Machine learning approach for the estimation of missing precipitation data: a case study of South Korea.

Precipitation is one of the driving forces in water cycles, and it is vital for understanding the water cycle, such as surface runoff, soil moisture, and evapotranspiration. However, missing precipitation data at the observatory becomes an obstacle to improving the accuracy and efficiency of hydrological analysis. To address this issue, we developed a machine learning algorithm-based precipitation data recovery tool to detect and predict missing precipitation data at observatories. This study investigated 30 weather stations in South Korea, evaluating the applicability of machine learning algorithms (artificial neural network and random forest) for precipitation data recovery using environmental variables, such as air pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind speed. The proposed model showed a high performance in detecting the missing precipitation occurrence with an accuracy of 80%. In addition, the prediction results from the models showed predictive ability with a correlation coefficient ranging from 0.5 to 0.7 and R2 values of 0.53. Although both algorithms performed similarly in estimating precipitation, ANN performed slightly better. Based on the results of this study, we expect that the machine learning algorithms can contribute to improving hydrological modeling performance by recovering missing precipitation data at observation stations.

Analysis of Weather Factors on Aircraft Cancellation using a Multilayer Complex Network.

Airlines provide one of the most popular and important transportation services for passengers. While the importance of the airline industry is rising, flight cancellations are also increasing due to abnormal weather factors, such as rainfall and wind speed. Although previous studies on cancellations due to weather factors considered both aircraft and weather factors concurrently, the complex network studies only treated the aircraft factor with a single-layer network. Therefore, the aim of this study was to apply a multilayer complex network (MCN) method that incorporated three different factors, namely, aircraft, rainfall, and wind speed, to investigate aircraft cancellations at 14 airports in the Republic of Korea. The results showed that rainfall had a greater impact on aircraft cancellations compared with wind speed. To find out the most important node in the cancellation, we applied centrality analysis based on information entropy. According to the centrality analysis, Jeju Airport was identified as the most influential node since it has a high demand for aircraft. Also, we showed that characteristics and factors of aircraft cancellation should be appropriately defined by links in the MCN. Furthermore, we verified the applicability of the MCN method in the fields of aviation and meteorology. It is expected that the suggested methodology in this study can help to understand aircraft cancellation due to weather factors.

Phase 3, multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the efficacy and safety of ustekinumab, an anti-interleukin-12/23 p40 antibody, in a phase 3, randomised, placebo-controlled study of patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) despite receiving standard-of-care. METHODS: Active SLE patients (SLE Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) ≥6 during screening and SLEDAI-2K ≥4 for clinical features at week 0) despite receiving oral glucocorticoids, antimalarials, or immunomodulatory drugs were randomised (3:2) to receive ustekinumab (intravenous infusion ~6 mg/kg at week 0, followed by subcutaneous injections of ustekinumab 90 mg at week 8 and every 8 weeks) or placebo through week 48. The primary endpoint was SLE Responder Index (SRI)-4 at week 52, and major secondary endpoints included time to flare through week 52 and SRI-4 at week 24. RESULTS: At baseline, 516 patients were randomised to placebo (n=208) or ustekinumab (n=308). Following the planned interim analysis, the sponsor discontinued the study due to lack of efficacy but no safety concerns. Efficacy analyses included 289 patients (placebo, n=116; ustekinumab, n=173) who completed or would have had a week 52 visit at study discontinuation. At week 52, 44% of ustekinumab patients and 56% of placebo patients had an SRI-4 response; there were no appreciable differences between the treatment groups in the major secondary endpoints. Through week 52, 28% of ustekinumab patients and 32% of placebo patients had a British Isles Lupus Assessment Group flare, with a mean time to first flare of 204.7 and 200.4 days, respectively. Through week 52, 70% of ustekinumab patients and 74% of placebo patients had ≥1 adverse event. CONCLUSIONS: Ustekinumab did not demonstrate superiority over placebo in this population of adults with active SLE; adverse events were consistent with the known safety profile of ustekinumab. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03517722.

Realguard: A Lightweight Network Intrusion Detection System for IoT Gateways.

Cyber security has become increasingly challenging due to the proliferation of the Internet of things (IoT), where a massive number of tiny, smart devices push trillion bytes of data to the Internet. However, these devices possess various security flaws resulting from the lack of defense mechanisms and hardware security support, therefore making them vulnerable to cyber attacks. In addition, IoT gateways provide very limited security features to detect such threats, especially the absence of intrusion detection methods powered by deep learning. Indeed, deep learning models require high computational power that exceeds the capacity of these gateways. In this paper, we introduce Realguard, an DNN-based network intrusion detection system (NIDS) directly operated on local gateways to protect IoT devices within the network. The superiority of our proposal is that it can accurately detect multiple cyber attacks in real time with a small computational footprint. This is achieved by a lightweight feature extraction mechanism and an efficient attack detection model powered by deep neural networks. Our evaluations on practical datasets indicate that Realguard could detect ten types of attacks (e.g., port scan, Botnet, and FTP-Patator) in real time with an average accuracy of 99.57%, whereas the best of our competitors is 98.85%. Furthermore, our proposal effectively operates on resource-constraint gateways (Raspberry PI) at a high packet processing rate reported about 10.600 packets per second.

The Anticancer Effect of a Novel Quinoline Derivative 91b1 through Downregulation of Lumican.

Quinoline derivatives have been reported to possess a wide range of pharmaceutical activities. Our group previously synthesized a series of quinoline compounds, in which compound 91b1 showed a significant anticancer effect. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of compound 91b1 in vitro and in vivo, and screen out its regulated target. A series of cancer cell lines and nontumor cell lines were treated with compound 91b1 by MTS cytotoxicity assay and cell-cycle assay. In vivo anticancer activity was evaluated by a xenografted model on nude mice. Target prediction of 91b1 was assessed by microarray assay and confirmed by pancancer analysis. Relative expression of the target gene Lumican was measured by qRT-PCR. 91b1 significantly reduced tumor size in the nude mice xenograft model. Lumican was downregulated after 91b1 treatment. Lumican was proven to increase tumorigenesis in vivo, as well as cancer cell migration, invasion, and proliferation in vitro. The results of this study suggest that the anticancer activity of compound 91b1 probably works through downregulating the gene Lumican.

Efficacy and Safety of Intravenous Golimumab in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients With Early and Late Disease Through One Year of the GO-ALIVE Study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: This post hoc analysis assessed efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) golimumab in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients with early disease (ED) versus late disease (LD). METHODS: The phase 3, double-blind, GO-ALIVE study randomized patients to IV golimumab 2 mg/kg at weeks 0 and 4 and then every 8 weeks through week 52, or placebo at weeks 0, 4, and 12 with crossover to IV golimumab at week 16. Clinical efficacy was assessed by ≥20% improvement in Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society response criteria (ASAS20), ≥50% improvement in Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI 50), and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) <1.3 (inactive disease). Using self-reported duration of inflammatory back pain (IBP), patients were grouped into quartiles: first = ED and fourth = LD. Descriptive statistics summarized efficacy and safety findings through 1 year. RESULTS: Early disease patients (n = 60) were ~10 years younger and had shorter median AS (IBP) symptom duration (2-3 years) versus LD patients (n = 52; 21-24 years). At week 16, numerically higher proportions of golimumab- than placebo-treated patients achieved ASAS20 (ED: 71% vs. 32%; LD: 67% vs. 21%), BASDAI 50 (ED: 40% vs. 12%; LD: 33% vs. 7%), and ASDAS <1.3 (ED: 17% vs. 4%; LD 8% vs. 0%) regardless of IBP duration. Efficacy was durable through 1 year of treatment; however, response rates were numerically higher in patients with ED versus LD. Through week 60, adverse events and serious adverse events, respectively, were reported by 46% and 3% of ED patients and 61% and 2% of LD patients. CONCLUSION: Prompt diagnosis of AS and early treatment with IV golimumab may yield more robust improvements in disease activity.

Open-label phase 3 study of intravenous golimumab in patients with polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To assess efficacy, pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety of intravenous (i.v.) golimumab in patients with polyarticular-course JIA (pc-JIA). METHODS: Children aged 2 to <18 years with active pc-JIA despite MTX therapy for ≥2 months received 80 mg/m2 golimumab at weeks 0, 4, then every 8 weeks through week 52 plus MTX weekly through week 28. The primary and major secondary endpoints were PK exposure and model-predicted steady-state area under the curve (AUCss) over an 8-week dosing interval at weeks 28 and 52, respectively. JIA ACR response and safety were also assessed. RESULTS: In total, 127 children were treated with i.v. golimumab. JIA ACR 30, 50, 70, and 90 response rates were 84%, 80%, 70% and 47%, respectively, at week 28 and were maintained through week 52. Golimumab serum concentrations and AUCss were 0.40 µg/ml and 399 µg ⋅ day/ml at week 28. PK exposure was maintained at week 52. Steady-state trough golimumab concentrations and AUCss were consistent across age categories and comparable to i.v. golimumab dosed 2 mg/kg in adults with rheumatoid arthritis. Golimumab antibodies and neutralizing antibodies were detected via a highly sensitive drug-tolerant assay in 31% (39/125) and 19% (24/125) of patients, respectively. Median trough golimumab concentration was lower in antibody-positive vs antibody-negative patients. Serious infections were reported in 6% of patients, including one death due to septic shock. CONCLUSION: Body surface area-based dosing of i.v. golimumab was well tolerated and provided adequate PK exposure for clinical efficacy in paediatric patients with active pc-JIA.ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT02277444.

Au-Ag assembled on silica nanoprobes for visual semiquantitative detection of prostate-specific antigen.

BACKGROUND: Blood prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are widely used as diagnostic biomarkers for prostate cancer. Lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA)-based PSA detection can overcome the limitations associated with other methods. LFIAbased PSA detection in clinical samples enables prognosis and early diagnosis owing to the use of high-performance signal reporters. RESULTS: Here, a semiquantitative LFIA platform for PSA detection in blood was developed using Au-Ag nanoparticles (NPs) assembled on silica NPs (SiO2@Au-Ag NPs) that served as signal reporters. Synthesized SiO2@Au-Ag NPs exhibited a high absorbance at a wide wavelength range (400-800 nm), with a high scattering on nitrocellulose membrane test strips. In LFIA, the color intensity of the test line on the test strip differed depending on the PSA concentration (0.30-10.00 ng/mL), and bands for the test line on the test strip could be used as a standard. When clinical samples were assessed using this LFIA, a visual test line with particular color intensity observed on the test strip enabled the early diagnosis and prognosis of patients with prostate cancer based on PSA detection. In addition, the relative standard deviation of reproducibility was 1.41%, indicating high reproducibility, and the signal reporter showed good stability for 10 days. CONCLUSION: These characteristics of the signal reporter demonstrated the reliability of the LFIA platform for PSA detection, suggesting potential applications in clinical sample analysis.

Bioapplications of Nanomaterials.

Nanobiotechnology is known as the application of nanoscaled techniques in biology which bridges natural science to living organism for improving the quality of life of humans. Nanotechnology was first issued in 1959 and has been rapidly developed, supplying numerous benefits to basic scientific academy and to clinical application including human healthcare, specifically in cancer therapy. This chapter discusses recent advances and potentials of nanotechnology in pharmaceutics, therapeutics, biosensing, bioimaging, and gene delivery that demonstrate the multifunctionality of nanotechnology.

Synthesis of Densely Immobilized Gold-Assembled Silica Nanostructures.

In this study, dense gold-assembled SiO2 nanostructure (SiO2@Au) was successfully developed using the Au seed-mediated growth. First, SiO2 (150 nm) was prepared, modified by amino groups, and incubated by gold nanoparticles (ca. 3 nm Au metal nanoparticles (NPs)) to immobilize Au NPs to SiO2 surface. Then, Au NPs were grown on the prepared SiO2@Au seed by reducing chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) by ascorbic acid (AA) in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The presence of bigger (ca. 20 nm) Au NPs on the SiO2 surface was confirmed by transmittance electronic microscopy (TEM) images, color changes to dark blue, and UV-vis spectra broadening in the range of 450 to 750 nm. The SiO2@Au nanostructure showed several advantages compared to the hydrofluoric acid (HF)-treated SiO2@Au, such as easy separation, surface modification stability by 11-mercaptopundecanoic acid (R-COOH), 11-mercapto-1-undecanol (R-OH), and 1-undecanethiol (R-CH3), and a better peroxidase-like catalysis activity for 5,5'-Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) reaction. The catalytic activity of SiO2@Au was two times better than that of HF-treated SiO2@Au. When SiO2@Au nanostructure was used as a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate, the signal of 4-aminophenol (4-ATP) on the surface of SiO2@Au was also stronger than that of HF-treated SiO2@Au. This study provides a potential method for nanoparticle preparation which can be replaced for Au NPs in further research and development.

Dysregulation of miR-431 and target gene FOXA1 in intestinal tissues of infants with necrotizing enterocolitis.

The level of microRNA (miR)-431 was found to be markedly up-regulated in intestinal tissue of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). The objective of this study was to identify the target gene of miR-431 and to investigate the role of the miR-431-FOXA1 axis in the pathophysiology of NEC. The target gene of miR-431 was identified by in silico target prediction bioinformatics, luciferase assay, and Western blotting. Effects of miR-431 on downstream expression signals, cell proliferation, and apoptosis were investigated by overexpression in Caco-2 cells upon stimulation by LPS or lipoteichoic acid (LTA). FOXA1 was identified as the target gene of miR-431. Overexpression of miR-431 in Caco-2 cells significantly inhibited FOXA1, ESRRG, and HNF4A and activated IL-6, LGR5, NFKB2, PLA2G2A, PRKCZ, and TNF. IL-8 and - 10 were enhanced when costimulated with LPS or LTA. These potential downstream genes were also significantly dysregulated in primary NEC tissues compared with surgical-control tissues. Overexpression of miR-431 significantly decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis of Caco-2 cells. A proposed network of miR-431-FOXA1 interaction with LPS and LTA receptors demonstrates dysregulation of transcription factors, inflammatory mediators, epithelium tight junction regulators, and cell proliferation and apoptosis signals. The miR-431-FOXA1 axis could in part be responsible for the intensification of the inflammatory response in NEC tissues and contribute to the proinflammatory pathophysiology.-Wu, Y. Z., Chan, K. Y. Y., Leung, K. T., Lam, H. S., Tam, Y. H., Lee, K. H., Li, K., Ng, P. C. Dysregulation of miR-431 and target gene FOXA1 in intestinal tissues of infants with necrotizing enterocolitis.

Effects of Intravenous Golimumab on Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis: 28-Week Results of the GO-ALIVE Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the effect of intravenous golimumab on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) through week 28 of the phase III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled GO-ALIVE study. METHODS: Adult patients (n = 208) were randomized to IV golimumab 2 mg/kg (n = 105) at weeks 0, 4, and 12 and every 8 weeks or placebo (n = 103) at weeks 0, 4, and 12, with crossover to golimumab 2mg/kg at weeks 16, 20, and every 8 weeks. General HRQoL was evaluated using the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) Physical Component Summary/Mental Component Summary (PCS/MCS), and the EQ VAS, and AS disease-specific HRQoL was assessed using the Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL) instrument. RESULTS: Mean improvements from baseline in SF-36 PCS were greater in the golimumab group versus the placebo group at weeks 8 and 16 (6.8 vs 2.1 and 8.5 vs 2.9, respectively; P < .001); similar results were observed for SF-36 MCS (5.6 vs 1.7 and 6.5 vs 0.8, respectively; P < .001). Mean improvement in each of 8 subscale scores of the SF-36 were also greater for golimumab-treated patients versus placebo at weeks 8 and 16. Mean improvements in EQ VAS and ASQoL were greater in the golimumab group versus placebo at week 8 and week 16. Greater proportions of golimumab-treated patients had clinically meaningful improvement in SF-36 PCS, SF-36 MCS, EQ VAS, and ASQoL at weeks 8 and 16; improvements in SF-36 PCS/MCS, EQ VAS, and ASQoL were maintained through week 28. CONCLUSIONS: Golimumab-treated patients had greater mean improvements in HRQoL measures compared with placebo through week 16. Clinically meaningful improvements were observed as early as week 8 and continued through week 28.

Effects of Intravenous Golimumab on Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis: 24-Week Results of the GO-VIBRANT Trial.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the effects of intravenous golimumab 2 mg/kg on multiple domains of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). METHODS: In this phase III, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, adults with active PsA were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive intravenous (IV) infusions of placebo (n = 239) or golimumab 2 mg/kg (n = 241) at weeks 0, 4, 12, and 20. Physical function was assessed using the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI). HRQoL was assessed using the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey Physical and Mental Component Summary (SF-36 PCS/MCS) scores, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue, EQ VAS, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). RESULTS: Patients in the golimumab group had greater mean changes from baseline in HAQ-DI compared with placebo at weeks 8 (-0.52 vs -0.10), 14 (-0.60 vs -0.12), and 24 (-0.63 vs -0.14). Mean improvements from baseline in SF-36 PCS (8.0 vs 1.7), SF-36 MCS (5.0 vs 1.2), EQ VAS (17.2 vs 3.7), FACIT-Fatigue (7.9 vs 2.0), and DLQI (-7.2 vs -1.7) were also greater in the golimumab group versus placebo at week 8 and were maintained or increased through week 24. Greater proportions of golimumab-treated patients had improvements greater than or equal to the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for HAQ-DI, SF-36 PCS/MCS, EQ VAS, FACIT-Fatigue, and DLQI scores at weeks 14 and 24. CONCLUSION: Improvements in HRQoL were greater in the IV golimumab group compared with placebo and were evident at week 8 and sustained through week 24.

Modeling and forecasting the spread and death rate of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the world using time series models.

Coronaviruses are a huge family of viruses that affect neurological, gastrointestinal, hepatic and respiratory systems. The numbers of confirmed cases are increased daily in different countries, especially in Unites State America, Spain, Italy, Germany, China, Iran, South Korea and others. The spread of the COVID-19 has many dangers and needs strict special plans and policies. Therefore, to consider the plans and policies, the predicting and forecasting the future confirmed cases are critical. The time series models are useful to model data that are gathered and indexed by time. Symmetry of error's distribution is an essential condition in classical time series. But there exist cases in the real practical world that assumption of symmetric distribution of the error terms is not satisfactory. In our methodology, the distribution of the error has been considered to be two-piece scale mixtures of normal (TP-SMN). The proposed time series models works well than ordinary Gaussian and symmetry models (especially for COVID-19 datasets), and were fitted initially to the historical COVID-19 datasets. Then, the time series that has the best fit to each of the dataset is selected. Finally, the selected models are applied to predict the number of confirmed cases and the death rate of COVID-19 in the world.

Fuzzy clustering method to compare the spread rate of Covid-19 in the high risks countries.

The numbers of confirmed cases of new coronavirus (Covid-19) are increased daily in different countries. To determine the policies and plans, the study of the relations between the distributions of the spread of this virus in other countries is critical. In this work, the distributions of the spread of Covid-19 in Unites States America, Spain, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Iran were compared and clustered using fuzzy clustering technique. At first, the time series of Covid-19 datasets in selected countries were considered. Then, the relation between spread of Covid-19 and population's size was studied using Pearson correlation. The effect of the population's size was eliminated by rescaling the Covid-19 datasets based on the population's size of USA. Finally, the rescaled Covid-19 datasets of the countries were clustered using fuzzy clustering. The results of Pearson correlation indicated that there were positive and significant between total confirmed cases, total dead cases and population's size of the countries. The clustering results indicated that the distribution of spreading in Spain and Italy was approximately similar and differed from other countries.

Synthesis, Properties, and Biological Applications of Metallic Alloy Nanoparticles.

Metallic alloy nanoparticles are synthesized by combining two or more different metals. Bimetallic or trimetallic nanoparticles are considered more effective than monometallic nanoparticles because of their synergistic characteristics. In this review, we outline the structure, synthesis method, properties, and biological applications of metallic alloy nanoparticles based on their plasmonic, catalytic, and magnetic characteristics.

Facile Histamine Detection by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering using SiO2@Au@Ag Alloy Nanoparticles.

Histamine intoxication associated with seafood consumption represents a global health problem. The consumption of high concentrations of histamine can cause illnesses ranging from light symptoms, such as a prickling sensation, to death. In this study, gold-silver alloy-embedded silica (SiO2@Au@Ag) nanoparticles were created to detect histamine using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The optimal histamine SERS signal was measured following incubation with 125 µg/mL of SiO2@Au@Ag for 2 h, with a material-to-histamine solution volume ratio of 1:5 and a phosphate-buffered saline-Tween 20 (PBS-T) solvent at pH 7. The SERS intensity of the histamine increased proportionally with the increase in histamine concentration in the range 0.1-0.8 mM, with a limit of detection of 3.698 ppm. Our findings demonstrate the applicability of SERS using nanomaterials for histamine detection. In addition, this study demonstrates that nanoalloys could have a broad application in the future.

4-Mercaptobenzoic Acid Labeled Gold-Silver-Alloy-Embedded Silica Nanoparticles as an Internal Standard Containing Nanostructures for Sensitive Quantitative Thiram Detection.

In this study, SiO2@Au@4-MBA@Ag (4-mercaptobenzoic acid labeled gold-silver-alloy-embedded silica nanoparticles) nanomaterials were investigated for the detection of thiram, a pesticide. First, the presence of Au@4-MBA@Ag alloys on the surface of SiO2 was confirmed by the broad bands of ultraviolet-visible spectra in the range of 320-800 nm. The effect of the 4-MBA (4-mercaptobenzoic acid) concentration on the Ag shell deposition and its intrinsic SERS (surface-enhanced Raman scattering) signal was also studied. Ag shells were well coated on SiO2@Au@4-MBA in the range of 1-1000 µM. The SERS intensity of thiram-incubated SiO2@Au@4-MBA@Ag achieved the highest value by incubation with 500 µL thiram for 30 min, and SERS was measured at 200 µg/mL SiO2@Au@4-MBA@Ag. Finally, the SERS intensity of thiram at 560 cm-1 increased proportionally with the increase in thiram concentration in the range of 240-2400 ppb, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 72 ppb.

A critical review of waste glass powder - Multiple roles of utilization in cement-based materials and construction products.

In light of concerns relating to improper waste disposal and resources preservation, reclamation of the discarded glass in construction materials had been extensively carried out since 1963. In the past decade, although more than 100 papers associated with the use of glass powder (GP) in the micron level scale were published, comprehensive review of all practical applications in cement-based materials and construction products is not available. This paper therefore provides a summary of the body of knowledge on the interaction and effects of using GP in cement-based and extended construction materials. This review concludes that GP is an innovative and promising eco-supplementary cementitious material. Beyond that, use of GP is demonstrated to be potentially beneficial as a precursor in geopolymer and suitable for manufacturing eco-cement, artificial lightweight aggregate and composite phase change material. The multiple applications of GP are seen as an important step towards waste glass recycling as a sustainable construction material and for the overall betterment of the industry.

Waste resources recycling in controlled low-strength material (CLSM): A critical review on plastic properties.

The exponential growth of waste generation is posing serious environmental issues and thus requires urgent management and recycling action to achieve green sustainable development. Controlled low-strength material (CLSM) is a highly flowable cementitious backfill material with self-consolidating properties. The CLSM efficiency during construction and final performance at the site depends on its plastic properties. Plastic properties are responsible for workability, pumpability, stability, and lateral pressure on adjacent soils. This paper presents a critical review to date on the use of waste materials and/or by-products and their impacts on the plastic properties of the CLSM. Extensive previous studies demonstrated that the basic properties and content of waste materials as well as the amount of water in the mix design, play a dominant role in determining the plastic properties of CLSM. The discussed plastic properties of CLSM include flowability, bleeding, segregation, and hardening time, which are found to be inter-related. Proper mix design adjustment to accommodate the use of waste materials is possible to produce sustainable CLSM with acceptable plastic properties. Additionally, the discussion and analysis presented in this paper could provide a basis for future research advances and the development of sustainable CLSM prepared with waste materials.