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A liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) is an interesting concept for hydrogen storage. We describe herein a new, active catalyst system for dehydrogenation of perhydrogenated dibenzyl toluene (H18-DBT), which is a promising LOHC candidate. Pt supported on a rutile-anatase form of titania was found to be more active than Pt supported on anatase-only titania, or on alumina, and almost equally active as Pt supported on carbon. Robust and durable metal oxide supports are preferred for catalysing reactions at high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A conductive inkjettable fluid was formulated based on carbon-coated copper nanoparticles. The copper particles were produced by vapor-phase reduction of copper chloride and coated in situ with carbon. The average particle size was 44-88 nm depending on the chosen production parameters. The optimized fluid was a water/ethylene glycol monobutyl ether/n-propanol mixture with 25 wt% nanoparticles, stabilized by a polymeric dispersing agent. A conductivity of 6.4 S/m was obtained with a single deposited layer without sintering or high-temperature annealing. The materials are interesting for several applications such as antistatic coatings, resistors, and sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a gas-phase nanoparticle generator that produces stable and well-defined size distributions for TiO2. The online analyses of the gas-phase compounds and total number concentration of the generated particles as well as the off-line analysis of the filter samples confirmed the stability of the production. The major advantage of this reactor is that the test substance is directly in the aerosol phase, and thus no preprocessing is needed. This eliminates the physicochemical changes between bulk and administrated material during storing or processing. This system is easy to adjust to different experimental setups and precursors. As a result, wellcharacterized nanomaterials for inhalation exposure studies can be produced. At mass concentration of 30 mg/Nm³, the count mean diameter was 126 nm (geometric SD 1.6), mass mean diameter was 161 nm (2.0), mass median aerodynamic diameter was 125 nm, and the concentrations of harmful gas-phase by-products remained low. The produced powder consisted of crystals of anatase (77 vol%) and brookite (23 vol%), and its specific surface area was 69 m²/g. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although most companies recognize the importance of R&D for future competitiveness, they often struggle to assess its contribution to the organization. Performance measurement in R&D is particularly difficult because (1) effort levels may not be observable, (2) project success is uncertain, influenced by uncontrollable factors, and (3) success can be assessed only after long delays, or it accrues to other units of the organization. Based on existing literature on the problem, we developed a performance measurement system for the process technology research group of an industrial company. This measurement system systematically supported the business strategy. Moreover, the measures were adjusted for different project profiles: short- versus long term, hardware versus software, routine support services versus breakthrough ideas and knowledge development. The contribution of this article is a description of the process of developing and implementing a comprehensive performance measurement system in a company, based on previous performance management research, and supporting the company's strategy. It is noteworthy that the system was implemented in a research group, where the measurement problems are the most severe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years a lot of effort has been aimed at developing new bio-hybrid nano-composite barrier packaging materials for foods. Nanocomposite films and coatings with improved properties were produced from nanoclay and polysaccharides such as ultrasonic dispersed chitosan and high pressure fluidized pectin. The intercalation of chitosan in the silicate layers was confirmed by the decrease of diffraction angles while the chitosan/nanoclay ratio increased. Nanocomposite films and multilayer coatings had improved barrier properties against oxygen, water vapor, grease and UV-light transmission. Oxygen transmission was significantly reduced under all humidity conditions. In dry conditions, over 99% reduction and at 80% relative humidity almost 75% reduction in oxygen transmission rates was obtained. All chitosan coating raw materials were "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) and the calculated total migration was in all cases ≤6 mg/dm² thus the coatings met the requirements set by the packaging legislation. Processing of the developed bio-hybrid nanocomposite coated materials was safe as the amounts of released particles under rubbing conditions were comparable to the particle concentrations in a normal office environment. Nanoclay-pectin hybrid film formation and high shear induced orientation of nanoclay platelets were investigated by means of model surfaces which were prepared using high shear spincoating. After fluidization, the nanoclay formed uniform and laterally oriented stacks consisting of approximately 15 individual nanoclay layers. Pectin films with different nanoclay concentrations were prepared by casting. Nanocomposite films made of pectin and nanoclay showed improved barrier properties against oxygen and water vapor. Films were also totally impermeable to grease. The developed bio-hybrid nanocomposite packaging materials can be potentially exploited as a safe and environmentally sound alternative for synthetic barrier packaging materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the smoke from a 3R4F research cigarette and the aerosol generated by the Heated Tobacco Product IQOS, also referred to as the Tobacco Heating System (THS) 2.2 in the literature, were compared. The objective was to characterize the gas and suspended particulate matter compositions in the mainstream smoke from a combusted 3R4F cigarette and in the aerosol generated by IQOS during use. The results indicated that the determined aerosol emissions from IQOS were notably lower than in the cigarette smoke under a Health Canada Intense puffing regimen. As an interesting detail in this study, the maximum nicotine concentrations within a puff were practically the same in both the 3R4F smoke and the IQOS aerosol, but the average concentration was lower for the IQOS aerosol. For both products, water constituted a significant proportion of the particulate matter, although it was substantially higher in the IQOS aerosol. Furthermore, combustion-related solid particles observed in the 3R4F smoke contained elements such as carbon, oxygen, potassium, calcium, and silicon. In contrast, IQOS aerosol particulate matter was composed of semi-volatile organic constituents with some minor traces of oxygen and silicon. The particulate matter found in the IQOS aerosol was volatile, which was especially noticeable when exposed to the electron beam of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Refractive-index data are important for the prediction of light scattering from spherical pigments. Reflectance from a slurry that contains plastic pigments was studied with the aid of a reflectometer. The effective refractive index of spherical plastic pigments in a slurry was determined by use of reflectance data and a phase-retrieval procedure based on the maximum-entropy method. This method provides a simple way to estimate the effective refractive index of pigments in a liquid matrix.

The Julin site in the city of Turku, Finland, was excavated in 1964, 1983-1985 and 1987. On this site are the remains of the church of the Holy Spirit with its cemetery. The burial period of the excavated skeletons lasted most probably from the 1580s to the 1650s. Sodium, phosphorus, calcium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, bromine, strontium and lead concentrations of ribs from skeletal remains of 141 individuals were analyzed. The main finding is that the concentrations of Sr and Zn in younger women tend to be lower than that in men of a corresponding age, and in older people both the strontium and zinc values tend to be higher in women than men. On the basis of this study the Pb exposure in the early modern population in Finland was at a very low level. We conclude that the role of migration and the source of grain supply on the variation of the elemental values are more difficult to evaluate than the role of diagenesis.

Eight patients with colloid cysts of the third ventricle were examined with CT and MR. In six, surgical resection was performed and the material was subjected to histologic evaluation; the concentrations of trace elements were determined by particle-induced X-ray emission. Stereotaxic aspiration was performed in two. The investigation showed that colloid cysts are often iso- or hypodense relative to brain on CT (5/8), but sometimes have a center of increased density. Increased density did not correlate with increased concentration of calcium or other metals but did correlate with high cholesterol content. Colloid cysts appear more heterogeneous on MR (6/8) than on CT (3/8), despite a homogeneous appearance at histology. High signal on short TR/TE sequences is correlated with a high cholesterol content. A marked shortening of the T2 relaxation time is often noticed in the central part of the cyst. Analysis of trace elements showed that this phenomenon is not related to the presence of metals with paramagnetic effects. Our analysis of the contents of colloid cysts does not support the theory that differing metallic concentrations are responsible for differences in MR signal intensity or CT density. We did find that increased CT density and high MR signal correlated with high cholesterol content.

Particle Induced X-ray Emission and proton microprobe analyses have been applied for the investigation of regional elemental distributions in connection with various pathological states in the brain. Malignant brain tumours and adjacent histologically intact tissue removed during surgery were analysed with PIXE. Systematic elemental variations, e.g., for calcium and selenium, were observed in the tumour front. The proton microprobe was applied to study the Ca and K concentrations in various cell strata in hippocampus following transient ischaemia in rat brain. Significant increases in the Ca level occurred in selectively vulnerable cells within 48 h after the ischaemia.