scholarly journals Impact of temperature on the leaching of sulphate, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn from the Ballangen tailings deposit, Norway: a laboratory column experiment

Author(s):  
Jinmei Lu ◽  
Ingar Walder ◽  
Tiina Leiviskä

Abstract Temperature is an important factor affecting the leaching of contaminants from waste deposits, especially in the Nordic region where temperature change is more drastic than other areas. In this study, the impact of temperature variation in the leaching of sulphate, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn from the Ballangen tailings deposit, northern Norway, was investigated using a column leaching experiment. Unoxidized tailings were fed into four columns, which were subsequently put into four wine fridges set at 5, 10, 14 and 18 °C, respectively. The columns were filled with 600 ml of deionized water from the top every second week. Leachate was collected at the bottom and tested for pH, conductivity and concentrations of , Co, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn. The saturation index for ferrihydrite and the activity of Fe2+ in the leachate were calculated with PHREEQC. The results showed that the conductivity and leachate concentrations of , Co, Fe, Mn and Ni were highest at 14 and 18 °C, and lowest at 5 °C, which showed high tailings oxidation and subsequent leaching of contaminants at higher temperatures. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis of the residual material confirmed the oxidation of sulphides and leaching of many elements. Ferrihydrite was supersaturated in the leachate from the 14 and 18 °C columns, which showed the oxidation of pyrrhotite and olivine and the precipitation of ferrihydrite. The cumulative mass of Zn leached out was highest at 10 °C, which might be the threshold temperature for the leaching of Zn.

Author(s):  
Halit Dogan ◽  
Md Mahbub Alam ◽  
Navid Asadizanjani ◽  
Sina Shahbazmohamadi ◽  
Domenic Forte ◽  
...  

Abstract X-ray tomography is a promising technique that can provide micron level, internal structure, and three dimensional (3D) information of an integrated circuit (IC) component without the need for serial sectioning or decapsulation. This is especially useful for counterfeit IC detection as demonstrated by recent work. Although the components remain physically intact during tomography, the effect of radiation on the electrical functionality is not yet fully investigated. In this paper we analyze the impact of X-ray tomography on the reliability of ICs with different fabrication technologies. We perform a 3D imaging using an advanced X-ray machine on Intel flash memories, Macronix flash memories, Xilinx Spartan 3 and Spartan 6 FPGAs. Electrical functionalities are then tested in a systematic procedure after each round of tomography to estimate the impact of X-ray on Flash erase time, read margin, and program operation, and the frequencies of ring oscillators in the FPGAs. A major finding is that erase times for flash memories of older technology are significantly degraded when exposed to tomography, eventually resulting in failure. However, the flash and Xilinx FPGAs of newer technologies seem less sensitive to tomography, as only minor degradations are observed. Further, we did not identify permanent failures for any chips in the time needed to perform tomography for counterfeit detection (approximately 2 hours).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew G. Hanson ◽  
Barry Chan

Abstract Background Symptomatic pericardial effusion (PCE) presents with non-specific features and are often missed on the initial physical exam, chest X-ray (CXR), and electrocardiogram (ECG). In extreme cases, misdiagnosis can evolve into decompensated cardiac tamponade, a life-threatening obstructive shock. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) on the diagnosis and therapeutic intervention of clinically significant PCE. Methods In a retrospective chart review, we looked at all patients between 2002 and 2018 at a major Canadian academic hospital who had a pericardiocentesis for clinically significant PCE. We extracted the rate of presenting complaints, physical exam findings, X-ray findings, ECG findings, time-to-diagnosis, and time-to-pericardiocentesis and how these were impacted by POCUS. Results The most common presenting symptom was dyspnea (64%) and the average systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 120 mmHg. 86% of people presenting had an effusion > 1 cm, and 89% were circumferential on departmental echocardiogram (ECHO) with 64% having evidence of right atrial systolic collapse and 58% with early diastolic right ventricular collapse. The average time-to-diagnosis with POCUS was 5.9 h compared to > 12 h with other imaging including departmental ECHO. Those who had the PCE identified by POCUS had an average time-to-pericardiocentesis of 28.1 h compared to > 48 h with other diagnostic modalities. Conclusion POCUS expedites the diagnosis of symptomatic PCE given its non-specific clinical findings which, in turn, may accelerate the time-to-intervention.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 2212
Author(s):  
Worawat Poltabtim ◽  
Ekachai Wimolmala ◽  
Teerasak Markpin ◽  
Narongrit Sombatsompop ◽  
Vichai Rosarpitak ◽  
...  

The potential utilization of wood/polyvinyl chloride (WPVC) composites containing an X-ray protective filler, namely bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) particles, was investigated as novel, safe, and environmentally friendly X-ray shielding materials. The wood and Bi2O3 contents used in this work varied from 20 to 40 parts per hundred parts of PVC by weight (pph) and from 0 to 25, 50, 75, and 100 pph, respectively. The study considered X-ray shielding, mechanical, density, water absorption, and morphological properties. The results showed that the overall X-ray shielding parameters, namely the linear attenuation coefficient (µ), mass attenuation coefficient (µm), and lead equivalent thickness (Pbeq), of the WPVC composites increased with increasing Bi2O3 contents but slightly decreased at higher wood contents (40 pph). Furthermore, comparative Pbeq values between the wood/PVC composites and similar commercial X-ray shielding boards indicated that the recommended Bi2O3 contents for the 20 pph (40 ph) wood/PVC composites were 35, 85, and 40 pph (40, 100, and 45 pph) for the attenuation of 60, 100, and 150-kV X-rays, respectively. In addition, the increased Bi2O3 contents in the WPVC composites enhanced the Izod impact strength, hardness (Shore D), and density, but reduced water absorption. On the other hand, the increased wood contents increased the impact strength, hardness (Shore D), and water absorption but lowered the density of the composites. The overall results suggested that the developed WPVC composites had great potential to be used as effective X-ray shielding materials with Bi2O3 acting as a suitable X-ray protective filler.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 724
Author(s):  
Sara Massardo ◽  
Alessandro Cingolani ◽  
Cristina Artini

Rare earth-doped ceria thin films are currently thoroughly studied to be used in miniaturized solid oxide cells, memristive devices and gas sensors. The employment in such different application fields derives from the most remarkable property of this material, namely ionic conductivity, occurring through the mobility of oxygen ions above a certain threshold temperature. This feature is in turn limited by the association of defects, which hinders the movement of ions through the lattice. In addition to these issues, ionic conductivity in thin films is dominated by the presence of the film/substrate interface, where a strain can arise as a consequence of lattice mismatch. A tensile strain, in particular, when not released through the occurrence of dislocations, enhances ionic conduction through the reduction of activation energy. Within this complex framework, high pressure X-ray diffraction investigations performed on the bulk material are of great help in estimating the bulk modulus of the material, and hence its compressibility, namely its tolerance toward the application of a compressive/tensile stress. In this review, an overview is given about the correlation between structure and transport properties in rare earth-doped ceria films, and the role of high pressure X-ray diffraction studies in the selection of the most proper compositions for the design of thin films.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikolaj Grabowski ◽  
Ewa Grzanka ◽  
Szymon Grzanka ◽  
Artur Lachowski ◽  
Julita Smalc-Koziorowska ◽  
...  

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to give an experimental evidence that point defects (most probably gallium vacancies) induce decomposition of InGaN quantum wells (QWs) at high temperatures. In the experiment performed, we implanted GaN:Si/sapphire substrates with helium ions in order to introduce a high density of point defects. Then, we grew InGaN QWs on such substrates at temperature of 730 °C, what caused elimination of most (but not all) of the implantation-induced point defects expanding the crystal lattice. The InGaN QWs were almost identical to those grown on unimplanted GaN substrates. In the next step of the experiment, we annealed samples grown on unimplanted and implanted GaN at temperatures of 900 °C, 920 °C and 940 °C for half an hour. The samples were examined using Photoluminescence, X-ray Diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy. We found out that the decomposition of InGaN QWs started at lower temperatures for the samples grown on the implanted GaN substrates what provides a strong experimental support that point defects play important role in InGaN decomposition at high temperatures.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 381
Author(s):  
Gautier Cesbron-Lavau ◽  
Aurélie Goux ◽  
Fiona Atkinson ◽  
Alexandra Meynier ◽  
Sophie Vinoy

During processing of cereal-based food products, starch undergoes dramatic changes. The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of food processing on the starch digestibility profile of cereal-based foods using advanced imaging techniques, and to determine the effect of preserving starch in its native, slowly digestible form on its in vivo metabolic fate. Four different food products using different processing technologies were evaluated: extruded products, rusks, soft-baked cakes, and rotary-molded biscuits. Imaging techniques (X-ray diffraction, micro-X-ray microtomography, and electronic microscopy) were used to investigate changes in slowly digestible starch (SDS) structure that occurred during these different food processing technologies. For in vivo evaluation, International Standards for glycemic index (GI) methodology were applied on 12 healthy subjects. Rotary molding preserved starch in its intact form and resulted in the highest SDS content (28 g/100 g) and a significantly lower glycemic and insulinemic response, while the three other technologies resulted in SDS contents below 3 g/100 g. These low SDS values were due to greater disruption of the starch structure, which translated to a shift from a crystalline structure to an amorphous one. Modulation of postprandial glycemia, through starch digestibility modulation, is a meaningful target for the prevention of metabolic diseases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S356) ◽  
pp. 143-143
Author(s):  
Jaya Maithil ◽  
Michael S. Brotherton ◽  
Bin Luo ◽  
Ohad Shemmer ◽  
Sarah C. Gallagher ◽  
...  

AbstractActive Galactic Nuclei (AGN) exhibit multi-wavelength properties that are representative of the underlying physical processes taking place in the vicinity of the accreting supermassive black hole. The black hole mass and the accretion rate are fundamental for understanding the growth of black holes, their evolution, and the impact on the host galaxies. Recent results on reverberation-mapped AGNs show that the highest accretion rate objects have systematic shorter time-lags. These super-Eddington accreting massive black holes (SEAMBHs) show BLR size 3-8 times smaller than predicted by the Radius-Luminosity (R-L) relationship. Hence, the single-epoch virial black hole mass estimates of highly accreting AGNs have an overestimation of a factor of 3-8 times. SEAMBHs likely have a slim accretion disk rather than a thin disk that is diagnostic in X-ray. I will present the extreme X-ray properties of a sample of dozen of SEAMBHs. They indeed have a steep hard X-ray photon index, Γ, and demonstrate a steeper power-law slope, ασx.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 925
Author(s):  
Diogo Heitor ◽  
Isabel Duarte ◽  
João Dias-de-Oliveira

X-ray microcomputed tomography has been gaining relevance in the field of cellular materials to characterize materials and analyse their microstructure. So, here, it was used together with finite element modelling to develop numerical models to estimate the effective properties (Young’s modulus) of aluminium alloy foams and evaluate the effects of processing on the results. A manual global thresholding technique using the mass as a quality indicator was used. The models were reconstructed (Marching Cubes 33), then simplified and analysed in terms of mass and shape maintenance (Hausdorff distance algorithm) and face quality. Two simplification procedures were evaluated, with and without small structural imperfections, to evaluate the impact of the procedures on the results. Results demonstrate that the developed procedures are good at minimizing changes in mass and shape of the geometries while providing good face quality, i.e., face aspect ratio. The models are also shown to be able to predict the effective properties of metallic foams in accordance with the findings of other researchers. In addition, the process of obtaining the models and the presence of small structural imperfections were shown to have a great impact on the results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantinos G. Broustas ◽  
Axel J. Duval ◽  
Sally A. Amundson

AbstractAs a radiation biodosimetry tool, gene expression profiling is being developed using mouse and human peripheral blood models. The impact of dose, dose-rate, and radiation quality has been studied with the goal of predicting radiological tissue injury. In this study, we determined the impact of aging on the gene expression profile of blood from mice exposed to radiation. Young (2 mo) and old (21 mo) male mice were irradiated with 4 Gy x-rays, total RNA was isolated from whole blood 24 h later, and subjected to whole genome microarray analysis. Pathway analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed young mice responded to x-ray exposure by significantly upregulating pathways involved in apoptosis and phagocytosis, a process that eliminates apoptotic cells and preserves tissue homeostasis. In contrast, the functional annotation of senescence was overrepresented among differentially expressed genes from irradiated old mice without enrichment of phagocytosis pathways. Pathways associated with hematologic malignancies were enriched in irradiated old mice compared with irradiated young mice. The fibroblast growth factor signaling pathway was underrepresented in older mice under basal conditions. Similarly, brain-related functions were underrepresented in unirradiated old mice. Thus, age-dependent gene expression differences should be considered when developing gene signatures for use in radiation biodosimetry.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Xiao-yu Liu ◽  
Hai-feng Shi ◽  
Jie Zheng ◽  
Ku-lin Li ◽  
Xiao-xi Zhao ◽  
...  

Objective. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of left atrial (LA) size for the ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) using remote magnetic navigation (RMN). Methods. A total of 165 patients with AF who underwent catheter ablation using RMN were included. The patients were divided into two groups based on LA diameter. Eighty-three patients had small LA (diameter <40 mm; Group A), and 82 patients had a large LA (diameter ≥40 mm; Group B). Results. During mapping and ablation, X-ray time (37.0 (99.0) s vs. 12 (30.1) s, P<0.001) and X-ray dose (1.4 (2.7) gy·cm2 vs. 0.7 (2.1) gy·cm2, P=0.013) were significantly higher in Group A. No serious complications occurred in any of the patients. There was no statistical difference in the rate of first anatomical attempt of pulmonary vein isolation between the two groups (71.1% vs. 57.3%, P=0.065). However, compared with Group B, the rate of sinus rhythm was higher (77.1% vs. 58.5%, P<0.001) during the follow-up period. More patients in Group A required a sheath adjustment (47/83 vs. 21/82, P<0.001), presumably due to less magnets positioned outside of the sheath. In vitro experiments with the RMN catheter demonstrated that only one magnet exposed created the sheath affects which influenced the flexibility of the catheter. Conclusions. AF ablation using RMN is safe and effective in both small and large LA patients. Patients with small LA may pose a greater difficulty when using RMN which may be attributed to the fewer magnets beyond the sheath. As a result, the exposure of radiation was increased. This study found that having at least two magnets of the catheter positioned outside of the sheath can ensure an appropriate flexibility of the catheter.


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