Co-Al spinel-based nanoparticles synthesized by flame spray pyrolysis for glycerol conversion

The catalytic properties of Co-Al spinel nanoparticles prepared by liquid-feed flame spray pyrolysis (L-F FSP) were investigated in the glycerol conversion in gas phase in an atmosphere of hydrogen. Reduction at 1123 K of the as-synthesized spinel nanoparticles induced the formation a new phase containing metallic cobalt species. Although, the reducibility of cobalt oxides is greatly decreased due to interaction with aluminium species, this strong interaction may prevent the aggregation of Co particles under the harsh reduction conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the reduced spinel nanoparticles at 1123 K revealed that the Co/Al atomic ratio has decreased to Co/Al = 0.11, which may indicate a redistribution of the aluminum and cobalt species at the surface of the sample submitted to the reduction in a flow of hydrogen at 1123 K. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) also reinforced the formation of metallic cobalt species after reduction of cobalt from the spinel nanoparticles at 1123 K. The main products obtained from the conversion of glycerol in the gas phase were hydroxyacetone, pyruvaldehyde, lactic acid and lactide. FSP ensured uniform dispersion of the active metal on a support material

Variation of Absorption Angstrom Exponent in Aerosols From Different Emission Sources

The absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) describes the spectral dependence of light absorption by aerosols. AAE is typically used to differentiate between different aerosol types for example., black carbon, brown carbon, and dust particles. In this study, the variation of AAE was investigated mainly in fresh aerosol emissions from different fuel and combustion types, including emissions from ships, buses, coal-fired power plants, and residential wood burning. The results were assembled to provide a compendium of AAE values from different emission sources. A dual-spot aethalometer (AE33) was used in all measurements to obtain the light absorption coefficients at seven wavelengths (370-950 nm). AAE(470/950) varied greatly between the different emission sources, ranging from -0.2 +/- 0.7 to 3.0 +/- 0.8. The correlation between the AAE(470/950) and AAE(370-950) results was good (R-2 = 0.95) and the mean bias error between these was 0.02. In the ship engine exhaust emissions, the highest AAE(470/950) values (up to 2.0 +/- 0.1) were observed when high sulfur content heavy fuel oil was used, whereas low sulfur content fuels had the lowest AAE(470/950) (0.9-1.1). In the diesel bus exhaust emissions, AAE(470/950) increased in the order of acceleration (0.8 +/- 0.1), deceleration (1.1 +/- 0.1), and steady driving (1.2 +/- 0.1). In the coal-fired power plant emissions, the variation of AAE(470/950) was substantial (from -0.1 +/- 2.1 to 0.9 +/- 1.6) due to the differences in the fuels and flue gas cleaning conditions. Fresh wood-burning derived aerosols had AAE(470/950) from 1.1 +/- 0.1 (modern masonry heater) to 1.4 +/- 0.1 (pellet boiler), lower than typically associated with wood burning, while the burn cycle phase affected AAE variation.Peer reviewe

Economic and environmental analysis of energy efficiency measures in agriculture. Case Studies and trade offs.

This report is the result of the collaboration of the partners of the AGREE work-package “Economic and environmental analysis”, which is based on case study analyses of the partners in seven countries of the EU. The case studies show economic and environmental trade-offs in the different regions in the EU, for which each partner is responsible. Nevertheless prior to the reporting of the case studies an intensive discussion on a common methodological approach has been accomplished and applied to the case studies. The case studies show a wide range of different perspectives of energy efficiency in agriculture, but they are all based on the common methodology presented in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, the case studies are presented, with authors indicated at the beginning of each section. Each section of Chapter 4 ends with a synthesis analysis of the results from the different case studies. Chapter 5 summarizes and concludes the report by highlighting the major findings of the analyses. The report builds upon the “State of the Art in Energy Efficiency in Europe” published separately by the AGREE consortium (Gołaszewski et al. 2012), which shows the status quo of energy use and possible energy efficiency measures in agriculture across different production systems and regions in Europe. This report presents an economic and environmental analysis based on in-depth case studies which show the potential for, and constraints on, energy efficiency measures in agriculture with respect to the specific environments in Europe

Influence of wood species on toxicity of log-wood stove combustion aerosols: A parallel animal and air-liquid interface cell exposure study on spruce and pine smoke

Background Wood combustion emissions have been studied previously either by in vitro or in vivo models using collected particles, yet most studies have neglected gaseous compounds. Furthermore, a more accurate and holistic view of the toxicity of aerosols can be gained with parallel in vitro and in vivo studies using direct exposure methods. Moreover, modern exposure techniques such as air-liquid interface (ALI) exposures enable better assessment of the toxicity of the applied aerosols than, for example, the previous state-of-the-art submerged cell exposure techniques. Methods We used three different ALI exposure systems in parallel to study the toxicological effects of spruce and pine combustion emissions in human alveolar epithelial (A549) and murine macrophage (RAW264.7) cell lines. A whole-body mouse inhalation system was also used to expose C57BL/6 J mice to aerosol emissions. Moreover, gaseous and particulate fractions were studied separately in one of the cell exposure systems. After exposure, the cells and animals were measured for various parameters of cytotoxicity, inflammation, genotoxicity, transcriptome and proteome. Results We found that diluted (1:15) exposure pine combustion emissions (PM1 mass 7.7 ± 6.5 mg m− 3, 41 mg MJ$^{Zahl}$) contained, on average, more PM and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) than spruce (PM1 mass 4.3 ± 5.1 mg m− 3, 26 mg MJ− 1) emissions, which instead showed a higher concentration of inorganic metals in the emission aerosol. Both A549 cells and mice exposed to these emissions showed low levels of inflammation but significantly increased genotoxicity. Gaseous emission compounds produced similar genotoxicity and a higher inflammatory response than the corresponding complete combustion emission in A549 cells. Systems biology approaches supported the findings, but we detected differing responses between in vivo and in vitro experiments. Conclusions Comprehensive in vitro and in vivo exposure studies with emission characterization and systems biology approaches revealed further information on the effects of combustion aerosol toxicity than could be achieved with either method alone. Interestingly, in vitro and in vivo exposures showed the opposite order of the highest DNA damage. In vitro measurements also indicated that the gaseous fraction of emission aerosols may be more important in causing adverse toxicological effects. Combustion aerosols of different wood species result in mild but aerosol specific in vitro and in vivo effects

Particulate matter from both heavy fuel oil and diesel fuel shipping emissions show strong biological effects on human lung cells at realistic and comparable in vitro exposure conditions

Background: Ship engine emissions are important with regard to lung and cardiovascular diseases especially in coastal regions worldwide. Known cellular responses to combustion particles include oxidative stress and inflammatory signalling. Objectives: To provide a molecular link between the chemical and physical characteristics of ship emission particles and the cellular responses they elicit and to identify potentially harmful fractions in shipping emission aerosols. Methods: Through an air-liquid interface exposure system, we exposed human lung cells under realistic in vitro conditions to exhaust fumes from a ship engine running on either common heavy fuel oil (HFO) or cleaner-burning diesel fuel (DF). Advanced chemical analyses of the exhaust aerosols were combined with transcriptional, proteomic and metabolomic profiling including isotope labelling methods to characterise the lung cell responses. Results: The HFO emissions contained high concentrations of toxic compounds such as metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and were higher in particle mass. These compounds were lower in DF emissions, which in turn had higher concentrations of elemental carbon (“soot”). Common cellular reactions included cellular stress responses and endocytosis. Reactions to HFO emissions were dominated by oxidative stress and inflammatory responses, whereas DF emissions induced generally a broader biological response than HFO emissions and affected essential cellular pathways such as energy metabolism, protein synthesis, and chromatin modification. Conclusions: Despite a lower content of known toxic compounds, combustion particles from the clean shipping fuel DF influenced several essential pathways of lung cell metabolism more strongly than particles from the unrefined fuel HFO. This might be attributable to a higher soot content in DF. Thus the role of diesel soot, which is a known carcinogen in acute air pollution-induced health effects should be further investigated. For the use of HFO and DF we recommend a reduction of carbonaceous soot in the ship emissions by implementation of filtration devices

Photocatalytic Decomposition of Formic Acid on Mo2C-Containing Catalyst

Soluble components in the peripheral blood from experimental exposure of 14 healthy subjects to filtered air and wood smoke. Samples were collected before (pre), at 24 h and 44 h after exposure, to air and wood smoke. Data are given as medians with interquartile range. (DOCX 62 kb

Tallilla ei vaan voi räjähtää:sosiaalipedagoginen hevostoiminta lasten ja nuorten kokemuksissa

Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tarkoituksena on kuvata lasten ja nuorten kokemuksia ja ajatuksia sosiaalipedagogisesta hevostoiminnasta. Tavoitteena on selvittää, miten sosiaalipedagoginen hevostoiminta näyttäytyy lasten ja nuorten elämässä ja millä tavoin sosiaalipedagogisen hevostoiminnan kulmakivet — toiminnallisuus, yhteisöllisyys, elämyksellisyys ja dialogisuus — tulevat esiin kokemuksissa. Tutkimus toteutettiin käyttäen fenomenologista tutkimusotetta, jossa keskeisenä tutkimuskohteena on aina ihmisen subjektiivinen kokemus. Aineistonkeruu tehtiin kevään 2016 aikana, ja se koostuu kahdeksasta 9–22-vuotiaan lapsen ja nuoren teemahaastattelusta sekä yhdestä avoimesta kirjallisesta vastauksesta. Tutkimusaineisto on analysoitu fenomenologisia menetelmiä käyttäen. Tutkielman teoreettinen viitekehys perustuu sosiaalipedagogiikan taustalla vaikuttavaan sosiaalipedagogiikkaan, sosiaalipedagogisen hevostoiminnan tunnuspiirteisiin ja hevosen terapeuttisen vaikutuksen perinteeseen. Syrjäytyminen ja lasten ja nuorten pahoinvointi ovat yksi yhteiskuntamme merkittävimmistä ongelmista. Viime vuosikymmenellä hyvinvoinnin tueksi on alettu kehittää vaihtoehtoisia hoitomenetelmiä, joissa eläimiä käytetään terapeutin roolissa. Eläimet voivat avata ovia keskusteluun ja vahvistaa luottamusta terapiaprosessissa. Sosiaalipedagoginen hevostoiminta on yksi esimerkki syrjäytymistä ennaltaehkäisevästä ja korjaavasta tukimuodosta. Sosiaalipedagoginen hevostoiminta voidaan määritellä syrjäytymisen ehkäisyn sekä sosiaalisen kasvun ja hyvinvoinnin tukemiseksi, hevosen kanssa tapahtuvassa yhteisöllisessä toiminnassa. Toiminnan peruselementit — toiminnallisuus, yhteisöllisyys, elämyksellisyys ja dialogisuus — pohjaavat suoraan sosiaalipedagogiikkaan. Sosiaalipedagogisessa hevostoiminnassa hyödynnetään tietoisesti hevosen ja talliympäristön eheyttävää vaikutusta ja sosiaalipedagogiikan periaatteita. Tämän tutkimuksen aineisto osoittaa, että sosiaalipedagogisella hevostoiminnalla on positiivisia vaikutuksia lasten ja nuorten elämään. Hevostoiminnan tarjoamat mahdollisuudet ja kokemukset olivat osittain riippuvaisia vastaajien iästä. Nuorempien vastaajien kokemuksissa painottuivat ratsastukselliset ja hevosen hoitoon liittyvät onnistumisen kokemukset. Vanhemmilla vastaajilla merkittävimmät kokemukset liittyivät näiden lisäksi oman psyykkisen puolen kehittymiseen. Toiminnan koettiin parantaneen käyttäytymisen- ja tunteidensäätelyä sekä vahvistaneen minäkuvaa ja elämänhallintaa. Hevostoiminnassa nousi monipuolisesti esiin sosiaalipedagogisia elementtejä, mutta yksilökeskeisessä hevostoiminnassa yhteisöllisyys jäi vähemmälle huomiolle. Tutkimustulokset vahvistavat aiempaa tutkimusnäyttöä hevosavusteisen toiminnan eduista elämän eri osa-alueiden kokonaisvaltaisena tukijana