Phase transitions and crossovers in reaction-diffusion models with catalyst deactivation

The activity of catalytic materials is reduced during operation by several mechanisms, one of them being poisoning of catalytic sites by chemisorbed impurities or products. Here we study the effects of poisoning in two reaction-diffusion models in one-dimensional lattices with randomly distributed catalytic sites. Unimolecular and bimolecular single-species reactions are considered, without reactant input during the operation. The models show transitions between a phase with continuous decay of reactant concentration and a phase with asymptotic non-zero reactant concentration and complete poisoning of the catalyst. The transition boundary depends on the initial reactant and catalyst concentrations and on the poisoning probability. The critical system behaves as in the two-species annihilation reaction, with reactant concentration decaying as t^{-1/4} and the catalytic sites playing the role of the second species. In the unimolecular reaction, a significant crossover to the asymptotic scaling is observed even when one of those parameters is 10% far from criticality. Consequently, an effective power-law decay of concentration may persist up to long times and lead to an apparent change in the reaction kinetics. In the bimolecular single-species reaction, the critical scaling is followed by a two-dimensional rapid decay, thus two crossovers are found.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

PARAMETER ESTIMATION IN MULTIRESPONSE MODELS

This article identifies a new Old English poetic motif, ‘The Departure of the Hero in a Ship’, and discusses the implications of its presence in Beowulf, the signed poems of Cynewulf and Andreas, a group of texts already linked by shared lexis, imagery and themes. It argues that the Beowulf-poet used this motif to frame his work, foregrounding the question of royal succession. Cynewulf and the Andreas-poet then adapted this Beowulfian motif in a knowing and allusive manner for a new purpose: to glorify the church and to condemn its enemies. Investigation of this motif provides further evidence for the intertextuality of these works

Effects of natural selection and gene conversion on the evolution of human glycophorins coding for MNS blood polymorphisms in malaria-endemic African populations

Malaria has been a very strong selection pressure in recent human evolution, particularly in Africa. Of the one million deaths per year due to malaria, more than 90% are in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with high levels of genetic variation and population substructure. However, there have been few studies of nucleotide variation at genetic loci that are relevant to malaria susceptibility across geographically and genetically diverse ethnic groups in Africa. Invasion of erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum parasites is central to the pathology of malaria. Glycophorin A (GYPA) and B (GYPB), which determine MN and Ss blood types, are two major receptors that are expressed on erythrocyte surfaces and interact with parasite ligands. We analyzed nucleotide diversity of the glycophorin gene family in 15 African populations with different levels of malaria exposure. High levels of nucleotide diversity and gene conversion were found at these genes. We observed divergent patterns of genetic variation between these duplicated genes and between different extracellular domains of GYPA. Specifically, we identified fixed adaptive changes at exons 3-4 of GYPA. By contrast, we observed an allele frequency spectrum skewed toward a significant excess of intermediate-frequency alleles at GYPA exon 2 in many populations; the degree of spectrum distortion is correlated with malaria exposure, possibly because of the joint effects of gene conversion and balancing selection. We also identified a haplotype causing three amino acid changes in the extracellular domain of glycophorin B. This haplotype might have evolved adaptively in five populations with high exposure to malaria

Development of Kinetic and Process Models for the Oxidative Desulfurization of Light Fuel, Using Experiments and the Parameter Estimation Technique

YesThe oxidative desulphurization (ODS) of light gas oil (LGO) is investigated with an in-house designed cobalt 11 oxide loaded on alumina (γ-Al2O3) catalyst in the presence of air as oxidizing agent under moderate operating 12 conditions (temperature from 403 to 473 K, LHSV from 1 to 3 hr-1, initial concentration from 500 to 1000 13 ppm). Incipient Wetness Impregnation method (IWI) of cobalt oxide over gamma alumina (2% Co3O4/γ-14 Al2O3) is used for the preparation of the catalyst. The optimal design of experiments is studied to evaluate the 15 effects of a number of process variables namely temperature, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) and 16 concentration of dibenzothiophene and their optimal values were found to be 473 K, 1hr-1 and 1000 ppm 17 respectively. For conversion dibenzothiophene to sulphone and sulphoxide, the results indicates that the 18 Incipient Wetness Impregnation (IWI) is suitable to prepare this type of the catalyst. Based on the 19 experiments, mathematical models that represent a three phase reactor for describing the behavior of the ODS 20 process are developed. 21 In order to develop a useful model for simulation, control, design and scale-up of the oxidation process, 22 accurate evaluation of important process parameters such as reaction rate parameters is absolutely essential. 23 For this purpose, the parameter estimation technique available in gPROMS (general Process Modelling 24 System) software is employed in this work. With the estimated process parameters further simulations of the 25 process is carried out and the concentration profiles of dibenzothiophene within the reactor are generated

The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans.

Africa is the source of all modern humans, but characterization of genetic variation and of relationships among populations across the continent has been enigmatic. We studied 121 African populations, four African American populations, and 60 non-African populations for patterns of variation at 1327 nuclear microsatellite and insertion/deletion markers. We identified 14 ancestral population clusters in Africa that correlate with self-described ethnicity and shared cultural and/or linguistic properties. We observed high levels of mixed ancestry in most populations, reflecting historical migration events across the continent. Our data also provide evidence for shared ancestry among geographically diverse hunter-gatherer populations (Khoesan speakers and Pygmies). The ancestry of African Americans is predominantly from Niger-Kordofanian (approximately 71%), European (approximately 13%), and other African (approximately 8%) populations, although admixture levels varied considerably among individuals. This study helps tease apart the complex evolutionary history of Africans and African Americans, aiding both anthropological and genetic epidemiologic studies