Smart paint uses Fly Ash to revolutionize structural safety - Scottish Research

Dr. Mohamed Saafi, University of Strathclyde. Credit: University of Strathclyde

An innovative low-cost smart paint that can detect microscopic faults in wind turbines, mines and bridges before structural damage occurs is being developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

The environmentally-friendly paint uses nanotechnology to detect movement in large structures, and could shape the future of safety monitoring.

Traditional methods of assessing large structures are complex, time consuming and use expensive instrumentation, with costs spiraling into millions of pounds each year.

However, the smart paint costs just a fraction of the cost and can be simply sprayed onto any surface, with electrodes attached to detect structural damage long before failure occurs.

Dr Mohamed Saafi, of the Strathclyde University's Department of Civil Engineering, said: "The development of this smart paint technology could have far-reaching implications for the way we monitor the safety of large structures all over the world.

"There are no limitations as to where it could be used and the low-cost nature gives it a significant advantage over the current options available in the industry. The process of producing and applying the paint also gives it an advantage as no expertise is required and monitoring itself is straightforward."

The paint is formed using a recycled waste product known as fly ash and highly aligned carbon nanotubes. When mixed it has a cement-like property which makes it particularly useful in harsh environments.

Dr Saafi explained: "The process of monitoring involves in effect a wireless sensor network. The paint is interfaced with wireless communication nodes with power harvesting and warning capability to remotely detect any unseen damage such as micro-cracks in a wind turbine concrete foundation.

"Wind turbine foundations are currently being monitored through visual inspections. The developed paint with the wireless monitoring system would significantly reduce the maintenance costs and improve the safety of these large structures.

"Current technology is restricted to looking at specific areas of a structure at any given time, however, smart paint covers the whole structure which is particularly useful to maximise the opportunity of preventing significant damage."

The research has been carried out at Strathclyde with Dr Saafi working alongside David McGahon, who initiated the work as part of his PhD project.

With fly ash being the main material used to make the paint, it costs just one percent of the alternative widely used inspection methods.

A prototype has been developed and tests have shown the paint to be highly effective. It is hoped further tests will be carried out in Glasgow in the near future.

Dr Saafi added: "We are able to carry out the end-to-end process at the University and we are hoping that we can now demonstrate its effectiveness on a large structure.

"The properties of the fly ash give the paint a durability that will allow it to be used in any environment which will be a massive advantage in areas where the weather can make safety monitoring particularly difficult.

"The smart paint represents a significant development and is one that has possibly been overlooked as a viable solution because research tends to focus on high-tech options that look to eliminate human control. Our research shows that by maintaining the human element the costs can be vastly reduced without an impact on effectiveness."

Study finds child abuse and stunted brain development connection

A small team of researchers has found that various forms of child abuse can lead to stunted development in certain regions of the brain. The research carried out by Martin Teicher, Carl Anderson and Ann Polcari, all working in the Boston area, relied on questionnaires.

MRI brain scans were used to determine that certain parts of the hippocampus, all known to be sensitive to stress, were up to six percent smaller in adults who as children had been sexually, verbally or physically abused. The team has published their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The three areas affected: the cornu ammonis, the dentate gyrus and the subiculum, all located in the hippocampus, are known to be vulnerable to stress which leads to less cell development than would normally occur in the absence of abuse.

To test the relationship between brain development and childhood abuse, the research team enlisted a group of otherwise healthy adult volunteers: 73 men and 120 women, all between the ages of 18 and 25.

All were given questionnaires that delved into their childhood, specifically addressing issues of verbal, mental and physical abuse and other types of stresses such as the death of someone close to them or problems between parents.

All were also given brain scans using an MRI machine. The team then compared the answers given on the questionnaires to the possibly impacted areas in the hippocampus of each volunteer. In so doing, they found that the brain regions under study were 5.8 to 6.5 percent smaller than average for those that reported such childhood stresses.

The researchers suggest that smaller brain regions due to childhood stress may help explain the abnormally high levels of mental illness (depression, bi-polarism, anxiety, etc.) seen in adults who have endured abuse as children and why so many wind up with drug dependency problems.

They also noted that one of the regions impacted, the subiculum, serves as a relay, moving information in and out of the hippocampus, which can have a direct impact on dopamine production. Those with reduced volume have been found to have problems with drug addiction and in some cases develop schizophrenia.

The researchers believe that increased stress leads to higher levels of the hormone cortisol, which in turn can slow or even stop the growth of new neurons in the brain which can result in permanently stunting certain brain regions.

The researchers are hoping their results will further highlight the damage that is done when children are subjected to adverse living conditions, leading perhaps to earlier interventions and possibly a means for developing treatments that may aid in preventing the stunting of brain regions, thus helping to pave the way for a better quality of life for those that have been abused as children.

More information: Childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced volume in the hippocampal subfields CA3, dentate gyrus, and subiculum, PNAS, Published online before print February 13, 2012, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1115396109

Abstract
Childhood maltreatment or abuse is a major risk factor for mood, anxiety, substance abuse, psychotic, and personality disorders, and it is associated with reduced adult hippocampal volume, particularly on the left side.

Translational studies show that the key consequences of stress exposure on the hippocampus are suppression of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) and dendritic remodeling in the cornu ammonis (CA), particularly the CA3 subfield.

The hypothesis that maltreatment is associated with volume reductions in 3-T MRI subfields containing the DG and CA3 was assessed and made practical by newly released automatic segmentation routines for FreeSurfer.

The sample consisted of 193 unmedicated right-handed subjects (38% male, 21.9 ± 2.1 y of age) selected from the community.

Maltreatment was quantified using the Adverse Childhood Experience study and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire scores.

The strongest associations between maltreatment and volume were observed in the left CA2-CA3 and CA4-DG subfields, and were not mediated by histories of major depression or posttraumatic stress disorder.

Comparing subjects with high vs. low scores on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Adverse Childhood Experience study showed an average volume reduction of 6.3% and 6.1% in the left CA2-CA3 and CA4-DG, respectively.

Volume reductions in the CA1 and fimbria were 44% and 60% smaller than in the CA2-CA3. Interestingly, maltreatment was associated with 4.2% and 4.3% reductions in the left presubiculum and subiculum, respectively.

These findings support the hypothesis that exposure to early stress in humans, as in other animals, affects hippocampal subfield development.

Space Pumpkin artist: NASA Worker's Halloween Tradition

STS-114 Halloween pumpkin carved by Liz Warren.

CREDIT: Liz Warren

Houston, we have a space pumpkin.

Each year NASA worker Liz Warren carves a unique jack-o-lantern to mark a very space-y Halloween for flight controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center and this year is no different.

Warren describes the motivation behind her gourd-gouging Halloween tradition.

"This year, I carved a Halloween pumpkin of the mission patch for the International Space Station's Expedition 29. I’m proud to report that it’s sitting in Mission Control on the flight director's desk this week."

"The satisfaction I get from transforming a pumpkin into a space mission emblem pumpkin is tremendous. Space exploration is an extremely challenging and stressful endeavour."

"I like to think that my pumpkins bring a moment of levity and a smile to the astronaut crews and the teams that support them."

Men and women respond to stress in different ways

Men and women respond differently to stress ScienceBlog.com

Defensiveness is a trait characterised by avoidance, denial or repression of information perceived as threatening. In women, a strong defensive reaction to judgment from others or a threat to self-esteem will result in high blood pressure and heart rate. Contrarily, older men with low defensive reactions have a higher cardiovascular rates.

A study was conducted on 81 healthy working men and 118 women. According to Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif a Université de Montréal professor and Montreal Heart Institute researcher, the physiological response to stress in women and older men is linked to this desire of maintaining self-esteem and securing social bonds.

"The sense of belonging is a basic human need," says D'Antono. "Our findings suggest that socialising is innate and that belonging to a group contributed to the survival of our ancestors. Today, it is possible that most people view social exclusion as a threat to their existence. A strong defensive reaction is useful to maintain one's self-esteem faced with this potential threat."

As part of the experiment, participants completed four tasks of varying stress levels.

• The first task involved reading a neutral text on Antarctica's geography before a person of the same sex.
• The second and third tasks involved role-playing in which participants followed a script where they were sometimes agreeable and sometimes aggressive.
• The final task involved a non-scripted debate on abortion.

Heart rate and blood pressure were measured during each of these tasks as was the level of cortisol in saliva. Results showed that women and older men had elevated cardiovascular, autonomic and endocrine responses to stress, all potentially damaging to their health.

However. the research team cautions that more studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of defensiveness and its association to stress response patterns in disease development.