bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Utilization of Ground Improvement for a Variety of Cost Effective Remediation and New Construction Topics for the Rail Industry
Authors: Hill Jeffrey R. , Voor Bernard , Kerr Michael L. , Pengelly Arthur D. 
Published: November 2013

The authors of the paper represent two firms that have completed hundreds of challenging subgrade and foundation projects for the rail industry. The intent of this paper is to educate the railroad business in general about alternative approaches to common geotechnical problems facing the railroad industry.
Projects have been completed across the country in nearly all geological conditions, on all of the Class I carriers, Shortlines and Mass Transit systems. Successful remediation projects associated with challenging subsurface conditions across the United States, Canada and Mexico are covered. Case histories include jet grouting for low headroom earth retention and tunnel support, stone columns for embankment support, micropiles for low headroom bridge replacement, micropiles and soil nails for earth retention, compaction, and urethane grouting for settlement of existing structures. Projects discussed include background information such as project layout, drawings and test results. Each project is completed and has a positive track record, indicating success. Projects have been specially selected to demonstrate the ability of specialty foundation solutions applicable throughout North America. Each topic provides technically sound approaches to age-old Rail road subsurface challenges. Many of these topics are not addressed in the AREMA manual; however, one of the authors, is currently addressing these topics through a proposed section of AREMA chapter 8.
Railway Project Integration Engineering: New Methodology
Authors: Donohue Brian P. 
Published: November 2013

In November, 2005 before an assembly of rail transit managers and engineers, keynote speaker Tom Prendergast — then Vice President, Parsons Brinckerhoff T&RS — declared that the next frontier of railway engineering would be not in the “Big Four” engineering disciplines of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical or even Computer Engineering, but in “Integration Engineering.” Years have passed and while Tom’s words have not yet been fully realized by the transit industry, change is happening.
Today, railway construction projects that have had major construction issues include the now beleaguered Edinburgh, Scotland “Edinburgh Tram” and the recently opened Hampton Roads Transit “Tide” Light Rail. Both projects have suffered from major cost overruns, work stoppages and legal entanglements, much of which can be attributed to a lack of scope clarity, especially utility identification & interfaces, and utility relocations. The lack of coordination for both projects can be traced back to the preliminary engineering level and continued, unchecked through final design and into construction where the lack of coordination and planning was realized too late. [1,2]
Given the complexities of modern railway systems and the well-developed urban and suburban infrastructure where they are typically built, proper integration engineering is essential from the earliest phases of a project and should be carried through to the start of revenue operations and maintenance. There are however, examples of recently completed railway projects that have addressed project integration engineering successfully, finishing ahead of schedule, ahead of budget, or both.
This paper is a continuation in a short series of presentations and papers that will address Railway Project Integration Engineering as a topic and recommend the integration tasks deemed critical to a successful project. The primary subject matter will be the Denver Eagle P3 — the first rail transit Public Private Partnership (P3) in the United States that has recently completed final design and is currently under construction. The materials and techniques to be presented are relatively new, and have already been used successfully in Europe. Should they prove successful with the Eagle P3, this could lower both cost and risk for future North American rail projects.
This first paper will discuss the topic, review modeling techniques that were used to define the project integration process, and will capture the results of final design integration with both successes and difficulties. This paper will also cover the early stages of the Eagle P3 project construction, tie into the model, and attempt to project likely results when construction concludes and testing begins with the ultimate goal of meeting an ambitious schedule and budget when operations commence in January, 2016.
Innovative Concepts of Conversion and High Efficiency Using MARTIN Technology
Authors: Koralewska Ralf 
Published: November 2013

Thermal treatment of waste using grate-based systems has gained world-wide acceptance as the preferred method for sustainable management of residual waste. However, in order to maintain this position and respond to new challenges and/or priorities, it is necessary to further develop innovative concepts that use safe process engineering technology in terms of climate and resource protection as well as reduction of environmental impacts. MARTIN, in collaboration with research institutes, successfully developed and optimized a multi-stage combustion process in the 1990s. Various pilot and full-scale studies and tests followed. Based on this knowledge, MARTIN and its cooperation partners COVANTA ENERGY (USA), CNIM (F) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (JP) developed the Very Low NOx (VLN) process as a large-scale primary measure for NOx reduction. MARTIN’s next step was to develop the Very Low NOx gasification mode (VLN-GM) process. This process has been implemented directly in continuous operation at an industrial-scale Energy-from-Waste (EfW) plant in Switzerland. In VLN-GM operation, the excess air rate in the gas above the grate is decreased from λ = 1.2 to about 0.8.
The characteristics of municipal solid waste make it suitable for the generation of heat and power. While boiler concepts implemented in the past often focused on factors such as high availability, reduced downtimes and minimized maintenance costs, measures to increase the efficiency of the overall process are also growing in importance. Energy efficiency can be increased by optimizing boiler efficiency itself on the one hand, and on the other hand by improving peripheral plant devices, in particular by improving energy recovery through changes in the steam parameters.
MARTIN has developed corrosion-protected wall and radiant superheater solutions, located in the upper furnace area, and installed these as prototypes in full-scale plants. As a result, steam can be heated about 35 °C (90 °F) in excess of the current state-of-the-art parameters without adversely affecting plant operation due to superheater corrosion.
This paper documents that innovative concepts using MARTIN technology successfully provide solutions for a grate-based conversion technology (VLN-GM) as well as measures for increasing the energy efficiency of Energy-from-Waste plants.
Managing Food Waste With Anaerobic Digesters: Is This a Greener Technology Than Conventional WTE
Authors: LoRe Anthony M. , Hurdle Robert L. 
Published: November 2013

Recent attention in the North American market has focused on managing food waste biologically using anaerobic digestion (AD) technology, which produces a biogas that can be used to generate electricity and a digestate or residue that can be used as a fertilizer, or composted and used as a soil amendment. The increased focus on AD is driven by the desire to increase waste diversion rates and a perception that AD is a “greener” approach to managing food waste than landfilling or conventional waste-to-energy (WTE) technology. Policy makers in some cases have already concluded that AD of source separated organics is preferable to landfilling and WTE. While the environmental benefits of AD over landfilling are obvious, especially for landfill sites without active gas collection systems, the benefits are less clear when compared to conventional WTE technology since relatively little analysis has been performed to date.
Two environmental considerations often associated with being a “green technology” are energy recovery potential and greenhouse gas generation. This paper examines the amount of energy that can be produced by treating food waste biologically using AD compared to treating the same material thermally using mass burn WTE, which is the most commonly used WTE technology. The impact on net greenhouse gas emissions, namely carbon dioxide generation, from each technology is also compared taking into account a variety of factors including differences in the percentage of the feedstock carbon converted to carbon dioxide, the amount of fossil fuel avoided as a result of power generation, and the amount of vehicle emissions associated with collection and transportation of source separated food waste. This paper also compares other important considerations such as capital and operating costs, residuals management, and odor control.
Innovative New Air Pollution Control Technologies to Capture NOx, PM and Hg
Authors: Ebert Johannes 
Published: November 2013

Emission regulations throughout the world continue to tighten, creating technical and economic challenges for various industries. The U.S. has proposed strict emissions limits that include mercury (Hg), particulate matter (PM) and a growing focus on NOx, while Europe is focusing more aggressively on reducing Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and PM emissions first. Innovative new technologies are being developed and introduced to meet proposed emissions levels for industries such as waste to energy facilities, Cement clinker producers and Sintering processes.
Catalytically active ceramic or textile filter media have been applied over the past 15 years ensuring a simultaneous removal of PM, NOx and PCDD/F-compounds. A new textile filter type containing 2 filter bags (bag-over-bag) has recently been designed for such a multi-functional approach at elevated filter temperatures (T>170°C) where PMs are filtered on an ePTFE membrane (1st layer) and NOx is reduced by a catalytic reaction (2nd layer) with NH3 injected upstream. The separate bag construction enables the removal of the catalytic inner bag once it has been deactivated by ammonium-(bi)-sulphates. An appropriate regeneration process outside the bagfilter was developed for such new DeNOx system.
The implementation of this 2-layer filter bag concept into existing Air Pollution Control (APC) systems and the catalyst management has been demonstrated on full-scale at the waste to energy facility of Acegas APS Padova (Italy). Emissions of NOx (as NO2) < 70mg/Nm3 with NH3<3mg/Nm3 with PM<0,5mg/Nm3 can be constantly achieved.
The implementation of this filter bag system achieves highest energy efficiency, lowest costs for consumables when it is applied in dry sorption filters at elevated temperatures.
In U.S., the strong demand for lowest Hg emission promotes innovative solutions for efficient and reliable Hg removal. Hg can be efficiently captured in a new fixed sorbent bed technology which is installed downstream the baghouse.
This paper presents the innovative concepts for multi-functional filter as well as for Hg removal, showing also field data of both new technologies.
The Effect of SO2:HCl in Mixed Gas and Deposit Corrosion of Waste-to-Energy Boilers
Authors: Sharobem Timothy T. , Castaldi Marco J. 
Published: November 2013

High temperature corrosion via chlorine is a key factor in the degradation of boiler tubes in waste-to-energy (WTE) plants. Corrosion rates are particularly high in the superheater where material temperatures may exceed 450°C and where carbon or low alloy steels may be used. Although increasing sulfur, in the form of SO2, in WTE flue gas has been shown in previous works to have potential for decreasing the corrosion of these materials, the inhibitive effect is not well understood.
This work investigated the corrosion of SA178A, a low carbon steel alloy (0.07 wt% C), and NSSER-4, a stainless steel (17.3Cr-13.1Ni-2.5 Si-Fe), via exposure under various well-defined environments, SO2:HCl ratios between 1:8 to 2:1 (HCl fixed at 800 ppm), 8% O2, 12% CO2, 0 and 15% H2O, N2 (balance) at 500°C in a horizontal tube furnace for 50 hours. Additional coupon testing was performed on NSSER-4 after application of 4 mg/cm2 ± 10% NaCl or Na2SO4 at 500 and 700°C for 24 hours to assess the impact of higher SO2 in the against both deposit and gaseous corrosion. Specimen preparation and corrosion assessment followed ASTM method G1-03.
Experiments demonstrated little to no trends in corrosion rates at SO2:HCl ratios between 1:8–2:1 under mixed gas environment. However corrosion reduction was observed when SO2:HCl was increased from a reference condition of 1:8 to greater than 1.4:1 in tests with NaCl present, which was also not observed under dry conditions. These results suggest that one possible explanation for the reduction of boiler materials corrosion rate with higher concentrations of SO2 may be largely attributed to the conversion of metal chlorides to sulfates.
Selective Development of Anticorrelated Networks in the Intrinsic Functional Organization of the Human Brain
Authors: Chai Xiaoqian J. , Ofen Noa , Gabrieli John D. E. , Whitfield-Gabrieli Susan 
Published: November 2013

Abstract
We examined the normal development of intrinsic functional connectivity of the default network (brain regions typically deactivated for attention-demanding tasks) as measured by resting-state fMRI in children, adolescents, and young adults ages 8–24 years. We investigated both positive and negative correlations and employed analysis methods that allowed for valid interpretation of negative correlations and that also minimized the influence of motion artifacts that are often confounds in developmental neuroimaging. As age increased, there were robust developmental increases in negative correlations, including those between medial pFC (MPFC) and dorsolateral pFC (DLPFC) and between lateral parietal cortices and brain regions associated with the dorsal attention network. Between multiple regions, these correlations reversed from being positive in children to negative in adults. Age-related changes in positive correlations within the default network were below statistical threshold after controlling for motion. Given evidence in adults that greater negative correlation between MPFC and DLPFC is associated with superior cognitive performance, the development of an intrinsic anticorrelation between MPFC and DLPFC may be a marker of the large growth of working memory and executive functions that occurs from childhood to young adulthood.
Can the Delay in Antarctic Polar Vortex Breakup Explain Recent Trends in Surface Westerlies?
Authors: Sheshadri Aditi , Plumb R. Alan , Domeisen Daniela I. V. 
Published: November 2013

Abstract
The authors test the hypothesis that recent observed trends in surface westerlies in the Southern Hemisphere are directly consequent on observed trends in the timing of stratospheric final warming events. The analysis begins by verifying that final warming events have an impact on tropospheric circulation in a simplified GCM driven by specified equilibrium temperature distributions. Seasonal variations are imposed in the stratosphere only. The model produces qualitatively realistic final warming events whose influence extends down to the surface, much like what has been reported in observational analyses. The authors then go on to study observed trends in surface westerlies composited with respect to the date of final warming events. If the considered hypothesis were correct, these trends would appear to be much weaker when composited with respect to the date of the final warming events. The authors find that this is not the case, and accordingly they conclude that the observed surface changes cannot be attributed simply to this shift toward later final warming events.
Detection of colon polyps by a novel, polymer pattern-based full blood test
Authors: Franz Markus , Scholz Matthias , Henze Ilka , Röckl Stefan , Gomez Luis I 
Published: November 2013

Abstract
Numerous studies have shown that early screening for the presence of pre-cancerous colon polyps and their subsequent removal decreases the risk of developing colon cancer. Colonoscopy is currently the most effective screening method, but due to the invasive nature of the procedure many patients avoid forgo testing. Futhermore, the procedure itself requires perfect execution by the gastroenterologist. Against this backdrop, a non-invasive blood screening method for the detection of colon polyps that has higher sensitivity than current screening techniques would be beneficial in the early identification of patients at risk for colon cancer. A prospective, double-blinded, controlled clinical study was designed to demonstrate the diagnostic performance of Polyp Specific Polymer analysis, a novel laboratory methodology. The primary objective of this clinical trial was to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of the Polyp Specific Polymer analysis for colon polyps using colonoscopy and histological tests as the diagnostic accuracy standards. Secondary objectives of this trial included estimating positive and negative predictive values for colon polyps, investigating reliability, determining covariates influencing diagnostic accuracy and obtaining absolute and relative frequencies of valid test results.
In patients undergoing screening colonoscopy and histology examination, a sensitivity of 72.4% and a specificity of 62.3% could be proven.
These results indicate that using this improved screening method it is possible to effectively identify the highest-risk candidates for endoscopy, thereby advancing the goal of decreasing the incidence or mortality of colorectal cancer in the selected population. Moreover, this diagnostic tool has potential socio-economic implications, conserving healthcare resources by enabling higher patient selectivity for endoscopy and eventual transfer to curative prevention via polypectomy.
By combining the best-established low-risk screening elements together with a validated, highly sensitive blood test as described in this study, a steadfast increase in the estimation of colorectal cancer-risk before colonoscopy can be expected.
Wnt signaling blockage inhibits cell proliferation and migration, and induces apoptosis in triple-negative breast cancer cells
Authors: Bilir Birdal , Kucuk Omer , Moreno Carlos S 
Published: November 2013

AbstractBackgroundTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive clinical subtype of breast cancer that is characterized by the lack of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expression as well as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression. The TNBC subtype constitutes approximately 10%–20% of all breast cancers, but has no effective molecular targeted therapies. Previous meta-analysis of gene expression profiles of 587 TNBC cases from 21 studies demonstrated high expression of Wnt signaling pathway-associated genes in basal-like 2 and mesenchymal subtypes of TNBC. In this study, we investigated the potential of Wnt pathway inhibitors in effective treatment of TNBC.MethodsActivation of Wnt pathway was assessed in four TNBC cell lines (BT-549, MDA-MB-231, HCC-1143 and HCC-1937), and the ER+cell line MCF-7 using confocal microscopy and Western blot analysis of pathway components. Effectiveness of five different Wnt pathway inhibitors (iCRT-3, iCRT-5, iCRT-14, IWP-4 and XAV-939) on cell proliferation and apoptosis were testedin vitro. The inhibitory effects of iCRT-3 on canonical Wnt signaling in TNBC was evaluated by quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis of Axin2 and dual-luciferase reporter assays. The effects of shRNA knockdown of SOX4 in combination with iCRT-3 and/or genistein treatments on cell proliferation, migration and invasion on BT-549 cells were also evaluated.ResultsImmunofluorescence staining of β-catenin in TNBC cell lines showed both nuclear and cytoplasmic localization, indicating activation of Wnt pathway in TNBC cells. iCRT-3 was the most effective compound for inhibiting proliferation and antagonizing Wnt signaling in TNBC cells. In addition, treatment with iCRT-3 resulted in increased apoptosisin vitro. Knockdown of the Wnt pathway transcription factor, SOX4 in triple negative BT-549 cells resulted in decreased cell proliferation and migration, and combination treatment of iCRT-3 with SOX4 knockdown had a synergistic effect on inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis.ConclusionsThese data suggest that targeting SOX4 and/or the Wnt pathway could have therapeutic benefit for TNBC patients.
Physico-chemical and biological characterization of anopheline mosquito larval habitats (Diptera: Culicidae): implications for malaria control
Authors: Mereta Seid Tiku , Yewhalaw Delenasaw , Boets Pieter , Ahmed Abdulhakim , Duchateau Luc , Speybroeck Niko , Vanwambeke Sophie O , Legesse Worku , De Meester Luc , Goethals Peter LM 
Published: November 2013

Abstract

Background
A fundamental understanding of the spatial distribution and ecology of mosquito larvae is essential for effective vector control intervention strategies. In this study, data-driven decision tree models, generalized linear models and ordination analysis were used to identify the most important biotic and abiotic factors that affect the occurrence and abundance of mosquito larvae in Southwest Ethiopia.

Methods
In total, 220 samples were taken at 180 sampling locations during the years 2010 and 2012. Sampling sites were characterized based on physical, chemical and biological attributes. The predictive performance of decision tree models was evaluated based on correctly classified instances (CCI), Cohen’s kappa statistic (κ) and the determination coefficient (R2). A conditional analysis was performed on the regression tree models to test the relation between key environmental and biological parameters and the abundance of mosquito larvae.

Results
The decision tree model developed for anopheline larvae showed a good model performance (CCI = 84 ± 2%, and κ = 0.66 ± 0.04), indicating that the genus has clear habitat requirements. Anopheline mosquito larvae showed a widespread distribution and especially occurred in small human-made aquatic habitats. Water temperature, canopy cover, emergent vegetation cover, and presence of predators and competitors were found to be the main variables determining the abundance and distribution of anopheline larvae. In contrast, anopheline mosquito larvae were found to be less prominently present in permanent larval habitats. This could be attributed to the high abundance and diversity of natural predators and competitors suppressing the mosquito population densities.

Conclusions
The findings of this study suggest that targeting smaller human-made aquatic habitats could result in effective larval control of anopheline mosquitoes in the study area. Controlling the occurrence of mosquito larvae via drainage of permanent wetlands may not be a good management strategy as it negatively affects the occurrence and abundance of mosquito predators and competitors and promotes an increase in anopheline population densities.