Ammonia as a possible element in an energy infrastructure: catalysts for ammonia decomposition

The possible role of ammonia in a future energy infrastructure is discussed. The review is focused on the catalytic decomposition of ammonia as a key step. Other aspects, such as the catalytic removal of ammonia from gasification product gas or direct ammonia fuel cells, are highlighted as well. The more general question of the integration of ammonia in an infrastructure is also covered

CO hydrogenation over K‐Co‐MoSₓ catalyst to mixed alcohols: A kinetic analysis

Higher alcohol synthesis (HAS) from syngas is one of the most promising approaches to produce fuels and chemicals. Our recent investigation on HAS showed that potassium‐promoted cobalt‐molybdenum sulfide is an effective catalyst system. In this study, the intrinsic kinetics of the reaction were studied using this catalyst system under realistic conditions. The study revealed the major oxygenated products are linear alcohols up to butanol and methane is the main hydrocarbon. The higher alcohol products (C3+) followed an Anderson‐Schultz‐Flory distribution while the catalyst suppressed methanol and ethanol formation. The optimum reaction conditions were estimated to be at temperature of 340°C, pressure of 117 bar, gas hourly space velocity of 27 000 mL g–1 h–1 and H2/CO molar feed ratio of 1. A kinetic network has been considered and kinetic parameters were estimated by nonlinear regression of the experimental data. The results indicated an increasing apparent activation energy of alcohols with the length of alcohols except for ethanol. The lower apparent activation energy of alcohols compared with hydrocarbon evidenced the efficiency of this catalyst system to facilitate the formation of higher alcohols

SO2 deactivation mechanism of NO oxidation and regeneration of the LaCoO3 perovskite

The deactivation mechanism and methods to cope with the poisoning by SO2 of LaCoO3 perovskite-based NO oxidation catalysts were investigated. The LaCoO3 perovskite was synthesized by a sol-gel method and the fresh, sulphate-deactivated and regenerated catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H2-and soot-temperature programmed reduction, temperature programmed desorption and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy. The SO2 poisoning strongly affected the NO oxidation activity. It was demonstrated that the deactivation mechanism proceeds in two stages: initially the active sites with a basic character are blocked by SO3 and subsequently the lanthanum sulphate salts grow progressively on the surface and cobalt is unaffected. Above 500 °C, the surface bound sulphates become mobile and migrate into the bulk of the catalyst. Several prevention and regeneration methods were proposed and tested. By mixing the catalyst with Ca(OH)2 as an adsorbent nearly 50% of the original activity was retained. Regeneration by diesel soot was presented here for the first time, where the blocking oxygen can spill over to the soot oxidizing it and releasing the bound sulphur as SO2 and CO2. Furthermore, a facile regeneration method was explored by washing the deactivated catalyst to dissolve the small amounts of sulphates on the surface

Thalamic neuropeptide mediating the effects of nursing on lactation and maternal motivation

Nursing has important physiological and psychological consequences on mothers during the postpartum period. Tuberoinfundibular peptide of 39 residues (TIP39) may contribute to its effects on prolactin release and maternal motivation. Since TIP39-containing fibers and the receptor for TIP39, the parathyroid hormone 2 receptor (PTH2 receptor) are abundant in the arcuate nucleus and the medial preoptic area, we antagonized TIP39 action locally to reveal its actions. Mediobasal hypothalamic injection of a virus encoding an antagonist of the PTH2 receptor markedly decreased basal serum prolactin levels and the suckling-induced prolactin release. In contrast, injecting this virus into the preoptic area had no effect on prolactin levels, but did dampen maternal motivation, judged by reduced time in a pup-associated cage during a place preference test. In support of an effect of TIP39 on maternal motivation, we observed that TIP39 containing fibers and terminals had the same distribution within the preoptic area as neurons expressing Fos in response to suckling. Furthermore, TIP39 terminals closely apposed the plasma membrane of 82% of Fos-ir neurons. Retrograde tracer injected into the arcuate nucleus and the medial preoptic area labeled TIP39 neurons in the posterior intralaminar complex of the thalamus (PIL), indicating that these cells but not other groups of TIP39 neurons project to these hypothalamic regions. We also found that TIP39 mRNA levels in the PIL markedly increased around parturition and remained elevated throughout the lactation period, demonstrating the availability of the peptide in postpartum mothers. Furthermore, suckling, but not pup exposure without physical contact, increased Fos expression by PIL TIP39 neurons. These results indicate that suckling activates TIP39 neurons in the PIL that affect prolactin release and maternal motivation via projections to the arcuate nucleus and the preoptic area, respectively

Алгоритмы и программное обеспечение идентификации временных конструкций в слабоструктурированных электронных медицинских текстах

Работа направлена на повышение эффективности анализа электронных медицинских карт (ЭМК) с помощью разработки инструментов автоматического извлечения временных конструкций из медицинской документации. Полученные инструменты позволят перенести данные конструкции на временную шкалу и представить их в удобном для медицинских сотрудников виде.The work is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the analysis of electronic medical records (EMR) by developing tools for the automatic extraction of temporary structures from medical records. The resulting tools will allow doctors to transfer these structures to the timeline and present them in a form convenient for medical staff

Comparison of Cu-Mg-Al-Ox and Cu/Al2O3 in selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia (NH3-SCO)

Copper-based materials are promising catalysts in the selective catalytic oxidation of ammonia into nitrogen and water vapour (NH 3 -SCO). Investigations under applied reaction conditions over such materials seem to be rare and a comprehensive understanding of the involved active copper oxide species could facilitate a knowledge-based catalyst optimization. In the present work, Cu-Mg-Al-O x mixed metal oxides and Cu/Al 2 O 3 active catalysts in NH 3 -SCO were investigated under NH 3 /O 2 /CO 2 /H 2 O/N 2 reaction conditions. Powder XRD, BET, NH 3 -TPD, H 2 -TPR and XAFS methods were used to characterize Cu-Mg-Al-O x (Cu/Mg/Al = 8/63/29, mol%) and 10 wt% Cu/Al 2 O 3 . Cu-Mg-Al-O x hydrotalcite derived mixed metal oxides were obtained by coprecipitation, while Cu/Al 2 O 3 was prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. A highly dispersed copper oxide species formed on Cu-Mg-Al-O x , while a mixture of highly dispersed (CuO x ) and bulk copper oxide species (CuO and CuAl 2 O 4 ) formed on Cu/Al 2 O 3 . The comparison of Cu-Mg-Al-O x and Cu/Al 2 O 3 in NH 3 -SCO provided good insight into the nature of the active species present in both copper-based catalysts. It was found that highly dispersed easily reducible copper oxide species and bulk copper oxide species appear as active species under NH 3 /O 2 /N 2 and NH 3 /O 2 /CO 2 /H 2 O/N 2 reaction conditions, respectively

Exclusive neuronal expression of SUCLA2 in the human brain

SUCLA2 encodes the ATP-forming subunit (A-SUCL-) of succinyl-CoA ligase, an enzyme of the citric acid cycle. Mutations in SUCLA2 lead to a mitochondrial disorder manifesting as encephalomyopathy with dystonia, deafness and lesions in the basal ganglia. Despite the distinct brain pathology associated with SUCLA2 mutations, the precise localization of SUCLA2 protein has never been investigated. Here we show that immunoreactivity of A-SUCL- in surgical human cortical tissue samples was present exclusively in neurons, identified by their morphology and visualized by double labeling with a fluorescent Nissl dye. A-SUCL- immunoreactivity co-localized >99% with that of the d subunit of the mitochondrial F0-F1 ATP synthase. Specificity of the anti-A-SUCL- antiserum was verified by the absence of labeling in fibroblasts from a patient with a complete deletion of SUCLA2. A-SUCL- immunoreactivity was absent in glial cells, identified by antibodies directed against the glial markers GFAP and S100. Furthermore, in situ hybridization histochemistry demonstrated that SUCLA2 mRNA was present in Nissl-labeled neurons but not glial cells labeled with S100. Immunoreactivity of the GTP-forming subunit (G-SUCL-) encoded by SUCLG2, or in situ hybridization histochemistry for SUCLG2 mRNA could not be demonstrated in either neurons or astrocytes. Western blotting of post mortem brain samples revealed minor G-SUCL- immunoreactivity that was however, not upregulated in samples obtained from diabetic versus non-diabetic patients, as has been described for murine brain. Our work establishes that SUCLA2 is expressed exclusively in neurons in the human cerebral cortex

Decrease in REM latency and changes in sleep quality parallel serotonergic damage and recovery after MDMA: a longitudinal study over 180 days

The recreational drug ecstasy [3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)], has been found to selectively damage brain serotonin neurons in experimental animals, and probably in human MDMA users, but detailed morphometric analyses and parallel functional measures during damage and recovery are missing. Since there is evidence that serotonin regulates sleep, we have compared serotonergic markers parallel with detailed analysis of sleep patterns at three time-points within 180 d after a single dose of 15 mg/kg MDMA in male Dark Agouti rats. At 7 d and 21 d after MDMA treatment, significant (30-40%), widespread reductions in serotonin transporter (5-HTT) density were detected in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, most parts of the hypothalamus, and some of the brainstem nuclei. With the exception of the hippocampus, general recovery was observed in the brain 180 d after treatment. Transient increases followed by decreases were detected in 5-HTT mRNA expression of dorsal and median raphe nuclei at 7 d and 21 d after the treatment. Significant reductions in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep latency, increases in delta power spectra in non-rapid eye movement sleep and increased fragmentation of sleep were also detected, but all these alterations disappeared by the 180th day. The present data provide evidence for long-term, albeit, except for the hippocampus, transient changes in the terminal and cellular regions of the serotonergic system after this drug. Reduced REM latency and increased sleep fragmentation are the most characteristic alterations of sleep consistently described in depression using EEG sleep polygraphy