The surface modification of Zeolite 4A using cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a modifier via an ultrasonic method was carried out and the surface physicochemical properties measured. Response surface methodology (RSM) was developed with CTAB concentration, handling time, and handling temperature as variables, to help predict the performance of the modified zeolite under particular conditions. The influence of organic-modified surface treatment and of the amount of modified zeolite on the water-absorption capability of starch-g-poly (acrylic acid) hydrogel composites was also assessed. The results showed that the channels and skeleton structure of zeolite 4A were unchanged after organic modification by CTAB and the surface modification was effective. The results suggest that organic-modified zeolite 4A has improved the water-absorption capability.

The use of concrete-recycled aggregates to produce high-performance concrete is limited by insufficient correlation between resulting microstructure and its influence on mechanical performance reproducibility. This work addresses this issue in a sequential approach: concrete microstructure was systematically analyzed and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and results were correlated with concrete compressive strength and water absorption ability. The influence of replacing natural aggregates (NA) with recycled concrete aggregates (RCA), with different source concrete strength levels, of silica fume (SF) addition and of mixing procedure was tested. The results show that the developed microstructure depends on the concrete composition and is conditioned by the distinct nature of NA, recycled aggregates from high-strength source concrete, and recycled aggregates from low-strength source concrete. SF was only effective at concrete densification when a two-stage mixing approach was used. The highest achieved strength in concrete with 100% incorporation of RCA was 97.3 MPa, comparable to that of conventional high-strength concrete with NA. This shows that incorporation of significant amounts of RCA replacing NA in concrete is not only a realistic approach to current environmental goals, but also a viable route for the production of high-performance concrete.

Bentonite is composed primarily of montmorillonite and is useful in a wide range of applications. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation carried out to evaluate the possibility of using a Pakistani bentonite (from Jehangira, Swabi District) as a cement replacement material in mortar and concrete. The cement in mortar and concrete was replaced with the bentonite at 0%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% by cement mass. The strength activity index of bentonite was determined ‘as received’ (20ºC) and ‘heated’ (treatment at 500ºC and 900ºC). The test results indicated that the strength activity index of bentonite conformed to the ASTM Standard C618 specifications, except for the ‘900ºC heated’ bentonite. The water absorption decreased for mortar containing up to 30% bentonite and then steadily increased at higher bentonite loadings. When immersed in 5% Na2SO4 and 2% MgSO4 solution, the greatest compressive strength was observed for mortar containing 30% bentonite. The water demand of concrete increased with increasing bentonite content. Although the compressive strength of concrete decreased progressively as the substitution level of bentonite was increased, the compressive strength of concrete containing 30% ‘as received’ bentonite was found to be 70% of the control concrete, whereas for concrete containing 30% ‘500ºC heated’ bentonite, the strength was found to be 79% of the control concrete. It can be concluded that this Pakistani bentonite can be used to replace up to 30% of cement to produce concrete with sufficient compressive strength for low-cost construction resistant to sulphate attack.

The colonization of Mars will require obtaining building materials which can be put in place and processed into buildings via various constructive technologies. We tried to use artificial Martian ground – AMG (GEO PAT 11-234 (2015)) and special resins for the preparation of building block prototypes. The composite material has been obtained based on the AMG as filler, epoxy resin (type ED-20) and tetraethoxysilane – TEOS. We have studied strengthening – softening temperatures and water absorption of the AMG polymer composites that are determined by epoxy resin and TEOS modification. Comparison of the experimental results shows that composites containing modified filler have higher values of the maximum ultimate strength, resistance and flexibility parameters than unmodified composites with definite loading. Modified composites also have a higher softening temperature and lower water absorption.

Brief descriptions and comments on relationships are given for the seven embryophytic sporophytes in the cherts at Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. They are Rhynia gwynnevaughanii Kidston & Lang, Aglaophyton major D. S. Edwards, Horneophyton lignieri Barghoorn & Darrah, Asteroxylon mackiei Kidston & Lang, Nothia aphylla Lyon ex Høeg, Trichopherophyton teuchansii Lyon & Edwards and Ventarura lyonii Powell, Edwards & Trewin. The superb preservation of the silica permineralisations produced in the hot spring environment provides remarkable insights into the anatomy of early land plants which are not available from compression fossils and other modes of permineralisation. They include soft tissues, such as those surrounding stomata, rhizoids, apical and lateral meristems, and diversity in conducting cells, with inferences for palaeoecophysiology, including water use efficiency, transport and absorption, and for growth processes and patterns.

Four sheep sustained by intragastric nutrition were used to study saliva secretion and the relationship between osmotic pressure in the rumen and net water transport across the rumen wall. Different concentrations of buffer were infused into the rumen to change the rumen osmotic pressure. Salivary secretion was estimated from entrance of P into the rumen. Net water transport across the rumen wall was calculated as the difference between water inflow and water outflow from the rumen. A negative linear relationship between the rumen osmotic pressure (X, mOsm/kg) and the water absorption across the rumen wall (Y, ml/h) was found: Y = (394 SE 8·3)–(l·22 SE 0·03) X, r20·83, (P < 0·001), and a positive linear relationship was found between the rumen osmotic pressure (X, mOsm /kg) and the outflow rate of rumen fluid (Y, ml/h): Y = (34·0 SE 8·0) + (0·97 SE 0·03), X, r2 0·56, (P < 0·001). The implication is that rumen osmotic pressure can be a key factor in the control of the net water transport across the rumen wall, the outflow of rumen fluid to omasum and the rumen liquid dilution rate. A method is suggested by which salivary secretion in sheep may be calculated from the water balance in the rumen.

The effects of changing rumen osmotic pressure (OP) upon water kinetics and volatile fatty acid (VFA) absorption in the rumen of sheep were studied in two 4 × 4 Latin square experiments, each using four lambs with a rumen cannula and an abomasal catheter. In both experiments the lambs were sustained by the intragastric infusion of all nutrients (VFA, Ca, P, Mg and a buffer solution into the rumen, and casein, vitamins and trace elements into the abomasum). On experimental days, which were at least 1 week apart, drinking water and the casein infusion were withdrawn, and the ruminal OP was changed and held constant for 9·5 h, by incorporating NaCl at different concentrations in the buffer solution being infused. In Expt 1 the target OP values were 300, 340, 380 and 420 mosmol/kg, and in Expt 2 were 261 (no saline addition), 350, 420 and 490 mosmol/kg. Using soluble non-absorbable markers (PEG in continuous infusion and Cr-EDTA injected in pulse doses) rumen volume, liquid outflow rates, apparent water absorption through the rumen wall and VFA absorption rates were estimated at six sampling times corresponding to the 1·5 h intervals during the last 7·5 h following the change in rumen OP. Liquid outflow rate (F; ml/h) showed a significant and positive linear relationship with the rumen OP (mosmol/kg), resulting in the equation F = 1·24 OP (SE 0·096)–36·5 (SE 36·6) (r2 0·96). Similarly, water absorption rate (W; ml/h) was significantly affected by rumen OP, and this relationship was given by W = 395 (SE 39·9) −1·16 OP (SE 0·105) (r2 0·95), which means that for an OP of 341 mosmol/kg the net movement of water across the rumen wall would be zero, and either a net efflux or a net influx of water would be observed with lower or higher OP respectively. In Expt 2 there was a significant linear effect of OP on rumen volume (P <0·01), with higher OP being associated with increases in rumen liquid contents of about 10–20%. As rumen OP was increased there was also a decline in the absorption rate of VFA (from 232 mmol VFA/h for OP 350 to 191 mmol/h for OP 490 mosmol/kg), resulting in the accumulation of VFA (especially acetate) in the rumen and a consequent fall in rumen pH. Rumen OP seems to be important in defining water movement across the rumen wall and, hence, partitioning between absorption and outflow.