This paper presents the hardened properties of a high-performance fibre-reinforced fine-aggregate concrete extruded through a 9mm diameter nozzle to build layer-by-layer structural components in a ...printing process. The printing process is a digitally controlled additive method capable of manufacturing architectural and structural components without formwork, unlike conventional concrete construction methods. The effects of the layering process on density, compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile bond strength and drying shrinkage are presented together with the implication for mix proportions. A control concrete (mould-cast specimens) had a density of approximately 2250kg/m3, high strength (107MPa in compression, 11MPa in flexure) and 3MPa in direct tension, together with a relatively low drying shrinkage of 175μm (cured in water) and 855μm (cured in a chamber at 20°C and 60% relative humidity) at 184days. In contrast well printed concrete had a density of 2350kg/m3, compressive strength of 75–102MPa, flexural strength of 6–17MPa depending on testing direction, and tensile bond strength between layers varying from 2.3 to 0.7MPa, reducing as the printing time gap between layers increased. The well printed concrete had significantly fewer voids greater than 0.2mm diameter (1.0%) when compared with the mould-cast control (3.8%), whilst samples of poorly printed material had more voids (4.8%) mainly formed in the interstices between filaments. The additive extrusion process was thus shown to retain the intrinsic high performance of the material.
ABSTRACT Atmosphere is one of the most important noise sources for ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. By increasing optical loading on the detectors, it amplifies their ...effective noise, while its fluctuations introduce spatial and temporal correlations between detected signals. We present a physically motivated 3D-model of the atmosphere total intensity emission in the millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. We derive a new analytical estimate for the correlation between detectors time-ordered data as a function of the instrument and survey design, as well as several atmospheric parameters such as wind, relative humidity, temperature and turbulence characteristics. Using an original numerical computation, we examine the effect of each physical parameter on the correlations in the time series of a given experiment. We then use a parametric-likelihood approach to validate the modeling and estimate atmosphere parameters from the polarbear-i project first season data set. We derive a new 1.0% upper limit on the linear polarization fraction of atmospheric emission. We also compare our results to previous studies and weather station measurements. The proposed model can be used for realistic simulations of future ground-based CMB observations.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and conventional cancer therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy do not address the underlying molecular pathologies, leading ...to inadequate treatment and tumor recurrence. Angiogenic factors, such as EGF, PDGF, bFGF, TGF-β, TGF-α, VEGF, endoglin, and angiopoietins, play important roles in regulating tumor development and metastasis, and they serve as potential targets for developing cancer therapeutics. Nucleic acid-based therapeutic strategies have received significant attention in the last two decades, and antisense oligonucleotide-mediated intervention is a prominent therapeutic approach for targeted manipulation of gene expression. Clinical benefits of antisense oligonucleotides have been recognized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, with full or conditional approval of Vitravene, Kynamro, Exondys51, and Spinraza. Herein we review the scope of antisense oligonucleotides that target angiogenic factors toward tackling solid cancers.
From September 2000 to June 2003, a community-based program for dengue control using local predacious copepods of the genus Mesocyclops was conducted in three rural communes in the central Vietnam ...provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and Khanh Hoa. Post-project, three subsequent entomologic surveys were conducted until March 2004. The number of households and residents in the communes were 5,913 and 27,167, respectively, and dengue notification rates for these communes from 1996 were as high as 2,418.5 per 100,000 persons. Following knowledge, attitude, and practice evaluations, surveys of water storage containers indicated that Mesocyclops spp. already occurred in 3-17% and that large tanks up to 2,000 liters, 130-300-liter jars, wells, and some 220-liter metal drums were the most productive habitats for Aedes aegypti. With technical support, the programs were driven by communal management committees, health collaborators, schoolteachers, and pupils. From quantitative estimates of the standing crop of third and fourth instars from 100 households, Ae. aegypti were reduced by approximately 90% by year 1, 92.3-98.6% by year 2, and Ae. aegypti immature forms had been eliminated from two of three communes by June 2003. Similarly, from resting adult collections from 100 households, densities were reduced to 0-1 per commune. By March 2004, two communes with no larvae had small numbers but the third was negative; one adult was collected in each of two communes while one became negative. Absolute estimates of third and fourth instars at the three intervention communes and one left untreated had significant correlations (P = 0.009-< 0.001) with numbers of adults aspirated from inside houses on each of 15 survey periods. By year 1, the incidence of dengue disease in the treated communes was reduced by 76.7% compared with non-intervention communes within the same districts, and no dengue was evident in 2002 and 2003, compared with 112.8 and 14.4 cases per 100,000 at district level. Since we had similar success in northern Vietnam from 1998 to 2000, this study demonstrates that this control model is broadly acceptable and achievable at community level but vigilance is required post-project to prevent reinfestation.
Sporadic emergence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus infection in humans is a serious concern because of the potential for a pandemic. Conventional or quantitative RT-PCR is ...the standard laboratory test to detect viral influenza infections. However, this technology requires well-equipped laboratories and highly trained personnel. A rapid, sensitive, and specific alternative screening method is needed.
By a luminescence-linked enzyme immunoassay, we have developed a H5N1 HPAI virus detection kit using anti-H5 hemagglutinin monoclonal antibodies in combination with the detection of a universal NP antigen of the type A influenza virus. The process takes 15 minutes by use of the fully automated luminescence analyzer, POCube.
We tested this H5/A kit using 19 clinical specimens from 13 patients stored in Vietnam who were infected with clade 1.1 or clade 2.3.4 H5N1 HPAI virus. Approximately 80% of clinical specimens were H5-positive using the POCube system, whereas only 10% of the H5-positive samples were detected as influenza A-positive by an immunochromatography-based rapid diagnostic kit.
This novel H5/A kit using POCube is served as a rapid and sensitive screening test for H5N1 HPAI virus infection in humans.
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