The catalytic decomposition of ammonia

Chemical vapour impregnation was investigated as a novel preparation method for Ru/Al2O3 catalysts for the production of hydrogen through ammonia decomposition. These catalysts were shown to be more active than those produced by impregnation. TEM imaging showed that this is because more particles were within the optimal 3-5 nm range. Investigation by XPS also revealed that less Cl-, a known inhibitor, is present in the CVI prepared catalyst. CoMoN catalysts have previously been shown to exhibit a synergistic effect with activity higher than that of Ru. The effect of pH on the preparation of these catalysts was investigated. Catalytic testing did not present this synergy and further investigation by XRD revealed this to be due to incomplete nitridation of the CoMoO4 precursors. Fe-Pt, Fe-Pd and Fe-Ni/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by CVI to investigate the robustness of periodic table interpolation as a catalyst design method. Although all catalysts were predicted to show enhanced activity only Fe-Pt demonstrated a large enhancement, with Fe-Pd showing limited synergy and Fe-Ni showing none. STEM investigation showed that small, alloyed Fe-Pt particles were prepared by CVI that rearranged under reaction conditions but were catalytically stable. XRD suggested that the enhancement observed in Fe-Pd catalysts was due to particle size effects and the same was demonstrated for Fe-Ni using N2O titration. The activity of Fe catalysts was shown to be enhanced significantly upon the addition of a Cs promotor. The optimal Cs loading was shown to be between 0.5 and 1 mol eq. with further increase in Cs leading to a decrease in activity. XPS and TPR studies suggest that the enhancement is due to an electronic interaction between the two metals. XRD and BET surface area investigations show the decrease in promotion at higher Cs loadings is due to an amorphous layer of CsOH forming over the support; blocking active sites and causing a decrease in catalyst surface area

Toll-like receptors and NOD-like receptors in rheumatic diseases

The past 10 years have seen the description of families of receptors that drive proinflammatory cytokine production in infection and tissue injury. Two major classes have been examined in the context of inflammatory joint disease - the Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and NOD-like receptors (NLRs). TLRs such as TLR2 and TLR4 are being implicated in the pathology of rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, lyme arthritis and osteoarthritis. Nalp3 has been identified as a key NLR for IL-1β production and has been shown to have a particular role in gout. These findings present new therapeutic opportunities, possibly allowing for the replacement of biologics with small molecule inhibitors

Stride Length, but Not Body Borne Load Impacts Gait Stability

Military personnel are required to alter their stride length to run with heavy body borne loads during training. This may compromise their gait stability and increase the risk of suffering fall related musculoskeletal injury. This study quantified how running with body borne loads impact gait stability and whether it differed with stride length. Twelve male participants had medial-lateral (ML) gait stability quantified while running 4.0 m/s with four borne loads (20, 25, 30, and 35 kg). Each participant had ML margin of stability (MoS) calculated when using a normal stride (NS), short (SS, -15% of NS), and long stride (LS, +15 of NS) to run. The MoS measures were submitted to RM ANOVA to test main and interactions effects of load (20,25,30, and 35 kg) and stride (NS, SS, LS) with alpha level at

Managing water through change and uncertainty: comparing lessons from the adaptive co-management literature to recent policy developments in England

Water management is set to become increasingly variable and unpredictable, in particular because of climate change. This paper investigates the extent to which water policy in England provides an enabling environment for ‘adaptive co-management’, which its proponents claim can achieve the dual objective of ecosystem protection and livelihood sustainability under conditions of change and uncertainty. Five policy categories are derived from a literature review, and are used to conduct a directed content analysis of seven key water policy documents. The findings reveal that although, in part, English water policy serves as an enabling environment for adaptive co-management, there is a level of discrepancy between substantive aspects of the five policy categories and water policy in England. Addressing these discrepancies will be important if English water policy is to allow for the emergence of processes, like adaptive co-management, that are capable of coping with the challenges that lie ahead

Managing human-mediated range shifts: understanding spatial, temporal and genetic variation in marine non-native species

Este artículo contiene 10 páginas, 3 figuras.The use of molecular tools to manage natural resources is increasingly common. However, DNA-based methods are seldom used to understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of species’ range shifts. This is important when managing range shifting species such as non-native species (NNS), which can have negative impacts on biotic communities. Here, we investigated the ascidian NNS Ciona robusta, Clavelina lepadiformis, Microcosmus squamiger and Styela plicata using a combined methodological approach. We first conducted non-molecular biodiversity surveys for these NNS along the South African coastline, and compared the results with historical surveys. We detected no consistent change in range size across species, with some displaying range stability and others showing range shifts. We then sequenced a section of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) from tissue samples and found genetic differences along the coastline but no change over recent times. Finally, we found that environmental DNA metabarcoding data showed broad congruence with both the biodiversity survey and the COI datasets, but failed to capture the complete incidence of all NNS. Overall, we demonstrated how a combined methodological approach can effectively detect spatial and temporal variation in genetic composition and range size, which is key for managing both thriving NNS and threatened species. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Species’ ranges in the face of changing environments (part I)’.L.E.H. was supported by the Natural Environmental Research Council (grant no. NE/L002531/1) and research in South Africa was supported by the Newton Fund (grant no. ES/N013913/1).Peer reviewe