Investigating the Mineralogical Composition of Flying Ash Pulps from the Aspect of Waste Quality

Nowadays coal-based power plants have still a 25% share in energy production in Hungary. Consequently, professional treatment of the yearly accumulating large volumes of ash/flying ash is an important task from environmental, as well as national economic aspects. Since power plants have gradually switched during the recent years to hybrid-fluid technology, substantial part of sulphur accumulates in fine ash/flying ash. It is important to know in which form the sulphur component becomes absorbed in the flying ash-water pulp of approximately 1:1 mixing ratio. This study presents the thematic as well as temporal evolution of the detailed determination of mineralogical composition

Comparison of ovarian cycles of Hungarian riverine fish species representing different spawning strategies

Investigations on the ovarian cycle of fish species that inhabit Hungarian rivers are necessitated by both environmental and economic reasons. The objective of our research was to explore new fundamental knowledge concerning the ovarian cycle of the white bream (Blicca bjoerkna, Linnaeus, 1758), barbel (Barbus barbus, Linnaeus, 1758), orfe (Leuciscus idus, Linnaeus, 1758) and nase (Chondrostoma nasus, Linnaeus, 1758). Histological investigation of ovaries and determination of proportions of oocytes in different stages of development is an appropriate method for the description of spawning characteristics of these species. Our results show that the GSI value for all four investigated species starts to increase at the end of summer and reaches its maximum before spawning. In the barbel and white bream, the presence of oocytes in the stage of cortical alveoli and the heterogeneous size of oocytes in the stage of vitellogenesis in the pre-spawning period indicate that barbel and white bream are multiple spawners. In contrast, in the orfe and nase, the absence of oocytes in the stage of cortical alveoli and the homogeneous size of cells in the stage of vitellogenesis indicate that orfe and nase are single spawners

Nagydiszperzitású kerámiaporok és fullerén-származékok szintézise termikus plazmákban = Synthesis of highly-disperse ceramic powders and fullerene derivatives in thermal plasmas

A pályázat keretében bizonyítottuk, hogy a rádiófrekvenciás termikus plazmareaktorban hatékonyan és gyorsan lehet előállítani különleges tulajdonságú és morfológiájú mikro- és nanoporokat. Tisztáztuk a mikro- és nanoporok olvadék-gáz és gáz-gőzfázisú reakciókban történő előállításának több kémiai és kinetikai kérdését. Feltártuk az RF termikus plazmában végzett anyagszintézis körülményei és a reakciótermékek összetétel, szerkezete és tulajdonságai közötti kapcsolatok számos részletét. Megkezdtük azokat az alkalmazástechnikai kutatásokat, amelyek a jelen pályázat keretében szerzett új ismeretek és az itt előállított nanoanyagok gyakorlati hasznosításának előkészí-tésére irányulnak. | We proved in the project that the radiofrequency thermal plasma reactor is a suitable tool to produce micro- and nanopowders of special properties and morphology at high production rate. We answered several important chemical and kinetical questions related to the synthesis of micro- and nanopowders by high-temperature liquid-gas and vapor-phase reactions. We revealed some details of connections among conditions of materials synthesis in RF thermal plasma and the composition, structure and properties of reaction products. We started application tests aiming at practical implementation of knowledge acquired in the project and also at producing advanced functional materials from thermal plasma powders

Calcium-dependent conformational flexibility of a CUB domain controls activation of the complement serine protease C1r.

C1, the first component of the complement system, is a Ca(2+)-dependent heteropentamer complex of C1q and two modular serine proteases, C1r and C1s. Current functional models assume significant flexibility of the subcomponents. Noncatalytic modules in C1r have been proposed to provide the flexibility required for function. Using a recombinant CUB2-CCP1 domain pair and the individual CCP1 module, we showed that binding of Ca(2+) induces the folding of the CUB2 domain and stabilizes its structure. In the presence of Ca(2+), CUB2 shows a compact, folded structure, whereas in the absence of Ca(2+), it has a flexible, disordered conformation. CCP1 module is Ca(2+)-insensitive. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed that CUB2 binds a single Ca(2+) with a relatively high K(D) (430 mum). In blood, the CUB2 domain of C1r is only partially (74%) saturated by Ca(2+), therefore the disordered, Ca(2+)-free form could provide the flexibility required for C1 activation. In accordance with this assumption, the effect of Ca(2+) on the autoactivation of native, isolated C1r zymogen was proved. In the case of infection-inflammation when the local Ca(2+) concentration decreases, this property of CUB2 domain could serve as subtle means to trigger the activation of the classical pathway of complement. The CUB2 domain of C1r is a novel example for globular protein domains with marginal stability, high conformational flexibility, and proteolytic sensitivity. The physical nature of the behavior of this domain is similar to that of intrinsically unstructured proteins, providing a further example of functionally relevant ligand-induced reorganization of a polypeptide chain