Aggregate and concrete microfracture

Thin sections cut from cast concrete cylinders have been examined in transmitted light to investigate the significance of coarse aggregate type in “primary” microfracturing. Concretes manufactured with crushed-rock aggregates and gravel aggregates were studied and, in every case, the dominant fracture type was a parting of the aggregate-matrix bond. Bond cracking was least severe with the marble aggregate where epitaxial calcite over-growth was indicated. The ability of bond cracks to maintain continuity by bridging surface irregularities, via mortar cracks, reduced the inhibiting influence of rough-surfaced aggregate on bond-crack development.     

A portable virus concentrator for testing water in the field

A system is described for concentrating viruses from large volumes of water. The system consists of a water pump, an electric generator, a series of clarifiers, a virus adsorbent, a virus reconcentrator, a 5- and a 1-gal pressure vessel with a small tank of nitrogen as a source of positive pressure, and ancillary equipment, all mounted on 2-wheel carts for easy portability. Standardization of the system was achieved by use of minute amounts of poliovirus. The virus was added to dechlorinated city tap water so that it could not be detected unless the virus was first concentrated. In the system, raw tap water containing virus is serially passed through clarifying filters of porosities of 1–5 μm to remove particulate matter, and then through a 1-μm cotton textile filter to electrostatically remove submicron ferric and other heavy metallic complexes. These filters do not detectably remove virus. Salts are then added to the running tap water to enhance the adsorption of virus to a fibreglass or cellulose acetate filter. Raw water could be processed at the rate of 300 gallons per hour, with total virus removal from the water and with 80 per cent elution of the virus from the adsorbent.     

Cigarette characteristics,smoker characteristics,and the relationship to cigarette fires

Data were collected from eight cities on a wide range of cigarette and smoker characteristics for a sample of smokers. Of these, 564 smokers had had fires and were identified through fire department response to those fires, while the other 1,611 smokers had not had fires and were identified through a telephone sample survey of the communities. The characteristics analyzed included those that had shown evidence of a relationship to the risk of a cigarette-initiated fire, either in laboratory studies or in previous statistical analyses of fire experience.The smoker characteristics analyzed were household income, education, age, gender, and race. The cigarette characteristics analyzed were filter, tobacco column length, filter length, circumference, density, amount of tobacco, menthol, citrate, porosity, and pack type. In addition, a variable was used to control for the smoker's city.After controlling for all smoker characteristics and city, logistic regression modeling showed four cigarette characteristics to be significant: filter, filter length, porosity, and type of pack. Filter, filter length, and porosity all affect air intake, which, therefore, appears to be an important physical element in the combustion process associated with risk. Analysis limited to filtered cigarettes only showed the same characteristics to be significant, plus tobacco column length. Extension of the analysis to two-way interaction terms did not change any of the conclusions on which cigarette characteristics are important, but it did indicate that the role of pack type was different for men and women.Sensitivity analyses, shown in the appendix, supported the main conclusions that cigarette characteristics are significant after controlling for smoker characteristics and that the four specific cigarette characteristics—filter, filter length, porosity, and pack—are the ones that are significant. These analyses checked the impact of cluster sampling, sensitivity to missing data on smoker characteristics, and sensitivity to nonfire smoker cases with responses by people other than the smokers themselves.All this means that there are already cigarettes commercially available that exhibit a reduced propensity for ignition when one controls for smoker characteristics.This report was originally written as the final report in June 1993 as part of CPSC-P-91-1147 Contract Cigarette Fire Incident Study that the National Fire Protection Association conducted for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.Harwood, formerly with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is retired.     

Assessment of nitrification in groundwater filters for drinking water production by qPCR and activity measurement

In groundwater treatment for drinking water production, the causes of nitrification problems and the effectiveness of process optimization in rapid sand filters are often not clear. To assess both issues, the performance of a full-scale groundwater filter with nitrification problems and another filter with complete nitrification and pretreatment by subsurface aeration was monitored over nine months. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) targeting the amoA gene of bacteria and archaea and activity measurements of ammonia oxidation were used to regularly evaluate water and filter sand samples. Results demonstrated that subsurface aeration stimulated the growth of ammonia-oxidizing prokaryotes (AOP) in the aquifer. Cell balances, using qPCR counts of AOP for each filter, showed that the inoculated AOP numbers from the aquifer were marginal compared with AOP numbers detected in the filter. Excessive washout of AOP was not observed and did not cause the nitrification problems. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea grew in both filters, but only in low numbers compared to bacteria. The cell-specific nitrification rate in the sand and backwash water samples was high for the subsurface aerated filter, but systematically much lower for the filter with nitrification problems. From this, we conclude that incomplete nitrification was caused by nutrient limitation.     

Analysis and jointing of polygonal road slabs

Conclusions 1. For anlaysis of circular (polygona) slabs which can be included in the category of absolutely rigid slabs, a practical approximate method of analysis has been developed and experimentally verified which permits determining the bending moments under centrally and eccentrically applied loads acting over a small circular area, as well as at any other points in the slab beyond the limits of the loaded area.2. Monolithic bonding of hexagonal road slabs up to 3–4 m² in area designed for the N-30 load results in increased design bending moments and, consequently, in thicker pavements. For these slabs it is expedient to use nonrigid joints, which do not transmit bending or torsional moments; however, these slabs must be placed on stabilized beds and their joints must be filled with waterproofing mastic.Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 5, pp. 19–22, September–October, 1974.     

Lead,cadmium, and arsenic residues in animal tissues in relation to those in their surrounding habitat

The relationships of the residues of lead, cadmium, and arsenic in animal tissues to those in surrounding vegetation and soil were determined in a natural habitat representing a wide range of such residues. The samples studied were selected from 18 different locations. Analyses were performed on a total of 113 animals, 332 plant specimens (representing 33 species), and 408 soil samples (taken at different depths). For the purpose of evaluating relationships, the samples from each location were averaged and reported as parts per million on a dry weight basis. The average lead residues from different locations ranged from 1.4–9.2 ppm in the liver, 45–195 in bones, 4–283 in vegetation, and 15–1399 in soil samples. The cadmium contents ranged from 1–27 ppm in the liver, 3–77 in bones, 0.5–5 in vegetation, and 1–10 in soil. The arsenic contents in different components of the ecosystem varied with an average of 1–9 ppm in liver, 0.6–94 in vegetation, and 7–655 in soil samples. The soil residues varied considerably according to the depth of sampling. Little variation was noted in different species of vegetation or in soil and vegetation samples according to the time and year of sampling.Statistical analyses performed on the averages indicated a significant correlation between vegetation and soil residues for all three elements, and also between animal to vegetation and animal to soil cadmium residues. Multiple linear correlations for all elements in soil, vegetation, and animal tissues were determined. The results indicated a possibility of an increase in cadmium in animal tissues depending upon the increased residues of this metal in the environment.     

Paleonutritional analysis of the pre-Hispanic population from Fuerteventura (Canary Islands)

In this study, from histological and chemical perspectives, we analyse the human remains belonging to the pre-Hispanic inhabitants from Fuerteventura (one of the Canary Islands) and compare the results with those obtained on a sample of pre-Hispanic inhabitants from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). We observe that trabecular bone mass was normal in the samples from Fuerteventura except for an elderly woman; this result is in sharp contrast with the decreased bone mass observed in the population from Gran Canaria. The pre-Hispanic population from Fuerteventura showed lower bone strontium, Sr/Ca ratio, and bone barium, but slightly higher bone copper, than that from Gran Canaria. All these data indicate a greater consumption of marine products by the population of Fuerteventura. The high prevalence of osteoporosis observed in the population from Gran Canaria may be interpreted as a consequence of protein-calorie malnutrition, a condition which seemed to be not so prevalent in the population of Fuerteventura.     

Interstitial inorganic phosphorus concentrations in lakes Mendota and Wingra

Interstitial P levels in Lake Mendota and Lake Wingra were evaluated as a function of season and water column and sediment depth. Interstitial water was obtained by the centrifugation-filtration method. Temporal variations were observed over the entire 15 cm sediment depth interval examined in all four locations evaluated. Interstitial reactive P (IRP) levels in Lake Mendota ranged from 0.014–1.67 mg l⁻¹ at the 5–6 m water column depth and from 1.20–5.75 mg l⁻¹ at the 18–19.5 m depth. IRP levels in Lake Wingra ranged from 0.029–2.15 mg l⁻¹ at 3.5 m and from 0.191–3.96 mg l⁻¹ at 2 m. Variations in interstitial P were attributed to variations in oxidation state of Fe as influenced by oxygen transport and reduction rates.     

A method for the analysis of environmental factors controlling patterns of species composition in aquatic communities

In aquatic environmental studies, data from biological samples and from associated observations on environmental variables are often analyzed to determine whether environmental factors are controlling patterns of species composition. Analysis methods which reduce biological data such as species abundances to a more useable form, including ordination, classification and diversity index methods, are critically reviewed. Methods which relate these reduced data to environmental data are also reviewed. Classification (or cluster) analysis of the biological data followed by multiple discriminant analysis of the species-assemblage groups on the environmental variables is the recommended procedure, which is illustrated by an example. Application of these methods to pollution studies is discussed. Possible modifications and extensions are considered.