Application of waste ceramic dust as a ready-to-use replacement of cement in lime-cement plasters: an environmental-friendly and energy-efficient solution

A potential application of waste ceramic dust as cement replacement in lime-cement plasters is studied using both experimental and computational approaches. A comprehensive experimental analysis of the material properties of lime-cement plaster and three lime-pozzolan plasters containing different amounts of waste ceramics is performed at first. The results show that compressive strength of ceramics-containing plasters can be up to three times higher as compared with the lime-cement plaster but their thermal conductivity is higher as well. In the second part of the study, the hygrothermal and energy performance of a characteristic building envelope provided with the four analyzed plasters as surface layers is analyzed. The results of numerical simulations reveal that the application of waste ceramic dust in lime-pozzolan plasters does not have a negative effect on both the hygrothermal and energy performance of the building envelope, as compared with the use of lime-cement plaster. Taking into account the energy demand and environmental load related to cement production, the application of waste ceramic dust as a ready-to-use replacement of cement in lime-cement plasters represents the right step toward sustainable development.     

Antiproliferative effects of prenylflavonoids from hops on human colon cancer cell lines

In recent years, interest in hop‐derived constituents, especially for prenylflavonoids has grown, as they have a wide range of biological properties including antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and antimicrobial activities. Two main hop prenylflavonoids, xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol, and hop extract enriched in prenylflavonoids, were tested for their antiproliferative activities on colon cancer cell lines, HT‐29 and SW620, and a noncancerous cell line, IEC‐6. It was confirmed that both xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol inhibited cell proliferation, even at micromolar concentrations. For cell line HT‐29, the IC₅₀ was 1.2 ± 0.9 and 16.9 ± 0.9 µmol dm^?3 for xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol, respectively. Similar values were obtained for SW620 cells (2.5 ± 0.2 and 37.3 ± 3.2 µmol dm^–3). None of the pure prenylflavonoids that were tested affected the proliferation of the noncancerous cell line, IEC‐6. The effect of the hop extract containing xanthohumol was also tested for antiproliferative activities on the cancer cell lines, HT‐29 (IC₅₀ = 3.1 ± 0.2 µmol dm^–3) and SW620 (IC₅₀ = 1 ± 0.2 µmol dm^?3), and on the cell line, IEC‐6 (IC₅₀ = 65.5 ± 11.3 µmol dm^?3). The results showed a similar trend to that for pure compounds, suggesting a possible future application of hop extracts in the pharmaceutical industry. Copyright © 2014 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling     

Shaping sustainable development to support human welfare

Due to increased environmental awareness and social responsibility, social and human welfare have been increasingly viewed through the prism of sustainable development. As sustainable development is a highly multi-disciplinary field of research, a considerable number of studies have been devoted to this issue. The studies show that sustainable development has become an urgent task for the international community, academia, industry experts, policy makers and the general public, due to the rapidly growing social challenges of mankind. This review article provides a short assessment of the current state-of-the art papers related to sustainable development covered in the recent publications mostly originated from previous SDEWES conferences.     

Forward and Backward Four-wave Mixing of Non-classical Light with Pump Depletion

Abstract

Photon statistics and non-classical behaviour of forward and backward four-wave mixing are examined including the coupling of modes in the approximation of small fluctuations around a stationary point, which is analytically determined and conditions for its stability are obtained. The depletion of pump modes is involved and effects of nonlinear dynamics, non-classical behaviour of input radiation, external noise and losses are included.     

Decolorization of organic dyes by Irpex lacteus in a laboratory trickle‐bed biofilter using various mycelium supports

BACKGROUND: Dyes used in textile industries and released to their wastewaters are serious ecological problems as they are hard to degrade by common means used in wastewater treatment plants. White‐rot fungi can biodegrade textile dyestuffs using their extracellular enzyme system. However, it is difficult to keep them in functional form in conventional wastewater treatment systems, because of their specific nutritional and physiological requirements. Selection of a suitable bioreactor type and mode of operation are crucial for successful implementation of white rot fungi in waste water treatment processes. RESULTS: Both Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) and Reactive Orange 16 (RO16) were decolorized efficiently in the trickle‐bed reactor. A degree of decolorization exceeding 80% was achieved within 2 days with all mycelium carriers and both dyes. In reactors packed with plastic kitchen scourers and luffa sponge slices the decolorization degree reached 90% within 2 days. The initial rate of decolorization of RBBR dye was notably higher than the rate of RO16 decolorization. The lowest liquid hold‐up value (1–1.5%) was achieved in the reactor packed with the plastic kitchen scourers, the largest hold‐up value (3–5%) was observed in the reactor filled with luffa sponge. The longest mean retention time, 430 s, was achieved in the reactor with the luffa carrier at a liquid flow rate of 6.81 cm³ min^?1; the shortest mean retention times (10–20 s) were achieved in the reactor filled with the plastic kitchen scourers. Broad liquid residence time distributions were observed in tracer experiments at all volumetric flow rates. CONCLUSIONS: The ability of I. lacteus to secrete laccase and manganese peroxidase enzymes in a trickle‐bed bioreactor with three mycelium carriers was proved and quantified experimentally. The decolorization capability of the I. lacteus mycelium was only marginally influenced by the kind of carrier used. Basic operational characteristics of the reactor—residence times, axial dispersion and liquid hold‐up—were determined at various liquid flow rates. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Stimulated Raman Scattering of Squeezed Light with Pump Depletion

Abstract

Using the approximation of small fluctuations around a stationary point, photon statistics and squeezing of vacuum fluctuations are derived in stimulated Raman scattering including the coupling of photon-photon and photon-phonon modes. The depletion of pump light is described and it is shown that a regime of inversion of the process is related to an increase in quantum fluctuations, which are finally reduced again, more in the anti-Stokes mode than in the Stokes mode. If the anti-Stokes coupling is stronger than the Stokes coupling, then an oscillating behaviour of the statistical characteristics occurs and substantial squeezing can be found in photon-phonon modes.