Ceramic bricks containing Ni ions from contaminated biomass used as an adsorbent

This article shows how pine sawdust residues can be used to adsorb nickel ions from synthetic solutions and then to produce porous bricks for civil construction using a mixture of natural clay and biomass containing the adsorbed metals. The adsorption tests were performed by mixing NiCl2 solutions with pine sawdust during a fixed stirring period of 24 h. The set was filtered and the filtrate was analysed. Highest efficiency adsorbate/adsorbent ratio was 50 mL of 1 M NiCl2 solution and 20 g L− 1 of pine sawdust. This was the contaminated biomass sample used in the manufacture of the bricks. This paper analyses the properties of the bricks achieved and compares them with bricks without added biomass, porous bricks containing zinc and commercial bricks. The obtained values of bulk density, apparent specific weight, apparent porosity, water absorption, apparent volume, weight loss on ignition, compressive strength, flexural modulus of rupture and efficiency retention of metal in the brick, demonstrate that the ceramic pieces obtained are optimal for construction.Fil: Simón, Daiana Lucía. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Quaranta, Nancy. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional San Nicolás; ArgentinaFil: Gass, Sebastian Emiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Procaccini, Raul Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Cristobal, Adrian Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentin

High temperature mechanical behavior of low stiffness Al2TiO5 and Al2TiO5–3Al2O3.2SiO2–ZrTiO4 composite materials

The mechanical behavior of low (and negative) thermal expansion and low stiffness Al2TiO5 materials and Al2TiO5–3Al2O3.2SiO2–ZrTiO4 composite materials was studied by diametral compression test at room temperature 400 and 800°C. The effect of both temperature and composition was analyzed. Stress–strain curves were obtained and, from them, apparent elastic modulus (Eapp) and mechanical strength (σF) were determined. Fracture mechanisms and fracture patterns were also analyzed. All materials showed a brittle behavior up to 800°C. The thermal variation of σF, that was even higher as testing temperature increased, was interpreted based on the microcracks behavior. A double linear correlation of Eapp was found with temperature (T) and zircon content ([Z]), with a fitting coefficient >.9. The particular low stiffness and the mechanical and thermal behavior of the studied materials suggest that they would be able to withstand thermal stresses.Fil: Violini, María Agustina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Tecnología de Recursos Minerales y Cerámica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Tecnología de Recursos Minerales y Cerámica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Química; ArgentinaFil: Hernández, Maria Florencia. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Tecnología de Recursos Minerales y Cerámica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Tecnología de Recursos Minerales y Cerámica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Química; ArgentinaFil: Gass, Sebastian Emiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Tomba Martinez, Analia Gladys. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Rendtorff Birrer, Nicolás Maximiliano. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Tecnología de Recursos Minerales y Cerámica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Tecnología de Recursos Minerales y Cerámica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Química; Argentin

A global-scale data set of mining areas

The area used for mineral extraction is a key indicator for understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts caused by the extractive sector. To date, worldwide data products on mineral extraction do not report the area used by mining activities. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap by presenting a new data set of mining extents derived by visual interpretation of satellite images. We delineated mining areas within a 10 km buffer from the approximate geographical coordinates of more than six thousand active mining sites across the globe. The result is a global-scale data set consisting of 21,060 polygons that add up to 57,277 km². The polygons cover all mining above-ground features that could be identified from the satellite images, including open cuts, tailings dams, waste rock dumps, water ponds, and processing infrastructure. The data set is available for download from https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.910894 and visualization at www.fineprint.global/viewer

Phonon thermal transport shaped by strong spin-phonon scattering in a Kitaev material Na2_2Co2_2TeO6_6

The recent report of a half-quantized thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev material $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ has sparked a strong debate on whether it is generated by Majorana fermion edge currents or whether other more conventional mechanisms involving magnons or phonons are at its origin. A more direct evidence for Majorana fermions which could be expected to arise from a contribution to the longitudinal heat conductivity $\kappa_{xx}$ at $T\rightarrow0$ is elusive due to a very complex magnetic field dependence of $\kappa_{xx}$. Here, we report very low temperature (below 1~K) thermal conductivity ($\kappa$) of another candidate Kitaev material, Na$_2$Co$_2$TeO$_6$. The application of a magnetic field along different principal axes of the crystal reveals a strong directional-dependent magnetic-field ($\bf B$) impact on $\kappa$. We show that no evidence for mobile quasiparticles except phonons can be concluded at any field from 0~T to the field polarized state. In particular, severely scattered phonon transport is observed across the $B-T$ phase diagram, which is attributed to prominent magnetic fluctuations. Cascades of phase transitions are uncovered for all $\bf B$ directions by probing the strength of magnetic fluctuations via a precise record of $\kappa$($B$). Our results thus rule out recent proposals for itinerant magnetic excitations in Na$_2$Co$_2$TeO$_6$, and emphasise the importance of discriminating true spin liquid transport properties from scattered phonons in candidate materials

Phonon thermal transport shaped by strong spin-phonon scattering in a Kitaev material Na2Co2TeO6

The report of a half-quantized thermal Hall effect and oscillatory structures in the magnetothermal conductivity in the Kitaev material α-RuCl3 have sparked a strong debate on whether it is generated by Majorana fermion edge currents, spinon Fermi surface, or whether other more conventional mechanisms are at its origin. Here, we report low temperature thermal conductivity (κ) of another candidate Kitaev material, Na2Co2TeO6. The application of a magnetic field (B) along different principal axes of the crystal reveals a strong directional-dependent B impact on κ, while no evidence for mobile quasiparticles except phonons can be concluded at any field. Instead, severely scattered phonon transport prevails across the B−T phase diagram, revealing cascades of phase transitions for all B directions. Our results thus cast doubt on recent proposals for significant itinerant magnetic excitations in Na2Co2TeO6, and emphasize the importance of discriminating true spin liquid transport properties from scattered phonons in candidate materials

White matter changes measured by multi-component MR Fingerprinting in multiple sclerosis

T2-hyperintense lesions are the key imaging marker of multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies have shown that the white matter surrounding such lesions is often also affected by MS. Our aim was to develop a new method to visualize and quantify the extent of white matter tissue changes in MS based on relaxometry properties. We applied a fast, multi-parametric quantitative MRI approach and used a multi-component MR Fingerprinting (MC-MRF) analysis. We assessed the differences in the MRF component representing prolongedrelaxation time between patients with MS and controls and studied the relation between this component's volume and structural white matter damage identified on FLAIR MRI scans in patients with MS. A total of 48 MS patients at two different sites and 12 healthy controls were scanned with FLAIR and MRF-EPI MRI scans. MRF scans were analyzed with a joint-sparsity multi-component analysis to obtain magnetization fraction maps of different components, representing tissues such as myelin water, white matter, gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid. In the MS patients, an additional component was identified with increased transverse relaxation times compared to the white matter, likely representing changes in free water content. Patients with MS had a higher volume of the long- component in the white matter of the brain compared to healthy controls (B (95%-CI) = 0.004 (0.0006–0.008), p = 0.02). Furthermore, this MRF component had a moderate correlation (correlation coefficient R 0.47) with visible structural white matter changes on the FLAIR scans. Also, the component was found to be more extensive compared to structural white matter changes in 73% of MS patients. In conclusion, our MRF acquisition and analysis captured white matter tissue changes in MS patients compared to controls. In patients these tissue changes were more extensive compared to visually detectable white matter changes on FLAIR scans. Our method provides a novel way to quantify the extent of white matter changes in MS patients, which is underestimated using only conventional clinical MRI scans.</p

Initial clinical results with a fusion prototype for mammography and three-dimensional ultrasound with a standard mammography system and a standard ultrasound probe

Background Combinations *Equal contributors. of different imaging techniques in fusion devices appear to be associated with improvements in diagnostic assessment. Purpose The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of using an automated standard three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound (US) device fused with standard mammography for the first time in breast cancer patients. Material and Methods Digital mammograms and 3D automated US images were obtained in 23 patients with highly suspicious breast lesions. A recently developed fusion machine consisting of an ABVS 3D US transducer from an Acuson S2000 machine and a conventional Mammomat Inspiration device (both Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany) were used for the purpose. The feasibility of the examinations, imaging coverage, and patients' experience of the procedure were examined. Results In 15 out of 19 patients, the region of interest (ROI) with the tumor marked in the mammogram was visible on US. The examination was experienced positively by the patients, with no unexpected pain or injury. The examination was time-saving and well tolerated. Conclusion In conclusion, we have shown initial clinical feasibility of an US/radiography fusion prototype with good localization and evaluation of the ROIs. The combined examination was well tolerated. The simultaneous evaluation with mammography and US imaging may be able to improve detection and reduce examiner-related variability

Research in Monumental Constructions in Antiquity

Ancient civilizations have passed down to us a vast range of monumental structures. Monumentality is a complex phenomenon that we address here as ‘XXL’. It encompasses a large range of different aspects, such as sophisticated technical and logistical skills and the vast economic resources required. This contribution takes a closer look at the special interdependence of space and knowledge represented by such XXL projects. We develop a set of objective criteria for determining whether an object qualifies as ‘XXL’, in order to permit a broadly framed study comparing manifestations of the XXL phenomenon in different cultures and describing the functional and conceptional role of the phenomenon in antiquity. Finally, we illustrate how these criteria are being applied in the study of large construction projects in ancient civilizations through six case studies