Electrical conductivity of concrete containing silica fume

The influence of silica fume on concrete properties represents an important technical research. In general, silica fume tends to improve both mechanical characteristics and durability of concrete. Thus the electrical properties of concrete containing silica fume can be studied to clarify its physical performance during hydration. The electrical conductivity of neat cement, mortar and concrete pastes was measured during setting and hardening. The ordinary Portland cement was partially replaced by different amounts of silica fume by weight. The changes in the electrical conductivity were reported during setting and hardening after gauging with water. The results of this study showed that the electrical conductivity can be used as an indication for the setting characteristics as well as the structural changes of the hardened pastes made with and without silica fume.     

Grindability of some additions and its significance in the production of mixed cements

Grinding tests were conducted in a laboratory steel ball mill, to investigate the grind-ability of some natural and artificial materials as “additions” for incorporation in Portland cement. Strength tests were performed on mixed cements composed of 71% Portland cement clinker, 25% addition and 4% gypsum. In one series of experiments, the components of the mixed cement were separately ground and in another one they were simultaneously ground. It was found from surface production curves and from compressive strength data that when materials which are harder to grind than clinker such as sand are interground with clinker, the resulting cement develops higher early strength than a corresponding cement in which the pozzolanic addition is softer than clinker. For materials which are softer to grind than clinker, separate grinding of the cement components is better than combined grinding, particularly for the development of early strength.     

The influence of thermal annealing on residual stresses and mechanical properties of arc-evaporated TiCxN1−x (x=0, 0.15 and 0.45) thin films

We report the stress relaxation behavior of arc-evaporated TiC_xN_1−x thin films during isothermal annealing between 350 and 900°C. Films with x=0, 0.15, and 0.45, each having an initial compressive intrinsic stress σ_int=−5.4 GPa, were deposited by varying the substrate bias V_s and the gas composition. Annealing above the deposition temperature leads to a steep decrease in the magnitude of σ_int to a saturation stress value, which is a function of the annealing temperature. The corresponding apparent activation energies for stress relaxation are E_a=2.4, 2.9, and 3.1 eV, for x=0, 0.15, and 0.45, respectively. TiC_0.45N_0.55 films with a lower initial stress σ_int=−3 GPa, obtained using a high substrate bias, show a higher activation energy E_a=4.2 eV. In all the films, stress relaxation is accompanied by a decrease in defect density indicated by the decreased width of X-ray diffraction peaks and decreased strain contrast in transmission electron micrographs. Correlation of these results with film hardness and microstructure measurements indicates that the stress relaxation is a result of point-defect annihilation taking place both during short-lived metal-ion surface collision cascades during deposition, and during post-deposition annealing by thermally activated processes. The difference in E_a for the films of the same composition deposited at different V_s suggests the existence of different types of point-defect configurations and recombination mechanisms.     

Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation of Arc-Sprayed Aluminum Coatings

Different posttreatment methods, such as heat treatment, mechanical processing, sealing, etc., are known to be capable to improve microstructure and exploitation properties of thermal spray coatings. In this work, a plasma electrolytic oxidation of aluminum coatings obtained by arc spraying on aluminum and carbon steel substrates is carried out. Microstructure and properties of oxidized layers formed on sprayed coating as well as on bulk material are investigated. Oxidation is performed in electrolyte containing KOH and liquid glass under different process parameters. It is shown that thick uniform oxidized layers can be formed on arc-sprayed aluminum coatings as well as on solid material. Distribution of alloying elements and phase composition of obtained layers are investigated. A significant improvement of wear resistance of treated layers in two types of abrasive wear conditions is observed. This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference and has been expanded from the original presentation. It is simultaneously published in Global Coating Solutions, Proceedings of the 2007 International Thermal Spray Conference, Beijing, China, May 14-16, 2007, Basil R. Marple, Margaret M. Hyland, Yuk-Chiu Lau, Chang-Jiu Li, Rogerio S. Lima, and Ghislain Montavon, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2007.     

Socially shared regulation of learning in CSCL: understanding and prompting individual- and group-level shared regulatory activities

The field of computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is progressing instrumentally and theoretically. Nevertheless, few studies examine the effectiveness and efficiency of CSCL with respect to cognitive, motivational, emotional, and social issues, despite the fact that the role of regulatory processes is critical for the quality of students’ engagement in collaborative learning settings. We review the four earlier lines in developing support in CSCL and show how there has been a lack of work to support individuals in groups to engage in, sustain, and productively regulate their own and the group’s collaborative processes. Our aim is to discuss how our conceptual work in socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) contributes to effective and efficient CSCL, what tools are presently available, and what the implications of research on these tools are for future tool development.     

Effect of phosphorus concentration on phosphorus removal and biomass

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) process was employed to study the effect of biological phosphorus removal (bio-P removal) and P-content in treated sludge with increased phosphorus concentration present in the wastewater. Further, the following four test fractions of raw wastewaters was obtained having different P-concentrations viz., run 1: P-20 mg/L, run 2: P-40 mg/L, run 3: P-60 mg/L, run 4: P-80 mg/L. The effective P-removal obtained for these four test fractions were found to be 23.07 mg/L (98.17%), 41.35 mg/L (88.16%), 45.75 mg/L (72.04%) and 55.80 mg/L (66.82%) respectively for run 1, 2, 3 and 4 fractions. Moreover, the similar increase in phosphorous concentration i.e., from 20 to 80 mg/L caused an apparent increase in total solid (TS) values from 7 to 8.3 g TS/L, whereas the total volatile solid (TVS) content remained constant (i.e. 4.5 g TVS/L). These results inferred that the proportion of TVS in the TS decreased from 70 to 55%. Moreover, by increasing the initial P-concentration from 20 to 80 mg/L, the corresponding P-proportion of excess sludge was increased from 2 to 6.2%.     

A compositional Petri net translation of general π-calculus terms

We propose a finite structural translation of possibly recursive π-calculus terms into Petri nets. This is achieved by using high-level nets together with an equivalence on markings in order to model entering into recursive calls, which do not need to be guarded. We view a computing system as consisting of a main program (π-calculus term) together with procedure declarations (recursive definitions of π-calculus identifiers). The control structure of these components is represented using disjoint high-level Petri nets, one for the main program and one for each of the procedure declarations. The program is executed once, while each procedure can be invoked several times (even concurrently), each such invocation being uniquely identified by structured tokens which correspond to the sequence of recursive calls along the execution path leading to that invocation.     

Protein profiling of low-density lipoprotein from obese subjects

Although obesity and high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) are well-known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the precise role(s) of different LDL constituents in obesity has not been explored. In the present study, we compared the LDL proteome of healthy control adults (body mass index<25) and obese subjects (body mass index>30). LDL was isolated by density-gradient ultracentrifugation and proteins were separated with 2-D PAGE, quantified, and identified by peptide mass fingerprinting using MALDI-TOF MS. A new LDL-associated protein was identified as transthyretin and found to be significantly more abundant in LDL from the obese subjects. In addition, LDL from the obese subjects contained relatively more α(1) -antitrypsin, apo J, apo C-II, than LDL from controls, and also more of an acidic isoform (pI/Mr; 5.2/23 100) of apo A-I. On the other hand, the relative amounts of apo A-IV and the major isoform of apo A-I (pI/Mr; 5.3/23 100) were significantly less in LDL from the obese subjects. Apo E was less and non-sialylated apo C-III more abundant in LDL from obese men than control men, while there were no such differences between LDL from obese and control women. These findings illustrate that obesity is not only associated with increased LDL-cholesterol levels but also with alterations in the LDL protein composition. The presence of transthyretin in LDL from obese subjects may reflect over-nutrition and affect the lipid metabolism in obesity.     

Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1)-specific reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors may suppress the replication of specific drug-resistant (E138K)RT HIV-1 mutants or select for highly resistant (Y181C-->C181I)RT HIV-1 mutants

Mutant HIV-1 that expresses a Glu138-->Lys substitution in its RT [(E138K)RT] is resistant to the HIV-1-specific RT inhibitor 2',5'-bis-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-3'-spiro-5"-(4"-amino-1",2"- oxathiole-2",2"-dioxide)pyrimidine (TSAO). However, cell cultures infected with this mutant were completely protected against virus-mediated destruction by micromolar concentrations of the HIV-1-specific RT inhibitors tetrahydroimidazo[4,5,1-jk][1,4]benzodiazepin-2(1H)-one and -thione (TIBO), nevirapine, and bis(heteroaryl)piperazine (BHAP). In contrast, cells infected with a virus mutant that expresses a Tyr181-->Cys substitution in its RT [(Y181C)RT] were not protected by nevirapine and TIBO and were only temporarily protected by BHAP. HIV-1 mutant that emerged under the latter conditions contained a Cys181-->Ile substitution in their RT [(LC181I)RT]. This mutant proved highly resistant to all HIV-1-specific RT inhibitors tested, except for several 1-(2-hydroxyethoxymethyl)-6-(phenylthio)thymine (HEPT) derivatives. When recombinant (C181I)RT was evaluated for susceptibility to the HIV-1-specific RT inhibitors, it was resistant to all inhibitors except the HEPT compounds. Since a (Y181F)RT HIV mutant strain was isolated from cells infected with (Y181C)RT HIV-1 and treated with BHAP, we postulate that the Ile codon was derived from a Cys-->Phe transversion mutation (TGT-->TTT), followed by a Phe-->Ile transversion mutation (TTT-->ATT).