Design Procedure for Reinforced Concrete Beams and Reinforcement Replacement by Bamboo

The use of non-renewable resources by the construction industry has several environmental consequences, contributing to excessive energy consumption and loss of materials. So, the construction sector is always in search of improvement and methods that innovate the existing techniques, aiming at the use of alternative and sustainable materials. Bamboo is a perennial plant with fast growth rate and low cost that has great physical and mechanical characteristics that assure its performance in the building environment. The use of beams with total or partial replacement of steel by bamboo has been well studied, due to the possibility of using the same design methods used in reinforced concrete beams, since the bamboo-reinforced beams meet the Bernoulli-Kirchoff bending theory. The objective of the work was to adapt a design procedure into an electronic spreadsheet for bamboo reinforced concrete beams subjected to four-point bending, with rectangular section, according to Brazilian Standard NBR 6118 (2014). The spreadsheet was tested based on other authors taking into consideration a steel double reinforcement. The resulting values were equivalents to those obtained by the authors, validating the efficiency of the worksheet. This methodology aims to optimize the design process of beams and enable the substitution of steel by bamboo, highlighting the validation, from the structural point of view, obtained by the authors.

Heavily doped silicon:A potential replacement of conventional plasmonic metals

The plasmonic property of heavily doped p-type silicon is studied here.Although most of the plasmonic devices use metal-insulator-metal(MIM)waveguide in order to support the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons(SPPs),metals that possess a number of challenges in loss management,polarization response,nanofabrication etc.On the other hand,heavily doped p-type silicon shows similar plasmonic properties like metals and also enables us to overcome the challenges possessed by metals.For numerical simulation,heavily doped p-silicon is mathematically modeled and the theoretically obtained relative permittivity is compared with the experimental value.A waveguide is formed with the p-silicon-air interface instead of the metal-air interface.Formation and propagation of SPPs similar to MIM waveguides are observed.

Effect of Glass Powder on Concrete Sustainability

As defined by the American Concrete Institute (ACI), alternative supplementary cementitious materials (ASCMs) and local materials are very important in concrete sustainability. As an ASCM, glass powder (GP) shows excellent pozzolanic properties. This paper focuses on characterization and the effect of GP on concrete properties compared to those of Class F fly ash (FFA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). Concrete incorporating 0, 20 and 30% of GP and other concrete mixes containing 30% of FFA or GGBS were cast. The concrete mixes considered in this study have water to binder (w/b) mass ratio ranging from 0.35 to 0.65. The mechanical properties such as compressive strength and durability including chloride ions permeability and chloride ions diffusion are evaluated. The results show that GP develops effects on mechanical properties similar to those of FFA and performs better than GGBS and FFA in terms of permeability reduction. GP reduces dramatically chloride permeability of concrete regardless w/b ratio, favoring an improvement of the concrete durability. Because of the interesting permeability developed by concretes incorporating GP, its use as an ASCM is promising.

QUALITY CONTROL OF HERBAL MATERIAL:ALTERNATIVE AND/OR COMPLEMENTARY TOOLS BASED ON BIOSENSORS, DNA PROFILING, NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE

Phar.Eur.Herbal Drug(HD)monographs state which aspects have to be considered for quality assurance through the relevant chapters'Definition'.'Characters','Identification','Tests',and'Assay'.Identification of botanical material is achieved by macroscopic and microscopic morphology,generally examined by a trained expert.Content or assay is the most difficult area of

Leaching toxicity characteristics of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash

The continuously increasing production of municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash （MSWIBA） has promoted its utilization as construction material and raised environmental concern. The physico-chemical properties and leaching behavior of MSWIBA were studied, and ecotoxicological testing using a luminescent bacterium bioassay was performed to assess the ecological pollution risks associated with its leached constituents. The MSWIBA was leached by two types of leachants, H2SO4/HNO3 and HAc solution, at different liquid to solid ratios and contact times. The concentrations of heavy metals and anions in the leachates were analyzed. Multi- variate statistical analyses, including principle component analysis, Pearson＇s correlation analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, were used to evaluate the contributions of the constituents to the toxicity （ECso） of the MSWIBA leachate. The statistical analyses of the ecotoxicological results showed that the Ba, Cr, Cu, Pb, F and total organic carbon （TOC） concentrations were closely correlated with the ECso value, and these substances were the main contributors to the ecotoxicity of the MSWIBA leachate. In addition, the cluster of these variables indicated similar leaching behaviors. Overall, the research demonstrated that the ecotoxicological risks resulting from MSWIBA leaching could be assessed before its utilization, which provides crucial information for the adaptation of MSWIBA as alternative materials.