The effect of Mg location on Co-Mg-Ru/γ-Al2O3 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

© 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.The effectiveness of Mg as a promoter of Co-Ru/γ-Al2O3 Fischer-Tropsch catalysts depends on how and when the Mg is added. When the Mg is impregnated into the support before the Co and Ru addition, some Mg is incorporated into the support in the form of MgxAl2O3+x if the material is calcined at 550°C or 800°C after the impregnation, while the remainder is present as amorphous MgO/MgCO3 phases. After subsequent Co-Ru impregnation MgxCo3-xO4 is formed which decomposes on reduction, leading to Co(0) particles intimately mixed with Mg, as shown by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The process of impregnating Co into an Mg-modified support results in dissolution of the amorphous Mg, and it is this Mg which is then incorporated into MgxCo3-xO4. Acid washing or higher temperature calcination after Mg impregnation can remove most of this amorphous Mg, resulting in lower values of x in MgxCo3-xO4. Catalytic testing of these materials reveals that Mg incorporation into the Co oxide phase is severely detrimental to the site-Time yield, while Mg incorporation into the support may provide some enhancement of activity at high temperature

Towards in-situ TEM for Li-ion battery research

Due to recent developments in new battery materials for higher energy density applications there has been growing interest in new characterization techniques capable of time-resolved in situ/in operando analysis of dynamic Battery systems. This review provides an overview on recent development of liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM) for Li-ion battery research and discusses the challenges, highlighting potential research areas. In-situ TEM offers the opportunity to study phenomena including solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation and phase changes during battery operation. There are two main challenging areas for in-situ TEM research (1) designing an in-situ TEM electrochemical cell that mimics a ‘real’ cell and (2) quantifying beam damage caused by electron irradiation of the electrolyte

International Network for Comparison of HIV Neutralization Assays: The NeutNet Report II

BACKGROUND: Neutralizing antibodies provide markers for vaccine-induced protective immunity in many viral infections. By analogy, HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies induced by immunization may well predict vaccine effectiveness. Assessment of neutralizing antibodies is therefore of primary importance, but is hampered by the fact that we do not know which assay(s) can provide measures of protective immunity. An international collaboration (NeutNet) involving 18 different laboratories previously compared different assays using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and soluble CD4 (Phase I study). METHODS: In the present study (Phase II), polyclonal reagents were evaluated by 13 laboratories. Each laboratory evaluated nine plasmas against an 8 virus panel representing different genetic subtypes and phenotypes. TriMab, a mixture of three mAbs, was used as a positive control allowing comparison of the results with Phase I in a total of nine different assays. The assays used either uncloned virus produced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (Virus Infectivity Assays, VIA), or Env (gp160)-pseudotyped viruses (pseudoviruses, PSV) produced in HEK293T cells from molecular clones or from uncloned virus. Target cells included PBMC and genetically engineered cell lines in either single- or multiple-cycle infection format. Infection was quantified by using a range of assay read-outs including extra- or intra-cellular p24 antigen detection, luciferase, beta-galactosidase or green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene expression. FINDINGS: Using TriMab, results of Phase I and Phase II were generally in agreement for six of the eight viruses tested and confirmed that the PSV assay is more sensitive than PBMC (p = 0.014). Comparisons with the polyclonal reagents showed that sensitivities were dependent on both virus and plasma. CONCLUSIONS: Here we further demonstrate clear differences in assay sensitivities that were dependent on both the neutralizing reagent and the virus. Consistent with the Phase I study, we recommend parallel use of PSV and VIA for vaccine evaluation

A live weight-heart girth relationship for accurate dosing of east African shorthorn zebu cattle

The accurate estimation of livestock weights is important for many aspects of livestock management including nutrition, production and appropriate dosing of pharmaceuticals. Subtherapeutic dosing has been shown to accelerate pathogen resistance which can have subsequent widespread impacts. There are a number of published models for the prediction of live weight from morphometric measurements of cattle, but many of these models use measurements difficult to gather and include complicated age, size and gender stratification. In this paper, we use data from the Infectious Diseases of East Africa calf cohort study and additional data collected at local markets in western Kenya to develop a simple model based on heart girth circumference to predict live weight of east African shorthorn zebu (SHZ) cattle. SHZ cattle are widespread throughout eastern and southern Africa and are economically important multipurpose animals. We demonstrate model accuracy by splitting the data into training and validation subsets and comparing fitted and predicted values. The final model is weight0.262 =0.95 + 0.022 × girth which has an R2 value of 0.98 and 95 % prediction intervals that fall within the ±20 % body weight error band regarded as acceptable when dosing livestock. This model provides a highly reliable and accurate method for predicting weights of SHZ cattle using a single heart girth measurement which can be easily obtained with a tape measure in the field setting

Effect of Body Mass Index on work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress of computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Work urgency, accuracy and demands compel the computer professionals to spend longer hours before computers without giving importance to their health, especially body weight. Increase of body weight leads to improper Body Mass Index (BMI) may aggravate work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress. The objective of the study was to find out the effect of BMI on work related musculoskeletal discomforts and occupational stress of computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A descriptive inferential study has been taken to analyze the effect of BMI on work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress. A total of 100 computer workers, aged 25-35 years randomly selected on convenience from software and BPO companies in Bangalore city, India for the participation in this study. BMI was calculated by taking the ratio of the subject's height (in meter) and weight (in kilogram). Work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress of the subjects was assessed by Cornell University's musculoskeletal discomfort questionnaire (CMDQ) and occupational stress index (OSI) respectively as well as a relationship was checked with their BMI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A significant association (p < 0.001) was seen among high BMI subjects with their increase scores of musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational stress.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From this study, it has been concluded that, there is a significant effect of BMI in increasing of work related musculoskeletal discomfort and occupational-psychosocial stress among computer workers in a developed ergonomic setup.</p

A Retrospective Overview of Enterovirus Infection Diagnosis and Molecular Epidemiology in the Public Hospitals of Marseille, France (1985–2005)

Human enteroviruses (HEV) are frequent human pathogens and, associated in particular with large outbreaks of aseptic meningitis. Here, we have compiled a database of clinical HEV isolates from the Public Hospitals of Marseille, from 1985 to 2005. Amongst 654 isolates that could be characterized by complete sequencing of the VP1 gene, 98% belonged to species HEV-B; the most frequently isolated serotypes were Echovirus E30, E11, E7, E6 and E4. The high incidence of E30 and the recent emergence of E13 are consistent with reports worldwide and peak HEV isolation occurred mostly in the late spring and summer months. The proportion of echoviruses has decreased across the years, while that of coxsackieviruses has increased. Stool (the most frequent sample type) allowed detection of all identified serotypes. MRC5 (Human lung fibroblasts) cell line was the most conducive cell line for HEV isolation (84.9% of 10 most common serotype isolates, 96.3% in association with BGM (Buffalo green monkey kidney cells)). Previous seroneutralization-based serotype identification demonstrated 55.4% accuracy when compared with molecular VP1 analysis. Our analysis of a large number of clinical strains over 20 years reinforced the validity of VP1 serotyping and showed that comparative p-distance scores can be coupled with phylogenetic analysis to provide non-ambiguous serotype identification. Phylogenetic analysis in the VP1, 2C and 3D regions also provided evidence for recombination events amongst clinical isolates. In particular, it identified isolates with dissimilar VP1 but almost identical nonstructural regions

Selenium in reproduction

Selenium is an essential trace element of importance to human biology and health. Increasing evidence suggests that this mineral plays an important role in normal growth and reproduction in animals and humans, and selenium supplementation is now recommended as part of public health policy in geographical areas with severe selenium deficiency in soil. This review addresses the biological functions of selenium followed by a detailed review of associations between selenium status and reproductive health. In many countries, selenium dietary intake falls below the recommended nutrient intakes and is inadequate to support maximal expression of the selenoenzymes. Numerous reports implicate selenium deficiency in several reproductive and obstetric complications including male and female infertility, miscarriage, preeclampsia, fetal growth restriction, preterm labor, gestational diabetes, and obstetric cholestasis. Currently, there is inadequate information from the available small intervention studies to inform public health strategies. Larger intervention trials are required to reinforce or refute a beneficial role of selenium supplementation in disorders of reproductive health