Effect of polymer-modified bitumen and reclaimed asphalt pavement on the physical properties of bitumen

The high cost of road construction due to the energy required for new material production and the environmental impact necessitates the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and other waste materials. This paper examined the effect of using RAP with a PET additive as a rejuvenator. PET additive (2%) was added to the virgin binder (VB) of 60/70 penetration grade to form a Polymer modified bitumen (PMB). RAP percentages used were 30, 40, and 50%, respectively. The physical properties were examined using the penetration, softening point, and ductility. The results show that the physical properties of RAP were improved by utilizing Rap binder (RB) and PMB mix ratio. The penetration and ductility values increased by 46.4% and 66.7%, respectively, with the PMB (30): RB (70) ratio blend, compared to RB: VB blend. This suggests a reduction in brittle behavior and less stiffness with the addition of PMB in the blend, enhancing the flexibility of the RAP. Although both mixtures blended with RB exhibited softening points within the acceptable range, improved performance was observed with RB/PMB mix blend over RB/VB blend when used in hot asphalt mixtur

Effect of polymer-modified bitumen and reclaimed asphalt pavement on the physical properties of bitumen

The high cost of road construction due to the energy required for new material production and the environmental impact necessitates the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and other waste materials. This paper examined the effect of using RAP with a PET additive as a rejuvenator. PET additive (2%) was added to the virgin binder (VB) of 60/70 penetration grade to form a Polymer modified bitumen (PMB). RAP percentages used were 30, 40, and 50%, respectively. The physical properties were examined using the penetration, softening point, and ductility. The results show that the physical properties of RAP were improved by utilizing Rap binder (RB) and PMB mix ratio. The penetration and ductility values increased by 46.4% and 66.7%, respectively, with the PMB (30): RB (70) ratio blend, compared to RB: VB blend. This suggests a reduction in brittle behavior and less stiffness with the addition of PMB in the blend, enhancing the flexibility of the RAP. Although both mixtures blended with RB exhibited softening points within the acceptable range, improved performance was observed with RB/PMB mix blend over RB/VB blend when used in hot asphalt mixtur

Effect of Polymer-Modified Bitumen and Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement on The Physical Properties of Bitumen

The high cost of road construction due to the energy required for new material production and the environmental impact necessitates the use of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and other waste materials. This paper examined the effect of using RAP with a PET additive as a rejuvenator. PET additive (2%) was added to the virgin binder (VB) of 60/70 penetration grade to form a Polymer modified bitumen (PMB). RAP percentages used were 30, 40, and 50%, respectively. The physical properties were examined using the penetration, softening point, and ductility. The results show that the physical properties of RAP were improved by utilizing Rap binder (RB) and PMB mix ratio. The penetration and ductility values increased by 46.4% and 66.7%, respectively, with the PMB (30): RB (70) ratio blend, compared to RB: VB blend. This suggests a reduction in brittle behavior and less stiffness with the addition of PMB in the blend, enhancing the flexibility of the RAP. Although both mixtures blended with RB exhibited softening points within the acceptable range, improved performance was observed with RB/PMB mix blend over RB/VB blend when used in hot asphalt mixture

Overview of biologically digested leachate treatment using adsorption

Biological process is effective in treating most biodegradable organic matter present in leachate; however, a significant amount of ammonia, metals and refractory organic compounds may still remain in this biologically digested leachate. This effluent cannot be released to receiving bodies until the discharge limit is met. Several physical/chemical processes have been practiced as post-treatment to remove the remaining pollutants including coagulation–flocculation, oxidation and adsorption. Adsorption is often applied in leachate treatment as it enhances removal of refractory organic compounds. This chapter will focus on works related to adsorption as one of the commonly used methods to treat biologically digested leachate further down to acceptable discharge limit

Overview of biologically digested leachate treatment using adsorption

Biological process is effective in treating most biodegradable organic matter present in leachate; however, a significant amount of ammonia, metals and refractory organic compounds may still remain in this biologically digested leachate. This effluent cannot be released to receiving bodies until the discharge limit is met. Several physical/chemical processes have been practiced as post-treatment to remove the remaining pollutants including coagulation–flocculation, oxidation and adsorption. Adsorption is often applied in leachate treatment as it enhances removal of refractory organic compounds. This chapter will focus on works related to adsorption as one of the commonly used methods to treat biologically digested leachate further down to acceptable discharge limit

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

Development of a cell formation heuristic by considering realistic data using principal component analysis and Taguchi’s method

Over the last four decades of research, numerous cell formation algorithms have been developed and tested, still this research remains of interest to this day. Appropriate manufacturing cells formation is the first step in designing a cellular manufacturing system. In cellular manufacturing, consideration to manufacturing flexibility and productionrelated data is vital for cell formation. The consideration to this realistic data makes cell formation problemvery complex and tedious. It leads to the invention and implementation of highly advanced and complex cell formation methods. In this paper an effort has been made to develop a simple and easy to understand/implement manufacturing cell formation heuristic procedure with considerations to the number of production and manufacturing flexibility-related parameters. The heuristic minimizes inter-cellular movement cost/time. Further, the proposed heuristic is modified for the application of principal component analysis and Taguchi's method. Numerical example is explained to illustrate the approach. A refinement in the results is observed with adoption of principal component analysis and Taguchi's method

Engineering of cyclodextrin glucanotransferases and the impact for biotechnological applications

Cyclodextrin glucanotransferases (CGTases) are industrially important enzymes that produce cyclic α-(1,4)-linked oligosaccharides (cyclodextrins) from starch. Cyclodextrin glucanotransferases are also applied as catalysts in the synthesis of glycosylated molecules and can act as antistaling agents in the baking industry. To improve the performance of CGTases in these various applications, protein engineers are screening for CGTase variants with higher product yields, improved CD size specificity, etc. In this review, we focus on the strategies employed in obtaining CGTases with new or enhanced enzymatic capabilities by searching for new enzymes and improving existing enzymatic activities via protein engineering