Unsupported trimetallic Ni(Co)-Mo-W sulphide catalysts prepared from mixed oxides: characterisation and catalytic tests for simultaneous tetralin HDA and dibenzothiophene HDS reactions

Unsupported A-Mo-W (A = Ni or Co) sulphide catalysts were obtained from mixed oxides containing different W:Mo ratios. An in situ liquid-phase sulphidation of the mixed oxides in a batch reactor was followed by catalytic tests in a liquid-phase reaction (at 613 K and 70 bar), using a mixture of dibenzotiophene (DBT) and tetralin (THN) as the feed. After the catalytic tests, the bulk sulphide catalysts were characterised by nitrogen physical adsorption, XANES/EXAFS, SEM and HR-(S)TEM. The HR-TEM images showed randomly oriented, stacked-layer particles typical of Mo (W) sulphides and an elemental HR-STEM mapping evidenced Mo/W homogeneous distribution in the trimetallic sulphides. The EXAFS results for the trimetallic catalysts are consistent with the presence of nickel or cobalt sulphide domains, and Mo1-xWxS2 solid solutions. The intralayer Mo:W solid solutions were confirmed to be thermodynamically stable with respect to phase separation by DFT calculations, which were also used to aid in the interpretation of the EXAFS results. The effect of the W:Mo ratio on the catalytic properties of the Ni- and Co-containing series was found to be different. For the Ni series, increasing the W content caused an activity increase in THN hydrodearomatization (HDA) relative to DBT hydrodesulphurization (HDS), while it had little influence on the relative contribution of the direct desulphurisation (DDS) route with respect to the previous hydrogenation (HYD) route for DBT HDS. In contrast, for the Co series, the activities and selectivities were essentially insensitive to the W content. Both the Ni and Co series of unsupported sulphides were more selective for the HYD route in DBT HDS than a supported NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst

Estudios Sistémicos de la Privatización en México

Com uma proposta intitulada "Reforma Energética", o Presidente da República, no México, tenta privatizar a Pemex. Que motivos levaram ao atual governo para tomar essa decisão de grande risco político? Este artigo apresenta um estudo sistemático que tenta explicar tal comportamento com base em documentos que apareceram antes e durante o período de debate nacional sobre esta questão. O estudo inclui três diagramas causais principais, o primeiro mostra a relação "concentração da riqueza-corrupção", que descreve os comportamentos que levam à parceria entre empregadores e empregados; o segundo mostra o conflito de "Crescimento-consumo-degradação ambiental", que é favorecida por processos induzidos mostrados no primeiro. O terceiro contém, além disso, o processo de privatização que o governo atual está buscando e esclarece como este estaria acelerando um colapso nacional. Uma proposta argumenta, paradoxalmente, como poderia formar um elo de equilíbrio do sistema, tanto para o subsistema económico como para o ambiental, através de um projeto com foco social, que é contrário ao governo de direita, por interesses escusos.Con una propuesta titulada “Reforma Energética”, la Presidencia de la República, en México, intenta privatizar PEMEX. ¿Qué motivos llevaron al gobierno actual a tomar esa decisión de gran riesgo político? Este artículo presenta un estudio sistémico que intenta explicar tales comportamientos basándose en documentos aparecidos antes y durante el período del debate sobre esta problemática nacional. El estudio incluye tres diagramas causales principales; el primero muestra el lazo de “Concentración de Riqueza-Corrupción”, que expone los comportamientos que conducen a la asociación entre empresarios y funcionarios; el segundo muestra el conflicto del “Crecimiento-Consumo-Degradación Ambiental”, que es favorecido por procesos inducidos en la asociación mostrada en el primero. El tercero contiene, además, el proceso de privatización que está buscando el gobierno actual y esclarece cómo éste estaría acelerando un colapso nacional. Una propuesta expone, paradójicamente, cómo se podría conformar un lazo de balance en el sistema, tanto para el subsistema económico como para el ambiental, mediante un proyecto con enfoque social, a lo cual se opone el gobierno de derecha por intereses creados

Financing essential HIV services: a new economic agenda.

Anna Vassall and colleagues discuss the need for, and challenges facing, innovative and sustainable financing of the HIV response. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

Tumor de pancoast presentación de un caso

Introducción: El Tumor de Pancoast se produce por crecimiento local de un tumor del vértice pulmonar que penetra fácilmente en el canal neural y destruye las raíces nerviosas octava cervical y primera y segunda torácicas. Su causa más frecuente es el cáncer de pulmón.Objetivo: Al presentar este caso, nuestro objetivo es mostrar de forma ilustrativa una de las formas neurológicas de presentación del cáncer de pulmóny señalar una vez más cómo este tipo de paciente casi siempre acude por Ortopedia y rara vez por Neumología o Medicina Interna.Presentación del caso: Se presentó una paciente que aquejó primeramente dolor en  hombro derecho, acude al ortopédico y al reumatólogo, este último  al verle las manos (uñas en vidrio de reloj y dedos hipocráticos), la remite a Neumología, se realiza radiografía de tórax, se ingresa en Medicina Interna, donde se le practica una  serie de estudios, incluida cirugía de mínimo acceso por el Grupo de TóraxConclusiones: El estudio histológico corroboró  el diagnóstico de carcinoma bronquial epidermoide, así como demostró cómo estos casos entran por Ortopedia, lo cual atrasa el  accionar médico.Motivación: Tuvimos a bien presentar este caso, que ilustra cómo los pacientes con esta patología, en muchas ocasiones, entran por Ortopedia, lo cual demora el diagnóstico y, por ende, la conducta.Palabras clave: tumor de pancoast, uñas en vidrio de reloj, dedos hipocráticos. carcinoma bronquial epidermoide.</p

Mean square solution of Bessel differential equation with uncertainties

[EN] This paper deals with the study of a Bessel-type differential equation where input parameters (coefficient and initial conditions) are assumed to be random variables. Using the so-called Lp-random calculus and assuming moment conditions on the random variables in the equation, a mean square convergent generalized power series solution is constructed. As a result of this convergence, the sequences of the mean and standard deviation obtained from the truncated power series solution are convergent as well. The results obtained in the random framework extend their deterministic counterpart. The theory is illustrated in two examples in which several distributions on the random inputs are assumed. Finally, we show through examples that the proposed method is computationally faster than Monte Carlo method.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad grant MTM2013-41765-P and by the European Union in the FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN Program under Grant Agreement No. 304617 (FP7 Marie Curie Action, Project Multi-ITN STRIKE-Novel Methods in Computational Finance) and Mexican Conacyt.Cortés, J.; Jódar Sánchez, LA.; Villafuerte, L. (2017). Mean square solution of Bessel differential equation with uncertainties. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics. 309:383-395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cam.2016.01.034S38339530

Solving linear and quadratic random matrix differential equations: A mean square approach

[EN] In this paper linear and Riccati random matrix differential equations are solved taking advantage of the so called L-p-random calculus. Uncertainty is assumed in coefficients and initial conditions. Existence of the solution in the L-p-random sense as well as its construction are addressed. Numerical examples illustrate the computation of the expectation and variance functions of the solution stochastic process. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad grant MTM2013-41765-P and by the European Union in the FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN Program under Grant Agreement no. 304617 (FP7 Marie Curie Action, Project Multi-ITN STRIKE-Novel Methods in Computational Finance).Casabán Bartual, MC.; Cortés López, JC.; Jódar Sánchez, LA. (2016). Solving linear and quadratic random matrix differential equations: A mean square approach. Applied Mathematical Modelling. 40(21-22):9362-9377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2016.06.017S936293774021-2

Solving the random diffusion model in an infinite medium: A mean square approach

[EN] This paper deals with the construction of an analytic-numerical mean square solution of the random diffusion model in an infinite medium. The well-known Fourier transform method, which is used to solve this problem in the deterministic case, is extended to the random framework. Mean square operational rules to the Fourier transform of a stochastic process are developed and stated. The main statistical moments of the stochastic process solution are also computed. Finally, some illustrative numerical examples are included.This work has been partially supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad grant: DPI2010-20891-c0-01, and Universitat Politecnica de Valencia grant: PAID06-11-2070.Casabán, M.; Company Rossi, R.; Cortés, J.; Jódar Sánchez, LA. (2014). Solving the random diffusion model in an infinite medium: A mean square approach. Applied Mathematical Modelling. 38(24):5922-5933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2014.04.063S59225933382

Modeling the epidemiological impact of the UNAIDS 2025 targets to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030

Background: UNAIDS has established new program targets for 2025 to achieve the goal of eliminating AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. This study reports on efforts to use mathematical models to estimate the impact of achieving those targets. // Methods and findings: We simulated the impact of achieving the targets at country level using the Goals model, a mathematical simulation model of HIV epidemic dynamics that includes the impact of prevention and treatment interventions. For 77 high-burden countries, we fit the model to surveillance and survey data for 1970 to 2020 and then projected the impact of achieving the targets for the period 2019 to 2030. Results from these 77 countries were extrapolated to produce estimates for 96 others. Goals model results were checked by comparing against projections done with the Optima HIV model and the AIDS Epidemic Model (AEM) for selected countries. We included estimates of the impact of societal enablers (access to justice and law reform, stigma and discrimination elimination, and gender equality) and the impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Results show that achieving the 2025 targets would reduce new annual infections by 83% (71% to 86% across regions) and AIDS-related deaths by 78% (67% to 81% across regions) by 2025 compared to 2010. Lack of progress on societal enablers could endanger these achievements and result in as many as 2.6 million (44%) cumulative additional new HIV infections and 440,000 (54%) more AIDS-related deaths between 2020 and 2030 compared to full achievement of all targets. COVID-19–related disruptions could increase new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 10% in the next 2 years, but targets could still be achieved by 2025. Study limitations include the reliance on self-reports for most data on behaviors, the use of intervention effect sizes from published studies that may overstate intervention impacts outside of controlled study settings, and the use of proxy countries to estimate the impact in countries with fewer than 4,000 annual HIV infections. // Conclusions: The new targets for 2025 build on the progress made since 2010 and represent ambitious short-term goals. Achieving these targets would bring us close to the goals of reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 90% between 2010 and 2030. By 2025, global new infections and AIDS deaths would drop to 4.4 and 3.9 per 100,000 population, and the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) would be declining. There would be 32 million people on treatment, and they would need continuing support for their lifetime. Incidence for the total global population would be below 0.15% everywhere. The number of PLHIV would start declining by 2023

Bambara groundnut: an exemplar underutilised legume for resilience under climate change

Main conclusion Bambara groundnut has the potential to be used to contribute more the climate change ready agriculture. The requirement for nitrogen fixing, stress tolerant legumes is clear, particularly in low input agriculture. However, ensuring that existing negative traits are tackled and demand is stimulated through the development of markets and products still represents a challenge to making greater use of this legume. Abstract World agriculture is currently based on very limited numbers of crops, representing a significant risk to food supplies, particularly in the face of climate change which is expected to increase the frequency of extreme events. Minor and underutilised crops can help to develop a more resilient and nutritionally dense future agriculture. Bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.[, as a drought resistant, nitrogen-fixing, legume has a role to play. However, as with most underutilised crops, there are significant gaps in knowledge and also negative traits such as 'hard-to-cook' and 'photoperiod sensitivity to pod filling' associated with the crop which future breeding programmes and processing methods need to tackle, to allow it to make a significant contribution to the well-being of future generations. The current review assesses these factors and also considers what are the next steps towards realising the potential of this crop

Geodesics and the competition interface for the corner growth model

We study the directed last-passage percolation model on the planar square lattice with nearest-neighbor steps and general i.i.d. weights on the vertices, out- side of the class of exactly solvable models. Stationary cocycles are constructed for this percolation model from queueing fixed points. These cocycles serve as bound- ary conditions for stationary last-passage percolation, solve variational formulas that characterize limit shapes, and yield existence of Busemann functions in directions where the shape has some regularity. In a sequel to this paper the cocycles are used to prove results about semi-infinite geodesics and the competition interface