Occupational exposure to dusts and risk of renal cell carcinoma

Background: Occupational exposures to dusts have generally been examined in relation to cancers of the respiratory system and have rarely been examined in relation to other cancers, such as renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Although previous epidemiological studies, though few, have shown certain dusts, such as asbestos, to increase renal cancer risk, the potential for other occupational dust exposures to cause kidney damage and/or cancer may exist. We investigated whether asbestos, as well as 20 other occupational dust exposures, were associated with RCC risk in a large European, multi-center, hospital-based renal case-control study.Methods: General occupational histories and job-specific questionnaires were reviewed by occupational hygienists for subject-specific information. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) between RCC risk and exposures were calculated using unconditional logistic regression. Results: Among participants ever exposed to dusts, significant associations were observed for glass fibres (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.1-3.9), mineral wool fibres (OR: 2.5; 95% CI: 1.2-5.1), and brick dust (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.0-2.4). Significant trends were also observed with exposure duration and cumulative exposure. No association between RCC risk and asbestos exposure was observed. Conclusion: Results suggest that increased RCC risk may be associated with occupational exposure to specific types of dusts. Additional studies are needed to replicate and extend findings. © 2011 Cancer Research UK All rights reserved

Twin roll casting of Al-Mg alloy with high added impurity content

The final publication is available at Springer from the link belowThe microstructural evolution during twin roll casting (TRC) and downstream processing of AA5754 Al alloy with high added impurity content have been investigated. Strip casts with a high impurity content resulted in coarse α-Al grains and complex secondary phases. The grain size and centreline segregation reduced significantly on the addition of Al-Ti-B grain refiner (GR). Coarse-dendrite arm spacing (DAS) “floating” grains are observed in the impure alloy (IA) with higher volume in the GR strips. Two dimensional (2D) metallographic analysis of the as-cast strip suggests secondary phases (Fe bearing intermetallics and Mg2Si) are discrete and located at the α-Al cell/grain boundaries, while three dimensional (3D) analysis of extracted particles revealed that they were intact, well interconnected and located in interdendritic regions. Homogenizing heat treatment of the cast strip breaks the interconnective networks and modifies the secondary phases to more equiaxed morphology. During rolling, the eqiaxed secondary phases align along the rolling direction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis suggests that α-Al(FeMn)Si and Mg2Si are the predominant secondary phases that formed during casting and remain throughout the downstream processing of the GR-IA. The high impurity sheet processed from TRC resulted in superior strength and ductility than the sheet processed from small book mould ingot casting. This study, have shown that the twin roll casting process can tolerate higher impurity levels and produce formable sheets from recycled aluminium for structural applications.UK Engineering Physical and Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Liquid Metal Engineering and the Technology Strategic Board (TSB), U

Mapping atmospheric corrosion in coastal regions: Methods and results

Corrosion can seriously affect the service life of components for solar energy conversion. We present results of mapping the potential of atmospheric corrosion in coastal regions with the aid of a Geographical Information System (GIS). Concentration of sea salt aerosols, which are the main atmospheric pollutants in maritime coastal regions, gives an indication of the probability of the atmospheric corrosion leading to PV-module degradation. Two approaches to estimate the distribution of sea salt aerosol across the coastal regions worldwide are investigated. The first approach is a geo-statistical analysis that has been used for interpolating chloride deposition data. The second approach is based on modeling the environmental conditions, which are affecting source and distribution of airborne salinity. The comparison of these two approaches provides high accuracy in the description of the variation in airborne salinity across the coastal regions. The assessment of the atmospheric corrosion in coastal regions is based on the international standard ISO 9223. The corrosivity classification is simply defined by three parameters: SO2 pollution, airborne salinity, and relative humidity. A combination of the results from the geo-statistical approach and modeling is used; the result is a map of atmospheric corrosion in coastal regions

Desert applications of PV modules

Desert areas are very interesting for PV application, due to their high global irradiance. These arid regions bear extreme conditions for PV modules. Strong winds and high dust loads cause not only temporary decreases in transmittance but also a non-reversible degradation of the surface, which limits the overall yield. The question is how to show where to place PV modules to maximize the service life and the electrical yield during the module's life time. Stress maps can help to evaluate promising locations and model the soiling potential, which strongly depend on environmental factors such as rain and dust storms. The overall dust deposition is important for an economic feasibility analysis by which the expected energy yield loss in terms of different soiling scenarios can be determined. A correlation between dust deposition and transmittance links the stress map data with the actual expected power output. Therefore a dust deposition setup has been developed

Fracture of silicon particles in aluminium-silicon composites

Translated from Czech (Kovove Mater. 1995 (6) p. 427-438)Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:9023.19(VR-Trans--8240)T / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo