Retention of Escherichia coli in municipal sewage by means of planted soil filters in two-stage pilot plant systems.

Different types of constructed wetlands in a pilot-plant system were fed with identical municipal waste water to compare the sanitisation process in two-stage systems. With combinations of a vertical and a horizontal flow filter an E. coli reduction of 5 log10 with an E. coli influent concentration of 10(7) MPN/100 ml was achieved. Using different filter materials in each stage the total performance of the two-stage system was independent from the sequence of these materials. However, using coarser filter material in the first stage makes the filter less prone to clogging and is thus the preferential option with regard to operational reliability.     

Crystallographic electron microscopy

We present a family of techniques for the transmission electron microscope that generate surface zone-axis patterns. These patterns display the variation of the diffracted-beam intensity as a function of the angle of the incident electrons. The conditions of the experiments are those of reflection high-energy electron diffraction at near grazing incidence. The techniques are: surface convergent-beam diffraction, a surface analogue of the Tanaka method and a modified double-rocking scheme. Experimental results are presented for diffraction from surfaces of MgO and MoS₂. We anticipate that surface zone-axis patterns (surface ZAPs) will become established as an important tool for surface characterization, especially when used in conjunction with high-resolution surface imaging and surface energy loss spectroscopy; surface ZAPs may be expected to play, in surface analysis, a role analogous to that played by convergent-beam diffraction in normal transmission electron microscopy.     

Reliability of structures in high dimensions, part I: algorithms and applications

The present paper is concerned with the estimation of structural reliability when a large number of random variables is present. A sampling technique which uses lines in order to probe the failure domain, is presented. The latter is employed in conjunction with a stepwise procedure which makes use of Markov Chains. The resulting algorithm exhibits accelerated convergence.     

The possibility of evolving a theory for predicting the service life of reinforced concrete structures

The development in recent years with increasing air pollution, increasing need of energy saving and last not least the growing number of damage in old structures leads to a raising demand to calculate the durability of structures, too. The paper has been prepared by request of the RILEM Technical Committee 45-LTO to show that, in principle, it is possible to evolve a theory for predicting the service life of r.c. structures and to sketch a way how that could be achieved. A lot of necessary basic data can be found scattered in the literature. To collect these data will be the first step to take.     

Thermochemical investigation of binary liquid mixtures in glass-forming oxide systems

Methods and equipment successfully employed in high- temperature calorimetry to measure partial and integral enthalpies of mixing in liquid oxide systems are reviewed with special attention given to the drop-mixing method. This technique has been used to measure enthalpies of mixing in binary liq-uid mixtures composed of network forming oxides (e.g. SiO₂) and network modifying oxides (e.g. Na₂O). Results for the systems Na₂O-SiO₂ and Na₂O- B₂O₃ are presented graphically. Entropies of mixing were estimated by combining enthalpies with available data on Gibbs energies of mixing. Prominent thermochemical features of glass-forming oxide melts are pointed out. The observed thermodynamic behavior is discussed in relation to its structural basis.