•Ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) for multipurpose.•Porosity decrease with increasing nano-silica (nS) content.•Strength increased with addition of 2% nS in UHPC with up to 50% barite ...sand.•Resistance to radiation was improved with the addition of barite aggregate.
The development of building materials with improved characteristics and their application for increasing structure durability and sustainability is one of the goals in construction sector. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the influence of nano-silica replacement of cement (2% or 5%) and aggregate type (quartz, barite or its combination 50:50 by volume) on the properties of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC). UHPC with nano-silica and combination of barite and quartz aggregate is composite which has finer pore-size distribution, improvement in compressive and flexural strength and in radiation protection characteristics, with potential usage as building material for hospitals and nuclear facilities.
Introduction: Fear of childbirth (FOC) has been mostly studied in peripartum women; however, it can be present in non-pregnant young women, and the question is whether it occurs even before pregnancy ...planning.
Objective: (1) to determine the prevalence of clinically significant FOC in non-pregnant female students, and (2) to investigate the role of anxiety sensitivity (AS), trait anxiety, childbirth pain expectancy, and sources of birth knowledge for FOC.
Methods: Non-pregnant female students (N = 374) from different study programmes (health studies, social sciences and humanities, and biotechnical studies) participated in the study. They completed
Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ, version A), The State-Trait Anxiety
Inventory (STAI-T), Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), the average expected labor pain, and sources
of information about childbirth.
Results: The results showed that 25.9% of students reported clinically significant FOC. FOC could be predicted by postponing pregnancy planning, the high expectancy of labor pain, high trait anxiety, and high physical dimension of AS. Students from health sciences reported a lower level of FOC, as opposed to social science and humanities' students. Students reported receiving the most information about childbirth from family and the least from the professional books.
Conclusions: Fear of childbirth is highly prevalent in the sample of young nulliparous women with one in four women reporting clinically significant fear. The higher levels of the FOC could be predicted, by AS, trait anxiety, expected labor pain, and sources of knowledge about the childbirth. Implications of the findings are discussed.
- The purpose of the present study was to examine the association among the risk of eating disorder (ED), psychological adjustment, empathy, attachment style and thin-ideal internalization among ...adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN), as compared to a healthy control (HC) group. The Questionnaire of General Data, the Eating Disorders Inventory-3 (EDI-3), the Questionnaire of Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance-3 (SATAQ-3), the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) and the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) were administered to 35 female adolescents with AN and 35 HC adolescents. Eating disorder risk was found to be highest in AN females with higher levels of general psychological maladjustment (GPMC), followed by HC females with higher thin-ideal internalization. In the AN group, attachment style and thin-ideal internalization in combination with GPMC were not indicated as significant predictors of eating disorder risk. Study data provide support to conceptualizations of EDs that emphasize the role of general psychological maladjustment in the development of EDs.
This study aimed to examine fear of childbirth (FOC) before and after delivery in relation to personality (anxiety and anxiety sensitivity) and birth experience (type of delivery, pain, and staff ...support). One-hundred and five women completed questionnaires during pregnancy and one month after childbirth. Participants completed the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire; the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire and a Support from staff questionnaire. FOC levels decreased after childbirth, but only in the high-level fear group. Path analysis showed that physical concerns, one aspect of anxiety sensitivity, shape FOC during pregnancy. Together with interventions at delivery (instrumental vaginal delivery and emergency caesarean section), pain and low staff support, this in turn modifies FOC after delivery. In conclusion, FOC decreases after childbirth. However, combined with adverse birth experience and certain personality traits, FOC during pregnancy affects FOC after delivery.
Chemical, physical and mechanical properties of bottom ash from two thermal power plants were analysed in order to evaluate the quality of bottom ash and to determine the possibility of its use in ...composite materials. It was found that the bottom ash samples from both power plants show good properties enabling their practical use, and that they also meet most of the criteria specified for fly ash. Samples in which 4, 8, 12 and 16% of fine aggregate was replaced with bottom ash were tested. The results meet criteria of applicable regulations for concrete, which justifies the use of bottom ash in construction industry.
Ultrasonic testing of concrete by modern equipment has grown in importance in recent years in non-destructive testing. Measuring concrete cover thickness and estimating steel rebar position and ...diameter is main focus for assessment of existing reinforcement concrete facilities. Voids, entrained air and potential delamination are important to detect in order to evaluate the quality of the executed concrete members. This paper presents the latest two modern non-destructive techniques – ultrasonic tomography and electromagnetic pulse induction – suitable for testing reinforcement concrete members. The capabilities of these techniques for locating defects, reinforcement bars and determining their size in unilaterally accessible concrete members are described.
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