Simulated Cryptosporidium removal under swimming pool filtration conditions

There has been no information available on the removal of Cryptosporidium oocysts or oocyst‐sized particles under the sand filtration conditions normally used for swimming pool water treatment. A pilot sand filtration plant has therefore been constructed at The University of Wales Swansea and operated under swimming pool conditions (25 m/h downflow, 30°C, 1.5 mg/L free chlorine, pH 7.3 to 7.5, alkalinity 120–150 mg/L as calcium carbonate). Removal of fluorescent polystyrene particles of a size range (1–7 μm) similar to the size of Cryptosporidium oocysts (about 5 μm) without added coagulant was less than 50%. Removal of the particles under the operating conditions above but with the addition of either of the coagulants polyaluminium chloride (PAC) or aluminium sulphate was capable of giving better than 99% removal of the particles.     

Balancing Human-and-Robot Integration in Building Tasks

Abstract:   In the last two decades, a wide range of robotic systems for interior construction tasks was being examined (mainly by research and development institutions around the world). A main parameter that differentiates between these systems is their level of autonomy. Reducing the level of autonomy of a given robotic system necessitates increasing auxiliary human work. The efficiency of the system as a whole (i.e., robot/s + operator/s + worker/s) must be examined in order to determine the proper balance between robots and human beings. This article presents the development of a methodology for evaluating a robotized construction task by examining and comparing various ways to share the work between robots and human operators and workers. The methodology is demonstrated by implementing it on two interior finishing tasks—block laying and wall painting. Testing these tasks included full-scale experiments. The detailed analyses of these two applications show the breakeven points of profitable robotic systems, depending on the combination of their own cost, the hourly cost of construction workers, and the expected hourly cost of construction-robot operators in a given labor market. The results lead to a better understanding of possible human-and-robot integration. In particular, this article provides researchers and developers of construction robotics with a systematic approach for evaluation and validation of various ideas prior to investing resources in actual prototypes.     

Toxizitätsreduktion durch (Grundwasser-) Sanierung?

The usage of an automatized and continuously (on-line) working biomonitor for the surveillance of groundwater remediation is presented and the data are compared to different discontinuous acute biotests. The use of an on-line biomonitor at the SAFIRA groundwater remediation testsite showed to be superior to the discontinuous tests. The long-time surveillance of two different remediation techniques revealed a decrease in remediation efficiency of one technique while the other technique -using activated carbon- did not show any reduction in efficiency. The validation of these results with other acute biotests (algae, fishembryo, daphnia and genotoxicity) indicated a complex groundwater contamination which can not be explained by the quantitatively main contaminant monochlorobenzene. It is suggested to use ecotoxicological biotests and knowledge in parallel to the conventional chemical analysis before a remediation strategy is designed. All anthropogenic contaminations (toxic or unwanted) should be identified beforehand such that the developed remediation techniques would be more target-oriented.     

Modelling of cold-formed steel sandwich purlin-sheeting systems to estimate the rotational restraint

Sandwich panels are attached to cold-formed steel purlins in roofs of industrial buildings to provide insulation. As the strength of the attached purlins is considerably increased due to the lateral and rotational restraints provided by the sandwich panels, estimating these restraints is important in the design of purlins. The rotational restraint is generally determined by experiments, as no design rules exist for sandwich purlin-sheeting systems. In this paper, a non-linear finite element model is presented to estimate the rotational restraint provided by the sandwich panels to the attached purlin. The model is validated with experimental tests and is in good agreement. In order to develop a design method for estimating the rotational restraint in sandwich purlin-sheeting systems, the model could be useful for parametric studies to investigate the influencing factors.     

Drinking water and health hazards in environmental perspective

Among the present environmental issues drinking water quality and more specifically organic micropollutants receive not the highest priority. The long tradition of potable water quality assurance and the sophisticated evaluation methodologies provide a very useful approach which has great potential for wider application in environmental research and policy making.Water consumption patterns and the relative importance of the drinking water exposure route show that inorganic water contaminants generally contribute much more to the total daily intake than organic micropollutants. An exception is chloroform and probably the group of typical chlorination by-products. Among the carcinogenic organic pollutants in drinking water only chlorination by-products may potentially increase the health risk. Treatment should therefore be designed to reduce chemical oxidant application as much as possible.It is expected that in the beginning of next century organic micropollutants will receive much less attention and that the present focus on treatment by-products will shift to distribution problems. Within the total context of water quality monitoring microbiological tests will grow in relative importance and might once again dominate chemical analysis the next century.As disinfection is the central issue of the present water treatment practice the search for the ideal disinfection procedure will continue and might result in a further reduction in the use of chemical oxidants.     

“线桥隧一体化”土木工程卓越人才培养体系的构建与实践

结合土木工程卓越计划试点专业建设,借鉴国际工程教育最新理念,立足学校铁路交通专业传统优势和特色,在既有土木工程"厚基础、宽口径"人才培养模式基础上,创办"线桥隧一体化"土木工程卓越计划班,实行"依托大工程、校企联培、实践创新并举"的育人模式,构建了与《华盛顿协议》相匹配的土木工程卓越人才培养标准,形成了以厚基础、重实践、求创新为核心的校企"3+1"联合培养课程体系,并以"校企双轨"模式建立了实践和创新基础平台建设新机制,优化了师资配置,完善了涵盖人才培养全过程的质量跟踪和控制体系。成功培养了首批77名基础扎实、工程实践和创新能力强的土木工程卓越计划毕业生,推动了产学研合作的新模式,为新时期应用型工程教育人才培养提供了示范作用,具有辐射效应。     

The impacts of road and walking trails upon adjacent vegetation: effects of road building materials on species composition in a nutrient poor environment

Roads represent an important landscape element affecting both biotic and abiotic components. Alteration of soil properties along roads (addition of nutrients) is assumed to have a great impact on vegetation structure especially in nutrient poor ecosystems. Existing studies focus mainly on road dust. In our study we assessed the overall effects of roads upon adjacent alpine tundra vegetation and soils in Krkonoše Mts, Czech Republic. Our aims were to (1) reconstruct the road-related changes using aerial data and GPS mapping to study colonization of roadside plant species; (2) assess the road effects on physical-chemical soil properties and vegetation composition along transects; and (3) propose conservation measures to stop further damage. Changes were reconstructed from historical multispectral aerial photography (1986 to 1997), measured by GPS device (1997, 2004), and accompanied by detailed soil (1998, 2000 and 2001) and vegetation (2000 and 2004) surveys along transects. Along alkaline roads, fast and profound shifts in physical-chemical soil properties (pH increased from 3.9 up to 7.6, base saturation from 9-30% up to 100%), and species composition were recorded. The roadside vegetation doubled in area during the studied decade. Stress-tolerant tundra species were replaced by meso- to nitrophilous species and species preferring man-made habitats. The intensity of changes depended significantly on the type of road material and the position relative to the road (slope position, distance from the road). Our findings support the assumption that alkaline gravel is the main cause of changes along roads in the area, and indicate the leading role of water transport in the soil and consequent vegetation alteration. To prevent the further damage we recommended replacement of alkaline gravel by granite, even though expensive and technically complicated. Based on our recommendations, the National Park authorities started to reconstruct the trails, although recovery is expected to be slow.     

Dampness in buildings and health. Nordic interdisciplinary review of the scientific evidence on associations between exposure to "dampness" in buildings and health effects (NORDDAMP)

Several epidemiological investigations concerning indoor environments have indicated that "dampness" in buildings is associated to health effects such as respiratory symptoms, asthma and allergy. The aim of the present interdisciplinary review is to evaluate this association as shown in the epidemiological literature. A literature search identified 590 peer-reviewed articles of which 61 have been the foundation for this review. The review shows that "dampness" in buildings appears to increase the risk for health effects in the airways, such as cough, wheeze and asthma. Relative risks are in the range of OR 1.4-2.2. There also seems to be an association between "dampness" and other symptoms such as tiredness, headache and airways infections. It is concluded that the evidence for a causal association between "dampness" and health effects is strong. However, the mechanisms are unknown. Several definitions of dampness have been used in the studies, but all seems to be associated with health problems. Sensitisation to mites may be one but obviously not the only mechanism. Even if the mechanisms are unknown, there is sufficient evidence to take preventive measures against dampness in buildings.     

Estimating post-disaster traffic conditions using real-time data streams

This article presents a technique to determine the effects of an earthquake on road traffic conditions by linking seismic hazard and bridge fragility models with a traffic model and traffic sensor data. Using the earthquake characteristics as an input to the traffic model, the traffic conditions are sequentially estimated given traffic sensor measurements using an ensemble Kalman filter. The proposed algorithm is tested on a numerical experiment on Interstate 155 West near the New Madrid Seismic Zone in New Madrid, Missouri. The results show that the proposed technique improves the post-disaster traffic estimate. The supporting source code and data are available for download at https://github.com/rotsuka/postDisaster_EnKF..     

Biofilm loss during sample preparation for scanning electron microscopy

Biofilm morphology and mass are two of the important characteristics governing the kinetics of substrate removal by biofilms. Many previous studies showed only sparse biofilm on attaching media. However, one of the reasons which might cause a sparse-biofilm specimen in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is that the treatment of a biofilm sample is harsh and can cause various artifacts. This study was conducted to evaluate the loss of biofilm during a conventional preparation procedure. Biofilm lost during preparation stages was collected on membrane filters. A different technique—the membrane filter method—was devised to carry a biofilm sample through the preparation stage with reduced losses. The sample was sandwiched between membrane filters during preparation so that the loss was minimized and the lost biofilm could be saved for qualitative and quantitative evaluations. SEM examination of biofilms and membrane filters showed that biofilm loss was much more significant with conventional treatment.