Various characteristics of Ni and Pt–Al2O3 nanocatalysts prepared by microwave method to be applied in some petrochemical processes

AbstractAlumina-supported metal nanocatalysts were prepared via the microwave method, by loading nano Ni particles (at 1, 3 and 5wt%) or nano Pt particles (at 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9wt%). Structural and adsorption features of the nano catalysts were revealed through XRD, DSC-DTA, TEM, H2-chemisorption and N2-physisorption. N2-adsorption–desorption isotherms of type IV were related typically to mesoporous materials with H2 class of hysteresis loops characterizing ink bottle type of pores. The well dispersed nano-sized metal particles were evidenced in the studied catalytic systems, exhibiting marked thermal stability up to 800°C. The catalytic performances of different catalyst samples were assessed during cyclohexane, normal hexane and ethanol conversions, using the micro-catalytic pulse technique at different operating conditions. The 5% Ni–γ–Al2O3 sample was found to be the most active in dehydration of ethanol to produce ethylene, as well as in n-hexane cracking. However, the 1% Ni–Al2O3 sample showed the highest dehydrogenation activity for selective production of benzene from cyclohexane. On the other hand, the 0.9% Pt–γ–Al2O3 sample exhibited the highest activity in the dehydration of ethanol and in the dehydrogenation of cyclohexane. The 0.3% Pt–γ–Al2O3 sample was the most active in the dehydrocyclization of normal hexane, as compared to the other catalyst samples under study

Direct Detection of Bacillus cereus and its Enterotoxigenic Genes in Meat and Meat Products by Polymerase Chain Reaction

This study was conducted to standardize a method to directly detect B. cereus (gyrB) and its enterotoxigenic genes (hblDAC, nheABC, cytK and entFM) from the meat and meat products by PCR, without going for isolation and identification procedures. The method employed was compared with the standard microbiological procedures to determine its efficacy. Among the 150 food samples (raw meats and meat products) analyzed, 60 (40%) were positive for isolation and 59 (39.33%) turned out positive by direct PCR (targeting sequence within gyrB gene). Food samples screened directly by multiplex-PCR showed almost similar enterotoxin gene profile as of isolates from these samples. Among the positive samples, only two samples from the meat products showed different enterotxigenic gene pattern compared to isolates from these samples. The incidences of various enteroxigenic genes hblD, hblA, hblC, nheA, nheB, nheC, cytK and entFM was 66.10%, 66.10%, 67.78%, 96.61%, 96.61%, 93.22%, 67.78% and 100%, respectively. Therefore, the current method can be employed for the direct detection of B. cereus and its enterotoxigenic genes in the meat and meat products without going for isolation and identification procedures and the method can be extended to other foods as well

Cytokine alterations in first-episode schizophrenia patients before and after antipsychotic treatment

Schizophrenia has been associated with central nervous system and peripheral immune system imbalances. However, most studies have not yielded conclusive results due to limitations such as small sample size, dissimilarities in the clinical status of patients and the high variability of cytokine levels within the normal human population. Here, we have attempted to account for these limitations by carrying out standardised multiplex immunoassay analyses of 9 cytokines in serum from 180 antipsychotic-naïve first-episode schizophrenia patients and 350 matched controls across 5 clinical cohorts. All subjects were matched for potential confounding factors including age, gender, smoking and body mass index. We found that the levels of interleukin (IL)-1RA, IL-10 and IL-15 were increased significantly in patients across the cohorts. We also found that the levels of IL-1RA and IL-10 were decreased in 32 patients who had been followed up and treated for 6. weeks with atypical antipsychotics. Interestingly, we found that the changes in IL-10 levels were significantly correlated with the improvements in negative, general and total symptom scores. These results indicate that mixed pro- and anti-inflammatory responses may be altered in first onset patients, suggesting a role in the aetiology of schizophrenia. The finding that only the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 responded to treatment in parallel with symptom improvement suggests that this could be used as a potential treatment response biomarker in future studies of schizophrenia

Damage in single lap joints of woven fabric reinforced polymeric composites subjected to transverse impact loading

Single lap joints of woven glass fabric reinforced phenolic composites, having four different overlap widths, were impacted transversely using a hemispherical impactor with different velocities in the low velocity impact range. The resulting damage was observed at various length scales (from micro to macro) using transmission photography, ultrasonic c-scan and x-ray micro tomography (XMT), in support of each other. These experimental observations were used for classification of damage in terms of damage scale, location (i.e. ply, interfaces between plies or bond failure between the two adherends) and mechanisms, with changing overlap width and impact velocity. In addition, finite element analysis was used to simulate delamination and disbond failure. These simulations were used to further explain the observed dependence of damage on overlap width and impact velocity. The results from these experiments and simulations lead to the proposal of a concept of lower and upper characteristic overlap width. These bounds relate the dominant damage pattern (i.e. scale, location and mechanism) with overlap width of the joint for a given impact velocity range.National University of Sciences and Technology, NUST, Pakistan: The University of Manchester, EPS fellowshi

Differences in the pattern and regulation of mineral deposition in human cell lines of osteogenic and non-osteogenic origin

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used as a cellular model of bone formation, and can mineralize in vitro in response to osteogenic medium (OM). It is unclear, however, whether this property is specific to cells of mesenchymal origin. We analysed the OM response in 3 non-osteogenic lines, HEK293, HeLa and NTera, compared to MSCs. Whereas HEK293 cells failed to respond to OM conditions, the 2 carcinoma-derived lines NTera and HeLa deposited a calcium phosphate mineral comparable to that present in MSC cultures. However, unlike MSCs, HeLa and NTera cultures did so in the absence of dexamethasone. This discrepancy was confirmed, as bone morphogenetic protein inhibition obliterated the OM response in MSCs but not in HeLa or NTera, indicating that these 2 models can deposit mineral through a mechanism independent of established dexamethasone or bone morphogenetic protein signalling

Correlates of caregiving burden in schizophrenia:A cross-sectional, comparative analysis from India

Schizophrenia is a global mental health issue that has serious implications not only for the person with the diagnosis, but for caregivers as well. In Asian societies, the family tends to be the “natural” caregiver in such situations and the caregiving function is usually shouldered by parents or the spouse. Asian communities tend to be more closely knit, and it would be expected that more social support would be available to those facing distressing circumstances such as managing the demands of a person with mental illness. This study seeks to explore the perceived burden in family caregivers of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia, the coping strategies that come into play, as well as the extent of social support available to them. Standardized instruments were administered to collect data at a teaching cum treatment facility in south India. A quantitative methodology was used to analyze cross-sectional data from 75 primary caregivers of people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and a reference group of caregivers of patients with general medical ailments. Results indicate high levels of burden, low social support, and poor coping in the caregivers of people with schizophrenia than the reference group. Implications for intervention with caregivers are also discussed in this article

A Single-Dose Intranasal ChAd Vaccine Protects Upper and Lower Respiratory Tracts against SARS-CoV-2

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has made deployment of an effective vaccine a global health priority. We evaluated the protective activity of a chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine encoding a prefusion stabilized spike protein (ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S) in challenge studies with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and mice expressing the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor. Intramuscular dosing of ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S induces robust systemic humoral and cell-mediated immune responses and protects against lung infection, inflammation, and pathology but does not confer sterilizing immunity, as evidenced by detection of viral RNA and induction of anti-nucleoprotein antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 challenge. In contrast, a single intranasal dose of ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S induces high levels of neutralizing antibodies, promotes systemic and mucosal immunoglobulin A (IgA) and T cell responses, and almost entirely prevents SARS-CoV-2 infection in both the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Intranasal administration of ChAd-SARS-CoV-2-S is a candidate for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission and curtailing pandemic spread