Kinetics and mechanism of formic acid decomposition on Ru(001)

The steady-state rate of decomposition of formic acid on Ru(001) has been measured as a function of surface temperature, parametric in the pressure of formic acid. The products of the decomposition reaction are C0_2, H_2, CO, and H_2)0, i.e., both dehydrogenation and dehydration occur on Ru (001). A similar product distribution has been observed on Ni(110), Ni(100), Ru(100), Fe(100), and Ni(111) surfaces; whereas only dehydrogenation to C0_2 and H_2 occurs on the Cu(100), Cu(110), and Pt(111) surfaces. Only reversible adsorption and desorption of formic acid is observed on the less reactive Ag(110) surface at low temperatures, whereas the more reactive Mo(100) surface is oxidized by formic acid at low temperatures with the products of this reaction being H_2, CO, and H_(2)O (Ref. 10). We report here the confirmation of earlier observations of the occurrence of both dehydrogenation and dehydration of formic acid on Ru(001), and more importantly, we provide a detailed mechanistic description of the steady-state decomposition reaction on this surface in terms of elementary steps

Supercritical multicomponent solvent coal extraction

The yield of organic extract from the supercritical extraction of coal with larger diameter organic solvents such as toluene is increased by use of a minor amount of from 0.1 to 10% by weight of a second solvent such as methanol having a molecular diameter significantly smaller than the average pore diameter of the coal

Piezoelectric copolymer hydrophones for ultrasonic field characterization

Hydrophones to be used in the characterization of medical ultrasonic transducers have been fabricated using a new polyvinylidene fluoride/trifluoroethylene (VF2/VF3) copolymer. The copolymer has an advantage over VF2 in that it does not require prestretching before poling. Thin copolymer films can be cast from solution and then poled using the corona discharge method. As there is a need for small‐diameter hydrophones to provide good spatial resolution in measuring highly focused ultrasonic beams, hydrophones with diameter as small as 0.1 mm have been made. Both needle‐type and line hydrophones have been tested and their performance reported. In the case of line hydrophones, the output signal is proportional to the line integral of the acoustic pressure and a computer tomographic technique has been used to reconstruct the beam profiles

Nonionic surfactant Brij35 effects on toluene biodegradation in a composite bead biofilter

Nonionic surfactant effects on the toluene dissolved in the water phase and biodegradation kinetic behaviors of toluene in a composite bead biofilter were investigated. The toluene dissolved in the water phase was enhanced by the addition of surfactant into aqueous solution and the enhancing effect was more pronounced in the surfactant concentration less than critical micelle concentration. For the microbial growth process, the microbial growth rate was inhibited at higher surfactant content and thedegree of inhibitive effect was more pronounced at lower inlet concentration. The microbial growth rate was inhibited at higher inlet concentration. Zero-order kinetic with the diffusion limitation could beregarded as the most adequate biochemical reaction model. For the biochemical reaction process, the biochemical reaction rate was also inhibited at higher surfactant content and the degree of inhibitiveeffect was more pronounced at lower inlet concentration. The biochemical reaction rate was also inhibited at higher inlet concentration. The maximum elimination capacity decreased with increasing surfactant content and it was in the range of 17.41 to 26.12 g C h-1 m-3 bed volume. The addition of surfactant into filter material was unfavorable for toluene degraded by the microbial

Fos co-operation with PTEN loss elicits keratoacanthoma not carcinoma due to p53/p21^WAF-induced differentiation triggered by GSK3b inactivation and reduced AKT activity

To investigate gene synergism in multistage skin carcinogenesis, the RU486-inducible cre/lox system was employed to ablate PTEN function [K14.cre/D5PTENflx] in mouse epidermis expressing activated v-fos [HK1.fos]. RU486-treated HK1.fos/D5PTENflx mice exhibited hyperplasia, hyperkeratosis and tumours that progressed to highly differentiated keratoacanthomas rather than carcinomas, due to re-expression of high p53 and p21WAF levels. Despite elevated MAP kinase activity, cyclin D1/E2 over expression and increased AKT activity forming areas of highly proliferative, papillomatous keratinocytes, increasing levels of GSK3b inactivation exceeded a threshold that induced p53/p21WAF expression to halt proliferation and accelerate differentiation, giving the hallmark keratosis of keratoacanthomas. A pivotal facet to this GSK3b-triggered mechanism centred on increasing p53 expression in basal layer keratinocytes. This reduced activated AKT expression and released inhibition of p21WAF, which accelerated keratinocyte differentiation, as indicated by unique basal layer expression of differentiation-specific keratin K1, alongside premature filaggrin and loricrin expression. Thus, fos synergism with PTEN loss elicited a benign tumour context where GSK3b-induced, p53/p21WAF expression continually switched AKT-associated proliferation into one of differentiation, preventing further progression. This putative compensatory mechanism required the critical availability of normal p53 and/or p21WAF otherwise deregulated fos, Akt and GSK3b associate with malignant progression

The association between retinal vein ophthalmodynamometric force change and optic disc excavation

Aim: Retinal vein ophthalmodynamometric force (ODF) is predictive of future optic disc excavation in glaucoma, but it is not known if variation in ODF affects prognosis. We aimed to assess whether a change in ODF provides additional prognostic information. Methods: 135 eyes of 75 patients with glaucoma or being glaucoma suspects had intraocular pressure (IOP), visual fields, stereo optic disc photography and ODF measured on an initial visit and a subsequent visit at mean 82 (SD 7.3) months later. Corneal thickness and blood pressure were recorded on the latter visit. When venous pulsation was spontaneous, the ODF was recorded as 0 g. Change in ODF was calculated. Flicker stereochronoscopy was used to determine the occurrence of optic disc excavation, which was modelled against the measured variables using multiple mixed effects logistic regression. Results: Change in ODF (p=0.046) was associated with increased excavation. Average IOP (p=0.66) and other variables were not associated. Odds ratio for increased optic disc excavation of 1.045 per gram ODF change (95% CI 1.001 to 1.090) was calculated. Conclusion: Change in retinal vein ODF may provide additional information to assist with glaucoma prognostication and implies a significant relationship between venous change and glaucoma patho-physiology

Secondary organic aerosol formation from m-xylene, toluene, and benzene

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from the photooxidation of m-xylene, toluene, and benzene is investigated in the Caltech environmental chambers. Experiments are performed under two limiting NOx conditions; under high-NOx conditions the peroxy radicals (RO2) react only with NO, while under low-NOx conditions they react only with HO2. For all three aromatics studied (m-xylene, toluene, and benzene), the SOA yields (defined as the ratio of the mass of organic aerosol formed to the mass of parent hydrocarbon reacted) under low-NOx conditions substantially exceed those under high-NOx conditions, suggesting the importance of peroxy radical chemistry in SOA formation. Under low-NOx conditions, the SOA yields for m-xylene, toluene, and benzene are constant (36%, 30%, and 37%, respectively), indicating that the SOA formed is effectively nonvolatile under the range of Mo(>10 μg m−3) studied. Under high-NOx conditions, aerosol growth occurs essentially immediately, even when NO concentration is high. The SOA yield curves exhibit behavior similar to that observed by Odum et al. (1996, 1997a, b), although the values are somewhat higher than in the earlier study. The yields measured under high-NOx conditions are higher than previous measurements, suggesting a "rate effect" in SOA formation, in which SOA yields are higher when the oxidation rate is faster. Experiments carried out in the presence of acidic seed aerosol reveal no change of SOA yields from the aromatics as compared with those using neutral seed aerosol

Wormholes in String Theory

A wormhole is constructed by cutting and joining two spacetimes satisfying the low energy string equations with a dilaton field. In spacetimes described by the "string metric" the dilaton energy-momentum tensor need not satisfy the weak or dominant energy conditions. In the cases considered here the dilaton field violates these energy conditions and is the source of the exotic matter required to maintain the wormhole. There is also a surface stress-energy, that must be produced by additional matter, where the spacetimes are joined. It is shown that wormholes can be constructed for which this additional matter satisfies the weak and dominant energy conditions, so that it could be a form of "normal" matter. Charged dilaton wormholes with a coupling between the dilaton and the electromagnetic field that is more general than in string theory are also briefly discussed.Comment: 9 pages, LaTex, submitted to Phys. Rev.