Calcined Low-grade Clays as Sources for Zeolite Containing Material

The continuous development and expansion of a raw material base in response to increasing environmental and technical requirements for most consumable commodities are crucial for the sustainable development of resource- and energy-intensive materials and technologies. As the sources for alkali-activated cements and zeolites, recent studies have reported the suitability of applying calcined clays with various chemical compositions, percentages, and constituent clay minerals and secondary minerals. In this article, the results of a feasibility study on the alkali activation of low-grade clays with 7.26 % montmorillonite/chlorite and 23.14 % kaolinite/montmorillonite minerals are reported. The 6M NaOH activation of clays thermally treated at 700 °C results in the formation of a hardened paste with a compressive strength of up to 5 MPa, with an N-(A)-S-H binder gel and zeolite Na2Al2Si2.5O9∙6.2H2O being the main reaction products

Using web and mobile phone technologies to collect food market prices in Africa. Approaching real-time data and use of crowdsourcing, 2013 - 2016

Large agricultural commodity price swings observed in recent years have made the importance of accessible, timely, accurate and frequently updated price data more obvious. This study investigates the potential of innovative web and mobile phone technologies and alternative data collection methods such as crowdsourcing in order to collect food price data in Africa. The report summarises these experiences through the lessons learned and provides a detailed overview and assessment of different aspects of the collected data that can be of help for the success of future food price collection exercises.JRC.D.4-Economics of Agricultur

New palynological data for Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) deep-marine sandstones of the Western Caucasus, southwestern Russia

Information on Jurassic palynomorphs from the Greater Caucasus is potentially of great importance, but its availability to the international research community is severely limited. New palynological data for Toarcian deposits of the Western Caucasus are recorded in the present paper. Particularly, dinoflagellate cysts are described for the first time from the Bagovskaja Formation; palynomorphs are found in sandstone levels within this unit. The most representative assemblage includes pollen (with predominant bisaccate pollen), spores (Cyathidites being commonest), and dinoflagellate cysts amongst which the predominant taxon is Nannoceratopsis spiculata. The dinocyst assemblage implies a late Toarcian age for the upper part of the Bagovskaja Formation. On the basis of these new palynostratigraphical results, the range of the formation is extended; previously, only the lower part had been dated on ammonite evidence

On the asymptotic expansion of certain plane singular integral operators

We discuss the problem of the asymptotic expansion for some operators in a general theory of pseudo-differential equations on manifolds with border

Three Particle Muon-Electron Bound Systems in Quantum Electrodynamics

The muonic 2P-2S Lamb shift in muon-electron atoms and ions of helium, lithium, beryllium, and boron with the electron in the ground state was calculated by the perturbation theory using the fine structure constant and the electron-muon mass ratio. The corrections of first- and second-orders of perturbation theory on the Coulomb interaction and nucleus recoil were taken into account. The obtained analytical results were validated numerically using calculations within the variational method

The investigation of raw materials and ceramic tiles, produced at the factory "lasselsberger" in ufa

The paper presents the results of investigations of the elemental-phase composition and the structure of furnace charge for production of floor and facing tiles at the “Lasselsberger” factory (Ufa). Thermal, electron-microscopical and X-ray investigation of raw materials for the production of ceramic tiles have been performed: clay of the Nizhneuvelsk deposit, kaolin of the Kiembaevsk deposit, kaolin-sand mixture, quartz-feldspar raw material of the Malyshevsk deposit and dolomite of the Balakovo deposit. The processes, occurring in the furnace charge of the facing and floor tiles, with the rise of the burning point were established. On the basis of the obtained data, it was found, that in case of the accelerated factory burning, the same basic structure formation processes occur as in case of the slow burning on the Shimadzu diffractometer: the decomposition of clay minerals, the destruction of carbonates, the synthesis of calcium and mullite silicates, and the formation of glass phase. However, there are some differences in the phase composition and mass content of separate phases. The initial composition of the facing tiles, produced at the factory “Lasselsberger”, was corrected

New palynological data for Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) deep-marine sandstones of the Western Caucasus, southwestern Russia

Information on Jurassic palynomorphs from the Greater Caucasus is potentially of great importance, but its availability to the international research community is severely limited. New palynological data for Toarcian deposits of the Western Caucasus are recorded in the present paper. Particularly, dinoflagellate cysts are described for the first time from the Bagovskaja Formation; palynomorphs are found in sandstone levels within this unit. The most representative assemblage includes pollen (with predominant bisaccate pollen), spores (Cyathidites being commonest), and dinoflagellate cysts amongst which the predominant taxon is Nannoceratopsis spiculata. The dinocyst assemblage implies a late Toarcian age for the upper part of the Bagovskaja Formation. On the basis of these new palynostratigraphical results, the range of the formation is extended; previously, only the lower part had been dated on ammonite evidence

The application of external fields to the manufacturing of novel dense composite master alloys and Aluminum-based nanocomposites

The possibility of producing dense and concentrated master alloys containing nanosized Al2O3 by shock-wave compacting is demonstrated. Different conditions of shock-wave process are discussed. The data of master alloys characterization are presented. The nanostructured master alloys have high density and are convenient for metallurgical handling. It is found that the use of such a master alloy with nanoceramic particles facilitates the particle introduction into the aluminum melt. The ultrasonic treatment performed during and after the introduction of the master alloy into the melt further leads to uniform distribution of strengthening nanoparticles and improvement of alloy strength and ductility. Experimental results are shown and discussed.the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation within the framework of the Federal Target Program. Agreement No. 14.578.21.0025 (Unique identifier RFMEFI 57814X0025). A.B. Vorozhtsov, S.A. Vorozhtsov, J. Tamayo and D.G. Eskin acknowledge financial support from the Exomet Project (which is co-funded by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme (contract FP7-NMP3-LA-2012-280421), by the European Space Agency and by the individual partner organizations)