Assessment of the austemperability of high-silicon cast steels through Jominy hardenability tests

The austemperability of seven high silicon cast steels with different alloy contents was characteri sed. The maximum round bar diameter that can be fully austempered changed from about 10?mm for an unalloyed steel to more than 70?mm for a low-alloy steel. The austemperability was calculated by applying a procedure based on a standard Jominy test and the characterisation of the microstructure along the Jominy sample. The method, which was validated experimentally, creates a relatively simple procedure to measure austemperability. Processing factors such as the ability of the salt bath to extract heat and the austempering temperature are accounted for the method. The metallographic study revealed the influence of microsegregation on hardenability, which is particularly important for cast steels.     

A methodology to benchmark flexible payload architectures in a megaconstellation use case

This paper proposes a methodology to benchmark satellite payload architectures and find the optimal trade‐offs between high flexibility and low complexity. High flexibility would enable the satellite to adapt to various distributions of user terminals on the ground and fulfill the data rate demand of these users. Besides, low complexity is required to keep satellite networks competitive in the context of emerging 5G networks. To estimate the flexibility of a payload, an indicator to characterize the non‐uniformity of user distributions is proposed. Each benchmarked payload may be characterized by a graph relating the throughput to this parameter further denoted . The payload provides the same throughput trends for different scenarios of user distributions with the same parameter. As a consequence, the average capacity of the system may be estimated by (a) calculating the probability distribution of over the orbit and (b) integrating the throughput based on this payload response. It thus results in a straightforward way for benchmarking payloads directly on an estimation of the averaged capacity, accounting for the user distribution over the earth. A simulation platform has been developed to characterize the payload throughput including the implementation of a resource allocation algorithm that accounts for constraints of various payloads. Using this definition and the developed tool, we benchmark a bent‐pipe architecture, a beam hopping architecture and a hybrid beam‐steering architecture for a LEO megaconstellation use case. The methodology showcases the interest for investigating different payload architectures depending on realistic traffic scenario analysis.     

A new SEAIRD pandemic prediction model with clinical and epidemiological data analysis on COVID-19 outbreak

Applied Intelligence - Measuring the spread of disease during a pandemic is critically important for accurately and promptly applying various lockdown strategies, so to prevent the collapse of the...     

Ionic liquid recovery alternatives in ionic liquid‐based three‐phase partitioning (ILTPP)

Ionic liquid‐based three‐phase partitioning (ILTPP) is a promising technique to recover high‐added value proteins at the liquid–liquid interface. Its economic and environmental performance highly depends on the net ionic liquid consumption. Alternatives to maximize the fraction of ionic liquid that can be recycled are studied. It is demonstrated that the addition of extra salt, previously proposed in literature, has a very limited effect on ionic liquid recovery for relatively high protein concentrations in the feed stream, and that it may even lead to an increase of the ionic liquid losses under certain conditions. However, small additions of salt are shown to be effective and profitable from an economic point of view. Vacuum evaporation is shown to allow for the complete ionic liquid and salt recovery, reinforcing the sustainability and viability of ILTPP processes. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 3577–3586, 2014     

Potential dermal exposure to deltamethrin and risk assessment for manual sprayers: influence of crop type

A comparison of the Potential Dermal Exposure (PDE) of workers to the insecticide deltamethrin was made as a function of crop type, in small agricultural production units in Argentina. Seven experiments were done with two different crops (maize and broccoli, treated area between 600 and 1000 m(2)) with three different operators under typical field conditions using a lever operated knapsack. The methodology is based on the whole body dosimetry technique, presenting separately the data for mixing/loading and application activities. These results indicate a higher concentration of pesticide in lower body sections for broccoli and a wider distribution for maize. The risk inherent in these agricultural procedures is estimated through Margin of Safety (MOS) values and was found to be generally safe. Preliminary results of a mass balance distribution of the pesticide between crop, soil and operator are also presented.     

Mortality due to lung, laryngeal and bladder cancer in towns lying in the vicinity of combustion installations

Background

Installations that burn fossil fuels to generate power may represent a health problem due to the toxic substances which they release into the environment.

Objectives

To investigate whether there might be excess mortality due to tumors of lung, larynx and bladder in the population residing near Spanish combustion installations included in the European Pollutant Emission Register.

Methods

Ecologic study designed to model sex-specific standardized mortality ratios for the above three tumors in Spanish towns, over the period 1994-2003. Population exposure to pollution was estimated on the basis of distance from town of residence to pollution source. Using mixed Poisson regression models, we analyzed: risk of dying from cancer in a 5-kilometer zone around installations that commenced operations before 1990; effect of type of fuel used; and risk gradient within a 50-kilometer radius of such installations.

Results

Excess mortality (relative risk, 95% confidence interval) was detected in the vicinity of pre-1990 installations for lung cancer (1.066, 1.041-1.091 in the overall population; 1.084, 1.057-1.111 in men), and laryngeal cancer among men (1.067, 0.992-1.148). Lung cancer displayed excess mortality for all types of fuel used, whereas in laryngeal and bladder cancer, the excess was associated with coal-fired industries. There was a risk gradient effect in the proximity of a number of installations.

Conclusions

Our results could support the hypothesis of an association between risk of lung, laryngeal and bladder cancer mortality and proximity to Spanish combustion installations.     

Synthesis,characterization, and DFT Raman study of pure and Mn-doped LiTaO3 nanofibers

Pure and Mn-doped lithium tantalate nanofibers, with Mn concentrations of 1%, 2.5%, and 5%, were synthesized by the electrospinning method. The morphology, microstructure, and crystal structure of as-spun and annealed composite nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Raman spectroscopy has shown to be a powerful tool to detect either local variations or changes of the whole structure. Position and width of one Raman line can be used as markers of a structural change. Some vibrational modes are especially associated with the site of Li or Ta ions and so, they can be affected by the introduction of dopant ions. Any damages or local changes in the microstructure can be detected by a line broadening. With the use of Raman spectroscopy, the sites where Mn ions enter the doped structures were established by recording the shift and broadening of peaks in Mn-doped structures with respect to pure lithium tantalate. Thus it was proven that Mn ions enter the Li sites for low Mn concentration and, on the other hand, for higher concentrations, the dopant substitutes Li and Ta sites. First-principles calculations were performed within the density functional theory, including lattice-dynamic calculations of the phonon modes at the zone center (Γ point), for the pure structure, to find the irreducible representation of the modes.     

Organochlorine pesticide contamination in three bird species of the Embalse La Florida water reservoir in the semiarid midwest of Argentina

Organochlorine pesticides (OCs) have a variety of acute and chronic pathological effects on animals, are persistent in the environment and are accumulated in adipose tissue of animals. In Argentina there are few studies reporting the OC contamination in the fauna. Moreover, no data are available for an ecologically relevant region, the arid-semiarid midwest region of Argentina. Recently, it was reported OC contamination in the water of an important artificial water reservoir of this area, the Embalse La Florida in the San Luis province. The present study aims to provide OC baseline data for birds of Embalse La Florida and to evaluate the potential risk of OC contamination for the local avifauna. We selected two fish-eating species, Podiceps major (great grebe) and Phalacrocorax brasilianus (neotropic cormorant) and one omnivore species, Pitangus sulphuratus (great kiskadee) to evaluate OC contamination. Alpha-, beta-, delta- and gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (SigmaHCH), p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE and methoxychlor (SigmaDDT), aldrin, dieldrin, endrin and endosulfan (SigmaALD) and, cis-chlordane, trans-chlordane, heptachlor, heptachlor epoxide(SigmaCHL) were measured in adipose tissue of two male great grebes, six neotropic cormorant (3 of each sex) and four great kiskadees (2 of each sex). We detected all OC pesticides assayed [SigmaHCH range: ND to 3168.41 ng/g fat, SigmaCHL range: ND to 4961.66 ng/g fat, SigmaALD range: 287.07 to 9161.70 ng/g fat, SigmaDDT range: 1068.98 to 6479.84 ng/g fat], with the exception of p,p'-DDT. Summed OC concentration in all bird species ranged from 2684.91 to 19231.91 ng/g fat. The omnivore had significantly greater concentrations of SigmaCHLs than fish-eating species. Females of the neotropic cormorant had significantly higher amounts of SigmaHCH and SigmaCHL than males. The OC concentrations detected in birds were lower than those reported in the literature that are associated with deleterious effects on survival or reproduction in others species of birds. This study is the first report of OC contamination in birds of the midwest region of Argentina and constitutes a starting point for future studies that evaluate temporal changes of OCs in birds in this region.