Search

This paper presents a new marine exposure site being developed on the North-west Atlantic coastline of Ireland in Co. Donegal by the Centre for Built Environment Research at Queen’s University Belfast. The site will initially contain a number of large precast concrete stems, each 1.5m high, 1.5m wide and 1m thick placed on concrete plinths poured in-situ. The concrete stems will be placed at three levels to achieve different exposure conditions outlined in EN 206, namely atmospheric (XS1), a splash or spray zone (XS3) and a tidal zone (XS3) where the stems will be submerged by the incoming tide twice daily. The concrete will consist of different cements and appropriate w/b ratios suitable for this type of exposure. The permeability and diffusion properties will be measured using non-destructive tests developed at Queen’s University Belfast, namely the Autoclam permeability system and the Permit ion migration test. Other tests to measure the corrosion of the embedded rebar will also be undertaken. In order to monitor the internal concrete properties, electrical sensors will be attached to the rebar and embedded in concrete. The information from these sensors will be relayed back to the office using remote wireless technology. Such integrated monitoring systems for concrete structures can reduce assessment and repair costs by continuously profiling the covercrete and corrosion for the ingress of various deleterious substances, such as chlorides, in the reinforcing steel in real-time. This approach permits an informed assessment of the performance of the structure throughout its service life. This site will form part of a world-wide exposure study, including similar sites in Scotland, India and China.

In response to the new opportunities for genome sequencing and comparative genomics, the Society of Nematology (SON) formed a committee to develop a white paper in support of the broad scientific needs associated with this phylum and interests of SON members. Although genome sequencing is expensive, the data generated are unique in biological systems in that genomes have the potential to be complete (every base of the genome can be accounted for), accurate (the data are digital and not subject to stochastic variation), and permanent (once obtained, the genome of a species does not need to be experimentally re-sampled). The availability of complete, accurate, and permanent genome sequences from diverse nematode species will underpin future studies into the biology and evolution of this phylum and the ecological associations (particularly parasitic) nematodes have with other organisms. We anticipate that upwards of 100 nematode genomes will be solved to varying levels of completion in the coming decade and suggest biological and practical considerations to guide the selection of the most informative taxa for sequencing.