Toxicity measurement techniques for building materials with wastes

The innovative Horizon 2020 program sponsored by the European Union (EU) aims to promote and develop processes of waste integration in construction materials. However, several potential health hazards caused by building materials have been identified and, there-fore, there is an ongoing need to develop new recycling methods for hazardous wastes and effi-cient barriers in order to prevent toxic releases from the new construction solutions with wastes. This paper presents an overview that focus on two main aspects: the identification of the health risks related to radioactivity and heavy metals present in building materials and identification of these toxic substances in new construction solutions that contain recycled wastes. Different waste materials were selected and distinct methodologies of toxicity evaluation are presented to analyse the potential hazardous, the feasibility of using those wastes and the achievement of op-timal construction solutions involving wastes.

Assessment of the efficiency of prefabricated hybrid composite plates (HCPs) for retrofitting of damaged interior RC beam–column joints

The effectiveness of prefabricated hybrid composite plates (HCPs) as a seismic retrofitting solution for damaged interior RC beam-column joints is experimentally studied. HCP is composed of a thin plate made of strain hardening cementitious composite (SHCC) reinforced with CFRP sheets/laminates. Two full-scale severely damaged interior beam-column joints are retrofitted using two different configurations of HCPs. The effectiveness of these retrofitting solutions mainly in terms of hysteretic response, dissipated energy, degradation of secant stiffness, displacement ductility and failure modes are compared to their virgin states. According to these criteria, both solutions resulted in superior responses regarding the ones registered in their virgin states.

Evaluation of foamed bitumen efficiency in warm asphalt mixtures recycling

The recycling of pavements is nowadays a very important question to the road paving industry. With the objective of incorporating higher percentages of reclaimed asphalt (RA) materials in recycled asphalt mixtures, new techniques have been developed in the last years. The use of foamed bitumen is normally associated with the production of cold asphalt mixtures, which usually show lower quality standards. However, the objective of the work presented in this paper is to assess the use of foamed bitumen as the binder of warm asphalt mixtures incorporating 30% RA, which have quality standards similar to those of conventional mixtures. Thus, five mixtures have been produced with 30% RA, one of them with a conventional bitumen (control mix) and the others with foamed bitumen at different production temperatures. The mixtures were tested for compactability and water sensitivity and the results show a possible reduction of 25 ºC in the production temperatures, while the water sensitivity test results were kept close to 90 %.

Jet energy measurement and its systematic uncertainty in proton-proton collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The jet energy scale (JES) and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector using proton–proton collision data with a centre-of-mass energy of s√=7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb −1 . Jets are reconstructed from energy deposits forming topological clusters of calorimeter cells using the anti- kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0.4 or R=0.6 , and are calibrated using MC simulations. A residual JES correction is applied to account for differences between data and MC simulations. This correction and its systematic uncertainty are estimated using a combination of in situ techniques exploiting the transverse momentum balance between a jet and a reference object such as a photon or a Z boson, for 20≤pjetT<1000 GeV and pseudorapidities |η|<4.5 . The effect of multiple proton–proton interactions is corrected for, and an uncertainty is evaluated using in situ techniques. The smallest JES uncertainty of less than 1 % is found in the central calorimeter region ( |η|<1.2 ) for jets with 55≤pjetT<500 GeV . For central jets at lower pT , the uncertainty is about 3 %. A consistent JES estimate is found using measurements of the calorimeter response of single hadrons in proton–proton collisions and test-beam data, which also provide the estimate for pjetT>1 TeV. The calibration of forward jets is derived from dijet pT balance measurements. The resulting uncertainty reaches its largest value of 6 % for low- pT jets at |η|=4.5 . Additional JES uncertainties due to specific event topologies, such as close-by jets or selections of event samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks or gluons, are also discussed. The magnitude of these uncertainties depends on the event sample used in a given physics analysis, but typically amounts to 0.5–3 %.

Measurement of the top pair production cross-section in 8 TeV proton-proton collisions using kinematic information in the lepton+jets final state with ATLAS

A measurement is presented of the tt¯ inclusive production cross section in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of s√=8  TeV using data collected by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement was performed in the lepton+jets final state using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3  fb−1. The cross section was obtained using a likelihood discriminant fit and b-jet identification was used to improve the signal-to-background ratio. The inclusive tt¯ production cross section was measured to be 260±1(stat)+22−23(stat)±8(lumi)±4(beam)  pb assuming a top-quark mass of 172.5 GeV, in good agreement with the theoretical prediction of 253+13−15  pb. The tt¯→(e,μ)+jets production cross section in the fiducial region determined by the detector acceptance is also reported.

Measurement of Spin Correlation in Top-Antitop Quark Events and Search for Top Squark Pair Production in pp Collisions at s√=8 TeV Using the ATLAS Detector

A measurement of spin correlation in tt¯ production is presented using data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−1. The correlation between the top and antitop quark spins is extracted from dilepton tt¯ events by using the difference in azimuthal angle between the two charged leptons in the laboratory frame. In the helicity basis the measured degree of correlation corresponds to Ahelicity=0.38±0.04, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. A search is performed for pair production of top squarks with masses close to the top quark mass decaying to predominantly right-handed top quarks and a light neutralino, the lightest supersymmetric particle. Top squarks with masses between the top quark mass and 191 GeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level.

Measurement of the transverse polarization of Λ and Λ ¯ hyperons produced in proton-proton collisions at s =7TeV using the ATLAS detector

The transverse polarization of Λ and Λ¯ hyperons produced in proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is measured. The analysis uses 760 μb−1 of minimum bias data collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in the year 2010. The measured transverse polarization averaged over Feynman xF from 5×10−5 to 0.01 and transverse momentum pT from 0.8 to 15 GeV is −0.010±0.005(stat)±0.004(syst) for Λ and 0.002±0.006(stat)±0.004(syst) for Λ¯. It is also measured as a function of xF and pT, but no significant dependence on these variables is observed. Prior to this measurement, the polarization was measured at fixed-target experiments with center-of-mass energies up to about 40 GeV. The ATLAS results are compatible with the extrapolation of a fit from previous measurements to the xF range covered by this mesurement.

Observation and measurement of Higgs boson decays to WW∗ with the ATLAS detector

We report the observation of Higgs boson decays to WW∗ based on an excess over background of 6.1 standard deviations in the dilepton final state, where the Standard Model expectation is 5.8 standard deviations. Evidence for the vector-boson fusion (VBF) production process is obtained with a significance of 3.2 standard deviations. The results are obtained from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 25 pb−1 from s√=7 and 8 TeV pp collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. For a Higgs boson mass of 125.36 GeV, the ratio of the measured value to the expected value of the total production cross section times branching fraction is 1.09+0.16−0.15 (stat.)+0.17−0.14 (syst.). The corresponding ratios for the gluon fusion and vector-boson fusion production mechanisms are 1.02±0.19 (stat.)+0.22−0.18 (syst.) and 1.27+0.44−0.40 (stat.)+0.30−0.21 (syst.), respectively. At s√=8 TeV, the total production cross sections are measured to be σ(gg→ H→WW∗)=4.6±0.9(stat.)+0.8−0.7(syst.)pb and σ(VBF H→WW∗)=0.51+0.17−0.15(stat.)+0.13−0.08(syst.)pb. The fiducial cross section is determined for the gluon-fusion process in exclusive final states with zero or one associated jet.

Observation of top-quark pair production in association with a photon and measurement of the t t ¯ γ production cross section in pp collisions at s =7 TeV using the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for top-quark pairs (tt¯) produced together with a photon (γ) with transverse momentum >20 GeV using a sample of tt¯ candidate events in final states with jets, missing transverse momentum, and one isolated electron or muon. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.59 fb−1 of proton--proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. In total 140 and 222 tt¯γ candidate events are observed in the electron and muon channels, to be compared to the expectation of 79±26 and 120±39 non-tt¯γ background events respectively. The production of tt¯γ events is observed with a significance of 5.3 standard deviations away from the null hypothesis. The tt¯γ production cross section times the branching ratio (BR) of the single-lepton decay channel is measured in a fiducial kinematic region within the ATLAS acceptance. The measured value is σfidtt¯γ=63±8(stat.)+17−13(syst.)±1(lumi.) fb per lepton flavor, in good agreement with the leading-order theoretical calculation normalized to the next-to-leading-order theoretical prediction of 48±10 fb.

The importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in methodologies for eco‐efficiency in school buildings

This document reports the importance of the category of consciousness and education for sustainability in the school environment. Education in school has a potential to make the benefits of the building construction visible for society and media, showing to the students, parents and communities how sustainability in built environment could improve the people life in economic, social and environment aspects. Thus, this paper addresses the main events related to sustainability, such as the Stockholm Conference, the Brundtland report, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and Agenda 21, until reaching the necessity of the elaboration of Methodologies for environmental assessment of building, and later, the development of the specific methodologies according to the buildings. It is also described some examples of sustainability in schools in Germany, Finland and Italy and what kind of sustainable systems those countries are currently using.

Ergosterol as a rapid measurement of Ganoderma rot of oil palm

Palm oil (PO) is a very important commodity for many countries and especially Indonesia and Malaysia who are the predominant producers. PO is used in ca. 30% of supermarket foods, cosmetics, cooking and as biodiesel. The growth of oil palms in plantations is controversial as the production methods contribute to climate change and cause environmental damage [1]. The plant is subjected to a devastating disease in these two countries caused by the white rot fungus Ganoderma. There are no satisfactory methods to diagnose the disease in the plant as they are too slow and/or inaccurate. The lipid compound ergosterol is unique to fungi and is used to measure growth especially in solid substrates. We report here on the use of ergosterol to measure the growth of Ganoderma in oil palms using HPLC and TLC methods [2]. The method is rapid and correlates well with other methods and is capable of being used on-site, hence improving the speed of analysis and allowing remedial action. Climate change will affect the health of OP [1] and rapid detection methods will be increasingly required to control the disease. [1] Paterson, RRM, Kumar, L, Taylor, S, Lima N. Future climate effects on suitability for growth of oil palms in Malaysia and Indonesia. Scientific Reports, 5, 2015, 14457. [2] Muniroh, MS, Sariah M, Zainal Abidin, MA, Lima, N, Paterson, RRM. Rapid detection of Ganoderma-infected oil palms by microwave ergosterol extraction with HPLC and TLC. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 100, 2014, 143–147.

Measurement of charged-particle spectra in Pb+Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Charged-particle spectra obtained in 0.15nb−1 of Pb+Pb interactions at sNN−−−√=2.76TeV and 4.2pb−1 of pp interactions at s√=2.76TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are presented in a wide transverse momentum (0.5

Measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry of electron and muon pair-production in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements from the ATLAS experiment of the forward-backward asymmetry in the reaction pp→Z/γ∗→l+l−, with l being electrons or muons, and the extraction of the effective weak mixing angle. The results are based on the full set of data collected in 2011 in pp collisions at the LHC at s√ = 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 fb−1. The measured asymmetry values are found to be in agreement with the corresponding Standard Model predictions. The combination of the muon and electron channels yields a value of the effective weak mixing angle of 0.2308±0.0005(stat.)±0.0006(syst.)±0.0009(PDF), where the first uncertainty corresponds to data statistics, the second to systematic effects and the third to knowledge of the parton density functions. This result agrees with the current world average from the Particle Data Group fit.

Measurement of exclusive γγ→ℓ+ℓ− production in proton--proton collisions at s√=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This Letter reports a measurement of the exclusive γγ→ℓ+ℓ−(ℓ=e,μ) cross-section in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, based on an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb−1. For the electron or muon pairs satisfying exclusive selection criteria, a fit to the dilepton acoplanarity distribution is used to extract the fiducial cross-sections. The cross-section in the electron channel is determined to be σexcl.γγ→e+e−=0.428±0.035(stat.)±0.018(syst.) pb for a phase-space region with invariant mass of the electron pairs greater than 24 GeV, in which both electrons have transverse momentum pT>12 GeV and pseudorapidity |η|<2.4. For muon pairs with invariant mass greater than 20 GeV, muon transverse momentum pT>10 GeV and pseudorapidity |η|<2.4, the cross-section is determined to be σexcl.γγ→μ+μ−=0.628±0.032(stat.)±0.021(syst.) pb. When proton absorptive effects due to the finite size of the proton are taken into account in the theory calculation, the measured cross-sections are found to be consistent with the theory prediction.