Assessment of graphitized coal ash char concentrates as a potential synthetic graphite source

Coal ash char concentrates from four countries (Portugal, Poland, Romania, and South Africa) were prepared, characterised, and graphitized under the scope of the Charphite project (Third ERA-MIN Joint Call (2015) on the Sustainable Supply of Raw Materials in Europe). Coal ash chars may be a secondary raw material to produce synthetic graphite and could be an alternative to natural graphite, which is a commodity with a high supply risk. The char concentrates and the graphitized material derived from the char concentrates were characterised using proximate analysis, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction (structural), Raman microspectroscopy, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance, scanning electron microscopy, and petrographic analyses to determine if the graphitization of the char was successful, and which char properties enhanced or hindered graphitization. Char concentrates with a lower proportion of anisotropic particles and a higher proportion of mixed porous particles showed greater degrees of graphitization. It is curious to see that embedded Al2O3 minerals, such as glass and clay, influenced graphitization, as they most likely acted as catalysts for crystal growth in the basal direction. However, the graphitized samples, as a whole, do not compare well against a reference natural graphite sample despite some particles in select char concentrates appearing to be graphitized following graphitization.Fil: Badenhorst, Charlotte. University Of Johannesburg; SudáfricaFil: Santos, Cláudia. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Lazaro Martinez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; ArgentinaFil: Bialecka, Barbara. Central Mining Institute; PoloniaFil: Cruceru, Mihai. University Constantin Brancusi of Targu Jiu; RumaniaFil: Guedes, Alexandra. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Guimarâes, Renato. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Moreira, Karen. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Predeanu, Georgeta. University Politehnica Of Bucharest; RumaniaFil: Suárez-Ruíz, Isabel. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Cameán, Ignacio. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Valentim, Bruno. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Wagner, Nicola. University Of Johannesburg; Sudáfric

Phase Change Materials—Applications and Systems Designs: A Literature Review

The development of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) applications and products is closely related to the market penetration of the renewable energy technologies. With the initial aim of matching the phase shift between resource availability and demand in solar energy systems, the range of PCM applications expanded rapidly during the last decades, entering economic sectors where some form of passive thermal regulation was required. This review focuses on examining both conventional applications and recent advances and niche areas—such as space applications—where PCM-based systems demonstrated a potential to improve the operation at process level. The literature survey conducted here gave special attention to recent application of PCM-based systems such as data centres cooling and electric vehicles battery thermal management. Recent advances in PCM-based systems designs were surveyed in the second part of the article. The main PCM containment and system integration directions were discussed and recent representative studies were discussed. Some topics considered marginal but nevertheless essential to large scale implementation of PCM-based systems were mentioned and their coverage in the literature was assessed: health risks, environmental and lifecycle issues

General topography of Prahova County, Romania

<p>The general topographic mapping of a territory, even at detailed scales, remains a difficult task as it is necessary to select the most representative features for an objective representation. The approach we propose tries to provide an accurate solution for mapping the key features of an administrative unit from Southern Romania (Prahova County, 4917 km²) at the scale 1:150,000. The map combines existing data (EU DEM elevation data, hydrographic network) with adapted data extracted from OpenStreetMap (road, railway and settlement networks), together with field survey data, that bring the specific landmarks together with updated information on other features. This approach attempts to bring an integrated configuration of cartographic features and so provide accurate data for scientists, businessmen and tourists, closer to similar scale remote sensing imagery.</p

Decreased expression of APAF-1 and increased expression of cathepsin B in invasive pituitary adenoma

Cristiana Tanase,1 Radu Albulescu,1,2 Elena Codrici,1 Bogdan Calenic,1,3 Ionela Daniela Popescu,1 Simona Mihai,1 Laura Necula,1,4 Maria Linda Cruceru,5 Mihail Eugen Hinescu1,5 1&ldquo;Victor Babes&rdquo; National Institute of Pathology, Biochemistry-Proteomics Department, 2National Institute for Chemical Pharmaceutical R&amp;D, 3&ldquo;Carol Davila&rdquo; University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Department of Biochemistry, 4Stefan S. Nicolau Institute of Virology, Cellular and Molecular Pathology, 5&ldquo;Carol Davila&rdquo; University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cellular and Molecular Medicine Department, Bucharest, Romania Purpose: Apoptotic protease-activating factor-1 (APAF-1) and cathepsin B are important functional proteins in apoptosis; the former is involved in the intrinsic (mitochondrial) pathway, while the latter is associated with both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. Changes in the expression of apoptosome-related proteins could be useful indicators of tumor development since a priori defects in the mitochondrial pathway might facilitate the inception and progression of human neoplasms. Our aim was to evaluate the profiles of APAF-1 and cathepsin B in relation with other molecules involved in apoptosis/proliferation and to correlate them with the aggressive behavior of invasive pituitary adenomas. Materials and methods: APAF-1 and cathepsin B were assessed in tissue samples from 30&nbsp;patients with pituitary adenomas, of which 16 were functional adenomas and 22 were invasive adenomas. Results: A positive relationship between high proliferation and invasiveness was observed in invasive pituitary adenomas when compared to their noninvasive counterparts (Ki-67 labeling index &ndash; 4.72% versus 1.75%). Decreased expression of APAF-1 was recorded in most of the invasive adenomas with a high proliferation index, while the cathepsin B level was elevated&nbsp;in this group. We have noticed a negative correlation between the low level of APAF-1 and invasiveness (63.63%; P&lt;0.01); at the same time, a positive correlation between cathepsin&nbsp;B expression and invasiveness (59.09%; P&lt;0.01) was found. In all, 81.25% out of the total APAF-1-positive samples were cathepsin B negative (P&lt;0.01); 76.92% out of the total cathepsin B-positive samples were APAF-1-negative (P&lt;0.01). These results were reinforced by an apoptosis protein array examination, which showed inhibition of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway in an invasive pituitary adenoma. Conclusion: A bidirectional&ndash;inverted relationship between APAF-1 and cathepsin B expressions was noticed. One might hypothesize that shifting the balance between mediators of cell death could result in changes in tumor behavior. Keywords: apoptosis, pituitary adenoma, APAF-1, cathepsin B, Ki-67, p5

Undifferentiated Inorganics in Coal Fly Ash and Bottom Ash: Calcispheres, Magnesiacalcispheres, and Magnesiaspheres

During a study aiming to recover strategic elements and minerals from coal fly ash and bottom ash (RAREASH and CHARPHITE projects funded, respectively, by the 2nd ERA-MIN and 3rd ERA-MIN Programs of the European Union Commission), it was found that in coal fly ash and bottom ash from Romania and Poland, several morphotypes did not fit into the general fly ash classifications, unless grouped together as “undifferentiated inorganics”. However, the combination of reflected light optical microscopy under oil immersion, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray microanalysis (SEM/EDS) showed that many of these morphotypes not only have distinctive petrographic patterns but are also characterized by a chemical assemblage dominated by Ca, Mg, and P. In this paper, a survey of the literature is presented together with several detailed studies of samples from the RAREASH and CHARPHITE projects from which the following nomenclature are proposed: “calcispheres” for spongy Ca-rich morphotypes, “calcimagnesiaspheres” for (Ca + Mg)-rich morphotypes with visible MgO nodules and/or periclase (MgO) exsolved from Ca aluminate-silicate glass, and “magnesiaspheres” divided into “magnesiaferrospheres” for (Mg + Fe)-rich morphotypes with magnesioferrite, and “magnesiaoxyspheres” for magnesiaspheres mainly composed of (Mg + Fe)-rich amorphous material with visible MgO nodules and/or periclase