scholarly journals THEREDA – Thermodynamic Reference Database

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 157-158
Author(s):  
Helge C. Moog ◽  
Tina Scharge ◽  
Holger Seher ◽  
Frank Bok ◽  
Vinzenz Brendler ◽  
...  

Abstract. Part of the process to ensure the safety of radioactive waste disposal is the predictive modeling of the solubility of all relevant toxic components in a complex aqueous solution. To ensure the reliability of thermodynamic equilibrium modeling as well as to facilitate the comparison of such calculations done by different institutions, it is necessary to create a mutually accepted thermodynamic reference database. To meet this demand several institutions in Germany joined efforts and created THEREDA (Moog et al., 2015). THEREDA is a suite of programs at the base of which resides a relational databank. Special emphasis is put on thermodynamic data along with suitable Pitzer coefficients, which enable the calculation of solubilities in high-saline solutions. Registered users may either download single thermodynamic data or ready-to-use parameter files for the geochemical speciation codes PHREEQC, Geochemist's Workbench, CHEMAPP, or TOUGHREACT. Data can also be downloaded in a generic JSON format to enable the import into other codes. The database can be accessed via the world wide web: http://www.thereda.de (last access: 1 November 2021). Prior to release, the released part of the database is subjected to many tests. Results are compared to results from earlier releases and among the different codes. This is to ensure that by additions of new and modification of existing data no adverse side effects on calculations are caused. Furthermore, our website offers an increasing number of examples for applications, including graphical representation, which can be filtered by components of the calculated system.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth E Timme ◽  
Maria Sanchez ◽  
Marc Allard

This protocol outlines the all the steps necessary to become a GenomeTrakr data contributor. GenomeTrakr is an international genomic reference database of mostly food and environmental isolates from foodborne pathogens. The data and analyses are housed at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which is a database freely available to anyone in the world. The Pathogen Detection browser at NCBI computes daily cluster results adding the newly submitted data to the existing phylogenetic clusters of closely related genomes. Contributors to this database can see how their new isolates are related to the real-time foodborne pathogen surveillance program established in the USA and a few other countries, and at the same time adding valuable new data to the reference database. ------ Although originally published as a Chapter in Methods and Protocols, Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens, the protocol has since been adapted and split into four separate protocols all of which are contained in this collection.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Saif Ali ◽  

Vaccine considered as a boon for every individual across the world in the time of pandemic situation. India has developed its own vaccine which shows promising results. Receiving vaccine does not mean that we are completely immune to the disease. Covishield shows some rare but adverse side effects of blood clots in those people having thrombocytopenia. Covaxin has not recorded any such cases as it is of inactivated type. But, the manufacturers of the vaccine have not established the longevity of protection against COVID-19. Unavailability of vaccines in India could pose a serious impact on the lives of the people. Government of India and Medical authorities should take clinical trials and make decision on interchangeability of vaccines as soon as possible.


Author(s):  
Kirti Raj Bhatele ◽  
Stuti Singhal ◽  
Muktasha R. Mithora ◽  
Sneha Sharma

This chapter will guide you through the modeling, uses, and trends in data analysis and data science. The authors focus on the importance of pictorial data in replacement of numeric data. In most situations, graphical representation of data can present the information more distinctly, informative, and in less space than the same information requires in sentence form. This chapter provides a brief knowledge about representing data to more understandable form such that any person whether layman or not can understand it without any difficulty. This chapter also deals with the software Tableau which we use to convert the table data into graphical data. This Chapter contains 11 heat maps related to the world economies and their detailed study on several different topics. It will also give light on the basics of Python Language and its various algorithm studies to compare all the world economies based on their development.


2019 ◽  

The article is focused on the study of the sensual and conceptual component of the conceptual binary opposition human being – technology in Ray Bradbury’s works. The relevance of the research is based on the constant interest of the scientists in the study of binary opposition. The duality of world perception results in writers’ (including Ray Bradbury ) using binary oppositions as a means of conveying their own attitude to the spiritual values on mankind and the very sense of the world. The research identifies the theoretical prerequisites for the duality of human perception; reveals the methodology of frame analysis of concepts as members of binary oppositions; investigates the characteristics of concepts human being and technology as oppositions in Ray Bradbury’s works. The study shows that binary oppositions in the fictional text are preconditioned by the very nature of fiction. Binary oppositions in the fictional text have sensual and conceptual content, thus, the analysis of binary oppositions in the works of a writer gives the opportunity to identify the peculiarities of the writer’s worldview and to understand it in a more profound way. Binary oppositions are realized in the form of opposition of concepts as basic units of the cognitive code of humans with a relatively ordered internal structure. The study of concepts is carried out through the construction of frames as a means of generalized visual concept scheme. It is based and modeled on the relevant sources, collected in a single system of research and illustrative resources, and their graphical representation. This gives the possibility to identify the components of each concept and to analyze the parameters which the author considers to oppose the concepts. It is revealed that the binary opposition human being – technology in Ray Bradbury’s works is represented as an opposition of the key slots of these concept. Thus, it can be considered as a direct opposition of such slots as: animate – inanimate on the basis of functioning; feeling – insensibility on the basis of emotional capability of the world perception; interest – staticity on the basis of the cognitive abilities, and creativity – predation on the basis of the principle aim of a human being and technology.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Saif Ali ◽  

Vaccine considered as a boon for every individual across the world in the time of pandemic situation. India has developed its own vaccine which shows promising results. Receiving vaccine does not mean that we are completely immune to the disease. Covishield shows some rare but adverse side effects of blood clots in those people having thrombocytopenia. Covaxin has not recorded any such cases as it is of inactivated type. But, the manufacturers of the vaccine have not established the longevity of protection against COVID-19. Unavailability of vaccines in India could pose a serious impact on the lives of the people. Government of India and Medical authorities should take clinical trials and make decision on interchangeability of vaccines as soon as possible.


2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Butler ◽  
John Moffett

The plant qinghao 青蒿 (Artemesia annua) has provided the world with a valuable anti-malarial drug (qinghaosu 青蒿素). Another useful anti-malarial drug (febrifugine) of Chinese origin can be extracted from the shrub Dichroa febrifuga (changshan) but, unlike qinghaosu, its chemical structure is relatively simple and it could be easily synthesised in a pharmaceutical factory. However, the presence of two chiral centres in the molecule makes this unsuitable for pharmacological use as only one of the four isomers (the one found naturally) kills the malarial parasite, but all four isomers (as in the synthetic material) have serious adverse side effects. Encouraging African governments to consider growing Dichroa febrifuga as an alternative to the expensive and scarce qinghaosu should be considered.


1990 ◽  
Vol 212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Wanner

ABSTRACTThe geochemical modelling in support of the performance assessment of radioactive waste disposal systems calls for a large number of chemical thermodynamic data. For realistic modelling it is essential that the data used are fully consistent. The verification of consistency of existing data bases is complicated by the fact that it requires the knowledge of a considerable amount of primary information to ensure:1.Consistency with the fundamental laws of thermodynamics2.Consistency within a chemical model3.Consistency with auxiliary data4.Consistency in the data correction proceduresThis paper includes selected examples for each of the four items to visualize the problems. It should be noted that there are numerous other systems that could serve as examples as well, and the range of cases reported here is far from being exhaustive.Realistic geochemical modelling depends not only on the quality of the data base, but also on the quality of the chemical model used. For the establishment of a chemical model, additional information is needed that is not contained in thermodynamic data bases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Anna Markowska

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> An area cartogram is one of the cartographic presentation forms. It is a unique way of presenting statistical data, in which the surface of the individual spatial units is proportional to the value of the phenomenon. Due to its specificity, the area cartogram is an interesting way of graphical representation of phenomena, in particular, the demographic and economic problems of the world.</p><p>In my research, I discuss an empirical study that I have conducted among pupils of the secondary school in Poland. On the basis of the list of advantages and disadvantages of area cartograms collected by B.D. Denta (1999), I assumed that contiguous area cartograms seem to be more useful in teaching in the secondary schools than non-contiguous cartograms. I compared the three types of contiguous area cartograms (preserving the spatial continuity of the presentation, having no gaps between neighboring units &amp;ndash; Figure 1): square cartograms, mosaic cartograms and diffusion-based cartograms (Gastner-Newman algorithm).</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 161-162
Author(s):  
Torben Weyand ◽  
Holger Seher ◽  
Guido Bracke

Abstract. According to the ongoing site selection process for a repository for high-level radioactive waste in Germany, rock salt, clay and crystalline rock are possible host rocks. The pore water of these rocks contains saline solutions with high ionic strengths. To model the speciation and/or migration of radionuclides in long-term safety analyses for nuclear waste disposal, a geochemical code that includes thermodynamic data suitable for saline solutions is needed. Thermodynamic equilibrium in saline solutions with high ionic strengths is usually modelled using the Pitzer approach (Pitzer, 1991). Within the context of nuclear waste disposal, the THEREDA project (Moog et al., 2015) provides thermodynamic data for some widely used geochemical codes (PHREEQC, Geochemist's Workbench, ChemApp, and EQ 3/6) using the Pitzer approach; however, for modelling in long-term safety analyses for nuclear waste disposal, another geochemical code, TOUGHREACT, is used. Therefore, scripts were developed to convert thermodynamic data of the THEREDA project to be applicable in TOUGHREACT. The scripts were validated by benchmark tests and by comparing calculations using PHREEQC and TOUGHREACT (Weyand et al., 2021). In total, 50 different benchmark tests were performed considering 3 specific geochemical systems, which are relevant to long-term safety analyses: (1) oceanic salt system, polythermal: K, Mg, Ca, Cl, SO4, H2O(l), (2) actinide system, isothermal: Am(III), Cm(III), Nd(III), Na, Mg, Ca, Cl, OH, H2O(l) and (3) carbonate system, isothermal: Na, K, Mg, Ca, Cl, SO4, HCO3/CO2(g), H2O(l). Each benchmark test considered specific ion concentrations in solution and in gaseous phases in the presence of specific minerals. The benchmark tests derived the geochemical equilibria and the results of both codes were compared to each other and to experimental data. The results of the calculations using both codes showed a good correlation. Remaining deviations can be explained by technical differences of the codes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 149-150
Author(s):  
David Fellhauer ◽  
Xavier Gaona ◽  
Marcus Altmaier ◽  
Horst Geckeis

Abstract. Deep geological disposal is the internationally favoured option to isolate high-level nuclear waste (HLW) from the biosphere and to minimise the potential radiological risk for future generations. Potentially contacting aqueous solutions such as groundwater may, however, lead to the corrosion of the solid casks containing the nuclear waste, and the formation of aqueous radionuclide systems in the near-field of the emplacement rooms. As dissolved species, radionuclides can in principle further migrate into the far-field and finally reach the biosphere on medium and long timescales. Like all chemical species, the radionuclides are subject to fundamental (geo)chemical laws. Relevant reactions that control retention and release, and hence, the migration behaviour and fate of radionuclides in a repository, are solubility equilibria, formation of soluble complexes, redox reactions, sorption on and incorporation into mineral surfaces, transport phenomena etc. These processes depend directly on the (geo)chemical boundary conditions, and, consequently, can differ greatly for various host rock systems such as clay rock, rock salt, and crystalline rock. Many of the radionuclides in HLW are heavy metals that are sparingly soluble under various repository-relevant conditions, e.g. actinides, lanthanides, transition metals, so that only partial dissolution (mobilisation) from the solid waste matrices is expected. This underlines the importance of evaluating the radionuclide solubility within a geochemically based safety assessment for repositories as it provides reliable upper-limit concentrations of the mobile, potentially migrating radionuclide fraction in the near-field. In this contribution, we discuss relevant aspects related to the topic radionuclide solubility and thermodynamics in a HLW repository. This includes a summary of recent laboratory studies on the solubility behaviour and speciation of key radionuclides in repository-relevant solutions, which are an important basis for obtaining (geo)chemical information and models, and the corresponding fundamental thermodynamic constants on aqueous radionuclide systems. National and international thermodynamic database projects, where quality-assured thermodynamic data (solubility products, complex formation constants, and ion-interaction parameters) are evaluated and compiled, e.g. the Nuclear Energy Agency Thermochemical Database (http://www.oecd-nea.org, last access: 1 November 2021) or the Thermodynamic Reference Database (http://www.thereda.de, last access: 1 November 2021), are highlighted and the main remaining uncertainties discussed. The experimental information and the quantitative thermodynamic data are applied within a generic case study to demonstrate the impact of different geochemical solution conditions representing different host rock systems considered as HLW repositories in Germany on the solubility and speciation of selected radionuclides.


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