The Effect of Treatment of Acidosis on Calcium Balance in Patients with Chronic Azotemic Renal Disease

Small but statistically significant negative calcium balances were found in each of eight studies in seven patients with chronic azotemic renal disease when stable metabolic acidosis was present. Only small quantities of calcium were excreted in the urine, but fecal calcium excretion equaled or exceeded dietary intake. Complete and continuous correction of acidosis by NaHCO3 therapy reduced both urinary and fecal calcium excretion and produced a daily calcium balance indistinguishable from zero. Apparent acid retention was found throughout the studies during acidosis, despite no further reduction of the serum bicarbonate concentration. The negative calcium balances that accompanied acid retention support the suggestion that slow titration of alkaline bone salts provides an additional buffer reservoir in chronic metabolic acidosis. The treatment of metabolic acidosis prevented further calcium losses but did not induce net calcium retention. It is suggested that the normal homeostatic responses of the body to the alterations in ionized calcium and calcium distribution produced by raising the serum bicarbonate might paradoxically retard the repair of skeletal calcium deficits

The application of inelastic neutron scattering to investigate the interaction of methyl propanoate with silica

A modern industrial route for the manufacture of methyl methacrylate involves the reaction of methyl propanoate and formaldehyde over a silica-supported Cs catalyst. Although the process has been successfully commercialised, little is known about the surface interactions responsible for the forward chemistry. This work concentrates upon the interaction of methyl propanoate over a representative silica. A combination of infrared spectroscopy, inelastic neutron scattering, DFT calculations, X-ray diffraction and temperature-programmed desorption is used to deduce how the ester interacts with the silica surface

Inkjet Patterned Anodic Aluminum Oxide for Rear Metal Contacts of Silicon Solar Cells

AbstractLocal rear metal contacting through passivating dielectric layers has the ability to increase silicon solar cell efficiencies to over 20%. To-date most contact schemes have involved the formation of localised aluminium-alloyed regions through patterned AlOx or SiNx passivating layers. Recently electrochemically-formed anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) layers have been shown to enhance minority carrier lifetimes of phosphorus–diffused p-type CZ wafers when formed over an intervening layer of SiO2 or SiNx, suggesting that these layers may find applications as passivation layers for cells. We report here on the inkjet patterning of AAO layers formed over a thermally-grown thin oxide layer on p-type silicon surfaces. The process, which involves the inkjet printing of 50% (w/w) phosphoric acid, was used to form well-resolved arrays of holes with a diameter as small as 20-40μm in the dielectric stack. Alloying of aluminium, which was evaporated over the patterned dielectric stack, resulted in the formation of localised back surface field (BSF) regions having a thickness up to 8μm. Future work will focus on adapting this process for use in local rear metal contacting of silicon solar cells

Structural behaviour of copper chloride catalysts during the chlorination of CO to phosgene

The interaction of CO with an attapulgite-supported Cu(II)Cl2 catalyst has been examined in a micro-reactor arrangement. CO exposure to the dried, as-received catalyst at elevated temperatures leads to the formation of CO2 as the only identifiable product. However, phosgene production can be induced by a catalyst pre-treatment where the supported Cu(II)Cl2 sample is exposed to a diluted stream of chlorine. Subsequent CO exposure at ~ 370°C then leads to phosgene production. In order to investigate the origins of this atypical set of reaction characteristics, a series of x-ray absorption experiments were performed that were supplemented by DFT calculations. XANES measurements establish that at the elevated temperatures connected with phosgene formation, the catalyst is comprised of Cu+ and a small amount of Cu2+. Moreover, the data show that unique to the chlorine pre-treated sample, CO exposure at elevated temperature results in a short-lived oxidation of the copper. On the basis of calculated CO adsorption energies, DFT calculations indicate that a mixed Cu+/Cu2+ catalyst is required to support CO chemisorption

Stochastic resonance in a suspension of magnetic dipoles under shear flow

We show that a magnetic dipole in a shear flow under the action of an oscillating magnetic field displays stochastic resonance in the linear response regime. To this end, we compute the classical quantifiers of stochastic resonance, i.e. the signal to noise ratio, the escape time distribution, and the mean first passage time. We also discuss limitations and role of the linear response theory in its applications to the theory of stochastic resonance.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, approved for publication in PR

Operative and Radiographic Acetabular Component Orientation in Total Hip Replacement: Influence of Pelvic Orientation and Surgical Positioning Technique

Orthopaedic surgeons often experience a mismatch between perceived intra-operative and radiographic acetabular cup orientation. This research aimed to assess the impact of pelvic orientation and surgical positioning technique on operative and radiographic cup orientation. Radiographic orientations for two surgical approaches were computationally simulated: a mechanical alignment guide and a transverse acetabular ligament approach, both in combination with different pelvic orientations. Positional errors were defined as the difference between the target radiographic orientation and that achieved. The transverse acetabular ligament method demonstrated smaller positional errors for radiographic version; 4.0° ± 2.9° as compared to 9.4° ± 7.3° for the mechanical alignment guide method. However, both methods resulted in similar errors in radiographic inclination. Multiple regression analysis showed that intraoperative pelvic rotation about the anterior-posterior axis was a strong predictor for these errors (B TAL = −0.893, B MAG = −0.951, p &lt; 0.01). Application of the transverse acetabular ligament method can reduce errors in radiographic version. However, if the orthopaedic surgeon is referencing off the theatre floor to control inclination when operating in lateral decubitus, this is only reliable if the pelvic sagittal plane is horizontal. There is currently no readily available method for ensuring that this is the case during total hip replacement surgery. </p

Efficient Quantum Photonic Phase Shift in a Low Q-Factor Regime

This work was funded by the Future Emerging Technologies (FET)-Open FP7-284743 [project Spin Photon Angular Momentum Transfer for Quantum Enabled Technologies (SPANGL4Q)] and the German Ministry of Education and research (BMBF) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/M024156/1, EP/N003381/1 and EP/M024458/1). J.J.H. was supported by the Bristol Quantum Engineering Centre for Doctoral Training, EPSRC grant EP/L015730/1. We acknowledge the GW4 network for funding of A.Y.Solid-state quantum emitters have long been recognised as the ideal platform to realize integrated quantum photonic technologies. We demonstrate that a self-assembled negatively charged quantum dot (QD) in a low Q-factor photonic micropillar is a suitable design for deterministic polarisation switching and spin-photon entanglement. We show this by measuring a shift in phase of an input single photon of at least 2π/3. As we explain in the text, this is strong experimental proof that input photons can interact with the emitter deterministically. A deterministic photon-emitter interaction is a viable and scalable means to achieve several vital functionalities such as single photon switches and entanglement gates. Our experimentally determined value is limited by mode mismatch between the input laser and the cavity, QD spectral fluctuations and spin relaxation. When on-resonance we estimate that up to ∼80% of the collected photons couple into the cavity mode and have interacted with the QD and undergone a phase shift of π.PostprintPeer reviewe

Phosgene formation via carbon monoxide and dichlorine reaction over an activated carbon catalyst: reaction testing arrangements

An apparatus is described to investigate the synthesis of phosgene from the reaction of carbon monoxide and dichlorine over an activated carbon catalyst. Infrared spectroscopy and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy are used to identify and quantify reagents and products. The reaction is operated with an excess of CO in order to enable complete chlorine conversion at elevated temperatures. The reaction profile is examined over the temperature range of 300-445 K, with a phosgene selectivity of 100% observed at all temperatures. An isosbestic point in the UV-visible spectrum is observed at 272 nm, indicating that the dichlorine and the phosgene are in equilibrium. Examination of the phosgene formation rate as a function of space time and catalyst size fraction at 323 K establishes that, under the described conditions, the reaction is operating under chemical control in the absence of mass transfer restrictions