The program was very well accepted by surgeons, and achieved a decrease in both the consumption of carbapenems and in the number of MRB isolations. Multidisciplinary stewardship teams led by surgeons seem to be well received and able to better manage antibiotic prescription in surgery.Antibiotic stewardship programs optimize the use of antimicrobials to prevent the development of resistance and improve patient outcomes. In this prospective interventional study, a multidisciplinary team led by surgeons implemented a program aimed at shortening the duration of antibiotic treatment <7 days. The impact of the intervention on antibiotic consumption adjusted to bed-days and discharges, and the isolation of multiresistant bacteria (MRB) was also studied. Furthermore, the surgeons were surveyed regarding their beliefs and feelings about the program. Out of 1409 patients, 40.7% received antibiotic therapy. Treatment continued for over 7 days in 21.5% of cases, and, as can be expected, source control was achieved in only 48.8% of these cases. The recommendations were followed in 90.2% of cases, the most frequent being to withdraw the treatment (55.6%). During the first 16 months of the intervention, a sharp decrease in the percentage of extended treatments, with R According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development . The WorCarbapenem resistance has dramatically increased worldwide and poses a serious public health threat. In our setting, an increasing high level of carbapenem consumption, mostly related to urinary or intraabdominal infections, has been demonstrated , and a dThe compliance rates with the suggested duration of therapy in evidenced-based guidelines is low among the surgical community. The use of antibiotics in intra-abdominal infections has been found to be inappropriate in up to 74% of cases, and most of the violations are due to the excessive duration of said therapy ,13.The goals of this study were: (1) to decrease the rate of inappropriately prolonged antibiotic treatment in a general surgical service; (2) to assess the effect of the intervention on the consumption of carbapenems and other antibiotics; (3) to assess its effect on the prevalence of AMR in the Department of Surgery; and (4) to assess how the surgeons received the intervention.Out of 1409 patients evaluated, 573 received antibiotic therapy (40.7%). Of these, 123 underwent treatments for more than 7 days (21.5%), for which a 7-VINCut recommendation was issued. The most important reason that led to a prolonged antibiotic treatment was intraabdominal infection (80.5%). Among these cases, the main diagnostics were community or postoperative peritonitis (38.4%), hepato-biliary infection (36.4%), intraabdominal abscess (15.2%), diverticulitis (5.1%) and pancreatic infection (3.0%). An adequate source control was achieved in only 48.8% of these prolonged treatments, being incomplete or not achieved in the remaining cases.The antibiotics most frequently targeted by the intervention were piperacillin-tazobactam (37.4%), carbapenems (26.8%), linezolid (13%) and amoxicillin-clavulanate (10.6%).The issued recommendations are shown in 2 = 0.111, Spearman rho = −0.38   .Due to the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the second part of the Intervention Period (IP), this was split up into two segments of eight months. Comparing these two periods (IP1 and IP2), the hospital stays in the Department of Surgery decreased from 9032 to 5920 (34%), and admissions decreased from 1643 to 1364 (17%), which required an adjustment of the results.2 = 0.172; Spearman rho = −0.492; 95% CI −0.7–−0.2; p < 0.05)  (There were 92 prolonged treatments out of 351 patients having antibiotic treatment during the IP1 (26.2%) and 31 out of 222 in IP2 (14.0%). The percentage of prolonged treatments sharply decreased during IP1 (R < 0.05) , but kep = 0.68) .As most of the prolonged treatments came from the surgical emergency department, this flattening of the curve during IP2 could be due to differences in the timing and severity of the emergency cases during the pandemic.p = 0.574).Comparing both periods, no significant differences were observed in the type of diagnoses or the achievement of source control  with both intervention periods (IP1 and IP2), the consumption of antibiotics decreased, in particular during IP2, the period covering the final 8 months of the intervention . Table 2Comparing the pre-intervention and IP2 periods, the reduction was especially marked for first (ertapenem) and second-line carbapenems (imipenem-cilastatin and meropenem), going from 2.66 to 1.62 DDD/100 discharges and from 0.48 to 0.37 DDD/100 bed-days for ertapenem. The consumption of second-line carbapenems decreased even more, from 23.91 to 8.15 DDD/100 discharges, and from 4.34 to 1.87 DDD/100 bed-days. Regarding second-line carbapenems, there was a relative decrease in imipenem-cilastatin and an increase in meropenem due to changes in the antibiotics policy of the hospital.The incidence of multiresistant bacteria (MRB) in the Department of Surgery during the 16 months before and after the intervention was compared. The number of MRB isolations/discharges and MRB isolations/bed-days decreased by 41.1% and 37.2%, respectively, as shown in The whole surgery department participated in this study, in fact 94.1% of them believed that this program to be a most useful clinical tool. Importantly, over 43% of the surgical team stated that this perception would not change even if other medical doctors rather than surgeons, had participated in the study. However, 56.3% of the respondents considered that the intervention would be less well accepted without the involvement of surgeons in the ASP team.All those surveyed felt that surgeons should actively participate (64.7%) or lead (35.3%) these stewardship programs in surgery. Regarding the comments found in the electronic medical record, 88.2% of respondents welcomed them, and considered them to be beneficial to their clinical tasks. Only 6% considered the annotations to be an intrusion into their work. The personal percentage of adherence to the recommendations was deemed to be 84.2%. The main reasons for not following the recommendations were disagreement with the comments (35.7%), knowing the patient better (28.6%), and forgetting to make the changes (21.4%).Respondents considered the most effective ways of improving the program to be educational lectures on antibiotics in surgery, feed-back of stewardship results to providers, and discussion of all recommendations in the teams’ clinical rounds.Several authors have demonstrated that morbidity is not increased by a shortened course of antibiotics in intraabdominal infection, provided an adequate septic source control is achieved ,16,17,18Altogether, these data suggest that infectious complications are not improved by a long duration of therapy and that antibiotics may be safely discontinued in a period of time as short as 4 days after an appropriate source control. Longer duration of antibiotic therapy for intraabdominal infection has been even associated with an increased risk of mortality .Current guidelines ,26,27, rIn spite of these recommendations, Gorecki et al. found that antibiotics were used inappropriately in 74% of cases of prophylactic and therapeutic administration of antibiotics in surgery. The main reason for inappropriate administration of antibiotics in surgical practice in two-thirds of the cases was excessive duration .Clostridium difficile infections, reduce adverse effects, hospital stay and associated costs [Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (ASPs) have been described as “a coherent set of actions designed to use antimicrobials responsibly” . A substed costs ,31.ASP teams usually include multidisciplinary experts adequately trained in antibiotic prescribing and stewardship, such as infectious diseases specialists, clinical microbiologists and pharmacists . HoweverIt has been argued that surgeons, who actively engage in antimicrobial agent prescription, should play a major role in the establishment and support of ASPs . These sLess than half of the patients admitted to the surgical wards and included in this study were on antibiotic treatments. Of them, one in five patients had prolonged treatments lasting for over one week. As can be expected, the infections requiring extended treatments were mostly peritonitis or hepato-biliary infections, with an adequate source control achieved in fewer than 50% of cases. Adequacy of source control is crucial to performing short courses of antibiotics in surgical sepsis ,32,33,34The main finding of the present study is that a prospective audit combined with a persuasive intervention and feedback to the prescriber can reduce the duration of antibiotic treatments in surgery. It is noteworthy that the results of the intervention were much more successful in the first half of the study than in the second containing the COVID-19 pandemic. This can be due to two reasons. First, the COVID-19 lockdown led to a change in the profile of the patients presenting at the surgical emergency departments (ED). Some of the most frequent emergency surgical conditions showed reductions in their incidence up to 60%  , probablSecond, due to the sudden and extraordinary care load in the hospital during March and April 2020 and the illness of one of the leading team members (with COVID-19), the number of weekly interventions reduced and became irregular. Improvement of the data was slowed, although no worsening was observed. This seems to confirm that continuous stewardship is necessary to maintain good results. At least until such a time as these interventions became a routine part of patient management.The program also seems to suggest a reduction the consumption of certain antibiotics known to select MR bacteria and the incidence of its isolation, although the study was underpowered to demonstrate those items. However, a reduction of around 50% was observed for both, first and second-line carbapenems, during the period of the study. It should be noted that adherence rates to recommendations related to carbapenem use in ASP interventions have been reported as being not well received .Pseudomonas aeruginosa to meropenem exceeds 20% in the United States and in Spain [Klebsiella pneumoniae, the data have grown considerably in recent years, reaching 4% in Spain, 8% in the United States and up to 36% in Italy in 2015 [The misuse and overuse of carbapenems, has been associated with the surge of multidrug-resistant or extensively drug-negative Gram-negative bacteria . In surgin Spain . In the  in 2015 .The ultimate goal of an antibiotic stewardship program is to decrease the number of infections produced by mutiresistant bacteria. Although from our data it seems that this has been achieved, we observed a low number of isolations which precluded any statistical analysis. From our present data we are only able to show the variation in the percentage of multiresistant bacteria isolated.This non-restrictive intervention led by surgeons achieved a good level of approval by providers. Our survey’s results indicate that the high rate of acceptance of ASP recommendations can be related to the presence of a surgeon on this particular ASP team. As acceptance of ASP interventions has been found to be lower among surgeons than by other medical practitioners ,45, the Interestingly enough, some authors found that recommendations to decrease antibiotic exposure, interventions involving carbapenem use, and recommendations to de-escalate or discontinue were associated with lower odds of adherence to ASP interventions ,45.Factors that have been associated with increased acceptance included the presence of the ASP physician during rounds, making recommendations verbally , and by A successful ASP should focus on collaboration among the various professionals within a healthcare institution including prescribing clinicians. In this context, surgeons with knowledge of surgical infections should be directly involved in the improvement projects related to infection in the Departments of Surgery. It is likely that antibiotic guidelines and stewardship programs developed by multidisciplinary teams including surgeons will achieve optimal adherence .However, as it has been shown in the study, the benefits of improvement actions may take some time to be realized, as changes are often difficult to implement in health institutions. According to the Normalization Process Theory , patientThis work has several limitations. First, half of the study covered the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a concomitant decrease in admissions to surgical units. An attempt has been made to compensate for this by using the DDD per bed-days and per surgical discharge, which in our opinion adjusts data and allows for comparison between both periods. Second, due to the lack of information on variability and dispersion of data, we were unable to statistically demonstrate a change in antibiotic consumption related to the intervention, although we found differences that seem clinically relevant. It is also difficult to calculate accurately its effect on MR bacteria isolation, given its low incidence. These results, although drawn from a single department, may well represent the actual effect of non-restrictive stewardship programs in surgery.To visualize the effect of the intervention, for some analysis the study period was divided into two 8-month periods: Intervention Period 1 (IP1), from May to December 2019, and Intervention Period 2 (IP2), from January to August 2020, as shown in The 7VINCut project started in 2019 at a national level to shorten the duration of antibiotic treatment in surgery. Secondary objectives were to reduce the consumption of carbapenems in surgical services, and to reduce the consumption of other antibiotics with ecological impact . 7VINCut promotes the establishment of multidisciplinary teams  to adapt, in a non-punitive way, antibiotic therapy with the aim of reducing antibiotic treatments to below 7 days in surgical services. Although the intervention focused on the duration of antibiotic treatment, the stewardship team added recommendations on the microbiological appropriateness of the treatments and the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, especially carbapenems. Before implementation of the program in the hospital, a series of educational initiatives related to antibiotic management were introduced in the Department of Surgery. The prescriptions analyzed were either pathogen directed or empirical broad spectrum antibiotic treatments. Before making the ASP recommendations, the microbiological results were reviewed, when available. The appropriateness of the empirical antibiotics prescribed according to the hospital antibiotic guideline was also reviewed.The prospective study was conducted between May 2019 and August 2020. All patients hospitalized in the General Surgery Service were prospectively analyzed weekly. A computerized alert allowed the 7VINCut team to identify those patients whose antibiotic treatment lasted longer than 7 days. The team met to individually analyze each of these cases, concluding with a written recommendation in the electronic medical record of each patient. The available recommendations were: withdraw, maintain, de-escalate, broaden, change route, optimize dose, no recommendation. The recommendations were discussed the same day in the General Surgery grand round and implemented if deemed necessary. The 7VINCut program provided educational suggestions for each recommendation made, which were subsequently discussed by the group of surgeons, so it can be considered to be a continuous learning intervention. Adherence to the recommendations was recorded 48 h later by the 7VINCut team.The main outcome evaluated was the percentage of patients subjected to more than 7 days of antibiotic therapy. To analyze the results of this section, the two Intervention Periods have been used (IP1 and IP2). Variables such as diagnosis of infection, quality of control of infectious focus, use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, route of administration, microbiological adequacy and the percentage of patients subjected to more than 7 days of antibiotic therapy have been analyzed.®). The consumption in the units that do not generate hospital stays, such as the emergency room, outpatient consultations, day hospital and outpatient dispensing area, were not considered.Comparative study of antimicrobial use during the eight months before the program implementation (PP2) and during the Intervention Periods (IP1 and IP2). The antimicrobials and routes of administration were selected according to the main objectives of the 7-VINCut program: reduction of the duration of treatments, de-escalation (or spectrum reduction), reduction of carbapenem use, and sequencing of IV to oral therapy. Thus, the considered antimicrobials were: piperacillin-tazobactam (IV), imipenem, meropenem, ertapenem (IV), linezolid (IV and O). The consumption list was obtained through the economic management module of the Pharmacy Service (FarmatoolsThe WHO definition of DDD (assumed average maintenance dose per day for a drug used for its main indication in adults), and the WHO classification of DDD of each antimicrobial were used . The DDDA comparison of consumption between DDD/100 bed-days and DDD/100 discharges, was made, according to Collado et al. . This waThis section is based in the comparison of the incidence of MRB in the department of surgery during the 16 months before the program implementation  and the intervention period (IP). The definition for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria which we used was: bacteria ‘resistant to three or more antimicrobial classes’, according to the definitions of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) .E. coli, Klebsiella spp. and Pseudomonas spp.). The overall number of MRB per hospital stays and MRB per discharge were used for comparison. Due to the low number of isolations, only the variation in the percentage of multiresistant bacteria isolation is shown.The number of MRB was retrieved from the digital records of the microbiology department. Only the organisms considered to be relevant in this surgical department were analyzed (https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/9GPNTTZ) was circulated via email and WhatsApp to the members of the Department of Surgery. The survey remained open for 20 days. The anonymous questionnaire contained 11 questions aimed at evaluating the beliefs, feelings and suggestions of surgeons about the 7-VINCut intervention.At the end of the Intervention Period, a link to a Web-based survey ” criteria.Data was entered into a computerized database that was analyzed using the IBM SPSS program . To analyze the relationship between two categorical variables, the chi-square test has been used. Statistical significance was defined at p <0.05. To investigate the temporal evolution of patients on antibiotic treatment with duration over 7 days a linear regression model and a Spearman correlation were used. Since we have worked with aggregated data, the results on antibiotic consumption and MRB isolation have been presented by the percentage of variation in the use of each antibiotic and in the bacteria isolation, not being possible to carry out further statistical comparisons. The results of the survey for the internal evaluation of the program are expressed in percentages of the total answers obtained.This 7-VINCut stewardship program achieved a reduction in antibiotic treatment lasting over 7 days. Moreover, this was related with a reduction in the consumption of targeted antibiotics in a General Surgery Service, in particular with carbapenems, and with a reduction in resistant bacteria. Multidisciplinary teams including surgeons seem to be well received by providers, and effective in improving the management of antibiotics in surgical services.


The current research paper is focused on the experimental investigation of features of chemical admixtures  utilizing in reinforced spun concrete structures. For the sake of comparison, the results of studying the effects of chemical admixtures on physical and mechanical properties on vibrated and spun concrete are provided. As a separate part of spun concrete products, the supporting poles of overhead power lines are introduced. The results obtained indicate, that the positive effect of chemical admixtures for spun and vibrated concrete is most pronounced at an early age of concrete. The effective amount of chemical admixtures for spun concrete is 0.15% of cement mass when formaldehyde resin ACF-3M and 1% of cement mass when superplasticizers C-3 and ‘Dofen’ are used. Moreover, the brief review about the reinforced spun concrete members is provided. In transport, power engineering, industrial and other constructions, prefabricated reinforced concrete structures are often used. These structures include spun reinforced concrete members. These members are the foundation poles, lampposts, the supporting poles of overhead power lines, power distribution structures, the supporting structures of railway power lines, the structural elements of bridges, viaducts and seaports, as well as low power wind turbine towers and other supporting structures for general use, etc. Some typical cases of using reinforced spun concrete members in engineering practice are given in Due to their construction peculiarities, most of spun concrete members are of an annular cross section. The structures with this cross section are lightweight, while their strength and stiffness are the same in all cross section directions, their bending strength is very high and they can withstand higher loads than reinforced members made by using vibration.In 1907, in Europe (Germany), the first centrifuges for making hollow spun concrete elements were made. This modern technology of spun concrete production was first used for making the supports for overhead power lines [In the former Soviet Union, after World War II, the production of spun reinforced concrete supporting poles for power lines of 110, 220, 300 and 500 kV grew tenfold [In the USA, the use of spun reinforced concrete members was also closely associated with the electric power companies, but began sometime later, in about 1960. The production and use of these structures in power transmission systems had increased considerably in this country since the mid-1970s. The “state-of-art” of the technology of spun concrete poles for applying the electrical transmission structures in USA was described by W. Oliphant and C. J. Wong [At that time, rapid industrial development increased the need for electric power and, consequently, intensified the construction of overhead power lines. Due to their great strength and small weight, as well as durability, spun reinforced concrete members were widely used for electric power transmission purposes. As a result, most of the European countries and the USA unified the supporting poles used in electric power transmission, while their technology was greatly improved by using the innovative and most effective equipment ,4,5.Further advance of spun reinforced concrete members’ production and use, which was closely associated with the improvement of their production technology and widening the area of their application, took part in the last decade of the 20th century. At that time, the plants producing reinforced concrete members were reconstructed by introducing more advanced and faster production lines, though the production process based on centrifugation remained the same. The survey of the development of spun prestressed concrete poles  is presented by F. Fouad, D. Sherman and R. Werner .Now, large numbers of spun reinforced concrete structures, particularly those used for making the supporting poles of overhead power lines, are produced in Canada, USA, France, Germany and in some republics of former Soviet Union ,8,9.In Lithuania, the studies of physical and mechanical properties on reinforced spun concrete have been performed since 1959 at the base of the former Vilnius Civil Engineering Institute . These studies mostly were focused on experimental and theoretical research on the supporting poles of overhead power lines and communication systems ,12,13,14Recently new materials for reinforced concrete structures’ production, such as fine aggregates and various chemical admixtures, which improve the properties of concrete  are used. Moreover, stronger steel reinforcement combined with composite non-metallic reinforcement , was also used for making hybrid (tubular steel and spun concrete) members (poles), etc. ,16,17,18Current investigation is focused on the features of chemical admixtures  utilizing in reinforced spun concrete structures. The results of experimental study about the effects of plasticizing chemical admixtures on physical and mechanical properties on vibrated and spun concrete members are provided. Moreover, the brief review about the reinforced spun concrete members is provided.Spun reinforced concrete structures are made by using centrifugation equipment based on the principle of spinning the product being formed. In the process of production, concrete mixture and reinforcement placed into steel molds are spun in them, following a particular operation mode.Roller-type and belt-drive type, as well as axial centrifuges are used in technological lines. As an intermediate option, the integrated roller belt-drive type centrifuges can be used , though Due to the production peculiarities in spinning, the members of annular cross section are mostly used. However, they can also be of other forms, e.g., rectangular, square, hexagonal and octagonal forms, and usually have a cylindrical opening in the center.t = 3–4 min.Speed 1. A tubular element is formed at the specified spinning rate of the steel mold, not allowing the concrete mix to run out. The spinning time is t = 1–2 min.Speed 2 and 3. Concrete compacting and exceed water removing are begun. The spinning rate of the mold is increased until the design rate. The spinning time is t = 10–15 min.Speed 4. The concrete mix is compacted at the specified design spinning rate. The spinning time is The centrifuging process is performed in stages by gradually varying (controlling) the spinning rate of a steel mold filled with a concrete mix as follows:Each stage is characterized by the particular spinning speed of the product, which depends on the product’s dimensions and the time required for maintaining the selected speed. While the spinning time of a reinforced concrete member in the steel mold depends on the initial water–cement ratio Mode of centrifuging ;The maximum pressing pressure in the mold, depending on the spinning rate of the mold and the product’s dimensions;The amount of water, remaining in the unhardened concrete after centrifugation;The size and the form of the elements ;The number of the placing operations of the concrete mix in the mold.Generally the production of spun reinforced concrete members depends on a number of technological factors as follows:The quality of the spun concrete largely depends on the time when the maximum spinning rate of the steel mold could be achieved and the time of this mode of operation. When the spinning rate of the mold is further increased, the concrete, acted upon by the centrifugal forces, is closely retained against the mold’s walls. As a result, heavier concrete mix components move closer to the mold’s walls, while light components, such as water and contaminants are pressed out to the inner surface of the product, i.e., towards the rotation axis. The inner part of the product becomes smooth and the water found on it flows out through the holes at the ends of the spun mold. If the maximum rate of the mold is reached too quickly due to rapid pressing out of the water from the concrete mix, the grout can be washed out. Then, the inner surface of concrete can become too coarse or ‘a heavy’ aggregate fraction (crushed stone) can be observed on the surface of the exterior layer.Compared to the similar cases of vibrated concrete, spun concrete has its specific structure and texture. It has non-uniform structure and texture per wall thickness of the element ,20,21. AThe spun concrete members are acted upon by the centrifugal force, which is strongly pressing the concrete mix near the mold’s wall. The pressure compacting the mix, which is caused by the action of the centrifugal force, is not distributed uniformly. This results in a larger water–cement ratio  product . HoweverIn the process of centrifuging a concrete mix, water filtration from one layer to another causes the formation of microcapillaries in the concrete, which are directed in the radial direction from the outer layer of the mix to its inner layer. These capillaries are combined, while the element’s interior walls have the capillaries decreasing the strength of the concrete mix. Their number depends on the initial water–cement ratio The question arises, what spinning rate and pressing pressure associated is optimal. The tests made by  allowed 2) and The pressing pressure of a concrete mix can be expressed by the Equation (1) :(1)p=γ ωAccording to I. Achverdov , under t3 of concrete (kg); 3 of concrete (kg) and According to M. A. Reut , the strThe verification study, conducted by the author of this article (R. Kliukas) confirmed the appropriateness of the above formula. The experiments were performed under factory conditions, to compare the strength of the vibrated and spun concrete. For this purpose, the concrete mix, consisting of Using a special prism shaped forms (in addition to the main mold of the product), seven vibrated concrete prisms and 12 spun concrete prisms, as well as a 22 m-long cylindrical pole with 560 mm outer diameter, were made of this mix. All the products were hardened by heating them in the induction furnace.The prism specimens were tested by loading them with a short-term axial compressive load. The experiment has shown that after 28 days of hardening the mean strength of the vibrated prisms’ concrete was Calculating by the above mentioned Formula (2), the strength of the vibrated and spun concrete prisms was obtained Thus, the obtained strength of the spun concrete prisms is by 1.61 times (61%) higher than the strength of the vibrated concrete prisms, while the results obtained allow the researchers to confirm the suitability of Formula (2) for determining the relative prism strength of vibrated and spun concrete.The structural members of reinforced spun concrete have multiple advantages. As mentioned above, due to the specific method of production (centrifugation) the concrete in the rotated mold is acted upon by centrifugal forces and pressed against the mold walls. Thus, the concrete is compacted greatly and is much (1.3–1.8 times) stronger than the concrete of the same composition, compacted using other methods ,19,20,21The spun concrete structures of annular cross section ‘work’ well under torque as opposed to the elements of rectangular or double tee cross sections . FurtherSince the reinforced spun concrete members are usually of annular cross section, the moment of inertia of their cross section is 3–6 times larger than that of solid elements of circular cross section of the same area. Therefore, structural members made of reinforced spun concrete have much higher strength and stiffness under bending and twisting loads, while their strength under compressive loads is also significantly better ,28,29,30Reinforced spun concrete members of annular cross section also have other benefits related to their structural use. For example, they are ideally suited for supports of overhead power lines a,b sinceVarious admixtures are added to concrete mixes to improve the properties of concrete products. They are divided into mineral and chemical admixtures. Different countries  have their own standards and regulations, as well as their classifications and use ,34,35.Generally, chemical admixtures can controlling physical and mechanical properties of concrete mixtures , controlling the kinetics of hardening of concrete mixtures  or controlling physical and mechanical properties of the concrete stone .It should be noted that there are a considerable amount of papers on the effect of various chemical admixtures on physical and mechanical properties of vibrated concrete ,36,37,38This paper analyzed the effect of plasticizing chemical admixtures on physical and mechanical properties of the members of reinforced spun concrete. The tests under laboratory and factory conditions, for studying the effect of chemical admixtures on the physical and mechanical properties of vibrated and spun concrete, were performed. Superplasticizers, C-3 and ‘Dofen’, as well as the formaldehyde resin ACF-3M, were used in testing. The selected chemical admixtures are perfect for cold climate countries and are widely used in concrete factories.The superplasticizer C-3 is a synthetic product based on the sulphonated naphthalene formaldehyde resin. The superplasticizer ‘Dofen’ is an oligomeric compound based on a sodium salt and naphthalene sulfonic acid. The acetone–formaldehyde resin ACF-3M is a condensation product of acetone and formaldehyde.Research on spun polymer cement concrete in Lithuania was initiated by R. Garalevičius . He demoResearchers A. Kudzys, R. Vadlūga, V. Drobelis and R. Kliukas carried out the study on vibrated concrete mixes, which included chemical admixtures C-3, ‘Dofen’ and ACF-3M . Here 24The tests have shown that the above-mentioned chemical admixtures allow for reducing the water–cement ratio  for a vibrated concrete mix used in concrete production was 0.1% for formaldehyde resin ACF-3M and 0.6% for superplasticizers C-3 and ‘Dofen’.The results of researches ,12, inspThe centrifugation process began with distributing the concrete mix over an annular cross section. Therefore, the initial spinning rate of the centrifuge was about 100 rev/min. It should be noted that at the lower rate of spinning, the centrifugal force can be smaller than the force of gravity, while the local slides of the concrete mix are possible. Then, the spinning rate was gradually increased to the specified design rate, when the concrete was compacted. The complete centrifuging process of the specimens was performed in four stages. In The curing of spun concrete was performed in the induction furnace and its total duration was 9 h: curing at ambient conditions (2 h); temperature increasing up to 75 °C (2 h); accelerated curing (3 h) and cooling to ambient temperature (2 h).When conducting the research, the testing specimens were divided based on the effect of chemical admixtures on physical and mechanical properties of concrete: three-fourths of them had the same shape and included superplasticizers C-3 and ‘Dofen’, as well as resins ACF-3M, while the remaining specimens were the admixture-free control specimens.Sixty prism specimens of annular cross section cut out of spun members, twenty-four specimens of annular cross section and vibrated control cubes were used in testing the effect of chemical admixtures .Prism specimens and specimens of annular cross section were subjected to the action of the short-term axial compressive load. The specimens before and after the tests are shown in The statistical analysis of experimental data, evaluated by average, standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) is presented in The test results confirm that the positive effect of admixtures on the mechanical properties of spun concrete was more pronounced in the case of vibrated concrete at its early age. Moreover, for spun concrete, this effect was less noticeable as compared to vibrated concrete and decreased with time. It was also determined that the effectiveness of the admixture ‘Dofen’, based on the strength of spun concrete, had decreased from 43% to 12% during the first 28 days .The effect of chemical admixtures on the mechanical properties of ‘old’ (>100 days) spun concrete under axial compression was assessed using the dimensionless coefficient stograms a–c.Based on the data presented in As can be seen from Despite higher strength of spun concrete with an admixture (as compared to admixture-free concrete), it was significantly more deformable once it reached the age of 100 days. This was confirmed by the ratios of longitudinal strains of concrete with an admixture Admixtures had a positive effect on the conditions of the concrete structure formation during its curing. This effect was evident not only from quicker formation of cement stone structure, but also from fewer microdefects, which normally emerge in concrete curing, in its newly formed structure. In loading ordinary concrete without any admixtures, more serious microdefects of its structure caused by curing and their later autogenous healing show trouble (fault) symptoms. Therefore, the strength of this concrete was lower than the strength of concrete made with admixtures. Moreover, admixtures increase the density of concrete and its resistance to aggressive environments.The effectiveness of chemical admixtures depended on a number of technological factors. These factors might be considered the most important of them: a class of the concrete mix according to its workability and power intensity of its curing. The use of chemical admixtures for making spun concrete had some peculiarities, depending on the technologies of making (compacting) the elements, taking into consideration the fact that in centrifuging a part of chemical admixtures were washed out with the water. The effectiveness of chemical admixtures should be determined, depending on the particular type of concrete and the technology of its production.The research results showed that using of such chemical admixtures as superplasticizers C-3, ‘Dofen’ and formaldehyde resin ACF-3M was an effective means of improving the properties of both vibrated and spun concrete. However, the superplasticizers ‘Dofen’ and C-3 had a more positive effect on the physical and mechanical properties of vibrated rather than spun concrete compared to the resin admixture ACF-3M. Using of C-3 admixture requires more strict technological conditions because this admixture reduces the time prior to the beginning of cement setting almost twice.The positive effect of chemical admixtures for spun and vibrated concrete was most pronounced at an early age of concrete. Moreover, for spun concrete, this effect was less noticeable (by about 10%) as compared to vibrated concrete and did not depend on their plasticizing properties.The effective amount of chemical admixtures for vibrated concrete was 0.1% of cement mass when formaldehyde resin ACF-3M and 0.6% of cement mass when superplasticizers C-3 and ‘Dofen’ were used. However, the appropriate amount of admixtures for spun concrete was larger, making, respectively, 0.15% of cement mass using formaldehyde resin ACF-3M and 1% of cement mass when superplasticizers C-3 and ‘Dofen’ were used. This was explained by the fact that about 25–30% of the amount of admixtures was washed out together with the water flowed out in the process of centrifugation.The results of the performed investigation allowed us to discuss them and draw the conclusions as follows:


Additionally, in the paper, we report some different kinetic data obtained from different experimental parameters of temperature, catalyst and substrate concentrations conducted for DMAB dehydrogenation in water catalyzed with PtRu@VC nanocatalyst.In this paper, we present platinum/ruthenium nanoparticles supported on Vulcan carbon (PtRu@VC) as a nanocatalyst for the dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane (DMAB) in aqueous solution under mild conditions. PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was fabricated using the alcohol-reduction techniques which is a facile and effective method. The prepared PtRu@VC nanocatalyst exhibited a good stabilization and an effective catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution from the DMAB dehydrogenation in water at room temperature. The composition of PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was investigated using different analytical techniques inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A monodispersedPt/Ru metals distributions on VC  were revealed by TEM and HR-TEM analyses. The mean particle size of PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was found to be 3.15 ± 0.76 nm. XPS analysis for PtRu@VC nanocatalyst showed that almost Pt-Ru metals were found to be the metallic state. Catalytic experimental results showed that PtRu@VC nanocatalyst has a high catalytic activity with an excellent turn-over frequency (TOF Nowadays, the most important problem to be overcome in hydrogen technologies is the availability of safe and efficient hydrogen storage materials12. Being in too low density is one of the most challenge issued to be overcome for the liquefaction and transportation of hydrogen at mild conditions. Therefore, the importance of chemicals to use effectively for hydrogen storage applications is increased day by day4. For this purpose, various chemicals have been tested to store and transport hydrogen. Several boron derivatives such as sodium borohydride (NaBH4), hydrazine (N2H4), ammonia-borane (NH3BH3) have been investigated for this purpose. Additionally, alkyls, some magnesium/calcium borohydrides, mesoporous/microporous materials have been also applied as solid hydrogen storage materials24. The chemical-based boron derivatives and nitrogen have many more advantages compared to these chemicals due to being a high storage capacity of hydrogen. These boron derivatives and nitrogen-based chemicals exhibit unique charge/discharge feature28. The material-based boron and nitrogen have features like porous that facilitate the hydrogen release at the room conditions. DMAB is a boron-based chemical, one of amine-borane derivate, has a (CH3)2NHBH3 chemical formula. Hitherto, several studies30 have been conducted relevantto DMAB using a suitable catalyst at mild conditions. The results of studies revealed that DMAB can act as a hydrogen source through its hydrogenous reaction in case of using a suitable catalyst at the mild condition34.Nanomaterials have been using in many different areas such as organic reactions, sensors, fuel cells, water treatment, hydrogen technologies, 35. DMAB is present in a stable form at mild conditions and its hydraulic dehydrogenationcan not occur spontaneously. In the case of using 1 mol DMAB results in 3 mol hydrogen gas through the hydrolytic dehydrogenation reaction of DMAB with a suitable catalyst at room conditions. However, this reaction results in 1 mol hydrogen gas, using 1 mol DMAB, by using organic solvents at the same conditions38. Table 41. Literature studies showed that the catalysts based metal nanoparticles can be dispersed aquatic solution that increases the number of active atoms, several active sides on the surface catalysts and that results in the increased catalytic activity of DMAB at requested medium conditions49. Therefore, effectively using metal-based nanomaterials as catalysts for the DMAB dehydrogenation reaction have been proven and the new metal-based catalyst must be developed for DMAB dehydrogenation.The water solubility of DMAB is high at room temperature that is an advantage for DMAB hydraulic dehydrogenationIn this paper, we introduce a new platinum/ruthenium nanoparticles decorated on Vulcan carbon (PtRu@VC) as a nanocatalyst for DMAB dehydrogenation in water. In the paper, the chemical composition of PtRu@VC nanocatalystwas highlighted by advanced analytical techniques including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (P-XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Further, some experimental studies and their kinetic findings for the prepared nanocatalyst in DMAB dehydrogenation in water were performed. The experimental results were shown the good distribution of PtRu alloy  and Ru(0)) nanoparticles on VC support material. The schematic representation of DMAB dehydrogenation in an aquatic medium is given in Scheme 2 g−1. This very large surface area provides more active sites on it. In addition, the electrical conductivity of VC approximately 2.77 Scm−1 makes it easy to electron transfer at room temperature. These properties make Vulcan carbon a favorable support material in DMAB dehydrogenation. Another reason why vulcanic carbon is preferred in DMAB dehydrogenation is its high stability. Moreover, PtRu bimetallic nanoparticles showed a very good distribution on Vulcan carbon51. As results of the conducted experimental findings and calculation of kinetic studies, Vulcan carbon-supported Pt-Ru nanoparticles can catalyze in the dehydrogenation of DMAB with a record activity ) at high conversion (>99%) under mild conditions (at 298 K andunder air). This new superior nanocatalyst enables facile catalyst recovery and very high stability against agglomeration, and leaching, which make it highly recycle catalyst  in the dehydrogenation of DMAB in water under the room conditions.The surface area of the Vulcan carbon is about 250 m52. Briefly, a solution containing 50 mL water/ethyl alcohol mixture, 2.5 mmol Vulcan carbon, and 0.25 mmolK2PtCl4 and 0.25 mmol RuCl3∙3H2O was prepared. The resulting solution was refluxed at 90 °C for 2 h. On the other hand, in two separate experiments, 0.25 mmol solution (Pt from K2PtCl4 and Ru from RuCl3∙3H2O) is mixed with Vulcan carbon. The resulting solutions were refluxed at 90 °C for 2 h. The obtained PtRu@VC, Pt@VC and Ru@VC nanocatalysts were filtered and washed several times with water and stored for further usages.The fabrication of platinum/ruthenium nanoparticles supported on Vulcan carbon bimetallic nanocatalyst was carried out using an alcohol reduction process as described elsewhere54.Three experimental parameters were performed to detect the effect of PtRu@VC nanocatalystfor DMAB dehydrogenation in water. These parameters were temperature, PtRu@VC nanocatalystand substrate (DMAB) concentrations. Temperature studies were performed with different temperatures in the range of 293–308 K using a 5 mL mixture including PtRu@VC nanocatalyst and DMAB substrate . Substrate studies were carried out to detect the effect of DMAB concentration in the range of 25–100 mM containing PtRu@VC nanocatalyst at room temperature. The catalyst concentration studies were conducted with different PtRu@VC nanocatalystconcentrations in the range of 0.59–1.19 mM containing DMAB substrate  at room temperature. The temperature experimental results and Eyring/Arrhenius plots were used to calculate kinetic calculations of DMAB dehydrogenation in water including PtRu@VC nanocatalyst0.40Ru0.60 (1.56% wtPt and 1.20% wtRu loadings correspond to 7.99 μmol Pt and 11.87 μmol Ru) by ICP-OES. This ICP-OES value was used to calculate all the nanocatalyst concentrations in the kinetic studies. To find the effects of the support material on the formation of nanocatalyst, firstly, a solution was prepared non-including VC and an agglomeration was observed in the resulting solution. This solution including Pt2+/Ru3+and chloride (Cl−) ions. It can be said that the only chloride ion isn’t enough to stabilize these nanoparticles. The same solution but including VC was prepared and the stabilization of the nanoparticles was achieved not seen any agglomeration and precipitation. That results reveal the stabilization effects of VC as a stabilizer materials. We can say PtRu alloy metals were stabilized by VC support materials. The reduction Pt(II) and Ru(III) ions into Pt(0) and Ru(0) metallic states were achieved by using DMAB as a reducing agent. The changing solution color from light brown to dark brown showed the reduction of these ions to their metallic state.Devices used for characterization are provided in Supporting Information. To prepare PtRu@VCbimetallic and Pt@VC, Ru@VC monometallic nanocatalysts, the alcohol/reduction technique was used using Vulcan carbon as a support material at room conditions. The molar composition of the prepared PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was found to be PtThe chemical dispersions of PtRu alloy nanoparticles on VC support material were investigated by TEM analysis as given in Fig. 7/2-4f5/2 and Ru (0) 3p3/2-3p1/256. And some peaks belong to Pt (II) and Ru (III) at 72.3–75.9 eV and 466.2–485.3 eV seen in Fig. 2O3 and RuO2 on the surface of PtRu@VC nanocatalyst during the sample preparation process for XPS analysis56.The metallic formation of Pt (0) and Ru (0) nanoparticles, their oxidation states and surface compositions were also investigated by applying XPS analysis at room conditions. The XPS analysis results are given in Fig. 57. The lattice parameter of the PtRu @ VC nanocatalyst was calculated as 3.453 Å with the Bragg equation. The reason for this decrease is that Pt combines with the smaller Ru than itself and forms an alloy. The crystal structure and morphology for PtRu@VC nanocatalyst were investigated using P-XRD method. The P-XRD analysis results are given in Fig. In the literature, the atomic lattice parameter of pure Ptnanometals is 3.925 Å6. The catalytic activities of PtRu@VC nanocatalysttogether with its monometallic (Pt@VC and Ru@VC) counterparts  were investigated the catalytic dehydrogenation of DMAB in the water at room temperature and their results are presented in Fig. Several experimental studies were performed to detect the effects of PtRu@VC nanocatalyst in DMAB dehydrogenation in water. The experimental set up used in the studies was used as given in our previous study2 volume was increased with increased PtRu@VC nanocatalyst concentrations. After these experimental studies, a plot of ln[PtRu] versus ln  was drawn using data obtained from Fig. 2 = 0.93064 value. From Fig. The produced hydrogen gas volume obtained from experiments conducted with the different PtRu@VC nanocatalyst at room temperature is given in Fig. kinitial) and the drawn plot was found to be a linear graph as seen in Fig. 2 = 0.97089. The evaluations of these data showed that the catalytic dehydrogenation of DMAB catalyzed with PtRu@VC nanocatalyst conducted with different DMAB concentrations was compatible with the 0.77 order-equation  that value implies this catalyst is very effective in the catalytic dehydrogenation of DMAB in water under room conditions compared the other tested catalyst for this important catalytic reaction . When calculating the initial TOFinitial value, the number of moles of the nanocatalyst was determined by considering ICP-OES value. When calculating catalyst concentrations, not only metal atoms on the surface but also all-metal atoms (both surface and interior) were taken into account. Therefore, the concentration expression used herein should be considered as a measure of percent metal loading rather than a real concentration using surface atoms.The experimental results obtained from the different temperatures in a range of 298–308 K are given in Fig. 59. The activation energy (Ea), activation enthalpy (ΔH) and activation entropy (ΔS) of catalytic dehydrogenation of DMAB in water were found as 37.36 kJ/mol, 66.51 kJ/mol and −9.41 J/(mol × K), respectively. The ln  graph corresponding to 1/T drawn using the experimental data in Fig. 2 = 0.95860). Assuming that the activation parameters calculated from the macroscopic kinetic data given above are relevant to the most critical activation step in the decomposition of DMAB, one can argue that the positive magnitude of the apparent activation enthalpy and the negative value of apparent activation entropy imply the presence of an associative mechanism at the transition state.Using experimental results, kinetic data, Eyring and Arrhenius equations, activation parameters of the catalytic dehydrogenation of DMAB in water catalyzed with PtRu@VC nanocatalyst were calculated. The results are given in Fig. 61.Mercury poisoning test was also performed to determine the catalytic activity of catalytic dehydrogenation of DMAB in the study. For this purpose, mercury was added to the DMAB substrate and a decrease in DMAB catalytic reaction performance was observed. Mercury poisoning test results showed that PtRu@VC nanocatalyst is a water-dispersible and heterogeneous catalyst for DMAB dehydrogenation in water2 gas obtained by these experiments for the PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was obtained as a percentage. These values found as given in Fig. th run. With these results, it was concluded that PtRu@VC nanocatalyst obtained for DMAB dehydrogenation reaction in the aqueous medium had a complementary effect. Table initial values that are tried for DMAB dehydrogenation in water. Compared to these catalysts, the PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was found to have the highest TOFinitial value among other heterogeneous catalysts. It can be said that the VC substrate is stabilized by PtRu alloy nanometals and the increase in the number of active sites formed on the surface of the catalyst causes this result.The catalytic life of the PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was tested by recycling experiments. When only the solution containing mass PtRunanometals was added to the solution medium containing the DMAB substrate, low catalytic activity was observed. The catalytic recycle experiments were tested by 10 runs to determine the stability of PtRu@VC nanocatalyst in DMAB dehydrogenation in the water at room conditions. A simple catalytic recycle experiment can be summarized as follows; At the end of an experiment whose reaction was finished, an amount of DMAB substrate equal to the amount of DMAB initially taken was added to the reaction medium and the DMAB catalytic reaction was re-started. This procedure was repeated ten times. The amount of H2PtCl4, RuCl3 ∙ 3H2O, and VC. The morphological and surface distribution structure of PtRu@VC nanocatalyst were elucidated using various advanced analytical techniques such as TEM, XPS, and XRD. The mean particle size of the obtained PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was calculated as 3.15 ± 0.76 nmby TEM analyzes. Catalytic experiments have shown that the PtRu@VC nanocatalyst is highly effective in the DMAB dehydrogenation in water, even at low temperatures. The catalytic activity of the PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was compared with some catalysts found in the literature and found to have a high TOFinitialvalue (248.77 min−1 or 14926.2 h−1) at high conversion (>99%) compared to other catalysts tested at room conditions. Mercury poisoning test results showed that PtRu@VC nanocatalyst is a water-dispersible and heterogeneous catalyst for DMAB dehydrogenation in water. The activation energy (Ea), activation enthalpy (ΔH) and activation entropy (ΔS) of DMAB dehydrogenation in water were calculated as 37.36 kJ/mol, 66.51 kJ/mol and −9.41 J/(mol × K), respectively. As a result, the resulting PtRu@VC nanocatalystcan be used with high catalytic efficiency and high stability  for DMAB dehydrogenation in water. Also, it has been found that the PtRu@VC nanocatalyst can be used as a high potential catalyst for future fuel cells and other energy sources.In this study, PtRu@VC nanocatalyst was prepared by a practical method of alcohol reduction techniques using KSupplementary Information.


Arabidopsis thaliana grown under stress-free conditions. Deficiency of SL synthesis or signaling (max1-1 and max2-1) resulted in elevated NO and S-nitrosothiol (SNO) levels due to decreased S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) reductase (GSNOR) protein abundance and activity indicating that there is a signal interaction between SLs and GSNOR-regulated levels of NO/SNO. This was further supported by the down-regulation of SL biosynthetic genes  in GSNOR-deficient gsnor1-3. Based on the more pronounced sensitivity of gsnor1-3 to exogenous SL , we suspected that functional GSNOR is needed to control NO/SNO levels during SL-induced primary root (PR) elongation. Additionally, SLs may be involved in GSNO-regulated PR shortening as suggested by the relative insensitivity of max1-1 and max2-1 mutants to exogenous GSNO (250 µM). Collectively, our results indicate a connection between SL and GSNOR-regulated NO/SNO signals in roots of A. thaliana grown in stress-free environment. As this work used max2-1 mutant and rac-GR24 exerting unspecific effects to both SL and karrikin signaling, it cannot be ruled out that karrikins are partly responsible for the observed effects, and this issue needs further clarification in the future.Both nitric oxide (NO) and strigolactone (SL) are growth regulating signal components in plants; however, regarding their possible interplay our knowledge is limited. Therefore, this study aims to provide new evidence for the signal interplay between NO and SL in the formation of root system architecture using complementary pharmacological and molecular biological approaches in the model  Strigolactones (SLs) have been first identified as germination inducers of parasite plants in the 1960s  and sincLotus japonicus  activates both signal pathways, thus exerts also non-SL-specific effects (The perception of SLs involves the SL receptor DWARF14 (D14) protein having α/β fold hydrolase activity. The intact SL molecule promotes D14 activation which in turn deactivates bioactive SLs by the hydrolytic degradation following signal transmission . Consequ effects . The SL- effects . Recentl effects  like nut effects , salinit effects  or chill effects .S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) being a less reactive and more stable molecule than NO. GSNO is able to release NO and can achieve long distance movement of NO signal via the xylem  is a multifunctional growth regulator in plants . While, he xylem . Intracehe xylem  catalyzi of NADH .S-nitrosation, tyrosine nitration, and metal nitrosylation are three major NO-dependent posttranslational modifications being physiologically relevant , and their mutant lines gsnor1-3  for 7 days.Seeds of gsnor1-3 , 35S:FLAG-GSNOR1 , max1-1,, max2-1  were surrac-GR24 and TIS108  was prepared in acetone or in DMSO, respectively. Appropriate volumes of stock solutions were added to the medium following sterilization through sterile syringe yielding 2 µM GR24 or 5 µM TIS108 concentrations in the media. These concentrations were chosen in pilot experiments using several doses . Stock solutions of GSNO and 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (cPTIO) were prepared in DMSO and were diluted to the final concentrations (250 µM GSNO and 800 µM cPTIO) with distilled water. Four days after placing the seeds on the media, GSNO and cPTIO solutions were added to the surface of the agar containing the root system. One milliliter of GSNO or cPTIO was added per Petri dish using 2-ml syringe and sterile filter.Stock solution of Arabidopsis seedlings were measured and expressed in mm. Lateral roots within the primary root  were considered as lateral root primordia (LRprim), whereas visible laterals which have already grown outside the PR were considered as emerged LRs . LR density (number mm−1) was calculated by dividing total number of LRs with PR length. The experiments were performed three times with 20 samples each (n = 60).Primary root (PR) lengths of Arabidopsis seedlings were incubated in 10 µM dye solution for 30 min, in darkness, at room temperature and washed two times with TRIS-HCl buffer  according to n = 10).Levels of NO were detected with the fluorophore, 4-amino-5-methylamino-2′-7′-difluorofluorescein diacetate (DAF-FM DA). Arabidopsis seedlings was mixed with double volume of 1× PBS buffer  and were grounded using Fast Prep ® Instrument . Samples were centrifuged twice for 15 min . The supernatants were incubated with 20 mM sulphanilamide. 250 µl of the samples was injected into the reaction vessel filled with potassium iodide. SNO concentrations were quantified with the help of NO analysis software (v3.2). Measurement of SNO levels was performed on three separate plant generations with five technical replicates in each (n = 5).The amount of SNO was quantified by Sievers 280i NO analyser  according to Arabidopsis seedlings were grounded with extraction buffer  and centrifuged . Protein extract was treated with 1% proteinase inhibitor and stored at −80°C. Protein concentrations were determined using the Whole Fifteen microliters of denaturated protein extract was subjected to SDS-PAGE on 12% acrylamide gel. Proteins were transferred to PVDF membranes using the wet blotting procedure . After that, membranes were used for cross-activity assays with rabbit polyclonal antibody against GSNOR . Immunodetection was performed by using affinity, isolated goat anti-rabbit IgG-alkaline phosphatase secondary antibody at a dilution of 1:10,000, and bands were visualized by using the NBT/BCIP reaction. Protein bands were quantified by Gelquant software (provided by biochemlabsolutions.com). Western blot was carried out on three separate protein extracts from independent plant generations, at least two times per extract.−1 mg protein−1. This measurement was performed on three separate plant generations with five technical replicates in each (n = 5).The specific activity of GSNOR was measured by monitoring the NADH oxidation in the presence of GSNO at 340 nm . Plant hArabidopsis genes  were determined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). RNA was purified from 90 mg of 7-day-old seedlings by using a NucleoSpin RNA Plant mini spin kit (Macherey-Nagel) according to the manufacturer's instruction. Furthermore, an additional DNAase digestion and purifying step was applied (ZYMO Research), and cDNA was synthetized using RevertAid reverse transcriptase. Primer3 software was used for designing primers. The primers used for RT-qPCR analyses are listed in ACTIN2 (At3918780) and GAPDH2 (At1913440) were used as internal controls (n = 3).The expression rates of controls . Each re−2 s−1) in the greenhouse in order to stimulate conditions similar to treatment conditions. To ensure constant mixing of the solution magnetic stirrer was applied during the measurement. NO concentration (nM) was calculated from a standard curve. The standard curve and the results are presented in n = 3).NO-sensitive electrode  was calibrated using a method of max test for homogeneity and the Shapiro–Wilk normality test.All results are expressed as mean ± SE. Graphs were prepared in Microsoft Excel 2010 and in SigmaPlot 12. For statistical analysis, Duncan's multiple range test  was used in SigmaPlot 12. For the assumptions of ANOVA, we used Hartley's Fgsnor1-3 mutant was by 57% shorter; its root system contained very few LRs, and consequently its LR density was low  shorter than in Col-0 and the LR number was significantly increased. The branched root systems of max1-1 and max2-1 suggest that MAX1-dependent SL biosynthesis and MAX2-associated SL-signaling inhibit LR development as was published previously by others , the PR of  was low Figure 1 was low . Similary others . The LRps mutant .gsnor1-3 was higher than in Col-0, while in 35S:FLAG-GSNOR1 plants, the increased endogenous NO level was accompanied by lower SNO levels than in the WT. The origin of the high NO level in the mutants is different. In 35S:FLAG-GSNOR1, elevated nitrate content and nitrate reductase activity were observed which may result in the enhanced NO level  in max1-1 mutants were similar to Col-0, but all examined genes were slightly down-regulated in max2-1  or lowering (by the addition of TIS108) the optimal SL level may result in similarly inhibited growth processes.Similar to previously published results, GR24 treatment induced PR elongation in Col-0 s plants , while Tongation . The roo results . Howeversduction  and conssduction . In Col-Arabidopsis roots (NIA1 and NIA2 as well as GSNOR1 didn't show any relevant modification in the presence of GR24 (GLB1) and non-symbiotic hemoglobin 2 (GLB2) genes were upregulated by GR24. The GLB genes encode plant hemoglobins which may act as NO scavengers  involved in the synthesis of SLs showed down-regulation in GSNOR-deficient Arabidopsis compared to Col-0. This indicates that in case of low GSNOR activity, SL biosynthesis is inhibited. This further supports the interaction between GSNO metabolism and SL production in Arabidopsis. In addition, CCD7 was down-regulated also in GSNOR overproducing 35S:FLAG-GSNOR1 seedlings. In contrast, the expressions of SL signaling genes (D14 and MAX2) were not altered by GSNOR deficiency or overproduction. However, this was not supported by pharmacological treatments (GSNO or cPTIO), because we didn't observe relevant up- or downregulation of SL-associated genes  in the presence of NO donor (GSNO) or scavenger (cPTIO) treatments  mutants are GSNO-insensitive and that SLs (and/or possibly KAR) are needed for GSNO-induced root shortening. Similar results were obtained in Arabidopsis hypocotyls, where NO-triggered shortening was not observed in max1, max2 and max4 mutants (Arabidopsis roots (via inducing SL (and/or possibly KAR) synthesis and/or signaling; although the link between NO, PINs and SL (and KAR) should be clarified by future research. The NO scavenger cPTIO shortened PRs to a similar extent in all three plant lines . Moreover, GSNO inhibited LR initiation and slightly increased LR emergence of Col-0, while cPTIO supplementation decreased the number of both types of LR. In max1-1 and max2-1 seedlings, LR emergence seemed to be insensitive to NO donor or scavenger. However, GSNO treatment caused reduction in the number of LR primordia of the max1-1 mutant, and cPTIO treatment decreased LR initiation in both max mutants. Just like the matching effects of SL analog and inhibitor, the effects of NO donor and scavenger proved also to be often similar to each other, indicating the necessity of an optimal NO level for optimal root development.To further investigate this interaction, GSNO and cPTIO treatments were applied, and the responses of examined Figure 9 mutants . Accordiis roots , we can Arabidopsis thaliana grown in stress-free conditions. As this study used max2-1 mutant and rac-GR24, the observed effects might be non-specific to SL signaling, and the involvement of KAR signal pathway in this system cannot be ruled out. We observed for the first time that SL (and/or KAR)-deficiency resulted in elevated NO and SNO levels due to decreased GSNOR protein abundance and activity indicating that there is a signal interaction between SLs (and/or KAR) and GSNOR-regulated levels of NO/SNO. This was further supported by the down-regulation of SL biosynthetic genes  in gsnor1-3 containing elevated NO/SNO levels. Based on the more pronounced sensitivity of gsnor1-3 to GR24, we suspected that functional GSNOR is needed to control NO/SNO levels during SL (and/or KAR)-induced PR elongation. Furthermore, SLs (and/or KAR) may be involved in GSNO-regulated PR shortening as suggested by the relative insensitivity of max1-1 and max2-1 mutants to exogenous GSNO. Collectively, our results indicate for the first time a connection between SL (and/or KAR) and GSNOR-regulated NO/SNO signals in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. Future studies should reveal the SL- or KAR-specificity of interactions with NO using d14 and kai2 mutants and GR24 stereoisomers. In the future, the possible involvement of auxin signaling as a common interacting factor of NO and SL during root development should also be examined. Additional research efforts should focus on the possible role of NO-dependent posttranslational modifications  in relation to SL-regulated plant development.The majority of the articles dealing with SL–NO interplay uses pharmacological approach and focuses on the root system of crops grown with special nutrient supply (excess nitrate or nitrogen- or phosphor deficiency). This study combines molecular biological and pharmacological approaches in order to reveal interactions between NO and SLs as growth regulating signals in the model plant The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.DO performed the experiments and wrote the manuscript draft. GF performed the experiments and reviewed the manuscript. ÁM performed the experiments. AÖ performed experiments and reviewed the manuscript. ZK conceptualized the research, designed and directed the project, reviewed the manuscript draft, and wrote the final manuscript.This work was financed by the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund . ZK was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences [Grant no. BO/00751/16/8]. DO was supported by UNKP-19-3-SZTE-201 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology. Some of the experiments were carried out by ZK during a 3-month-long visit at the Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, Helmholtz Zentrum München supported by TEMPUS Foundation in the frame of the Hungarian Eötvös Scholarship (MAEÖ-1060-4/2017).The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


The article analyzes the composition of concrete taken from various elements from a 100-year-old bridge in South Poland, so as to analyze its technical condition. The main methods applied during experimental work were: Designation of pH, free chloride content, salinity, XRD and SEM examinations, as well as metals determination using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-ICP-MS, and cold-vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy (CV-AAS). The concrete of the bridge was strongly carbonated and decalcified with an extremely high content of chlorides. The pH of the concrete was in a range from 10.5 to 12.0. Acid soluble components were between 9.9% and 17.6%. Typical sulfate corrosion phases of concrete were not detected. Friedels’ salt was found only at the extremity of an arch. The crown block was corroded to the greatest extent. Various heavy metals were absorbed into the concrete, likely from previous centuries, when environmental protection policy was poor. The applied research methodology can be used on bridges exposed to specific external influences. The acquired knowledge can be useful in the management processes of the bridge infrastructure. It can help in making decisions about decommissioning or extending the life cycle of the bridge. This work should also sensitize researchers and decision-makers to the context of “bridge safety”. Bridge structures are exposed to many factors, which weaken the structure, its elements, concrete, and steel. These factors include environmental , mechanical (loads), and chemical  influences. Moreover, an individual bridge works in specific conditions depending on its location. This article points to the bridge located over a significantly polluted river due to its location in a well-developed, heavily industrialized region. Therefore, a case will be considered where, apart from general factors that weaken bridge structures, there is in addition of high humidity and the influence of impurities—basic salts that corrode the structure (chlorides and sulphates) and toxic metals in the river water. Contaminants found in river water may be of a natural or of anthropogenic origin, and can cause corrosion to the bridge elements or can simply be absorbed by concrete. The contamination of river water could also have changed over the years. Some of the metals absorbed into the concrete may prove what the river was polluted with, long ago. The issues surrounding the destruction of bridges by water has previously been briefly described ,6,7,8,9,The focus for a post-mortem analysis of bridge destruction is devoted to mechanical features, basically. However, experimental results show that the flexural strength, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity are constantly lowered with an increasing degree of corrosion of the reinforcement ,2. CorroThe chemical destruction of the bridge structural elements is caused mainly by chloride, sulfate, and hydrocarbon ions. Chloride ions that corrode reinforcing steel are present in anti-frost salts and in river water. Sulphate ions, in turn, can originate from groundwater and river water, and can cause concrete cracks and softening. Hydrocarbon ions lower pH and form carbonates. They come from pumped mine underground (brine) water into the river water. Indicators demonstrating anthropogenic pollution are found also in river bottom sediments. Of course, some of them could have been removed or displaced along with the river current. Therefore the authors assume that the presence of certain impurities from previous years can be elucidated by testing the concrete, as these impurities were absorbed into the concrete matrix. Confirming this assumption is the premise of the article. However, this is a supporting study. The accumulation of toxic metals in concrete is possible due to thermal transport processes of solutions in porous materials, including concrete. This transport takes place as a result of capillary suction, ion diffusion, and water evaporation from concrete. Salts accumulate on surfaces forming efflorescence, weeping, exfoliation, stalactites, and crusts ,23,24,25The life cycle of the bridge is the time interval that begins with the first concept of passing through an obstacle  and includes its design, construction, and use, until its demolition. It contains four primary phases: 1. Preparatory ; 2. investment ; 3. operational , and 4. decommissioning (demolition and utilization) . The lifIn the absence of any maintenance activities, an unacceptable degradation level is finally exceeded, and the bridge lifetime is reached. The deterioration can relate to selected elements  or to an entire bridge. From the moment the bridge is built and put into service, the deterioration increases with wear and aging . An exam3/day . The total amount of salt  carried with mine water to the rivers was ~10,000 t/day, which is higher than in the ocean (up to 120 g/L). The commonest ions observed were Cl− and Na+ with concentrations up to 70 g/L and 40 g/L, respectively. Additionally, brines typically contained several grams per liter of Ca2+, Mg2+, and SO42− and significant amounts of other ions, even rare ions, such as radium and barium. Barium and radium sulphates deposits occur in underground galleries. The discharge of water from several coal mines, located in the catchment area of the Odra river, have been collected and released into the river by the Olza Pipeline to protect smaller rivers from salinity, which has taken place since 1980. The radium activity has been very low in the water discharged into the Odra River via the Olza Pipeline since the early 1990s. 226Ra and 228Ra which have 10s of MBq (Megabecquerel) were released daily into the rivers along with the other mine effluents from all Polish coal mines (enhanced radium content was up to 390 kBq/m3 for 226Ra). The assessment of radium daily release into surface waters in 2015 into the Odra River and its tributaries showed that the Ra level did not exceed 12 MBq/day  units and W1–W2, given in [ug/L] units, was diluted and determined using the following methods and equipment.Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), using an Agilent 7900 ICP-MS , was completed for Sb, As, Ba, Cr, Zn, Sn, Co, Cd, Mn, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, Fe, Mg, and Se analysis. This method was chosen because it is characterized by high sensitivity and precision with the possibility of simultaneous determination of many elements; by selectivity allowing for the determination of individual isotopes of a given element in complex matrices; and of low detection limits obtained thanks to the high ionization efficiency in plasma and by a wide range of straightness of the calibration curves. Thanks to this, both trace elements and macronutrients can be determined in one measurement. The above-mentioned method distinguishes this method from other instrumental methods used in the analysis of elements, such as ICP-OES  or AAS (atomic absorption spectrometry) .High-performance liquid chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICPMS) utilizing an Agilent 7700 Series ICP-MS with an Agilent 1260 Infinity series HPLC  was used for the Cr (VI) study (the use of HPLC in combination with ICP-MS enabled the speciation separation of Cr (III) from Cr (VI) and the ability to determine these elements at different oxidation levels). This method was chosen because the speciation separation of Cr (III) and Cr (VI), which takes place first on the HPLC column: Cr (III) and Cr (VI) are adsorbed on the anion exchange column after the cationic Cr (III) transformation in anionic [Cr (III)—EDTA]. This allows the determination of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) separately in the ICP-MS spectrometer in the next step. The advantage of this method is the easy preparation of sewage and sludge samples for analytical determination. The HPLC-ICP-MS method is also characterized by a short analysis time, a very low detection limit , e.g., spectrophotometric), and the possibility of simultaneous determination of Cr (III) ,82.Cold-vapor atomic absorption spectroscopy (CV-AAS) utilizing a mercury analyzer, FIMS 100, Perkin Elmer, completed the Hg analysis. Mercury was determined using a CVAAS because this method uses the unique property of mercury to measure vapors at room temperature. This method, among other alternative methods for determining Hg in water and wastewater ) is distinguished by a lower limit of quantification, simple preparation of samples for analysis, the possibility of mercury stabilization during the determination, easy removal of interference, and short analysis time .The dry mass of concrete was determined using a laboratory dryer .The samples of concrete were weighed using analytical balances .The samples of suspensions were prepared using a bottle/tube roller mixer  Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China).The samples of crushed concrete (0–5) were subjected to dynamic leaching according to  using a Samples W1 and W2 of flowing water and water from dynamic elution suspension before any analytical determination was filtered through a 0.45-µm membrane filter using a pressure filtration device.The pH of the water used for dynamic elution was 6.92 which is . The pH Before performing spectrometric analyzes, the test apparatus was calibrated on solutions of certified reference materials and two control samples. The analyzes of the control samples showed the accuracy of the calibration curves that were the basis for the calculations. Elemental elution calculations were performed using the LCP MHLauncher HPLC-ICP-MS and ICP-MS software and WinLab32 with a AA mercury analyzer FIMS100 .2, NaOH, KOH, and many other factors. Sodium and potassium do not form binding cement phases, they only maintain a high pH and are easily washable [In washable ,22. In swashable .2 dissolution and the easily soluble hydroxides were washed away. Decalcification of calcium silicate gel C-S-H means that the water would easily evaporate away because of porosity increase. Generally, it is also known that the dissolution processes create secondary pore space within the hydrated cement paste through subsequent alteration, which is observed as Ca depletion [The lowest water content was found in specimen 2, which was collected from the bottom part of the arch at the very top. This section of the bridge was well ventilated. A very low pH of this sample also indicates that there was not too much original cement binder left, because of Ca(OH)epletion ,85,86,87The reaction (pH) indicates that the concrete is not healthy. The lowest pH of the suspension was in specimens 0, 1, and 2, where the construction was exposed to the most external influences . A slightly higher pH was observed in the concrete taken from locations 3, 4, and 5, in the foundation and at the abutment.The binder content in healthy concrete is typically about 20% ,22. In tChlorides from de-icing salts cause corrosion of steel reinforcements and destruction of concrete in a dry climate when they crystallize and cause stress on pores in concrete ,91,92,93The significant free chloride ions content in the examined concrete is explained by the use of deicing salts over the years after construction, but the high salinity of the river also cannot be omitted. It can also explain the low content of soluble phases in the concrete. The highest mass content of chloride ions was in the specimens found under the bituminous layer sprinkled with deicing salts. In specimen 1, almost 40% of the mass of soluble phases were chlorides. This also explains the very small amount of soluble phases in specimen 1. A large number of chloride ions in sample 2 come from chlorides leaking from the above layer (specimen 1). The lowest content of chlorides was in the concrete of the abutment foundation (specimen 5) because this concrete was probably very dense, not porous, and was not constantly exposed to fresh large amounts of chloride.The chloride ions content results suggested that the structure was also contaminated with chlorides coming from river water, and not solely from de-icing salts, due to their large amount present in the sample . The greThe pH values of the filtrates (prepared as 1:10 concrete: deionized water after 1-day of dynamic leaching and filtering) are summarized in The salinity of water W1 and W2 was 8610 and 8560 μS/cm, respectively, which is classified as extremely high saline water according to Ravikumar et al. .The salinity of the concrete filtrates ranged from 400 to 2200 μS/cm . HoweverThe most soluble substances were observed in samples 3, 4, and 5, which suggested a high content of easily decomposable compounds absorbed or derived from the concrete composition in the elements not directly exposed to the environment. In contrast, samples taken from the concrete railing and ceiling of the bridge  were most exposed to leaching, so the content of salts from the environment and easily soluble hydrates of the cement paste was relatively low.From the salinity , the chlThe pH of the concrete railings was lower than that of healthy concrete, and it is explained by the exposure of railings to atmospheric precipitation, chlorides ingress, and carbonation reactions. The pH of this concrete was not sufficient to protect steel reinforcement against corrosion. This is very notable in the image shown in Besides sodium and potassium hydroxides, calcium hydroxide  is easily soluble. It is customary that the presence of portlandite in hydrated cement paste shows that the concrete can self-heal. Looking at the pH, it was hoped this compound would be detected in trace amounts in sample 3 or 4, maybe in 5, but it was not detected anywhere, as shown in 2 or HCO3− ions. Calcite may be a part of the aggregate, but there it was mainly a product of concrete destruction. Vaterite, in turn, recrystallizes to form calcite or aragonite but can also be derived from biochemical sediments [The XRD patterns of specimens 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5  show theediments . After aediments . All the2 is believed to originate from river pollutants), gismondine , phlogopite , and clinochlore . In specimens 1 to 4, the composition of concrete was expected to be the same, however this is not the case. This is due to the aggregates in the concrete being weathered. Most of the aggregates probably came from Lower Silesia [The following crystalline phases were observed in XRD patterns: Quartz, albite , kalsilite , anorthite , illite , kaolinite , hydrotalcite , microcline , rutile 3(OH)12·26H2O or even thaumasite: Ca3Si(OH)6(CO3)(SO4)·12H2O phases, were observed in the pores, located here in a small amount, and not detected using diffractometry, however, they are seen in the SEM micrographs in An accumulation of needle-like sulfate salts, possibly ettringite CaObservation of W2 sediment from the river indicated it was not composed of round gravels nor sands typical for river debris, but it rather formed dust and ashes with both oxidized and hydrated phases, or even slag polluting the river, as shown in The detected Zn, Co, Cu, Ti, P, and Na elements were uniformly distributed throughout the mass, but the rest of the elements were not uniformly distributed, they formed clusters, interlayered in the minerals, and pointed to mineralogical separateness, as seen in Inclusions in the sludge may indicate the presence of iron ore but could also correspond to other compositions from the underground mine waters. Moreover, the zinc and lead ore deposits in the Bytom trough co-exist with the ore-bearing dolomite series of the middle Triassic.Most elements have a comparable concentration in the flowing water and the water from dynamic leaching of the river water with suspension. This means that some elements were absorbed in the mineral suspension, while others were present in the free form of the water. Vanadium, copper, manganese, zinc, chromium (VI), and cadmium undoubtedly belong to the elements that were absorbed more easily into the suspension. However, lead seemed to be more difficult to absorb into the bottom sediment, therefore their concentration was higher in the flowing water than in water with suspension after dynamic leaching, which has also been previously noted by Barbusiński et al. ,57.The concentration of chromium, nickel, lead, iron, and cadmium was lower in the river, as shown in the data from The highest content of magnesium, cobalt, vanadium, arsenic, and chromium was observed in specimen 2. The highest content of nickel was in specimen 5. The highest molybdenum content was in specimen 0. Antimony and chromium content was the highest in specimens 0, 1, and 2. In specimens 0 and 5, the copper content was greater than in the other specimens. The most barium and zinc was seen in specimen 3. The least chromium (VI) was in specimens 3 and 4, and the greatest amount in specimens 0 and 2. The above concrete elemental tests indicate that the most metal was absorbed by the concrete just above the main river current (specimen 2), which indicates the transfer of elements due to the evaporation and condensation of the river water. There is also an assumption that the metals found in the bridge railing may also come from car exhaust fumes, but this has not been proven.The magnesium concentration in the river over the years up to the current year showed it is still high and was also high in the concrete, in particular, seen in sample 2, 1, and 0. Nickel was mainly observed in the foundations of the bridge (specimen 5), for unknown reasons, but they may even be related to the composition of the concrete or to core extraction. Such is also the case with chromium and chromium VI, which accumulated in the concrete after many years of contact with the river. There was considerable arsenic found in the water, as evidenced by the content in sample 2. Many years back, significant amounts of copper were observed in the river water  and now − and HCO3− ions diffusion into the concrete structure and OH− ions released out of the concrete. As a consequence, calcium phases were unstable in the reduced pH and dissolved, but under these conditions calcium carbonates were formed. A chloride phase was also found, the so-called Friedel’s salt, which, due to the large amount of chloride ions, most likely arose from the original ettringite. The gypsum was not found, because the pH of the concrete would have to drop to 8 [A lot of destructive factors have influenced the structure of the bridge, therefore all of them decreased its technical properties. For example, within dissolved rain water, exhaust gases and de-icing salts flowed off the bridge flooring and lowered the pH of concrete by Clrop to 8 ,84,85,86The relatively high nickel and copper content in the foundations 1.5 m below the bottom of the river was surprising. Comparing the content of manganese to iron according to SEM analysis and the tests in water samples W1 and W2, it can be concluded that there was less manganese in the solid phase and less iron in the liquid phase. Fe, Mn, Hg, Pb, Cd, and Sn were on the verge of detection in concrete, while in water specimens, there was a great amount of Mn. Barium was not found in the river sediment, but there was a considerable amount in the river water, and it seemed to be well absorbed in the concrete. There was quite a lot of zinc in the bottom sediment and was easily washable. In concrete, Zn was mostly found in the foundation under the river bed. This may indicate that it was a very old contamination that had found its way into the ground. The quite high content of chromium VI in concrete is surprising, so it was absorbed since its traces are still present in sediment and river water.In order to carry out precise analyzes for the presence of metals in concrete, additional testing methods, such as TEM (transmission electron microscopy) or XPS (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) should be employed. At this stage, it only can be concluded which metals have been absorbed by the concrete, and the amount can be compared with the presence in water and sediment. This analysis for the presence of metals in the bridge concrete is not easy and cannot be referred to in the literature data on the topic in the field of fresh concrete research. It is known that metals do not absorb to the same degree in concrete ,100,101.Heavy industry may cause significant pollution of the natural environment due to the release of wastewaters. This phenomenon is well known in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin where the underground exploitation of coal, oil, and gas or other resources has taken place ,62,63,64The examined concrete from the 100-year-old bridge over the heavily polluted river was in a very poor condition. By comparing the content of heavy metals in the river, in the bottom sediment and in concrete, it was proved that concrete did not absorb all types of metals, of which some metal were also found that were no longer present in the river. Thus, precise concrete tests can indicate historical events and the state of the environment from years ago.The paper presented unique tests of a bridge undergoing demolition. The novelty of the article is the fact that such tests, when the bridges are liquidated, have not been carried out in that way. Moreover, it is not possible to collect samples from working and old bridges, from such places, because the structure would be damaged. Therefore, the results of these studies can be applied to other similar concrete bridges that are located over polluted rivers in a similar climate.The upper elements of the bridge  were the most carbonated, proven by the detection of the presence of calcium carbonates. Moreover, chloride ions were also present in a great amount. These bridge elements had the most frequent contact with the exhaust gases. The lowest pH in the concrete came from concrete railings and crown blocks.The penetration of chloride ions was mainly attributed to the corrosion of steel reinforcement, although this work does not deal with this topic, nor with the traditional testing of the bridge using mechanical methods. However from the results of concrete tests, it could be concluded that the reinforcement was corroded, and the structure was also already weak.Even though the bridge was soaked with highly saline river water, sulphate phases were probably not detected in the concrete, but a small amount of a typical chlorine phase, a Friedels’ salt, was detected. This shows that the concrete was exposed to such significant deterioration that even the corrosive phases dissolved. The high degree of concrete deterioration was also confirmed by the weathering of the aggregate.Therefore, comparing the influence of heavy metals and the salinity of the river, it should be stated that for the salinity: Chlorides and carbonate ions greatly influenced the corrosion of the reinforced concrete of the bridge, while the heavy metals found in the concrete tell us only what else the river was contaminated with, years ago.The leaching of crushed concrete examination showed the presence of many elements like magnesium, cobalt, vanadium, arsenic, nickel, molybdenum, antimony, chromium, chromium (VI), copper, barium, and zinc. Other heavy metals were absorbed in very small quantities. Currently, some elements were found in trace amounts in the river water, but their presence was visible in the concrete, such as chromium, copper, and arsenic. Iron, zinc, lead, magnesium, manganese, and barium were in a significant amount in the river, but these elements did not absorb into the concrete in any appreciable amount. So it is possible to state which elements, found in the Kłodnica river, originated from a time when studies of water analysis were not conducted.The scope of research presented in the article is not customary because the authors wanted to discover something more. In addition to research on the technical condition of concrete, it was puzzling to find elements in the concrete that would testify to the contamination of river water from years ago. Due to the fact that the metals detected in concrete did not affect, or their influence on the technical condition of the structure is not known, these discoveries could be considered as an extension of the historical knowledge of ecologists on the pollution of water courses in industrial agglomerations.Undoubtedly, many factors acting synergistically contributed to the reduction of the life of the examined bridge. However, it cannot be said which of these factors was decisive. It is a very individual matter that depends on the location of the bridge, load, material quality, operations, maintenance strategy, and many more. In this case, however, the polluted river could have had a greater impact than the load, because the load is the same on the neighboring bridges in the area .The results of the research and used methodology could be applied in the future to broaden knowledge about the durability and deterioration processes of bridges. It may allow us to extend the life cycle of old bridges and continue their safe operation, whilst giving critical information needed to decide about decommissioning and replacing it with a new one. New knowledge about these phenomena will also help to develop better methods for designing and modeling new bridges. In addition, it also aids in understanding the durability and predicting safety risks, using advanced maintenance decision-making tools such as the digital information management method (the BIM—Building Information Modeling).In summary, the concrete of bridges over saline rivers quickly dissolves and decomposes because it works in an environment where the occurrence of chemical reactions is facilitated. Therefore, in order to better explain the technical condition of the structures, we cannot neglect the recognition of the surrounding environment. The ground, the air, and the water should be examined because all environmental factors  affect the condition of the structure.