CONDITION ASSESSMENT OF RC BRIDGES. INTEGRATING MACHINE LEARNING, PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND BIM

Abstract. The survey of building pathologies is focused on reading the state of conservation of the building, composed by the survey of constructive and decorative details, the masonry layering, the crack pattern, the degradation and the color recognition. The drawing of these representations is a time-consuming task, accomplished by manual work by skilled operators who often rely on in-situ analysis and on pictures. In this project three-dimensional an automated method for the condition survey of reinforced concrete spalling has been developed. To realize the automated image-based survey it has been exploited the Mask R-CNN neural network. The training phase has been executed over the original model, providing new examples of images with concrete cover detachments. At the same time, a photogrammetry process involved the images, in order to obtain a point cloud which acts as a reference to a Scan to BIM process. The BIM environment serves as a collector of information, as it owns the ontology to recreate entities and relationships. The information as extracted by neural network and photogrammetry serve to create the pictures which depict the concrete spalling in the BIM environment. A process of projecting information from the images to the BIM recreates the shapes of the pathology on the objects of the model, which becomes a decision support system for the built environment. A case study of a concrete beam bridge in northern Italy demonstrates the validity of the process.</p

Efficient Radiative Pumping of Polaritons in a Strongly Coupled Microcavity by a Fluorescent Molecular Dye

KGaA, Weinheim.The optical properties of a series of strongly coupled microcavities containing the fluorescent molecular dye BODIPY-Br (bromine-substituted boron-dipyrromethene) dispersed into a transparent dielectric matrix are explored, with each cavity having a different exciton-photon detuning. Using temperature dependent emission, time-resolved spectroscopy, white-light reflectivity, and measurements of fluorescence quantum yield, the population of polaritons is explored along the lower polariton branch. It is found that both the cavity fluorescence quantum efficiency and the distribution of polariton states along the lower polariton branch is a function of exciton-photon detuning. Importantly, it is shown that in the most negatively detuned cavities, the emission quantum efficiency approaches that of a control (noncavity) film. A simple fitting model is developed, which is based upon direct radiative pumping of polariton states along the lower polariton branch and used it to obtain an excellent agreement with measured photoluminescence as a function of temperature and exciton-photon detuning, and qualitative agreement with the measured photoluminescence quantum efficiency. The radiative pumping mechanism indicates that to facilitate the formation of a nonequilibrium polariton condensate in strongly-coupled microcavities containing dispersed molecular dyes, it is important to utilize materials having high fluorescent quantum efficiency and fast radiative rates

Dimethyl carbonate as a green alternative to acetonitrile in reversed-phase liquid chromatography. Part I: Separation of small molecules

: Nowadays, environmental problems are drawing the attention of governments and international organisations, which are therefore encouraging the transition to green industrial processes and approaches. In this context, chemists can help indicate a suitable direction. Beside the efforts focused on greening synthetic approaches, currently also analytical techniques and separations are under observation, especially those employing large volumes of organic solvents, such as reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). Acetonitrile has always been considered the best performing organic modifier for RPLC applications, due to its chemical features (complete miscibility in water, UV transparency, low viscosity etc); nevertheless, it suffers of severe shortcomings, and most importantly, it does not fully comply with Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) requirements. For these reasons, alternative greener solvents are being investigated, especially easily available alcohols. In this work, chromatographic performance of the most common solvents used in reversed-phase chromatography, i.e., acetonitrile, ethanol and isopropanol, have been compared to a scarcely used solvent, dimethyl carbonate (DMC). The analytes of interest were two small molecules, caffeine and paracetamol, whose kinetics and retention behaviour obtained with the four solvents have been compared, and all contributions to band broadening have been assessed. Results about kinetic performance are very promising, indicating that a small amount (7&nbsp;% v/v) of DMC is able to produce the same efficiency as a 2.5-times larger ACN volume (18&nbsp;% v/v), and larger efficiency than alcohols. This paper reports, for the first time, fundamental studies concerning the mass transfer phenomena when DMC is used as an organic solvent in RPLC, and, together with the companion paper, represents the results of a research whose final aim was to discover whether DMC is suitable for chromatographic applications both in linear and preparative conditions

Control over Energy Transfer between Fluorescent BODIPY Dyes in a Strongly Coupled Microcavity

Hybridization of two fluorescent BODIPY dyes in a microcavity is achieved by coupling different exciton transitions to the same cavity mode. We characterize the luminescence of such a hybrid system following nonresonant laser excitation and show that the relative population along the different polariton branches can be controlled by changing cavity detuning. This effect is used to enhance exciton energy transfer to states along the lower polariton branch in negatively detuned cavities. We compare the efficiency of energy transfer via exciton hybridization with that achieved by dipole–dipole coupling

Sustainability in peptide chemistry: current synthesis and purification technologies and future challenges.

Developing greener synthesis processes is an inescapable necessity to transform the industrial landscape, mainly in the pharmaceutical sector, into a long-term, sustainable reality. In this context, the renaissance of peptides as medical treatments, and the enforcement of more stringent sustainability requirements by regulatory agencies, pushed chemists toward the introduction of sustainable processes to prepare highly pure, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Innovative upstream (synthesis) and downstream (purification) methodologies have been developed during the last 5 years with the introduction and optimization of several technologies in solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), liquid-phase peptide synthesis (LPPS), chemoenzymatic peptide synthesis (CEPS), and chromatographic procedures. These innovations are also moving toward the introduction of continuous processes that represent one of the most important targets for iterative processes. This overview discusses the most recent efforts in making peptide chemistry greener. The extensive studies that were carried out on green solvents, reaction conditions, auxiliary reagents and purification technologies in the peptide segment can be useful to other fields of organic synthesi

Static pressure recovery analysis in the vane island diffuser of a centrifugal pump

The overall performance of a vane-island type diffuser of a centrifugal pump model was obtained by means of directional probe traverses. These measurements were performed in an air model of a real hydraulic pump for five volume flow rates. Directional probe traverses are performed with a classical three-hole probe to cover most of the complete inlet section of the diffuser from hub to shroud and from pressure to suction side. Existing Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement results are also used to compare probe measurement results between the inlet and outlet throats of vane island diffuser at mid-span. Some assistance from already existing unsteady calculation, including leakage effects, is used to evaluate the numerical approach capability and to correctly define the mean initial conditions at impeller’s outlet section. Pressure recovery and the measured total pressure loss levels inside this particular vane diffuser geometry are then calculated. Detailed analysis of the flow structure at the inlet section of the vane island diffuser is presented to focus on pressure evolution inside the entire diffuser section for different flow rates. The combined effects of incidence angle and blockage distributions along hub to shroud direction are found to play an important role on loss distribution in such a diffuser

HER2 expression and efficacy of dose-dense anthracycline-containing adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

No data are available on the role of HER2 overexpression in predicting the efficacy of dose-dense anthracycline-containing adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. We retrospectively evaluated this role in patients enrolled in a phase III study comparing standard FEC21 (5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide, administered every 3 weeks) vs dose-dense FEC14 (the same regimen repeated every 2 weeks). HER2 status was determined for 731 of 1214 patients. Statistical analyses were performed to test for interaction between treatment and HER2 status with respect to event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS); EFS and OS were compared within each HER2 subgroup and within each treatment arm. Median follow-up was 6.7 years. Among FEC21-treated patients, both EFS (HR=2.07; 95% CI 1.27–3.38) and OS (HR=2.47; 95% CI 1.34–4.57) were significantly worse in HER2 + patients than in HER2 − patients. Among FEC14-treated patients, differences in either EFS (HR=1.21; 95% CI 0.65–2.24) or OS (HR=1.85; 95% CI 0.88–3.89) between HER2 + and HER2 − patients were not statistically significant. Interaction analysis suggested that the use of dose-dense FEC14 might remove the negative prognostic effect of HER2 overexpression on EFS and OS. Our data suggest a potential role of HER-2 overexpression in predicting the efficacy of dose-dense epirubicin-containing chemotherapy and the need to confirm this hypothesis in future prospective studies