Function Of Air Content Research Articles

Study of the Properties of Renovation Plasters as a Function of Air Content and Porosity Using an Orthogonal Design of Experiment

The main message of the article is an analysis of the impact of: the aerating agent, cement, polymer additives, cellulose ethers, and perlite on renovation plaster porosity. To determine the impact, an orthogonal design of experiment proposed by Taguchi was used. The results show that the air content in the mixture does not necessarily indicate high porosity of the hardened mortar and vice versa. This is because not all of the factors analyzed in this experiment have significant impacts on the output. In terms of air content in fresh mortar, cement and aerating agent are significant factors. In terms of porosity in fresh mortar, cement, aerating agent, perlite and cellulose ethers are significant factors. Additionally, the studies are presented to explain the impacts of these ingredients.

Modified Feddes type stress reduction function for modeling root water uptake: Accounting for limited aeration and low water potential

Modeling water flow in the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum with the Richards equation requires a model for the sink term describing water uptake by plant roots. Despite recent progress in developing process-based models of water uptake by plant roots and water flow in above-ground parts of vegetation, effective models of root water uptake are widely applied and necessary for large-scale applications. Modeling root water uptake consists of three steps, (i) specification of the spatial distribution of potential uptake, (ii) reduction of uptake due to various stress sources, and (iii) enhancement of uptake in part of the simulation domain to describe compensation. We discuss the conceptual shortcomings of the frequently used root water uptake model of Feddes and suggest a simple but effective improvement of the model. The improved model parametrizes water stress in wet soil by a reduction scheme which is formulated as function of air content whereas water stress due to low soil water potential is described by the original approach of Feddes. The improved model is physically more consistent than Feddes’ model because water uptake in wet soil is limited by aeration which is a function of water content. The suggested modification is particularly relevant for simulations in heterogeneous soils, because stress parameters are uniquely defined for the entire simulation domain, irrespective of soil texture. Numerical simulations of water flow and root water uptake in homogeneous and stochastic heterogeneous soils illustrate the effect of the new model on root water uptake and actual transpiration. For homogeneous fine-textured soils, predicted root water uptake never achieves its potential rate. In stochastic heterogeneous soil, predicted water uptake is more pronounced at the interfaces between fine and coarse regions which has potential implications for plant growth, nutrient uptake and depletion.

FOCUSED IMPEDANCE METHOD TO DETECT LOCALIZED LUNG VENTILATION DISORDERS IN COMBINATION WITH CONVENTIONAL SPIROMETRY

Conventional spirometry gives information on the overall ventilation of a person's lung; it cannot detect localized disorders in ventilation as occurring in pulmonary edema, pneumonia, tumor, TB, etc. Here we propose a new technique involving the recently developed focused impedance method (FIM) in combination with conventional spirometry to detect localized lung ventilation disorders. Electrical impedance of lung tissue changes as a function of air content and FIM provides a measurement of localized electrical impedance with sensitivity down to reasonable depths inside the body using a few surface electrodes; here we used a six-electrode version. At least four quadrants of the lungs in the frontal plane can be separately measured using a hand-held probe with spring backed skin surface electrodes. Firstly, spatial sensitivity distribution of the six-electrode FIM was obtained using finite element simulation which verified the focusing effect and its depth sensitivity. Percent change in impedance between maximum inspiration and expiration were measured at four quadrants of the chest of a healthy male subject giving four different values; that at the lower right quadrant was found to be the maximum, as also expected based on anatomy. Changes in impedance at this quadrant of the same subject were found to vary proportionately with exhaled air volumes, measured using a bellows-type spirometer. Similar FIM measurements at lower right lung of seven healthy subjects were found to be almost proportional (R2= 0.7) to the total exhaled air volumes (vital capacity). This was the basis of the new technique. For a healthy individual, the ratio of the local impedance change to vital capacity (VC) will fall within a certain range for each of the four lung quadrants. A lower value at any quadrant would indicate disorder within that quadrant, while a larger value would indicate disorder in a region outside the particular quadrant. The FIM electrode probe can then be moved to take measurements at the other quadrants to locate the region of disorder. This preliminary study indicates that FIM in combination with conventional spirometry could be used to detect localized ventilation defects.

Absolute electrical impedance tomography (aEIT) guided ventilation therapy in critical care patients: simulations and future trends.

Thoracic electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive, radiation-free monitoring technique whose aim is to reconstruct a cross-sectional image of the internal spatial distribution of conductivity from electrical measurements made by injecting small alternating currents via an electrode array placed on the surface of the thorax. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the fundamentals of EIT and demonstrate the principles of mechanical ventilation, lung recruitment, and EIT imaging on a comprehensive physiological model, which combines a model of respiratory mechanics, a model of the human lung absolute resistivity as a function of air content, and a 2-D finite-element mesh of the thorax to simulate EIT image reconstruction during mechanical ventilation. The overall model gives a good understanding of respiratory physiology and EIT monitoring techniques in mechanically ventilated patients. The model proposed here was able to reproduce consistent images of ventilation distribution in simulated acutely injured and collapsed lung conditions. A new advisory system architecture integrating a previously developed data-driven physiological model for continuous and noninvasive predictions of blood gas parameters with the regional lung function data/information generated from absolute EIT (aEIT) is proposed for monitoring and ventilator therapy management of critical care patients.

Dielectric properties of lung tissue as a function of air content

Dielectric measurements were made on lung samples with different electrode systems in the frequency range 5 kHz-100 kHz. In the case of plate electrodes and spot electrodes, the effects of electrode polarization were partly corrected. An air filling factor F is defined, which is determined from the mass and volume of the sample. The results indicate that the electrical properties of lung tissue are highly dependent on the condition of the tissue. Furthermore they show that the conductivity sigma as well as the relative permittivity epsilon r decreases with increasing F. This is discussed using histological material. Using a simple theoretical model, the decrease of sigma and epsilon r is explained by the thinning of the alveolar walls as well as by the deformation of the epithelial cells and blood vessels through the expansion of the alveoli.

Ultrasound properties of lung tissue and their measurements

In-vitro measurements have been carried out for the group velocity and the attenuation, in dB/cm, in cow lung tissue. The velocity and the attenuation were measured both as a function of air content, from 32 to 68%, and as a function of frequency, from 10 to 800 KHz. The group velocity was determined from measurement of the phase difference between the transmitted and incident acoustic signal while the attenuation was measured from the insertion loss with correction for the water-lung interface transmission losses. The measured group velocities indicate only a small degree of dispersion, but a strong dependence on air content. The attenuation is very high and exhibits strong frequency dependence, but weak air content dependence.