Water treatment with metallic iron (Fe) is still based on the premise that Fe is a reducing agent. An alternative concept stipulates that contaminants are removed by adsorption, co-precipitation and size-exclusion in a reactive filtration process. This article underlines the universal validity of the alternative concept. It is shown that admixing non-expansive material to Fe as a pre-requisite ...

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy can result from degenerative cervical spondylosis, herniated disk material, osteophytes, redundant ligamentum flavum, or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. Surgical intervention for multi-level myelopathy aims to decompress the spinal cord and maintain stability of the cervical spine. Laminoplasty was major surgical advancement as laminectomy re...

Cultural-historical activity theory is a new framework aimed at transcending the dichotomies of micro- and macro-, mental and material, observation and intervention in analysis and redesign of work. The approach distinguishes between short-lived goal-directed actions and durable, object-oriented activity systems. A historically evolving collective activity system, seen in its network relations ...

Engineering problems shunned previously rise to the surface gradually with the activities of reforming the natural world in depth, the problem of expansive soil crack under the changing environment becoming a control factor of expansive soil slope stability. The problem of expansive soil crack has gradually become a research hotspot, elaborates the occurrence and development of cracks from the ...

Expansive soils swell when they absorb water and shrink when water evaporates from them. Hence, lightly loaded civil engineering structures founded in these soils are subjected to severe distress. Therefore, there is a need to ameliorate or improve these swelling soils through some innovative methods. This paper discusses chemical stabilisation of expansive soils, a technique in which chemical ...

The tongue is an intricately configured muscular organ that undergoes a series of rapid shape changes intended to first configure and then transport the bolus from the oral cavity to the pharynx during swallowing. To assess the complex array of mechanical events occurring during the propulsive phase of swallowing, we employed tongue pressure-gated phase-contrast MRI to represent the tissue's lo...

The first stage of any major civil engineering project generally involves some form of preliminary reconnaissance study of project sites followed by detailed geotechnical investigation. Primary aim of this study is to collect data concerning physical characteristics of terrain and ground conditions in order to assess their likely influence on the overall design and performance of infrastructure...

The paper examines studies based on the theory of expansive learning, formulated in 1987. In recent years the theory has been used in a wide variety of studies and interventions. The theory builds on foundational ideas put forward by Vygotsky, Leont’ev, Il’enkov, and Davydov, key figures in the Russian school of cultural–historical activity theory. Studies based on the theory are reviewed in si...

Cerebral aspergillosis is a rare cause of brain expansive lesion in AIDS patients. We report the first culture-proven case of brain abscess due to Aspergillus fumigatus in a Brazilian AIDS patient. The patient, a 26 year-old male with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and history of pulmonary tuberculosis and cerebral toxoplasmosis, had fever, cough, dyspnea, and two episodes of seiz...