Qualitative and quantitative characterization of a coal power plant waste by TG/DSC/MS, XRF and XRD

SO2 removal from coal-fired power plant flue gases can be done by dry, semi-dry or wet desulphurization processes, using limestone or lime-containing products as sorbents. In a Brazilian coal power plant, there is a dry desulphurization unit to capture SO2 with hydrated lime from the combustion gases. A part of the flying ashes produced is mixed with the bottom coal ashes and the spent sulphated product generated after SO2 capture. This residual solid blend is then buried in a non-productive area, from which coal was already extracted and is studied in this work. According to the authors’ experience in the development and characterization of adsorbents for low temperature dry desulphurization processes and in thermogravimetric analysis, this paper shows and discusses a method which was developed to characterize qualitatively and quantitatively the chemical and mineral composition of this waste by using thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction, to preview new potential industrial applications for this waste.We are thankful to the University of Cantabria for the financial support under the Project: 51.VP61.64005, to the Brazilian Research Council, under the project CNPq no. 407005/2013-7, and to the Brazilian Education Council CAPES

Recurrent Scedosporium apiospermum mycetoma successfully treated by surgical excision and terbinafine treatment: a case report and review of the literature

Background: Scedosporium apiospermum is an emerging opportunistic filamentous fungus, which is notorious for its high levels of antifungal ‑resistance. It is able to cause localized cutaneous or subcutaneous infections in both immu‑ nocompromised and immunocompetent persons, pulmonary infections in patients with predisposing pulmonary diseases and invasive mycoses in immunocompromised patients. Subcutaneous infections caused by this fungus frequently show chronic mycetomatous manifestation. Case report: We report the case of a 70 ‑year ‑old immunocompromised man, who developed a fungal mycetoma‑ tous infection on his right leg. There was no history of trauma; the aetiological agent was identified by microscopic examination and ITS sequencing. This is the second reported case of S. apiospermum subcutaneous infections in Hungary, which was successfully treated by surgical excision and terbinafine treatment. After 7 months, the patient remained asymptomatic. Considering the antifungal susceptibility and increasing incidence of the fungus, Sce - dosporium related subcutaneous infections reported in the past quarter of century in European countries were also reviewed. Conclusions: Corticosteroid treatment represents a serious risk factor of S. apiospermum infections, especially if the patient get in touch with manure ‑enriched or polluted soil or water. Such infections have emerged several times in European countries in the past decades. The presented data suggest that besides the commonly applied voricona‑ zole, terbinafine may be an alternative for the therapy of mycetomatous Scedosporium infections

Finding needles in haystacks: Linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi

DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Reannotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi.B.R. and C.L.S. acknowledge support from the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Library of MedicinePeer Reviewe

Thermogravimetric analysis of selected group (II) carbonateminerals - Implication for the geosequestration of greenhouse gases

The precursors of carbonate minerals have the potential to react with greenhouse gases to form many common carbonate minerals. The carbonate bearing minerals, magnesite, calcite, strontianite and witherite, were synthesised and analysed using a combination of thermogravimetry and evolved gas mass spectrometry. The DTG curves show that as both the mass and the size of the metal cationic radii increase, the inherent thermal stability of the carbonate also increases dramatically. It is proposed that this inherent effect is a size stabilisation relationship between that of the carbonate and the metal cation. As the cationic radius increases in size, the radius approaches and in the case of Sr2+ and Ba2+ exceeds that of the overall size of the carbonate anion. The thermal stability of these minerals has implications for the geosequestration of greenhouse gases. The carbonates with the larger cations show significantly greater stability