1,115 research outputs found
Healcon: self-healing concrete to create durable and sustainable concrete structures
No full textWithin the theme ‘Self-healing materials for prolonged lifetime’ (NMP.2012.2.1-3) of the Seventh Framework Programme, self-healing concrete is an important topic. The project HEALCON, which deals with self-healing concrete to create durable and sustainable concrete structures, is funded by EU-FP7 and started in January 2013. The coordinator of the project is Prof. Nele De Belie (UGent) and the consortium partners are UGent, Avecom, TU Delft, Acciona, TUM, TTI, VTT, COWI, DTI, CEINNMAT, Devan and Fescon.
Adequate perpetuation of the road, tunnel and bridge network, is crucial to preserving European cohesion and business operations; and around 70% of this infrastructure is made of concrete. In order to garantuee liquid tightness of concrete structures, and enhance durability of elements prone to bending cracks, smart concrete with selfhealing properties will be designed.
Thanks to the existing expertise of the consortium in the field of self-healing concrete at a lab-scale, a thoughtful selection of promising techniques is possible.
- For early age cracks, a non-elastic repair material can be proposed, such as calcium carbonate precipitated by bacteria, or new cement hydrates of which the formation is stimulated by the presence of hydrogels.
- For moving cracks under dynamic load, an elastic polymeric healing agent is suggested.
Different healing agents and encapsulation techniques are tested and scaled up. Self-healing efficiency is evaluated in lab-scale tests using purposefully adapted monitoring techniques, and optimized with the help of suitable computer models.
Finally the efficiency is validated in a large scale lab test and implemented in an actual concrete structure. Life-cycle cost analysis will show the impact of the selfhealing technologies on economy, society and environment compared to traditional construction methods
Een monument voor het land : overheidsstatistiek in België, 1795-1870
No full textIn A monument to the country. Official statistics in Belgium, 1795-1870, Nele Bracke unravels why and how the Belgian state and its predecessors organized and developed an official statistical apparatus in order to collect numerical information. The study captures the underlying objectives and structures, as well as the methods to compile statistics. Nele Bracke investigates the meaning and significance of government statistics in the 19th-century State and society. In Belgium, early social scientists established an internationally renowned ‘statistical system’ designed to collect information about the country, the people and the society. This ‘statistical system’ was built around the ‘Commission centrale de Statistique’ (statistical committee) and the production of demographic, economic and agricultural censuses. In the first part of the book, the author analyzes the institutional history of the ‘Commission centrale de Statistique’ and its predecessors. In the second part of the book, she studies the censuses
Een monument voor het land. Overheidsstatistiek in België, 1795-1870
No full textIn A monument to the country. Official statistics in Belgium, 1795-1870, Nele Bracke unravels why and how the Belgian state and its predecessors organized and developed an official statistical apparatus in order to collect numerical information. The study captures the underlying objectives and structures, as well as the methods to compile statistics. Nele Bracke investigates the meaning and significance of government statistics in the 19th-century State and society. In Belgium, early social scientists established an internationally renowned ‘statistical system’ designed to collect information about the country, the people and the society. This ‘statistical system’ was built around the ‘Commission centrale de Statistique’ (statistical committee) and the production of demographic, economic and agricultural censuses. In the first part of the book, the author analyzes the institutional history of the ‘Commission centrale de Statistique’ and its predecessors. In the second part of the book, she studies the censuses
Een monument voor het land. Overheidsstatistiek in België, 1795-1870
No full textIn A monument to the country. Official statistics in Belgium, 1795-1870, Nele Bracke unravels why and how the Belgian state and its predecessors organized and developed an official statistical apparatus in order to collect numerical information. The study captures the underlying objectives and structures, as well as the methods to compile statistics. Nele Bracke investigates the meaning and significance of government statistics in the 19th-century State and society. In Belgium, early social scientists established an internationally renowned ‘statistical system’ designed to collect information about the country, the people and the society. This ‘statistical system’ was built around the ‘Commission centrale de Statistique’ (statistical committee) and the production of demographic, economic and agricultural censuses. In the first part of the book, the author analyzes the institutional history of the ‘Commission centrale de Statistique’ and its predecessors. In the second part of the book, she studies the censuses
The age of artificial intelligence: prosperity for all?
No full textauthors: Dr. Holger Becker, Prof. Chen Dingding, Prof. Qiu Zeqi, René Bormann ; contributors: Prof. Duan Weiwen, Prof. Tang Hao, Prof. Dr. Johanna Wenckebach, Dr. Nele Wulf, Xiao Jin
Association of Asymmetric and Symmetric Dimethylarginine with Inflammation in the Population-Based Study of Health in Pomerania
No full textThe amino acids arginine (Arg), asymmetric (ADMA) and symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) are related to nitric oxide (NO) metabolism and potential markers of two different disease entities: cardiovascular disease such as atherosclerosis and systemic inflammation in critically ill patients with sepsis. Although very different in their pathophysiological genesis, both entities involve the functional integrity of blood vessels. In this context, large population-based data associating NO metabolites with proinflammatory markers, e.g., white blood cell count (WBC), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and fibrinogen, or cytokines are sparse. We investigated the association of Arg, ADMA and SDMA with WBC, hsCRP, and fibrinogen in 3556 participants of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP)-TREND study. Furthermore, in a subcohort of 456 subjects, 31 inflammatory markers and cytokines were analyzed. We identified Arg and SDMA to be positively associated with hsCRP (β coefficient 0.010, standard error (SE) 0.002 and 0.298, 0.137, respectively) as well as fibrinogen (β 5.23 × 10−3, SE 4.75 × 10−4 and 0.083, 0.031, respectively). ADMA was not associated with WBC, hsCRP, or fibrinogen. Furthermore, in the subcohort, Arg was inversely related to a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL). SDMA was positively associated with osteocalcin, tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 and 2, and soluble cluster of differentiation 30. Our findings provide new insights into the involvement of Arg, ADMA, and SDMA in subclinical inflammation in the general population
Supplemental material for The informative error: A framework for the construction of individualized phenotypes
No full textSupplemental material for The informative error: A framework for the construction of individualized phenotypes in Statistical Methods by Johannes Hertel, Stefan Frenzel, Johanna König, Katharina Wittfeld, Georg Fuellen, Birte Holtfreter, Maik Pietzner, Nele Friedrich, Matthias Nauck, Henry Völzke, Thomas Kocher and Hans J Grabe in Medical Research</p
Evidence for a role of nitric oxide in iron homeostasis in plants
No full textNitric oxide (NO), once regarded as a poisonous air pollutant, is now understood as a regulatory molecule essential for several biological functions in plants. In this review, we summarize NO generation in different plant organs and cellular compartments, and also discuss the role of NO in iron (Fe) homeostasis, particularly in Fe-deficient plants. Fe is one of the most limiting essential nutrient elements for plants. Plants often exhibit Fe deficiency symptoms despite sufficient tissue Fe concentrations. NO appears to not only up-regulate Fe uptake mechanisms but also makes Fe more bioavailable for metabolic functions. NO forms complexes with Fe, which can then be delivered into target cells/tissues. NO generated in plants can alleviate oxidative stress by regulating antioxidant defense processes, probably by improving functional Fe status and by inducing post-translational modifications in the enzymes/proteins involved in antioxidant defense responses. It is hypothesized that NO acts in cooperation with transcription factors such as bHLHs, FIT, and IRO to regulate the expression of enzymes and proteins essential for Fe homeostasis. However, further investigations are needed to disentangle the interaction of NO with intracellular target molecules that leads to enhanced internal Fe availability in plants.RKT is grateful to Department of Science and Technology-Science and Engineering Research Board (DST-SERB) New Delhi, for a Teachers Associateship for Research Excellence (TAR/2019/000064).Tewari, RK (corresponding author), Univ Lucknow, Dept Bot, Lucknow 226007, Uttar Pradesh, India.
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Expect the Unexpected: Organizational Purpose as Enabler of Serendipitous Impact
No full textChristian Busch, author of The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck, and Nele Terveen explain how purpose helps leaders connect the dots between grand challenges and strategic responses. When leaders expect the unexpected, the authors explain, they incent their stakeholders to embrace uncertainty so they can better guide their organizations through adversity and disruption. By leveraging the five practices of Serendipitous Impact (impact mission, impact leadership, impact governance, impact networks, and impact measurement) unexpected events can help leaders come up with solutions that often cannot be seen, let alone fully defined, in advance.https://www.cutter.com/journal/scaffolding-purpose-times-polycrisi
Comprehensive utilization of NMR spectra–evaluation of NMR-based quantification of amino acids for research and patient care
No full textAbstract Objectives In 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), a single measurement can yield insights into hundreds of metabolites. The use of NMR is expanding in research, with comprehensive datasets readily available. To fully leverage the spectral data, e.g. for amino acid (AA) detection, evaluating the quality of NMR quantification is crucial. For this, we compared the results for 15 AAs obtained from 1 H NMR and a clinical HPLC platform. Methods 1 H NMR and HPLC measurements of 15 AAs from 90 samples are compared by Spearman correlation coefficients and Passing-Bablok analysis. Imprecision is evaluated by coefficients of variation based on duplicates. Results 1 H NMR measurements of two AAs show high correlation and good agreement to HPLC measured levels (phenylalanine, alanine). Three more AA measurements reveal high correlation but systematic bias (tyrosine, valine, glycine). NMR results of six investigated AAs are less comparable (ornithine, threonine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine). Four measurands could not be evaluated (glutamine, glutamic acid, asparagine, methionine). Conclusions Analytical quality varies considerably among the investigated AAs. A limited number of AAs show good concordance with results from HPLC supporting selective use of NMR spectra for AA analysis. While NMR holds promise in both research and clinical settings, it is currently not suitable for comprehensive AA monitoring for diagnostic purpose
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