Influence of Reagents on Qualitative Indicators of Artificial Anti-Deflationary Phytocenosis on Waste from a Rare Earth Tailing Facility.

This paper presents an assessment of the effect of various reagents on the qualitative indicators of anti-deflationary single-species sowing phytocenosis on enrichment waste from rare earth ores. It has been established that tailings of loparite ores are not suitable for biological reclamation due to low values of hygroscopic moisture (0.54-2.85%) and clay particles (17.6 ± 0.6%) and high content of bioavailable forms of aluminum (504 ± 14 mg/kg). Seeds of red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) were grown on the tailings of loparite ore enrichment with the addition of opoka (O), brucite (B), and vermiculite (V). The quality of the seed cenosis was assessed by the dry biomass of the above-ground parts of the plants and the plant height. A positive effect (one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD test (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01)) of the considered combinations of reagents on the growth of above-ground biomass from 31.5% (V) to 70.3 (V + O), 82.4% (V + B), and 81.8% (V + O+B) and on plant height from 53.8% (V) up to 78.6 (V + O), 83.8% (V + B), and 75.4% (V + O+B) was revealed. The use of a combination of V + O and V + B reagents made it possible to significantly reduce the content of Al (by 19.0% and 52.8%), Sr (by 16.5% and 12.9%), La (by 65.2% and 40.6%), and Ce (by 66.8% and 41.9%) in the aerial part of the sowing phytocenosis compared to control. The results obtained here can become the basis for development of a combined sorption technology for the reclamation of technogenically disturbed lands.

Analogues of Pyrimidine Nucleosides as Mycobacteria Growth Inhibitors.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the oldest human infection disease. Mortality from TB significantly decreased in the 20th century, because of vaccination and the widespread use of antibiotics. However, about a third of the world's population is currently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and the death rate from TB is about 1.4-2 million people per year. In the second half of the 20th century, new extensively multidrug-resistant strains of Mtb were identified, which are steadily increasing among TB patients. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new anti-TB drugs, which remains one of the priorities of pharmacology and medicinal chemistry. The antimycobacterial activity of nucleoside derivatives and analogues was revealed not so long ago, and a lot of studies on their antibacterial properties have been published. Despite the fact that there are no clinically used drugs based on nucleoside analogues, some progress has been made in this area. This review summarizes current research in the field of the design and study of inhibitors of mycobacteria, primarily Mtb.

Magnetic segregation effect in liquid crystals doped with carbon nanotubes.

We study the orientational transitions in a suspension of carbon nanotubes in a nematic liquid crystal induced by an external magnetic field. The case of a finite orientational anchoring of liquid crystal molecules at the surface of doped carbon nanotubes is considered. It is shown that in a magnetic field the initial homogeneous planar texture of the liquid crystal-carbon nanotubes mixture is disturbed in a threshold manner (Fréedericksz transition). The orientational and concentration distributions of the suspension are studied for different values of the magnetic field strength and segregation intensity of the impurity subsystem. The optical phase lag between ordinary and extraordinary rays of light transmitted through a layer of a liquid crystal composite is calculated. The possibility of changing the nature of the Fréedericksz transition from second order to first order is shown. This tricritical behavior is related to the redistribution of the carbon nanotubes (segregation effect) inside the layer.

Ferrocholesteric-ferronematic transitions induced by shear flow and magnetic field.

We study the unwinding of the ferrocholesteric helical structure induced by a combined action of a magnetic field and a shear flow. Both influences are able to induce the ferrocholesteric-ferronematic transition independently; however, the differences between the magnetic field orientation and the flow alignment direction lead to a competition between magnetic and hydrodynamic mechanisms of influence on the ferrocholesteric structure. We analyze various orientations of a magnetic field relative to the direction of a shear flow. The pitch of the ferrocholesteric helix is obtained as function of the strength and the orientation angle of the magnetic field, the shear velocity gradient and a reactive parameter. Phase diagrams of ferrocholesteric-ferronematic transition and the pitch of the ferrocholesteric helix as functions of the material and the governing parameters are calculated. We find out that imposing a shear flow leads to a shift of the magnetic field threshold. The value of the critical magnetic field depends on the magnetic field orientation, the velocity gradient, and the viscous coefficients. We show that the interplay of a magnetic field and a shear flow can induce reentrant orientational transitions that are ferrocholesteric-ferronematic-ferrocholesteric.

Dynamics of liquid-crystalline magnetic suspensions in a rotating magnetic field.

We theoretically study the dynamics of the orientational structure of a ferronematic liquid crystal with soft planar coupling between the director and the magnetization in a rotating magnetic field. We determine critical parameters characterizing the boundary between synchronous and asynchronous rotation regimes. We show that the magnetic impurity increases the stability threshold of an asynchronous rotation regime. The critical angular velocity, the angles of the director and the magnetization rotation in each regime of orientational structure rotation are found for rigid planar coupling. We obtain that in weak magnetic fields when the main mechanism of the field influence on a ferronematic liquid crystal is associated with the effect on the magnetic particles, the critical angular velocity is linearly dependent on the field strength, while in strong magnetic fields, when the influence of a field is determined by a diamagnetic mechanism, the critical velocity is quadratically dependent on the field strength.

Geochemical barriers for environment protection and recovery of nonferrous metals.

A study of natural minerals, ore tailings and their products as materials for artificial geochemical barriers is presented. In particular, it focuses on interaction between calcite and dolomite and sulfate solutions containing nickel, copper and iron under static conditions. Calcite of -0.1 mm fraction has been shown to perform well as a barrier when added to water phases of tailing dumps and natural reservoirs. Experiments under dynamic conditions have revealed a high potential of thermally activated copper-nickel tailings as barriers. After a 500-day precipitating period on a geochemical barrier, the contents of nickel and copper in ore dressing tailings were found to increase 12- and 28-fold, respectively. An effective sorbent of copper, iron and nickel ions is a brucite-based product of hydrochloric acid treatment of vermiculite ore tailings. Its sorption capacity can be essentially increased through thermal activation.

Environmental nuclear-geophysical ore monitoring in mines of Corporation Kazakhmys PLC.

An environmental monitoring of ore composition in complex deposits of Kazakhstan (the Zhezkazgan, Kusmuryn, Artemjevsk, Kounrad, Taskura and Zhaman-Aibat deposits) is carried out using EDXRF spectrometers RPP-12, RLP-21 and RLP-21T. The monitoring of ore concentrates in Satpaev, Balkhashsk and Zhezkazgan processing plants and in Zhezkazgan copper smelter continues at present time. The monitoring suggests data on new promising elements and environmental pollutants in ores and new trends in distribution of bound elements in ores.

Artificial geochemical barriers for additional recovery of non-ferrous metals and reduction of ecological hazard from the mining industry waste.

Laboratory tests and physical-chemical modeling have determined that mixtures of activated silica and carbonatite, serpophite and carbonatite show considerable promise for developing artificial geochemical barriers. The obtained average contents of nickel and copper deposited on geochemical barriers in the formed mining induced ores are acceptable for their subsequent cost efficient processing using either pyro- or hydrometallurgy methods. Some tests of geochemical barriers have been carried out, involving the use of polluted water in the impact zone of the "Kol'skaya GMK" JSC. A possibility of water purification from heavy metals down to the MAC level for fishery water bodies has been displayed.

Numerical simulations of large-scale detonation tests in the RUT facility by the LES model.

The LES model based on the progress variable equation and the gradient method to simulate propagation of the reaction front within the detonation wave, which was recently verified by the ZND theory, is tested in this study against two large-scale experiments in the RUT facility. The facility was 27.6 m x 6.3 m x 6.55 m compartment with complex three-dimensional geometry. Experiments with 20% and 25.5% hydrogen-air mixture and different location of direct detonation initiation were simulated. Sensitivity of 3D simulations to control volume size and type were tested and found to be stringent compared to the planar detonation case. The maximum simulated pressure peak was found to be lower than the theoretical von Neumann spike value for the planar detonation and larger than the Chapman-Jouguet pressure thus indicating that it is more challenging to keep numerical reaction zone behind a leading front of numerical shock for curved fronts with large control volumes. The simulations demonstrated agreement with the experimental data.

Photosensitized oxidation by dioxygen as the base for drinking water disinfection.

Efficiencies of the series water-soluble anionic and cationic sensitizers have been studied in photodynamic natural water disinfection. It was found that only cationic sensitizers are efficient in photooxidative bacteria killing during photodynamic water treatment. The difference in photodynamic action towards different groups of microorganisms has been observed. The most vulnerable are enterococcus and enterococcus faecalis. Spores of sulfite-reducing clostridium are resistant to photodynamic action but, to provide drinking water, clostridium may be removed by sedimentation and filtration. The dependence of photodisinfection on treatment conditions was studied. It was found that sunlight along with artificial visible light sources may be used for photodynamic water treatment. The photodynamic step, arranged with artificial visible light source, was included in a process of conventional water purification instead of chlorine disinfection. Preliminary pilot testing have shown that photodynamic water disinfection in combination with coagulation, sedimentation, sand and carbon filtrations (latter-to remove sensitizer and products of its photolysis) provides water of high quality, free of bacteria and chemicals as well.