Studies on the promotion of nickel—alumina coprecipitated catalysts: III. Cerium oxide

Three series of cerium-promoted nickel—alumina catalysts with different nickel-to-aluminium ratios each containing different amounts of cerium have been prepared and characterized. The calcination and reduction behaviour were found not to be altered by the presence of cerium. Part of the promoter was found to separate during the precipitation process as poorly crystalline CeO2, the amount of which was largely determined by the drying temperature. This phase separation process was accompanied by a partial change in the valence state of the cerium. The effect of cerium on the nickel particle sizes was very small. Cerium enhances the activity of coprecipitated nickel—alumina catalysts in the carbon monoxide methanation reaction. This enhancement is accompanied by an increased apparent activation energy. Cerium- and lanthanum-promoted materials are compared with one another and it is concluded that although both promoters behave differently in determining the catalyst structure, their behaviour in the carbon monoxide methanation reaction is very similar and the specific activities of both types of material are nearly equal

Mode competition in a system of two parametrically driven pendulums with nonlinear coupling

This paper is part three in a series on the dynamics of two coupled, parametrically driven pendulums. In the previous parts Banning and van der Weele (1995) and Banning et al. (1997) studied the case of linear coupling; the present paper deals with the changes brought on by the inclusion of a nonlinear (third-order) term in the coupling. Special attention will be given to the phenomenon of mode competition.\ud \ud The nonlinear coupling is seen to introduce a new kind of threshold into the system, namely a lower limit to the frequency at which certain motions can exist. Another consequence is that the mode interaction between 1¿ and 2ß (two of the normal motions of the system) is less degenerate, causing the intermediary mixed motion known as MP to manifest itself more strongly

The synthesis of alcohols using Cu/ZnO/A12O3 + (Ce or Mn) catalysts

CU/ZnO/A12O3 catalysts modified by compounds of manganese or cerium were prepared by coprecipitation or by impregnation and were tested for the synthesis of alcohol mixtures from synthesis gas at pressures of up to 70 bar. They were also examined by XPS both before and after the reaction. With both the impregnated and the coprecipitated catalysts, manganese increased the selectivity to higher alcohols (mainly isobutanol). However, in the case of cerium, the location of the cerium ions appeared to determine the selectivity; it shifted towards alkanes and C02 when cerium was present at the surface of the catalyst (probably as Ce02), but to isobutanol when the cerium ions were present in the bulk. Changes were found in the selectivities of the catalyst doped with cerium with time on stream and these could be explained by a segregation of the cerium ions to the surface. Some of the mechanistic steps in the formation of higher alcohols as proposed in the literature were confirmed

Probing the Structure of the Pomeron

We suggest that the pseudo-rapidity cut dependence of diffractive deep-inelastic scattering events at HERA may provide a sensitive test of models of diffraction. A comparison with the experimental cross section shows that the Donnachie-Landshoff model and a simple two-gluon exchange model of the pomeron model are disfavoured. However a model with a direct coupling of the pomeron to quarks is viable for a harder quark--pomeron form factor, as is a model based on the leading-twist operator contribution. We also consider a direct-coupling scalar pomeron model. We comment on the implications of these results for the determination of the partonic structure of the pomeron.We suggest that the pseudo-rapidity cut dependence of diffractive deep-inelastic scattering events at HERA may provide a sensitive test of models of diffraction. A comparison with the experimental cross section shows that the Donnachie-Landshoff model and a simple two-gluon exchange model of the pomeron model are disfavoured. However a model with a direct coupling of the pomeron to quarks is viable for a harder quark--pomeron form factor, as is a model based on the leading-twist operator contribution. We also consider a direct-coupling scalar pomeron model. We comment on the implications of these results for the determination of the partonic structure of the pomeron

Discriminability and uncertainty in principal component analysis (PCA) of temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) data

Temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) data can be summarized and explored using principal component analysis (PCA). Here we analyze TCATA data on Syrah wines obtained from a trained sensory panel. We evaluate new and existing methods to explore the uncertainty in the PCA scores. To do so, we use the bootstrap procedure to obtain many virtual panels from the real panel’s data. Virtual-panel PCA scores are obtained using two methods. The first method, called the partial bootstrap (PB), obtains virtual-panel scores from regression. The second method, called the truncated total bootstrap (TTB), applies PCA to the virtual-panel results to obtain scores, which are truncated and superimposed on the real-panel scores by Procrustes rotation. We use the virtual scores from each method to investigate uncertainty in the real-panel PCA scores visually and numerically. To understand the uncertainty of the scores, we obtain confidence ellipses (CEs) and their areas, as well as confidence intervals (CIs) and their widths. Next, to determine whether PCA scores for different samples are well separated, we propose a procedure for approximating the standard errors of sample differences and correcting for multiple comparisons. We propose a discriminability index, and show that it can enhance the interpretability of PCA results. We incorporate graphical features into our PCA biplots to visualize discriminability. We did not find a large difference between the PB and TTB methods for understanding the uncertainty and discriminability in PCA scores. Although the TCATA data that we analyzed have a special structure, the methodological approaches presented here can be readily adapted to other applications of PCA.submittedVersio

Chimpanzee communities differ in their inter- and intrasexual social relationships

Male and female human social bonding strategies are culturally shaped, in addition to being genetically rooted. Investigating nonhuman primate bonding strategies across sex groups allows researchers to assess whether, as with humans, they are shaped by the social environment or whether they are genetically predisposed. Studies of wild chimpanzees show that in some communities males have strong bonds with other males, whereas in others, females form particularly strong intrasex bonds, potentially indicative of cultural differences across populations. However, excluding genetic or ecological explanations when comparing different wild populations is difficult. Here, we applied social network analysis to examine male and female social bonds in two neighbouring semiwild chimpanzee groups of comparable ecological conditions and subspecies compositions, but that differ in demographic makeup. Results showed differences in bonding strategies across the two groups. While female–female party co-residence patterns were significantly stronger in Group 1 (which had an even distribution of males and females) than in Group 2 (which had a higher proportion of females than males), there were no such differences for male–male or male–female associations. Conversely, female–female grooming bonds were stronger in Group 2 than in Group 1. We also found that, in line with captive studies but contrasting research with wild chimpanzees, maternal kinship strongly predicted proximity and grooming patterns across the groups. Our findings suggest that, as with humans, male and female chimpanzee social bonds are influenced by the specific social group they live in, rather than predisposed sex-based bonding strategies

THE USE OF TRI-n-OCTYLPHOSPHINE OXIDE IN THE SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF THORIUM FROM ACIDIC SOLUTIONS

Thorium is readily extracted by a solution of tri-noctylphosphine oxide in cyclohexane from either acidic nitrate or chloride solutions. The maximum extraction coefficient in a nitrate medium is 380 as compared to 1300 for a chloride solution. In nitrate media the extraction coefficient is relativelv unaffected by changes in the anion concentration. In chloride media the coefficient varies directly with increasing chloride concentration, i.e., from about 0.4 in one molar chloride to the maximum in 7 to 10 molar. The acid concentration should be at least one molar. Thorium is not appreciably extracted from sulfate solutions. The extraction coefficient is of the order of 0.3. The addition of nitrate or chloride increases the coefficient sufficiently so that essentially 99% of the thorium can be extracted in a single equilibration. In perchlolate systems the extractlon is most efficient in one molar acid. The maximum (The above was unscabble material