to study the effect of swelling clays on the instability of two soils, quicksand and quickclay, famous for their high damaging effect. The complex flow behavior of these materials is based on the X-Rays diffraction characterization results and the preparation of laboratory quicksand and laboratory quickclay, which mimic exactly the flow behavior of these two natural soils.  We show that a spectacular liquefaction of the Quicksand and Quickclay occurs when a stress is applied to the material. By constructing both 'laboratory quicksand' and ‘laboratory Quickclay’, we demonstrate that the liquefaction is due to the structure of these two soils. The presence of both swelling clays and salt play a key effect on the instability of the two soils

Safety and efficacy of sorafenib in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is frequently diagnosed in the setting of chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. The median survival after diagnosis is dismal. The treatment options that may offer cure are either resection or liver transplantation. Unfortunately most patients are not eligible for either treatment modality at diagnosis because of advanced stage and underlying liver dysfunction. Until recently, there was no effective systemic therapy for patients with advanced HCC. Sorafenib, an oral multikinase inhibitor of the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, the platelet-derived growth factor receptor and Raf, has shown antitumor activity in patients with advanced HCC in phase III trials. Although objective response is not common, sorafenib promotes disease stabilization and improves overall survival. Sorafenib is well tolerated with a favorable toxicity profile. In this article we review the efficacy and safety data for sorafenib in patients with advanced HCC

Remediation of River Des Peres Slope Failure − A Case History

This paper describes the remediation of a 300-foot long slope failure on the north bank of River Des Peres along Ellendale Avenue near the intersection with Wellington Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. The slope failure threatened the cast bound driving lane of Ellendale Avenue and a 24-inch high pressure gas line under a concrete swale along the south shoulder, and damaged the concrete channel side and bottom lining and a foulwater interceptor sewer in the River Des Peres channel. The failure occurred within a soil stratum that consists of soft to very soft, gray silt, clayey silt, silty clay and sandy silt with a trace of organics and wood. As an emergency measure. to protect Ellendale Avenue and the high pressure gas pipeline from the advancing slide scraps, The Metropolitan Saint Louis Sewer District (MSD) the project owner, approved an immediate installation of approximately 330 linear feet of PZ27 and PZ23 sheet pile sections that were driven to bedrock refusal along the top of the slope about 12 feet south of the road pavement. Data obtained from several inclinometers, installed to monitor the slope during and after the emergency remedial work, indicated no further significant movement of the slope behind the sheet pile wall but movement continued to occur at the toe of the slope. Analysis of the in place sheet pile system revealed the need for one row of rock anchored tiebacks to render an acceptable factor of safety against the sheet pile failure. In order to stabilize the failed slope utilizing the in place sheet pile wall and maintaining the same slope geometry to satisfy the hydraulic requirement of the channel, the slope was stabilized with a grouted rock buttress. The sheet pile wall and the stabilized slope have been performing satisfactorily since the completion of the remedial work

Nicotine Vaccines for Smoking Prevention and Treatment from Utilitarian and Deontological Ethical Perspectives

Nicotine vaccines are a new prevention and treatment method for smoking addiction. They are promoted as a method to cease smoking among those who smoke and possibly prevent this behaviour from taking place among those who do not smoke. However, offering these vaccines to adults, adolescents, and children will undoubtedly raise an ethical debate among policy-makers, health professionals, and the public. This paper discusses the possibility of using nicotine vaccines treat and prevent smoking among adults/children/adolescents through the lenses of two ethical theories: utilitarianism and deontology (Kantianism). From an utilitarian perspective, nicotine vaccines are good for society because they provide the greatest benefit for the greatest number of individuals. Authors perceive them as a healthy ethical choice to prevent and treat smoking. And, from the deontological perspective, nicotine vaccines are justified because individuals can prevent the harm of nicotine addiction by choosing vaccines or any other smoking prevention and treatment methods

Applied Health Services Research as a Framework for Patient-Oriented Research: A Suggested Framework for Health Care Researchers

Engaging the general population in the research process provides new visions that may lead to innovations and research that are relevant to patients. Many developed countries like Canada are working toward engaging the population in healthcare research to achieve outcomes pertaining to enhanced accountability, transparency, and population empowerment in research. For example, Canada created Canada's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) (Canadian Institute of Health Research [CIHR], 2011) to empower the patient's role in health research and the healthcare system.  However, there appears to be a gap in the literature because few studies or reports could be found on how applied health services research might be used as a framework for patient-oriented research. The aims of these authors in this paper are to (1) discuss how the applied health services research (AHSR) can be used as a framework for patient-oriented research (POR); and (2) describe salient challenges and potential outcomes that may result from implementing applied health research as a framework for patient-oriented research. This is a multidimensional framework for patient engagement using AHSR as a framework for POR as they have shared crossover research aspects between them. Conducting POR at different levels of AHSR reduces the gap between health research and practice, and empower patients to be responsible for their own health and health services (Gooberman-Hill et al., 2013). The multidisciplinary nature of AHSR and POR may face challenges related to research interests, patients, patient involvement, environmental/ organizational regulations and policies, and research culture

The Use of Geomatic Techniques to Monitor Environmental Deformation

Geospatial deformations are very important in some countries and may lead to catastrophes. For this purpose we need to find practical accurate ways to provide continuous monitoring and measurement to allow protection and secure safety. Some countries are suffering great losses such as Jordan where the major high way that connects the north to the middle of the country is closed most of the winter due to landslides that push the road away. In this work we are employing new Geomatics technique to analyze, monitor and measure the landslides. An application of geodetic monitoring of a major landslide on the highway linked Amman to the north (Jerash, Irbid). For the purpose of monitoring the landslide we designed a geodetic network, which consists of 4 points. Measurements were carried out over the period 2007 to 2012 (before and after rainy season) of 12 points within the network. The obtained results are compared to results published previously using different techniques of measurement over the two years period (2002-2004). In the new methodology, GPS receivers and total stations of high precision were used in addition to an orthophoto of two aerial photographs. The observations adjustment and the deformation analysis were executed using locally developed computer programs. The study enabled us to determine a value of 0.26 m/year as an average displacement of the landslide-prone area for the period of 2007-2012. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.4.2.2013.92-96 [How to cite this article: Rawashdeh, S., Ruzouq, R.E., and Qtaishat, K.S.. (2013). The use of geomatic techniques to monitor environmental deformation. International Journal of Science and Engineering, 4(2),92-96. Doi: 10.12777/ijse.4.2.2013.92-96

Water resistant surfaces using zinc oxide structured nanorod arrays with switchable wetting property

This study presents an experimental approach for fabricating super hydrophobic coatings based on a dual roughness structure composed of zinc oxide nanorod arrays coated with a sputtered zinc oxide nano layer. The ZnO nanorod arrays were grown by means of a low temperature electrochemical deposition technique 75 C on FTO substrates. The ZnO nanorods show a 002 orientation along the c axis, and have a hexagonal structure, with an average length of 710 nm, and average width of 156 nm. On the other hand, the crystallite size of the top coating sputtered ZnO layer is of 30 nm. The as deposited ZnO nanorod arrays exhibited a hydrophobic behavior, with a surface water contact angle of 108 , whereas the dual scale roughness ZnO nanorods coated with sputtered ZnO exhibited a super hydrophobic behavior, with a surface water contact angle of 157 and a high water droplet adhesion. The photo catalytic activity of the samples was investigated against the degradation of methylene blue under UV A irradiation 365 nm . The ZnO nanorod arrays showed good photocatalytic activity whereas the superhydrophobic ZnO nanorod arrays top coated with sputtered ZnO showed minimal activity regarding the degradation of methylene blue. The superhydrophobic films exhibited high sensitivity to UV light, with a UV induced switching behavior from super hydrophobic to super hydrophilic after only 30 min of UV exposur

Collapsing granular suspensions

A 2D contact dynamics model is proposed as a microscopic description of a collapsing suspension/soil to capture the essential physical processes underlying the dynamics of generation and collapse of the system. Our physical model is compared with real data obtained from in situ measurements performed with a natural collapsing/suspension soil. We show that the shear strength behavior of our collapsing suspension/soil model is very similar to the behavior of this collapsing suspension soil, for both the unperturbed and the perturbed phases of the material.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in EPJ