Effectiveness of recycled P products as P fertilizers, as evaluated in pot experiments

World phosphorus (P) resources are limited and may be exhausted within 70?C175 years. Therefore recycling of P from waste materials by chemical or thermal processes is important. This study evaluated the effectiveness of recycled P products from sewage sludge and animal wastes as P fertilizer. Four products were obtained from chemical processes, three magnesium-ammonium-phosphates (MAP) of different sewage treatment plants and a Ca phosphate precipitated from wastewater (Ca-P) and four from thermal processes, an alkali sinter phosphate (Sinter-P), a heavy metal depleted sewage sludge ash (Sl-ash), a cupola furnace slag made from sewage sludge (Cupola slag) and a meat-and-bone meal ash (MB meal ash). The effectiveness of these products as P fertilizers compared with triple superphosphate (TSP) and phosphate rock (PR) was determined in a 2-year pot experiment with maize (Zea mays L., cv. Atletico) in two soils with contrasting pH (pH(CaCl₂) 4.7 and 6.6). The parameters used to evaluate the effectiveness were P uptake, P concentration in soil solution (C_Li) and isotopically exchangeable P (IEP). MAP products were as effective as TSP in both soils, while Ca-P was only effective in the acid soil. Sinter-P was as effective as TSP in the acid soil, while Cupola slag was in the neutral soil. The products Sl-ash and MB meal ash were of low effectiveness and were comparable to PR. The effect of the fertilizers on IEP, but not on C_Li, described their effectiveness. Recycled P products obtained by chemical processes, especially MAP, could be directly applied as P fertilizers, while products such as Sl-ash and MB meal ash are potential raw materials for P fertilizer production.     

Phase separation in Cu46Zr47−xAl7Gdx metallic glasses

The influence of Gd addition on phase separation of rapidly quenched Cu₄₆Zr_47?xAl₇Gd_x metallic glasses (x = 2,5,7) was studied. For low Gd content (x = 2), a homogeneous glass is obtained for the as-quenched state. Annealing leads to cluster formation by nucleation and growth prior to crystallization. For the Gd contents x = 5 and 7, early stages of spinodal decomposition are observed in the as-quenched glasses. Further annealing increases the amplitude of the compositional fluctuations prior to crystallization. Atom probe tomography gives evidence of the presence of Gd-enriched clusters of 2–5 nm size for the Cu₄₆Zr₄₂Al₇Gd₅ glass. The structure formation as a function of the Gd content is essentially determined by the composition dependence of the miscibility gap of the metastable undercooled melt. Early stages of spinodal decomposition or almost homogeneous glassy states are obtained if the critical temperature of liquid–liquid phase separation is close or below to the glass transition temperature.     

Gentrification in black and white: the racial impact of public housing demolition in American cities

The gentrification that has transformed high-poverty neighbourhoods in US cities since the mid 1990s has been characterised by high levels of state reinvestment. Prominent among public-sector interventions has been the demolition of public housing and in some cases multimillion dollar redevelopment efforts. In this paper, the racial dimension of state-supported gentrification in large US cities is examined by looking at the direct and indirect displacement induced by public housing transformation. The data show a clear tendency towards the demolition of public housing projects with disproportionately high African American occupancy. The pattern of indirect displacement is more varied; public housing transformation has produced a number of paths of neighbourhood change. The most common, however, involve significant reductions in poverty, sometimes associated with Black to White racial turnover and sometimes not. The findings underscore the central importance of race in understanding the dynamics of gentrification in US cities.     

Impact of ozonation on the genotoxic activity of tertiary treated municipal wastewater

Ozonation is an emerging technology for the removal of micropollutants from treated wastewater. Aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of ozone treatment on genotoxic and acute toxic effects of tertiary treated municipal wastewater. It is known that DNA-damaging chemicals cause adverse effects in the environment and that exposure to humans leads to cancer and other diseases. Toxicity was tested in organisms from three trophic levels namely in bacteria (Salmonella/microsome assays) which enable the detection of gene mutations, in a plant bioassay (micronucleus assay with root tip cells of Allium cepa) which reflects clastogenic and aneugenic effects and in single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) tests with mammalian cells which detect DNA migration caused by single-, double strand breaks and alkali labile sites. In the bacterial tests negative results were obtained with untreated samples but after concentration with C₁₈ cartridges a positive result was found in strains TA1537 and TA98 which are sensitive to frameshift mutagens while no mutations were induced in other tester strains (TA100, TA102 and YG1024). Ozone treatment led to a decrease of the mutagenic activity of the samples. In the SCGE experiments, DNA migration was detected with the unconcentrated effluent of the treatment plant and ozonation led to a substantial decrease of this effect. In the plant bioassays, negative results were obtained with the effluent and ozone treatment did not cause an alteration of the micronucleus frequencies. Also acute toxic effects were monitored in the different indicator organisms under all experimental conditions. The bacteriocidal/bacteriostatic effects which were seen with the concentrated samples were reduced by ozonation. In the experiments with the eukaryotic (plant and animal) cells no acute toxicity was seen with the effluents and ozonation had no impact on their viability. In conclusion findings of this study indicate that ozonation of tertiary effluents of a municipal treatment plant reduces the adverse effects caused by release of mutagens in aquatic ecosystems and does not decrease the viability of bacteria and eukaryotic cells. However, future research is required to find out if, and to which extent these findings can be generalized and which mechanisms account for the detoxification of the wastewater.     

A secure zero-energy NFC solution for everyday electronic devices

Standby power consumption of electric devices is a major issue. It accounts for 5 % to 14 % of the total residential power consumption. However, applying state-of-the-art power management techniques can reduce this waste of energy drastically. In this paper we present an innovative and secure Near Field Communication (NFC) Interface technique for everyday electronic devices. By integrating this field-powered and secure communication interface, a target device can be switched off during standby. If user interaction is requested, NFC provides the electrical energy to switch on the target device’s power supply and to start the device. Thus, standby power consumption of an NFC enhanced device is eliminated completely. Besides standby power management, our interface features cryptography, innovative hardware abstraction and user interface concepts, and it enables configuration, monitor, and control tasks of the target device.     

Design of computer controlled combustion engines

Globalization and growing new markets, as well as increasing emission and fuel consumption requirements, force the car manufacturers and their suppliers to develop new engine control strategies in shorter time periods. This can mainly be reached by development tools and an integrated hardware and software environment enabling rapid implementation and testing of advanced engine control algorithms.

The structure of a rapid control prototyping (RCP) system is explained, which allows fast measurement signal evaluation, and rapid prototyping of advanced engine control algorithms. A hardware-in-the-loop simulator for diesel engine control design is illustrated, simulation results for a 40 tons truck are presented. Providing efficient engine models for the proposed development tools, a dynamic local linear neural network approach is explained and applied for modelling the NO_x emission characteristics of a 1.9 l direct injection diesel engine. Furthermore the application of a RCP system is exemplified by the application of combustion pressure based closed-loop ignition timing control for a SI engine. Experimental results are shown for a 1.0 l SI engine on a dynamic engine test stand.     

Smoking and its association with disability in chronic conditions: results from the Canadian Community and Health Survey 2.1.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between smoking, chronic conditions, and short-term disability in a representative community sample. The analysis was based on data from 115,548 respondents from the Canadian Community and Health Survey (CCHS-2.1), a nationally representative survey. Smoking status, chronic conditions, and short-term disability were assessed by self-report. The population prevalence of current smoking was 23.5%. More than half of the subjects (51.9%) reported at least one chronic condition. Although a large number of subjects with chronic conditions had stopped smoking (33.7%), a high prevalence of current smoking remained (22.9%) among subjects with chronic conditions. Disability was markedly elevated in smokers with chronic medical conditions. Subjects with chronic conditions who smoked were more likely to report disability days than subjects with chronic conditions who never smoked (27.2% and 20.5%, respectively). Our results suggest that smoking is associated with short-term disability in subjects with chronic health problems.