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Corrosion of prestressing steel in post-tensioned (PT) cables is a critical issue in prestressed concrete bridges, often leading to brittle and unexpected failures. This deterioration is primarily attributed to construction flaws such as inadequate grout injection and the use of poor-quality mortar. This paper presents a probabilistic model for estimating the number and spatial distribution of gro

Introduction: Cycling as a means of transport or recreational activity is increasing in popularity in Ireland. However, increasing numbers of cyclists may lead to an increased number of bicycle collisions and fatalities. The Road Safety Authority is the statutory body for road safety in Ireland but uses police data alone to collate cycling collision statistics. This may lead to an underestimation

Soil bulk density (BD) is a parameter dependent on soil texture, compositions of soil minerals and organic matter and the extent of soil compaction. Seasonal freeze/thaw in arid areas with shallow groundwater tables (AASGT) may significantly change BD and hence soil hydrothermal properties and water holding capacity. Therefore, quantifying soil bulk density changes (BDC) under freeze/thaw conditio

Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have made great strides towards more accessible and higher quality schooling and medical systems in recent years. Despite this, education and health care in Africa lag behind other developing regions and large inequalities in educational levels and health care access remain across countries, subnational regions, and gender. Cameroon, in west-central Africa, wit

To clarify the misfire mechanism is important for stabilizing combustion in partially premixed combustion (PPC) under low load. Fuel-tracer planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), formaldehyde PLIF, flame and OH* natural luminosity imaging were utilized to qualify the local equivalence ratio, low-temperature reaction and the high-temperature flame features in an optical engine. Results show that

Background: Overweight and obesity have increased considerably in low- and middle-income countries over the past few decades, particularly among women of reproductive age. This study assessed the role of physical activity, nutrient intake and risk factors for overweight and obesity among women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 1004 women aged 15–49 ye

BACKGROUND: The widespread use of intramedullary nails (IMNs) compared with sliding hip screws (SHSs) in extracapsular hip fractures (AO/OTA 31-A1, 31-A2, 31-A3) has been questioned because of a higher complication rate, although the outcome might have improved through more recent implant designs and the learning curve. This study aimed to investigate if there is a difference with regard to the cu

The use of conventional fertilizers is associated with pollution due to leaching and a mismatch between release rates and crop requirements for optimal development. Slow-release fertilizers could address both problems. Here, the synthesis and properties of a zinc fertilizer composed of cellulose microbeads loaded with aqueous ZnSO4 are reported for the first time. UV-vis spectrophotometry showed t

Background: Acute mesenteric ischaemia (AMI) is a life-threatening disease where early diagnosis is critical to avoid morbidity and mortality from extensive irreversible bowel necrosis. Appropriate prediction of presence of bowel necrosis is currently not available but would help to choose the optimal method of treatment. The study aims to identify combinations of biomarkers that can reliably iden

Authors: Ida Lingegård and Gabriel Skarrie. Title: “Third sector as actors of integration” - A qualitative study about swedish- somalian organizations’ work with integration. Supervisor: Lotti Ryberg Welander. The purpose of this study was to see how swedish-somalian organizations in Skåne define and work with integration. We’ve done four qualitative interviews with people working for different sw

Neoliberalism, as a loosely defined set of political beliefs, calls for more individual freedom and autonomy, resulting in increased responsibility for each person to address major societal issues. ‘Individualization’ is the process by which responsibility for addressing major environmental issues such as climate change is placed on individuals. In this thesis I investigate whether individualizati

A dosimetry system based on radioluminescence (RL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) from carbon doped aluminium oxide (Al2O3:C) crystals was developed for in vivo absorbed dose measurements in mammography. A small cylindrical crystal of Al2O3:C (diameter 0.48 mm and length 2 mm) was coupled to the end of a 1 mm diameter optical fibre cable. Owing to their small size and characteristic s

Quantitative RT-PCR (QRT-PCR) enables the sensitive and specific detection of mRNA with a small copy number. We used the QRT-PCR method and dual-label analysis of amplification products for the detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) mRNA. The QRT-PCR assay employed a PSA-like internal standard (IS) mRNA, which was used to quantify the PSA mRNA copies and to control the variations during the

Thylakoids from the green alga, Dunaliella salina, were fragmented by sonication and the appressed grasna membranes separated from stroma lamellae by partitioning in aqueous two-phase systems. The concentration and antenna size of Photosystem I in the two membrane domains were determined for cultures grown at three different light intensities. Although the antenna size of both PS is decreased with

The aim of this study was to examine whether small biopsy specimens are representative of the whole human skeletal muscle or whether the different fibre types are unevenly distributed at different depths of the muscle. Ten micrometre thick cross-sections of whole human tibialis anterior were prepared using LKB PMV Cryo-Microtomes with a stroke length of 160 to 480 mm and the sections were stained

BACKGROUND: A synthetic oxytocin analogue, barusiban, was shown to potently inhibit oxytocin-induced activity of myometrium from term pregnant women. The responsiveness to vasopressin was not influenced by the compound. OBJECTIVE: To test the effect of barusiban and a reference compound, atosiban, on oxytocin-induced activity of myometrium from women at preterm pregnancy in comparison to myometriu

This thesis presents a study on performance analysis and optimal design of heat exchangers and heat exchanger networks. The study includes an experimental investigation of steam condensation in plate heat exchangers, optimal design of plate heat exchangers and plate-fin heat exchangers, and optimization of heat exchanger networks. In the experimental investigation of steam condensation in plate h

In northern Patagonia, macrolichens form species-rich and abundant epiphytic communities in southern beech forests. Five of the most abundant lichen species in the litter were selected in order to study mass loss rate and changes in mineral composition over time. The litter bag method was applied to the foliose lichens Pseudocyphellaria faveolata, Pseudocyphellaria flavicans, Nephroma antarcticum,

The aim of this study was to demonstrate electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) as a powerful tool in determining diffusion coefficients and partition coefficients for proteins in gels. ESPI employs a CCD camera instead of a holographic plate as in conventional holographic interferometry. This gives the advantage of being able to choose the reference state freely. If a hologram at the,re