Strategic environmental assessment in Romania: between benefits and constraints

This paper offers an overall picture of the importance of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Romania and its opportunities and constraints. The role, scope and effectiveness of SEA in Romania are presented in two good practice examples and examined in order to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the procedure at national and local scale. In practice, the number of SEA procedures is very high due to the legislation in force, and it is increasingly effective in decision-making about programmes and plans. SEA can be viewed as a great opportunity for the implementation of sustainable development in practice. It also continues to be an important procedural and decisional instrument for management and monitoring of socioeconomic development, spatial planning and environmental protection in Romania.     

In situ observation of synthesized nanoparticles in ultra-dilute aerosols via X-ray scattering

In-air epitaxy of nanostructures (Aerotaxy) has recently emerged as a viable route for fast, large-scale production. In this study, we use small-angle X-ray scattering to perform direct in-flight characterizations of the first step of this process, i.e., the engineered formation of Au and Pt aerosol nanoparticles by spark generation in a flow of N₂ gas. This represents a particular challenge for characterization because the particle density can be extremely low in controlled production. The particles produced are examined during production at operational pressures close to atmospheric conditions and exhibit a lognormal size distribution ranging from 5–100 nm. The Au and Pt particle production and detection are compared. We observe and characterize the nanoparticles at different stages of synthesis and extract the corresponding dominant physical properties, including the average particle diameter and sphericity, as influenced by particle sintering and the presence of aggregates. We observe highly sorted and sintered spherical Au nanoparticles at ultra-dilute concentrations (< 5 × 10⁵ particles/cm³) corresponding to a volume fraction below 3 × 10^–10, which is orders of magnitude below that of previously measured aerosols. We independently confirm an average particle radius of 25 nm via Guinier and Kratky plot analysis. Our study indicates that with high-intensity synchrotron beams and careful consideration of background removal, size and shape information can be obtained for extremely low particle concentrations with industrially relevant narrow size distributions.

     

Estimating the Electric Mode Effect (Active and Passive) on the Dose of Radiation Resistance of Microcircuits

Russian Microelectronics - Experimental studies on the influence of the electric mode (active and passive) on dose of the radiation resistance of microcircuits of different structural and...     

Highly Ionized Arc He Plasma: Nonequilibrium,Nonideality, and Kinetics

High Temperature - Experimental findings suggest that a strongly ionized, arc He plasma of atmospheric pressure does not exist in the state of the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) expected for...     

Effect of FeNiCrBSiC–MeB2 Material Composition on the Oxidation Behavior at High Temperatures

Powder Metallurgy and Metal Ceramics - The effect of TiB2 and CrB2 additives on the oxidation behavior of composites made of the NiCrBSiC and FeNiCrBSiC self-fluxing alloys has been studied in air...     

Characterization of Aluminum Foam Impact Response

Strength of Materials - The paper addresses the investigation of high-strain rate compressive behavior of Al foams subjected to impact at the intermediate striking velocity ranged from 40 to...     

Study of the influence of notch radii and temperature on the probability of failure: A methodology to perform a combined assessment

The fracture assessment of notched components based on cracked components approaches leads to over‐conservative failure predictions. In the research literature, several approaches are proposed to overcome this problem using an apparent fracture toughness, . Nevertheless, most of these approaches are based on deterministic assumptions despite the large and variable scatter exhibited by for different notch radii (ρ) or temperatures (T). This paper proposes a methodology for deriving a probabilistic field including the effect of temperature on the failure of notched components. First, the theory of critical distances is applied to transform each apparent fracture toughness into the equivalent fracture toughness for ρ = 0. Then, the temperature is supposed to act as a scale effect in the Weibull cumulative distribution function of the equivalent fracture toughness, and the corresponding scale effect function is derived. Finally, the applicability of the proposed methodology is illustrated by an example using two ferritic‐pearlitic steels: S275JR and S355J2.     

Development of the Combined Technology of Modification of the Surface of Titanium Implants by Laser Radiation with Subsequent Plasma Spraying of Biocompatible Coatings

Metallurgist - We propose a combined technology for the modification of the surfaces of titanium implants by laser radiation followed by the plasma spraying of biocompatible coatings. We performed...     

High-Alumina Mixes Based on Molded Bauxite Suspensions

Refractories and Industrial Ceramics - Results of studying the rheotechnological properties of moldable refractory mixes based on bauxite suspensions plasticized with refractory clay are presented....     

Peculiarities of Corrosion of a Zinc Coating in Neutral Media in the Presence of Inhibitors Based on Benzotriazole,Cyclohexylamine, and Morpholine

Russian Journal of Non-Ferrous Metals - The influence of domestic nitrogen-containing corrosion inhibitors of the VNKh-L type on corrosion regularities of a zinc coating on steel in neutral media...