An experimental and numerical study on mechanical properties, such as strength, elastic modulus, creep and shrinkage, of Self-Compacting Concrete, SCC, and the corresponding properties of Normal Compacting concrete, NC, is outlined in this article. The study included eight mix proportions of sealed or air-cured specimens with water-binder ratio, w/b, varying between 0.24 and 0.80. Half of the mixe

Soft photons inside hadronic jets converted in front of the DELPHI main tracker (TPC) in events of qq disintegrations of the Z(0) were studied in the kinematic range 0.2 < E-y < I GeV and transverse momentum with respect to the closest jet direction P-T < 80 MeV/c. A clear excess of photons in the experimental data as compared to the Monte Carlo predictions is observed. This excess (uncorrected fo

The insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 is an important component of the insulin signal transduction cascade. Several reports suggest that a Gly-->Arg change in codon 972 is associated with type 2 diabetes and related traits, and a recent meta-analysis reported a modest but nominally significant association with type 2 diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 1.25 in favor of carriers of the Arg allele [95% CI 1.

We report the first attempt to estimate fungal biomass production in soil by correlating relative fungal growth rates (i.e., acetate incorporation into ergosterol) with fungal biomass increase (i.e., ergosterol) following amendments with dried alfalfa or barley straw in soil. The conversion factor obtained was then used in unamended soil, resulting in fungal biomass productions of 10–12 μg C g−1 s

Context: Androgens are associated with metabolic risk factors in men. However, the independent impact of androgens and androgen metabolites on metabolic risk factors in men is unclear. Objective: Our objective was to determine the predictive value of serum levels of androgens and glucuronidated androgen metabolites for metabolic risk factors. Design and Study Subjects: We conducted a population-ba

Fungal (acetate-in-ergosterol incorporation) and bacterial (leucine/thymidine incorporation) growth resulting from alfalfa (C/N = 15) and barley straw (C/N = 75) addition was studied in soil microcosms for 64 days. Nitrogen amendments were used to compensate for the C/N difference between the substrates. Fungal growth increased to a maximum after 3–7 days, at five to eight times the controls, foll

Searches for pair-production of supersymmetric particles under the assumption of non-conservation of R-parity with a dominant LL (E) over bar or (U) over bar(D) over bar(D) over bar term have been performed using the data collected by the DELPHI experiment at LEP in e(+)e(-) collisions at centre-of-mass energies from 192 up to 208 GeV. No excess of data above Standard Model expectations was observ

Beside agricultural soils, tropical rainforest soils are the main source of atmospheric N2O. Current estimates of the global N2O source strength of tropical rainforest soils are still based on rather simplistic upscaling approaches and do have a large range of uncertainty. In this study, the biogeochemical ForestDNDC-tropica model was recalibrated and intensively tested on the site scale prior to

Objective. To investigate the effect of a moderate to high intensive exercise program on two primary outcomes (aerobic capacity, fatigue), and three secondary outcomes [anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life (HRQoL)] in women with primary Sjögren's syndrome (primary SS). Methods. Twenty-one women with primary SS were ranked according to degree of fatigue and allocated to an exerci

1. We investigated the individual and combined effects of two predators (the climbing perch, Anabas testudineus, and the wetland crab, Esanthelphusa nimoafi) indigenous to wetlands in Laos, on the behaviour and survival of the invasive South American golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata). The snail is considered a pest, consuming large amounts of rice and other aquatic vegetation in the region

Progress in the area of proton conducting polymer electrolyte membranes is intimately linked with the development of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, and is today largely driven by the insufficient properties of humidified Nafion® membranes at temperatures above 100 °C. Recent developments in the field include new ionomers and hybrid membranes containing inorganic nanoparticles to control

The fusion-evaporation reactions Si-28(S-32,1 alpha 2p1n)Fe-53 at 125 MeV and Mg-24(S-32,2p1n)Fe-53 at a 95-MeV beam energy were used to investigate excited states in Fe-53. The combination of the Gammasphere Ge detector array and ancillary devices led to the construction of an extensive level scheme comprising some 90 transitions connecting 40 states. The lifetime of the yrast 25/2(-) state and u

Background: Crohn's disease is associated with deranged intestinal permeability in vivo, suggesting dysfunction of tight junctions. The luminal contents are important for development of neoinflammation following resection. Regulation of tight junctions by luminal factors has not previously been studied in Crohn's disease. Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of a luminal stimu

Static extraction, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) and Soxhlet extraction were compared for simultaneous extraction of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and nonionic surfactants from house dust. Homogenized office floor dust from a vacuum cleaner dust bag ("standard dust") was used for the evaluation. One portion of the extracts was used for analysis of no

Based on a physical understanding of phase-noise mechanisms, a passive LC filter is found to lower the phase-noise factor in a differential oscillator to its fundamental minimum. Three fully integrated LC voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) serve as a proof of concept. Two 1.1-GHz VCOs achieve -153 dBc/Hz at 3 MHz offset, biased at 3.7 mA from 2.5 V. A 2.1-GHz VCO achieves -148 dBc/Hz at 15 MHz

We study the problem of dynamically scheduling a set of state-feedback control tasks controlling a set of linear plants. We consider an on-line non-preemptive scheduling policy that is optimal in the sense that it minimizes a quadratic performance criterion for the overall system. The optimal scheduling decision at each point in time is a function of the states of the controlled plants. To be able

OBJECTIVE: To compare the lumbar infusion test and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tap test for predicting the outcome of shunt surgery in patients with suspected normal pressure hydrocephalus. METHODS: 68 patients with suspected normal pressure hydrocephalus were studied. The absence of preceding history indicated idiopathic disease in 75% of these. All patients were assessed twice with walking and

Gold and platinum, which often are used for thin film metallization, are not suitable for the measurement of dopamine (DA), since the oxidation product of DA forms a non-conducting polymer on the electrode surface. In this work several thiols were screened for their ability to prevent this polymerization. It was found that mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) decreased the rate of DA polymerization. MPA,