Structural Landscape and Proton Conduction of Lanthanide 5-(Dihydroxyphosphoryl)isophthalates.

Metal phosphonate-carboxylate compounds represent a promising class of materials for proton conduction applications. This study investigates the structural, thermal, and proton conduction properties of three groups of lanthanide-based compounds derived from 5-(dihydroxyphosphoryl)isophthalic acid (PiPhtA). The crystal structures, solved ab initio from X-ray powder diffraction data, reveal that groups Ln-I, Ln[O3P-C6H3(COO)(COOH)(H2O)2] (Ln = La, Pr), and Ln-II, Ln2{[O3P-C6H3(COO)(COOH)]2(H2O)4}·2H2O (Ln = La, Pr, Eu), exhibit three-dimensional frameworks, while group Ln-III, Ln[O3P-C6H3(COO)(COOH)(H2O)] (Ln = Yb), adopts a layered structure with unbonded carboxylic groups oriented toward the interlayer region. All compounds feature carboxylic groups and coordinating water molecules. Impedance measurements demonstrate that these materials exhibit water-mediated proton conductivity, initially following a vehicle-type proton-transfer mechanism. Upon exposure to ammonia vapors from a 14 or 28% aqueous solution, compounds from groups II and III adsorb ammonia and water, leading to an enhancement in proton conductivity consistent with a Grotthuss-type proton-transfer mechanism. Notably, group II of the studied compounds undergoes the formation of a new expanded phase through the internal reaction of carboxylic groups with ammonia, coexisting with the as-synthesized phase. This postsynthetic modification results in a significant increase in proton conductivity, from approximately ∼5 × 10-6 to ∼10-4 S·cm-1 at 80 °C and 95% relative humidity (RH), attributed to a mixed intrinsic/extrinsic contribution. Remarkably, the NH3(28%)-exposed Yb-III compound achieves an enhancement in proton conductivity, reaching ∼ 5 × 10-3 S·cm-1 at 80 °C and 95% RH, primarily through an extrinsic contribution.

New approach to environmental investigation of an explosive legionnaires´ disease outbreak in Spain: early identification of potential risk sources by rapid Legionella spp immunosensing technique.

BACKGROUND: An explosive outbreak of Legionnaires' disease (LD) was identified on 11 December 2015 in Manzanares, Ciudad Real, Spain, and was declared closed by 03 February 2016. The number of declared cases was 593 with 277 confirmed cases so that it can be considered as one of the outbreaks with highest attack rate. This rate could be attributed to the ageing of the population, among others, in addition to various risk factors and habits, and the meteorological conditions (thermal inversion) maintained in this municipality at the time. The Public Health Services succeeded in breaking the bacterial transmission. Several facilities were early identified by microbiological analysis, including a cooling tower and a decorative fountain, as possible infectious sources. Rapid analytical techniques for rapid Legionella detection and the shutdown and preventative closure of positive installations have been considered key elements in the control of this outbreak. RESULTS: Rapid microbiological analysis helped to the early identification of potential risk sources in a Legionnaires´ disease outbreak, reducing decision-making processes according to the actual needs of the intervention in public health and shortening the exposure of the population. CONCLUSIONS: Protocolized and immediate intervention in an outbreak is a crucial issue to reduce their effects on public health. For this, identification and control of the suspicious sources able to disseminate the bacteria and cause the illness is required. Rapid analytical techniques like immunomagnetic separation (IMS) method based on the whole bacterial cell detection are shown as excellent tools to investigate all the potential sources of risk.

In-Process Measurement for the Process Control of the Real-Time Manufacturing of Tapered Roller Bearings.

Tapered roller bearings can accommodate high radial loads as well as high axial loads. The manufacturing process consists of machining processes for ring and component assembly. In this contribution, the parameters of influence on the measurement procedure were studied. These parameters of influence were classified as environmental, process, and machine parameters. The main objective of this work was to optimize the process using real-time measurements, which required the study of the influence of several parameters on the measurement uncertainty and how to correct their effects.