Removal of reactive red 120 on Fe-hydrotalcite : isotherms study

HDL-MgFe is a Hydrotalcite that represent a compound lamellar double hydroxide. It was prepared through the continuous co-preparation method. The solid was characterized by surface area measurements, X-ray diffraction and temperature-programmed desorption of CO2. The adsorbent was used for the adsorption of Reactive Red 120 dye, and the factors affecting the adsorption were discussed, including concentration of adsorbent solid and contact time. The adsorption isotherms data were fitted to the Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, Sips and BET models. The most suitable adsorption conditionswere found at a contact time of 60 min and solidconcentrarion of 2g.L -1 . The results for MgFe hydrotalcite showed a high adsorption with percentage about 90% of dye removal. Langmuir and Redlich-Peterson models were the isotherms that best described the removal process

Exploring manycore architectures for next-generation HPC systems through the MANGO approach

[EN] The Horizon 2020 MANGO project aims at exploring deeply heterogeneous accelerators for use in High-Performance Computing systems running multiple applications with different Quality of Service (QoS) levels. The main goal of the project is to exploit customization to adapt computing resources to reach the desired QoS. For this purpose, it explores different but interrelated mechanisms across the architecture and system software. In particular, in this paper we focus on the runtime resource management, the thermal management, and support provided for parallel programming, as well as introducing three applications on which the project foreground will be validated.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 671668.Flich Cardo, J.; Agosta, G.; Ampletzer, P.; Atienza-Alonso, D.; Brandolese, C.; Cappe, E.; Cilardo, A.... (2018). Exploring manycore architectures for next-generation HPC systems through the MANGO approach. Microprocessors and Microsystems. 61:154-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpro.2018.05.011S1541706

Phase-field-crystal models for condensed matter dynamics on atomic length and diffusive time scales: an overview

Here, we review the basic concepts and applications of the phase-field-crystal (PFC) method, which is one of the latest simulation methodologies in materials science for problems, where atomic- and microscales are tightly coupled. The PFC method operates on atomic length and diffusive time scales, and thus constitutes a computationally efficient alternative to molecular simulation methods. Its intense development in materials science started fairly recently following the work by Elder et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002), p. 245701]. Since these initial studies, dynamical density functional theory and thermodynamic concepts have been linked to the PFC approach to serve as further theoretical fundaments for the latter. In this review, we summarize these methodological development steps as well as the most important applications of the PFC method with a special focus on the interaction of development steps taken in hard and soft matter physics, respectively. Doing so, we hope to present today's state of the art in PFC modelling as well as the potential, which might still arise from this method in physics and materials science in the nearby future.Comment: 95 pages, 48 figure

Metal-Organic Network-Forming Glasses

The crystal–liquid–glass phase transition of coordination polymers (CPs) and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) offers attractive opportunities as a new class of amorphous materials. Unlike conventional glasses, coordination chemistry allows the utilization of rational design concepts to fine-tune the desired properties. Although the glassy state has been rare in CPs/MOFs, it exhibits diverse advantages complementary to their crystalline counterparts, including improved mass transport, optical properties, mechanical properties, and the ability to form grain-boundary-free monoliths. This Review discusses the current achievements in improving the understanding of anomalous phase transitions in CPs/MOFs. We elaborate on the criteria for classifying CP/MOF glasses and comprehensively discuss the three common strategies employed to obtain a glassy state. We include all CP/MOF glass research progress since its inception, discuss the current challenges, and express our perspective on future research directions

Particulate matter components and subclinical atherosclerosis: common approaches to estimating exposure in a Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Concentrations of outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) have been associated with cardiovascular disease. PM2.5 chemical composition may be responsible for effects of exposure to PM2.5. Methods Using data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) collected in 2000–2002 on 6,256 US adults without clinical cardiovascular disease in six U.S. metropolitan areas, we investigated cross-sectional associations of estimated long-term exposure to total PM2.5 mass and PM2.5 components (elemental carbon [EC], organic carbon [OC], silicon and sulfur) with measures of subclinical atherosclerosis (coronary artery calcium [CAC] and right common carotid intima-media thickness [CIMT]). Community monitors deployed for this study from 2007 to 2008 were used to estimate exposures at baseline addresses using three commonly-used approaches: (1) nearest monitor (the primary approach), (2) inverse-distance monitor weighting and (3) city-wide average. Results Using the exposure estimate based on nearest monitor, in single-pollutant models, increased OC (effect estimate [95% CI] per IQR: 35.1 μm [26.8, 43.3]), EC (9.6 μm [3.6,15.7]), sulfur (22.7 μm [15.0,30.4]) and total PM2.5 (14.7 μm [9.0,20.5]) but not silicon (5.2 μm [−9.8,20.1]), were associated with increased CIMT; in two-pollutant models, only the association with OC was robust to control for the other pollutants. Findings were generally consistent across the three exposure estimation approaches. None of the PM measures were positively associated with either the presence or extent of CAC. In sensitivity analyses, effect estimates for OC and silicon were particularly sensitive to control for metropolitan area. Conclusion Employing commonly-used exposure estimation approaches, all of the PM2.5 components considered, except silicon, were associated with increased CIMT, with the evidence being strongest for OC; no component was associated with increased CAC. PM2.5 chemical components, or other features of the sources that produced them, may be important in determining the effect of PM exposure on atherosclerosis. These cross-sectional findings await confirmation in future work employing longitudinal outcome measures and using more sophisticated approaches to estimating exposure.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112668/1/12940_2013_Article_651.pd

Nanomaterials for nanotheranostics : tuning their properties according to disease needs

Altres ajuts: this work was funded by the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya.Nanotheranostics is one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in nanomedicine. Most of the currently available diagnosis and therapies are invasive, time-consuming, and associated with severe toxic side effects. Nanotheranostics, on the other hand, has the potential to bridge this gap by harnessing the capabilities of nanotechnology and nanomaterials for combined therapeutics and diagnostics with markedly enhanced efficacy. However, nanomaterial applications in nanotheranostics are still in its infancy. This is due to the fact that each disease has a particular microenvironment with well-defined characteristics, which promotes deeper selection criteria of nanomaterials to meet the disease needs. In this review, we have outlined how nanomaterials are designed and tailored for nanotheranostics of cancer and other diseases such as neurodegenerative, autoimmune (particularly on rheumatoid arthritis), and cardiovascular diseases. The penetrability and retention of a nanomaterial in the biological system, the therapeutic strategy used, and the imaging mode selected are some of the aspects discussed for each disease. The specific properties of the nanomaterials in terms of feasibility, physicochemical challenges, progress in clinical trials, its toxicity, and their future application on translational medicine are addressed. Our review meticulously and critically examines the applications of nanotheranostics with various nanomaterials, including graphene, across several diseases, offering a broader perspective of this emerging field

BPLight-CNN: A Photonics-based Backpropagation Accelerator for Deep Learning

Training deep learning networks involves continuous weight updates across the various layers of the deep network while using a backpropagation algorithm (BP). This results in expensive computation overheads during training. Consequently, most deep learning accelerators today employ pre-trained weights and focus only on improving the design of the inference phase. The recent trend is to build a complete deep learning accelerator by incorporating the training module. Such efforts require an ultra-fast chip architecture for executing the BP algorithm. In this article, we propose a novel photonics-based backpropagation accelerator for high performance deep learning training. We present the design for a convolutional neural network, BPLight-CNN, which incorporates the silicon photonics-based backpropagation accelerator. BPLight-CNN is a first-of-its-kind photonic and memristor-based CNN architecture for end-to-end training and prediction. We evaluate BPLight-CNN using a photonic CAD framework (IPKISS) on deep learning benchmark models including LeNet and VGG-Net. The proposed design achieves (i) at least 34x speedup, 34x improvement in computational efficiency, and 38.5x energy savings, during training; and (ii) 29x speedup, 31x improvement in computational efficiency, and 38.7x improvement in energy savings, during inference compared to the state-of-the-art designs. All these comparisons are done at a 16-bit resolution; and BPLight-CNN achieves these improvements at a cost of approximately 6% lower accuracy compared to the state-of-the-art

Desenvolvimento de potenciais fertilizantes sustentáveis de liberação lenta a partir da ativação mecanoquímica de matrizes lamelares naturais ou sintéticas e mono-hidrogeno fosfato de potássio

Orientadores: Prof. Dr. Fernando Wypych (Brasil), Dr.ª Vanessa Prévot (França)Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Exatas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Química e l'Institut de Chimie de Clermont-Ferrand, Université Clermont Auvergne. Defesa : Curitiba, 16/02/2018Inclui referênciasResumo: O presente trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento de fertilizantes de liberação lenta a partir de ativação mecanoquímica de misturas de matrizes lamelares naturais (montmorilonita, talco, crisotila) ou sintéticas (Hidróxidos Duplos Lamelares (HDL) MgAl e MgFe) com mono-hidrogeno fosfato de potássio. Este sal é utilizado na agricultura como fertilizante convencional e é altamente solúvel em água, o que implica em grandes perdas devido a processos de lixiviação ou até mesmo fixação no solo, impossibilitando em todos os casos a utilização dos nutrientes para as plantas. Devido a estas características, existe a necessidade da aplicação de grandes quantidades destes produtos na agricultura. Portanto a ideia principal do projeto é obter o controle do fornecimento tanto dos elementos que compõem o sal quanto dos elementos constituintes das matrizes lamelares, e com isso, diminuir custos com adubação exacerbada potencializando a utilização dos produtos alterando a solubilidade dos íons envolvidos. A metodologia adotada consiste basicamente na moagem dos reagentes variando as condições de processamento, este processo é descrito como ativação mecanoquímica, e na presente tese utilizou-se de forças de atrito e fricção como fonte de energia mecânica. Como reatores para ativação mecanoquímica utilizam-se moinhos, que de acordo com as características de cada moinho é possível realizar estudo sistemático da moagem em diversas situações. No presente estudo foram utilizados três diferentes moinhos: Moinho de zircônia, moinho de bolas de alta energia, e moinho Herzog. Para todos os três moinhos há uma forte influência do tempo de moagem e razão molar dos reagentes submetidos à moagem, além disso, para o moinho de bolas de alta energia observa-se também que a rotação pode influenciar muito no produto formado. Na caracterização das amostras, foram utilizadas diversas técnicas de acordo com a necessidade de cada uma das partes desta tese. No entanto, as técnicas de DRXP, MEV/EDS e RMN MAS mostraram-se altamente importantes para acompanhamento e verificação da efetiva ativação mecanoquímica. A DRXP permitiu observar a manutenção da estrutura ou a amorfização dos precursores ou ainda formação de fase cristalina distintas. A MEV/EDS permitiu investigar mudanças no tamanho das partículas e no desaparecimento de morfologia ordenada, após a ativação mecanoquímica ou ainda a formação de partículas com morfologias distintas e de composição química distinta. As medidas de RMN permitiram observar mudanças nos ambientes químicos envolvidos, sugerindo a formação de compostos metaestáveis entre metais provenientes das matrizes lamelares potássio, fósforo e oxigênio, além de outros possíveis compostos como produtos. Após comprovada a ativação mecanoquímica, nos ensaios de liberação dos nutrientes observou-se para todas as matrizes analisadas comportamento lento de liberação, o percentual de liberação pode ser influenciado pela composição química das matrizes de partida, uma vez que cada uma pode produzir produtos semelhantes e distintos, por exemplo, SiO2 a partir dos argilominerais, sendo o silício ausente nos hidróxidos duplos lamelares. Além disso, as condições de moagem influenciam fortemente não só a formação de produtos diferenciados como também o percentual de liberação. Por fim, há potencial para produção industrial de todos os materiais estudados, pois a metodologia pode ser adaptada para moinhos maiores, tais como o moinho Herzog que inclusive demanda tempos de moagem reduzidos, e ainda os precursores utilizados são de modo geral de baixo custo. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Fertilizantes de liberação lenta, macronutrientes primários, montmorilonita, talco, crisotila, hidróxidos duplos lamelares, fosfatos solúveis, ativação mecanoquímica.Abstract: The present work describes the development of slow release fertilizers from the mechanochemical activation of mixtures of natural (montmorillonite, talc, chrysotile) or synthetic (Lamellar Double Hydroxides (HDL) MgAl and MgFe) lamellar matrix mixtures with potassium monohydrogen phosphate. This salt is used in agriculture as a conventional fertilizer and is highly soluble in aqueous solution, which implies in large losses due to leaching processes, or even fixation in the soil, making it impossible in all cases to use the nutrients for the plants. Due to these characteristics, there is a need to apply large quantities of these products in agriculture. Therefore, the main idea is to control the supply of both the elements that make up the salt and the constituent elements of the lamellar matrices, and with this, reduce costs with exacerbated fertilization, potentiating the use of the products, altering the solubility of the ions involved. The methodology used basically consists of the milling of the reagents varying the processing conditions, this process is described as a mechanochemical activation, and in the present thesis was used friction and friction forces as a source of mechanical energy. As reactors the mills, according to their intrinsic characteristics it is possible the systematic study of grinding in various situations. In the present study three different mills were used: zirconia mill, high energy ball mill, and Herzog mill. For all three mills there is a strong influence of the grinding time and molar ratio of the reactants submitted to milling; in addition, for the high energy ball mill it is also seen that the rotation can greatly influence the formed product. In the characterization of the samples, several techniques were used according to the need of each part of this thesis. However, the techniques of XRD, SEM / EDX and MAS NMR proved to be highly important for the monitoring and verification of the effective mechano-chemical activation. The DRXP allowed to observe the maintenance of the structure or amorphization of the precursors or even formation of different crystalline phase, SEM/EDX allowed to investigate changes in particle size and in the disappearance of orderly morphology, after the mechanochemical activation or the formation of particles with distinct morphologies and different chemical composition. And, the NMR measurements allowed to observe changes in the chemical environments involved, suggesting the formation of metastable compounds between metals from the lamellar matrices potassium, phosphorus and oxygen, as well as other possible compounds as products. After the mechanochemical activation, in the nutrient release assays, the slow release behavior was observed for all the matrices analyzed. The release rate can be influenced by the chemical composition of the starting matrices, since each matrix can produce similar and distinct products, for example, SiO2 from the clay minerals, the silicon being absent in the lamellar double hydroxides. In addition, the grinding conditions strongly influence not only the formation of differentiated products but also the percentage of release. Finally, the industrial potential of all the materials produced is highlighted, since the methodology can be adapted to larger mills, such as the Herzog mill, which also requires reduced milling times, and the precursors used are generally low cost. KEYWORDS: Slow release fertilizers, primary macronutrients, montmorillonite, talc, chrysotile, HDL, soluble phosphates, mechanochemical activation

Microfluidic Platforms for Evaluation of Nanobiomaterials: a Review

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