The Options Available for Ammonia Removal at Davyhulme Sewage-Treatment Works

Davyhulme sewage-treatment works, which serves the Manchester drainage area, is one of the lagest in the UK. The dry-weather flow is 300 000 m³/d, and the plant receives a wide range of industrial effluents. The works has been identified as a major source of pollution in the Mersey estuary, with an average discharge of 6500 kg ammonia/day. As part of its initiative to improve the Mersey estuary, North West Water intends to reduce the daily ammonia load from Davyhulme to about 1000 kg/d by 1995. In order to assess the capabilities of both conventional and novel processes to achieve this degree of ammonia removal, a number of on-site pilot plants were established. This paper reports on the pilot-plant studies and the selection of process options. Recommendations with regard to design parameters and final process selection are given.     

Modification of Polycaproamide Composites Based on 1H,1H,13H-rihydroperfluorotridecan-1-ol and Montmorillonite

Fibre Chemistry - Modification of polycaproamide by 1H,1H,13H-trihydroperfluorotridecan-1-ol immobilized on montmorillonite produced an F-containing polymer composite. The structure of the...     

Gas-Phase Treatment of Dump Tailings from Metallurgical Plants in Nitrating Media to Enhance Nickel Extraction

Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering - A new approach to the processing of the dump waste product stored in the tailings dumps of the nickel production enterprise Punda Gourda (Cuba) has...     

Producing Polydicyclopentadiene from Lower-Grade Dicyclopentadiene

Russian Engineering Research - Polymer samples based on polydicyclopentadiene produced from Russian dicyclopentadiene are investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning...     

Drying dynamics of polymers films by an interferometric technique

We analyze a simple laser reflectivity measurement as a tool to monitor the drying kinetics of transparent polymer films. The reflectivity signal of a laser beam at normal incidence shows oscillations due to interference arising from multiple reflection of the laser light within the drying film. We develop a model to interpret the reflectivity curves in terms of time evolving refractive indices at the top and bottom of the film. We present results of the drying kinetics of transparent alkyd films on a glass substrate of high refractive index. Data shows a clear hallmark indicating the evolution of the crosslinking process. From the reflectivity curves, the time evolution of the refractive indices at the top and bottom is obtained. Assuming a linear-gradient of the refractive index along the depth of the film the average refractive index and consequently the film thickness as a function of time are estimated. Clear features in the time evolution of the refractive indices and thickness, correlate well with qualitative “dust”, “touch” and “fingerprint” drying times. Additionally, we present some preliminary results for water based latex binders, where scattering of light is present, showing that this simple optical technique could be extended for studying latex film formation.     

Laser Zone Melting and microstructure of waveguide coatings obtained on soda-lime glass

This study presents a Laser Zone Melting method with potential for producing planar waveguides at large scale, based on the surface coupling of two chemically compatible glass layers which exhibit distinct indices of refraction. The method is based on a recent patent, particularly applicable to process glass and ceramics with low thermal shock resistance. Glass coatings containing 76.24% by weight PbO are thus here reported, as obtained by this method on commercial soda-lime planar glass substrates. Their higher indices of refraction (1.58 vs 1.52 for commercial soda-lime glass) result in attractive waveguiding potential, as demonstrated with measurements using focused light from a He-Ne laser beam. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies reveal excellent integration and compatibility between the observed coatings and substrates, where diffusion in the proximity of the interface was studied by EDS analysis. Crystalline phases have not been found within the coating, or within the substrate, as concluded from the absence of Bragg-peaks in XRD experiments.     

Phase Behavior of Selected Condensed Double-Decker Shaped Silsesquioxane Compounds

Silicon - Bisfunctional dichlorosilanes were reacted with tetrasilanol of double-decker shaped octaphenylsilsesquioxane (DDSQ) to form fully condensed DDSQ compounds. The crystallographic and...     

Phenoxybenzamine Is Neuroprotective in a Rat Model of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Phenoxybenzamine (PBZ) is an FDA approved α-1 adrenergic receptor antagonist that is currently used to treat symptoms of pheochromocytoma. However, it has not been studied as a neuroprotective agent for traumatic brain injury (TBI). While screening neuroprotective candidates, we found that phenoxybenzamine reduced neuronal death in rat hippocampal slice cultures following exposure to oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD). Using this system, we found that phenoxybenzamine reduced neuronal death over a broad dose range (0.1 μM–1 mM) and provided efficacy when delivered up to 16 h post-OGD. We further tested phenoxybenzamine in the rat lateral fluid percussion model of TBI. When administered 8 h after TBI, phenoxybenzamine improved neurological severity scoring and foot fault assessments. At 25 days post injury, phenoxybenzamine treated TBI animals also showed a significant improvement in both learning and memory compared to saline treated controls. We further examined gene expression changes within the cortex following TBI. At 32 h post-TBI phenoxybenzamine treated animals had significantly lower expression of pro-inflammatory signaling proteins CCL2, IL1β, and MyD88, suggesting that phenoxybenzamine may exert a neuroprotective effect by reducing neuroinflammation after TBI. These data suggest that phenonxybenzamine may have application in the treatment of TBI.     

Effects of Ta Content on Thermodynamic Properties and Transformation Temperatures of Shape Memory NiTi Alloy

Metals and Materials International - In the present work, Ni32-x-Ti-Ta18+x (x?=?0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) shape memory alloys, produced by arc-melting method. Then, differential scanning...     

Synthetic Melanin Acts as Efficient Peptide Carrier in Cancer Vaccine Strategy

We previously reported that a novel peptide vaccine platform, based on synthetic melanin nanoaggregates, triggers strong cytotoxic immune responses and significantly suppresses tumor growth in mice. However, the mechanisms underlying such an efficacy remained poorly described. Herein, we investigated the role of dendritic cells (DCs) in presenting the antigen embedded in the vaccine formulation, as well as the potential stimulatory effect of melanin upon these cells, in vitro by coculture experiments and ELISA/flow cytometry analysis. The vaccine efficiency was evaluated in FLT3-L^−/− mice constitutively deficient in DC1, DC2, and pDCs, in Zbtb46^DTR chimera mice deficient in DC1 and DC2, and in Langerin^DTR mice deficient in dermal DC1 and Langerhans cells. We concluded that DCs, and especially migratory conventional type 1 dendritic cells, seem crucial for mounting the immune response after melanin-based vaccination. We also assessed the protective effect of L-DOPA melanin on peptides from enzymatic digestion, as well as the biodistribution of melanin–peptide nanoaggregates, after subcutaneous injection using [¹⁸F]MEL050 PET imaging in mice. L-DOPA melanin proved to act as an efficient carrier for peptides by fully protecting them from enzymatic degradation. L-DOPA melanin did not display any direct stimulatory effects on dendritic cells in vitro. Using PET imaging, we detected melanin–peptide nanoaggregates up to three weeks after subcutaneous injections within the secondary lymphoid tissues, which could explain the sustained immune response observed (up to 4 months) with this vaccine technology.