Mechanical behavior of hot-mix asphalt made with recycled concrete aggregates from construction and demolition waste: a design of experiments approach

[Abstract:] The present work is a re-evaluation of previous research on the durability of hot-mix asphalt made with recycled concrete aggregates from construction and demolition waste (CDW) with a different approach. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to conduct this study. The kind of natural aggregates (schist and calcite-dolomite), the recycled concrete aggregates percentage (0%, 20%, 40% and 60%) and the water saturation (0% and 100%) were the pertinent factors for this methodology. Indirect tensile stress (ITS) was determined in mixtures fabricated with 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% recycled concrete aggregates. According to the results, the ITS of the bituminous mixtures increases as the percentage of recycled concrete aggregate increases. This behavior is more significant when calcite-dolomite is used as a natural aggregate. Water saturation has the same influence in both natural aggregates. The indirect tensile strength ratio (ITSR) was calculated to evaluate the stripping potential. According to the Spanish specifications, the results suggest that the percentage of CDW that can be used for hot mixes is 17% when schist is used as natural aggregate and 14% for calcite-dolomite

Evaluation of the Resilient Modulus of Hot-Mix Asphalt Made With Recycled Concrete Aggregates From Construction and Demolition Waste

[Abstract] This paper reports the influence of the percentage of recycled aggregate (RCA) from construction and demolition waste (C&DW) together with the percentage of binder (L), curing time (t) and temperature (T) of the samples on the stiffness of a hot asphalt mixture. The study was carried out using the response surface methodology (RSM). The resilient modulus was chosen to estimate the stiffness of the mixture. The percentages of RCA studied were 0% (control), 5%, 10%, 20% and 30%, whilst 3.5%, 4% and 4.5% were those chosen for the binder content. Before compacting the samples, they were left into the oven to cure. Curing time, or pretreatment time, were set at 0 (control), 2 and 4 h. The samples were subjected to temperatures of 0, 10 and 20 °C. The natural aggregate is of the hornfels type. All the specimens studied showed high stiffness at low temperatures. According to this research, temperature proved to be the most influential factor on the decrease in the resilient modulus and, conversely, the percentage of recycled aggregate is not a significant factor in the range of values studied.Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia; UIDB/04730/202

Copper‐Catalyzed Selective Pyrrole Functionalization by Carbene Transfer Reaction

1H‐Pyrroles can be directly functionalized by means of the incorporation of carbene groups from diazo compounds, in a process catalyzed by TpxCu complexes (Tpx=hydrotrispyrazolylborate ligand). The reactions take place with a complete selectivity toward the formal insertion of the carbene into the Cα−H bond, leading to alkylated pyrroles, with no modification of the Cβ−H, N−H or C=C bonds of the pyrrole unit. Alkyl substituents at C‐ring as well as alkyl, aryl, allyl or alkyne substitution at N atom are tolerated, the strategy affording 20 new pyrrole derivatives. The observance of partial deuteration at the methylene group when the reaction is carried out with added D2O serves to discard the direct insertion of the carbene group into the Csp2−H bond, the alternative electrophilic attack to the pyrrole ring being feasible.Support for this work was provided by the MINECO (CTQ2017- 82893-C2-1-R and PO FEDER 2014-2020, UHU-1254043). AMR thanks MINECO for a FPU fellowship

Exploring the hardness of the ionising radiation with the infrared softness diagram. I. Similar effective temperature scales for starbursts and (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies

{We explored the {softness parameter} in the infrared, whose main purpose is the characterisation of the hardness of the incident ionising radiation in emission-line nebulae. This parameter is obtained from the combination of mid-infrared wavelength range transitions corresponding to consecutive ionisation stages in star-forming regions. We compiled observational data from a sample of star-forming galaxies (SFGs), including luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs), to study the softness parameter and its equivalent expression in two dimensions, the softness diagram. We compared them with predictions from photoionisation models to determine the shape of the ionising continuum energy distribution in each case. We also used the measured emission-line ratios as input for HCmistry-Teff-IR, a code that performs a Bayesian-like comparison with photoionisation model predictions in order to quantify the equivalent effective temperature (T*) and the ionisation parameter. We found similar average values within the errors of the softness parameter in (U)LIRGs (-0.57) in the rest of the SFGs (-0.51), which could be interpreted as indicative of a similar incident radiation field. This result is confirmed from the analysis using HCm-Teff-IR, which simultaneously points to a slightly lower, although similar within the errors, T* scale for (U)LIRGs, even when a higher dust-to-gas mass ratio is considered in the models for these objects. These derived T* values are compatible with the ionisation from massive stars, without any need of harder ionising sources, both for (U)LIRGs and the rest of the SFGs. However, the derived T* in (U)LIRGs do not show any correlation with metallicity. This could be interpreted as a sign that their similar average T* values are due to the attenuation of the energetic incident flux from massive stars by the heated dust mixed with the gas.Comment: Accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysics. 9 pages, 6 figure

Pyrrole Functionalization by Copper‐Catalyzed Nitrene Transfer Reactions

The catalytic functionalization of pyrroles by incorporation of a nitrene group is reported. The Cα‐H bond of 1H‐pyrrole is amidated upon the formal insertion of the NTs (Ts=p‐toluenesulfonyl) group catalyzed by TpBr3Cu(NCMe) (TpBr3=hydrotris(3,4,5‐tribromo‐pyrazolyl)borate). N‐substituted pyrroles also verify the same transformation. The mechanism proposal is similar to that previously described for benzene amidation with the same catalyst and PhI=NTs, which takes place through aziridine formation, ring opening and 1,2‐hydrogen shift. A cascade reaction involving the coupling of 2,5‐dimethylfuran, 1,2,3‐trimethyl‐pyrrole and a nitrene NTs group is also described, leading to a 1,2‐dihydropyridine‐imine compound.Support for this work was provided by the MINECO (CTQ2017‐82893‐C2‐1‐R and PO FEDER 2014‐2020, UHU‐1254043). AMR and MRR thanks MEC for a FPU fellowships

Design of an X-ray irradiator based on a standard imaging X-ray tube with FLASH dose-rate capabilities for preclinical research

This work was funded by Comunidad de Madrid under project B2017/BMD-3888 PRONTO-CM "Protontherapy and nuclear techniques for oncology". Support by the Spanish Government (RTI 2018-098868-B-I00, RTC-2015-3772-1, XPHASE-LASER, CPP 2021-008751 NEW-MBI) , as well as European Regional and Resilience Funds, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 793576 (CAP-PERAM) is acknowledged. This is a contribution for the Moncloa Campus of International Excellence, "Grupo de Física Nuclear-UCM", Ref. 910059. Part of the calculations of this work were performed in the "Cluster de Calculo para Técnicas Físicas", funded in part by UCM and in part by EU Regional Funds.We propose a new concept of small animal X-ray irradiator based on a conventional imaging X-ray tube for preclinical research. In this work we assessed its feasibility to deliver FLASH dose rates. Our design puts the imaging X-ray tube into a shielded cabinet, which makes the system affordable and suitable to use without disruption in existing laboratories and with minimum regulatory burden. Two conventional 150 kVp X-ray tubes were characterized with Gafchromic films for dose rates and dose uniformity. Monte Carlo simulations were also performed to model the irradiator, and the efficiencies of the tube and dose rates (with and without additional filtration) were calculated and compared with measurements. The feasibility of achieving ultra-high dose rates was determined from the rating charts provided by the manufacturer and measurements. The small animal irradiator proposed in this work was able to deliver conventional dose rate irradiation (0.5-1 Gy/min) at 150 kVp at 20 cm distance with minimum amount of filtration. FLASH irradiations (a 10 Gy dose delivered at >40 Gy/s) were also possible at the maximum capabilities of the tubes by placing the samples at the closest possible distances from the sources. A first prototype has already been built and characterized.Depto. de Estructura de la Materia, Física Térmica y ElectrónicaFac. de Ciencias FísicasTRUEComunidad de MadridGobierno de EspañaEuropean Regional and Resilience FundsEuropean Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grantMoncloa Campus of International Excellence, "Grupo de Fisica Nuclear-UCM"Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)EU Regional Fundspu