Rock grouting is performed to decrease the hydraulic conductivity around underground structures, such as tunnels and caverns. Cement grouts are often used and pumped into joint and fractures of the rock formation. Piston type pumps are mostly used for high pressure rock grouting. A pulsation effect is inevitable when using this type of pump due to the movement of the piston. The effect of this pulsation on rock grouting is yet to be known but believed to be benefi-cial for the penetration of the grout. Current flow meters used in the field are not accu-rate enough to determine the fluctuation of the flow rate when it is less than 1 l/min. In addition, currently available flow meters measure the average of the flow over a cer-tain period of time, hence the true fluctuation of the flow rate due to the pulsation of the piston remains unknown. In this paper, a new methodology, the so called ‘Ultrasound Velocity Profiling – Pressure Difference’ (UVP+PD) method has been introduced to show the pulsation effect when using a piston type pump. The feasibility of this method was successfully investigated for the direct in-line determination of the rheological properties of micro cement based grouts under field conditions (Rahman &amp; Håkansson, 2011). Subse-quently, it was also found that this method can be very efficient to measure the fluctu-ation of the flow rate for different types of pumps. From a grouting point of view the UVP+PD method can be used to synchronize the pressure and flow of a piston type pump by measuring the pulsation effect. Conse-quently it can be used as a tool for the efficiency and quality control of different types of pumps. / <p>QC 20121221</p>

A year-long study was conducted in Pinal County, Arizona to characterize fine and coarse particulate matter as a means of furthering our understanding of ambient concentrations and composition in rural, arid environments. Detailed measurement of ambient fine and coarse mass, ion, metal, and carbon concentrations at one-in-six day resolution was conducted at three sites from February 2009 to February 2010. Detailed organic carbon speciation was collected at 5-week resolution. A series of samples representing native soil, agricultural soil, road dust, and cattle feed lot material was collected, resuspended in the laboratory, and analyzed to provide a chemical source profile for each soil type yielding insights into unique source signatures. Observations within the chemical speciation data and subsequent modeling analysis show a strong impact from local sources at the Cowtown site where mass concentrations are highest. Source apportionment results confirm the significant impact from the cattle feedlot adjacent to the site. Chemical analysis of ambient particles and local feedlot material shows the presence of chemical marker species including phosphate which is unique to this source. Fugitive dust is a significant contributor to ambient particulate matter concentrations at all monitoring locations. Seasonal observations show higher concentrations during tilling and harvesting indicating the large role agricultural sources play on particle concentrations in this area. Chemical characterization and modeling show that re-entrained road dust is a significant factor. Fine particle modeling results indicate that concentrations are influenced significantly by motor vehicles including impacts from direct emissions including brake wear and indirect emissions including resuspended road dust. A significant fraction is also associated with crustal sources while about 5 g/m3 appears to be transported into the region from beyond the air shed. Detailed analysis of the local monsoon season indicates that monsoon rains serve to clean the atmosphere resulting in a marked decrease in ambient coarse mass and resulted in a period where local coarse PM concentrations measured at all sites became more uniform. The monsoon season also featured localized high wind events which severely increased coarse PM concentrations and often caused exceedences of the PM National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

A year-long study was conducted in Pinal County, Arizona to characterize fine and coarse particulate matter as a means of furthering our understanding of ambient concentrations and composition in rural, arid environments. Detailed measurement of ambient fine and coarse mass, ion, metal, and carbon concentrations at one-in-six day resolution was conducted at three sites from February 2009 to February 2010. Detailed organic carbon speciation was collected at 5-week resolution. A series of samples representing native soil, agricultural soil, road dust, and cattle feed lot material was collected, resuspended in the laboratory, and analyzed to provide a chemical source profile for each soil type yielding insights into unique source signatures. Observations within the chemical speciation data and subsequent modeling analysis show a strong impact from local sources at the Cowtown site where mass concentrations are highest. Source apportionment results confirm the significant impact from the cattle feedlot adjacent to the site. Chemical analysis of ambient particles and local feedlot material shows the presence of chemical marker species including phosphate which is unique to this source. Fugitive dust is a significant contributor to ambient particulate matter concentrations at all monitoring locations. Seasonal observations show higher concentrations during tilling and harvesting indicating the large role agricultural sources play on particle concentrations in this area. Chemical characterization and modeling show that re-entrained road dust is a significant factor. Fine particle modeling results indicate that concentrations are influenced significantly by motor vehicles including impacts from direct emissions including brake wear and indirect emissions including resuspended road dust. A significant fraction is also associated with crustal sources while about 5 g/m3 appears to be transported into the region from beyond the air shed. Detailed analysis of the local monsoon season indicates that monsoon rains serve to clean the atmosphere resulting in a marked decrease in ambient coarse mass and resulted in a period where local coarse PM concentrations measured at all sites became more uniform. The monsoon season also featured localized high wind events which severely increased coarse PM concentrations and often caused exceedences of the PM National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

No description available.

The primary objective of this research was to investigate the feasibility of calibrating ultrasound scanners to measure surface impedance from reflection data. The method proposed uses calibration curves from known impedance interfaces. This plot, or calibration curve, may then be used, with interpolation, to relate measured grey level to impedance for the characterization of tissue specimens with unknown properties. This approach can be used independent of different medical ultrasound scanner systems to solve for reproducible tissue impedance values without offline data processing and complicated custom electronics. <p>Two medical ultrasound machines from different manufacturers were used in the experiment; a 30 MHz and a 7.5 MHz machine. The calibration curves for each machine were produced by imaging the interfaces of a vegetable oil floating over varying salt solutions. <p>To test the method, porcine liver, kidney, and spleen acoustical impedances were determined by relating measured grey levels to reflection coefficients using calibration curves and then inverting the reflection coefficients to obtain impedance values. The 30 MHz ultrasound machines calculated tissue impedances for liver, kidney, and spleen were 1.476 ± 0.020, 1.486 ± 0.020, 1.471 ± 0.020 MRayles respectively. The 7.5 MHz machines tissue impedances were 1.467 ± 0.088, 1.507 ± 0.088, and 1.457 ± 0.088 MRayles respectively for liver, kidney and spleen. The differences between the two machines are 0.61%, 1.41%, and 0.95% for the impedance of liver, kidney, and spleen tissue, respectively. If the grey level is solely used to characterize the tissue, then the differences are 45.9%, 40.3%, and 39.1% for liver, kidney, and spleen between the two machines. The results support the hypothesis that tissue impedance can be determined using calibration curves and be consistent between multiple machines.

This research presents a system for mechanically characterizing single cells using automated micropipette aspiration. Using vision-based control and position control, the system controls a micromanipulator, a motorized translation stage, and a custom-built pressure system to position a micropipette (4 $\mu$m opening) to approach a cell, form a seal, and aspirate the cell into the micropipette for quantifying the cell's elastic and viscoelastic parameters as well as viscosity. Image processing algorithms were developed to provide controllers with real-time visual feedback and to accurately measure cell deformation behavior on the fly. Experiments on both solid-like and liquid-like cells demonstrated that the system is capable of efficiently performing single-cell micropipette aspiration and has low operator skill requirements. Once the system was validated, it was used to study voided urine cells. In this study, the mechanical properties of bladder carcinoma cells were investigated.

This research presents a system for mechanically characterizing single cells using automated micropipette aspiration. Using vision-based control and position control, the system controls a micromanipulator, a motorized translation stage, and a custom-built pressure system to position a micropipette (4 $\mu$m opening) to approach a cell, form a seal, and aspirate the cell into the micropipette for quantifying the cell's elastic and viscoelastic parameters as well as viscosity. Image processing algorithms were developed to provide controllers with real-time visual feedback and to accurately measure cell deformation behavior on the fly. Experiments on both solid-like and liquid-like cells demonstrated that the system is capable of efficiently performing single-cell micropipette aspiration and has low operator skill requirements. Once the system was validated, it was used to study voided urine cells. In this study, the mechanical properties of bladder carcinoma cells were investigated.

Plants activate an array of defense mechanisms upon pathogen attack. Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is an induced disease resistance phenomenon deployed after infection by a necrogenic pathogen and is dependent on endogenous accumulation of salicylic acid. The objectives of my research were to characterize SAR in the crop plant, <i>Brassica napus</i> (canola), and study the effects of overexpressing genes involved in SAR on disease resistance. Biological induction of SAR using necrogenic Pseudomonas syringae and chemical induction using benzo (1,2,3) thiadiazole-7-carbothionic acid reduced growth of the bacterial pathogen P. syringae and the fungal pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans. This growth reduction was associated with an increase in transcript levels of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes, one of the characteristic features of SAR. Transgenic plants expressing a bacterial salicylate hydroxylase gene (NahG), were more susceptible to the above pathogens and were delayed in accumulating PR gene transcripts, indicating a need for SA accumulation for SAR in B. napus. Expression of two SAR genes from Arabidopsis, DEFECTIVE IN INDUCED RESISTANCE 1 (DIR1) and NON EXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED 1 (NPR1), in <i>B. napus</i> enhanced resistance against virulent P. syringae without SAR pre-treatments. Putative orthologs of DIR1 and NPR1 (BnDIR1 and BnNPR1) were isolated from B. napus based on EST sequences. BnDIR1 and BnNPR1 display 71% and 66% amino acid sequence similarities, respectively, to the corresponding Arabidopsis proteins. Expression of BnNPR1 in Arabidopsis npr1 mutant backgrounds indicated that it was able to functionally complement these mutations. Expression of BnDIR1 enhanced disease resistance in both Arabidopsis wild-type and dir1-1 mutant backgrounds. Expression of DIR1, NPR1, BnDIR1 and BnNPR1, separately, in <i>B. napus</i> plants enhanced resistance against P. syringae. SAR pre-treatments further enhanced resistance of transgenic <i>B. napus</i> plants expressing DIR1 and BnDIR1 to <i>P. syringae</i>, indicating an additive effect. Expression of DIR1 in B. napus did not provide resistance against <i>L. maculans</i>. These results provide the first in-depth molecular characterization of SAR in B. napus, and in particular, provide new insight into DIR1 function not previously reported in Arabidopsis.

Fluidized bed dryers (FBDs) are used in the pharmaceutical industry to remove excess moisture from granule prior to tablet formation. As granule moisture content is reduced from its initial to final state, the velocity required to fully fluidize the granule decreases and the bed voidage decreases. The change in these fluidization properties are attributed to the decrease in the interparticle force load created by a reduction in liquid bridging as moisture is removed. During constant velocity drying, these fluidization properties result in a bubbling fluidization state, which evolves into a bubble coalescing regime as drying proceeds. This behaviour was identifiable using pressure fluctuation time-series analysis techniques.<p> Distributor design studies using dry and wet granule in a conical fluidized bed suggest that the punched plate design limits bubble coalescence when compared to the perforated plate and Dutch weave mesh designs. Furthermore, the Dutch weave results in extensive segregation, which is undesirable from a fluidization perspective. Local drying hydrodynamic measurements using x-ray densitometry found that the punched and perforated plates generate a centralized bubbling core region during drying with a defluidized bed periphery. This fluidized core region grows as drying proceeds until the defluidized region disappears. Under the same operating conditions, a porous plate distributor creates extensive channelling and defluidization across the entire bed cross-section during the constant rate period of drying. These poor fluidization characteristics are a result of the porous plate introducing the gas into the bed as a fine dispersion.<p> Lastly, the hydrodynamics associated with the conical vessel geometry improves the circulation and mixing patterns in fluidized bed dryers. This is especially the case in the entry region of the conical bed where the high inlet gas velocity prevents defluidization around the periphery of the bed. The straight walled geometry of the cylindrical bed resulted in defluidization in this area. As a result, the hydrodynamics associated with bubbling differ significantly between the geometries over the course of drying.

Several catastrophic failures have occurred during the past two decades, both in engineered as well as non-engineered landfills. In addition, there are numerous instances of significant deformations, although not failure in the sense of significant and rapid downslope mass movement, which may cause sufficient damage to buried gas and leachate collection infrastructure. One such instance was observed in 1999 near the toe of a 75 m high 4H:1V slope at the Brock West Landfill in Ontario, Canada. Significant distortion of gas collection laterals was observed at this site. The present research is an in-depth study intended to examine deformation in landfills based on a detailed study of the mechanical properties of municipal solid waste. Four research objectives were defined based on identified shortcomings and knowledge gaps in the existing literature pertaining to mechanical properties of MSW viz; (a) to develop a method for obtaining intact samples of MSW and to examine the significance of using intact and recompacted samples in characterizing the stress-deformation behaviour of MSW; (b) to characterize MSW shear strength and Youngs modulus of elasticity from interpretation of triaxial test results and to determine the parameters of a non-linear elastic constitutive model as applied to MSW; (c) to measure the evolution of compressibility behaviour of MSW with degradation and verify the mechanism of secondary compression in waste; (d) to develop a simple design chart for predicting lateral deformations in landfills. A comprehensive research program was carried out to address various research objectives - field monitoring of deformations at the Brock West site; triaxial compression tests on large intact and recompacted samples of waste; simulating waste degradation in a large laboratory compression cell; analyzing stress-strain data from various published studies and a numerical modelling study. Interpretation of the effective stress paths followed during shearing in triaxial compression tests suggested that while recompacted samples may be sufficient to characterize shear strength parameters for use in stability analysis of landfill slopes, there might be a benefit in obtaining intact samples to evaluate the deformation characteristics of MSW. A hyperbolic model is proposed to describe the stress-deformation response of waste. The required parameters for this model were determined from evaluation of the results of numerous triaxial tests, both from this study and from the published literature. Observations from the long-term degradation test suggested that degradation has a significant effect on the compressibility of waste and further verifies the mechanism of secondary compression in waste. The coefficient of at-rest lateral pressure was observed to maintain an essentially constant value during combined compression and degradation.<p>The results obtained from the experimental work were combined with the findings of a stochastic numerical modelling study and a statistical evaluation of published data and used to propose a simple design chart for estimating the maximum lateral displacement in a landfill slope. The design chart was developed using results of a finite element parametric study in which the behaviour of the municipal solid waste was modeled using a non-linear elastic hyperbolic model. The design chart incorporates nonlinear variation in unit weight as well as Youngs modulus with depth. The predictions from the design chart were compared with the results of field monitoring of lateral displacement in the instrumented slope at the Brock West landfill and were found to be in good agreement.