A Study of Cerium–Manganese Mixed Oxides for Oxidation Catalysis

Cerium–manganese mixed oxides with compositions of Ce0.5Mn0.5O1.75 and Ce0.8Mn0.2O1.9 were prepared by the citric-acid (Pechini) method and their catalytic properties were compared to CeO2 and Mn2O3. The mixed oxides exhibited higher specific rates than either CeO2 or Mn2O3 for oxidation of both methane and n-butane. While XRD measurements of the mixed oxides suggested that the materials had primarily the fluorite structure, oxygen isotherms, measured by coulometric titration at 973 K, exhibited steps associated with MnO–Mn3O4 and Mn3O4–Mn2O3 equilibria, implying that manganese oxide must exist as separate phases in the solids. The P(O2) for the MnO–Mn3O4 equilibrium is shifted to lower values in the mixed oxides, indicating that the manganese-oxide phase is affected by interactions with ceria

Oxidation entropies and enthalpies of ceria–zirconia solid solutions

The thermodynamic redox properties for a series of ceria–zirconia solid solutions have been measured by determining their oxidation isotherms between 873 and 1073 K. Isotherms were obtained using Coulometric titration and using O2 titration of samples equilibrated in flowing mixtures of H2 and H2O. Samples having the following compositions were studied after calcinations at 973 and 1323 K: CeO2, Ce0.92Zr0.08O2, Ce0.81Zr0.19O2, Ce0.59Zr0.41O2, Ce0.50Zr0.50O2, Ce0.25Zr0.75O2, Ce0.14Zr0.86O2, and ZrO2. While the oxidation enthalpy for CeO2 was between −750 and −800 kJ/mol O2, the oxidation enthalpies for each of the solid solutions were between −500 and −550 kJ/mol O2 and essentially independent of the extent of reduction. The shapes of the isotherms for the solid solutions were affected by the oxidation entropies, which depended strongly on the sample composition and the extent of reduction. With CeO2, Ce0.92Zr0.08O2, and Ce0.14Zr0.86O2, the samples remained single-phase after calcination at 1323 K and the thermodynamic redox properties were unaffected. By contrast, Ce0.59Zr0.41O2 formed two phases following calcination at 1323 K, Ce0.78Zr0.22O2 (71 wt.%) and Ce0.13Zr0.87O2 (29 wt.%); the isotherm changed to that which would be expected for a physical mixture of the two phases. A model is presented which views reduction of the solid solutions in terms of the local atomic structure, with the formation of pyrochlore-like clusters causing the increased reducibility of the solid solutions. Some of the changes in reducibility are associated with the number of sites from which oxygen can be removed in order to form pyrochlore-like clusters

Oxidation Enthalpies for Reduction of Ceria Surfaces

The thermodynamic properties of surface ceria were investigated through equilibrium isotherms determined by flow-titration and coulometric-titration measurements on high-surface-area ceria and ceria supported on La-modified alumina (LA). While the surface area of pure ceria was found to be unstable under redox conditions, the extent of reduction at 873 K and a P(O2) of 1.6x10-26 atm increased with surface area. Because ceria/LA samples were stable, equilibrium isotherms were determined between 873 and 973 K on a 30-wt% ceria sample. Oxidation enthalpies on ceria/LA were found to vary with the extent of reduction, ranging from -500 kJ/mol O2 at low extents of reduction to near the bulk value of -760 kJ/mol O2 at higher extents. To determine whether +3 dopants could affect the oxidation enthalpies for ceria, isotherms were measured for Sm+3-doped ceria (SDC) and Y+3-doped ceria. These dopants were found to remove the phase transition observed in pure ceria below 973 K but appeared to have minimal effect on the oxidation enthalpies. Implications of these results for catalytic applications of ceria are discussed

Tigers of Sundarbans in India: Is the Population a Separate Conservation Unit?

The Sundarbans tiger inhabits a unique mangrove habitat and are morphologically distinct from the recognized tiger subspecies in terms of skull morphometrics and body size. Thus, there is an urgent need to assess their ecological and genetic distinctiveness and determine if Sundarbans tigers should be defined and managed as separate conservation unit. We utilized nine microsatellites and 3 kb from four mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes to estimate genetic variability, population structure, demographic parameters and visualize historic and contemporary connectivity among tiger populations from Sundarbans and mainland India. We also evaluated the traits that determine exchangeability or adaptive differences among tiger populations. Data from both markers suggest that Sundarbans tiger is not a separate tiger subspecies and should be regarded as Bengal tiger (P. t. tigris) subspecies. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA data revealed reciprocal monophyly. Genetic differentiation was found stronger for mtDNA than nuclear DNA. Microsatellite markers indicated low genetic variation in Sundarbans tigers (He= 0.58) as compared to other mainland populations, such as northern and Peninsular (Hebetween 0.67- 0.70). Molecular data supports migration between mainland and Sundarbans populations until very recent times. We attribute this reduction in gene flow to accelerated fragmentation and habitat alteration in the landscape over the past few centuries. Demographic analyses suggest that Sundarbans tigers have diverged recently from peninsular tiger population within last 2000 years. Sundarbans tigers are the most divergent group of Bengal tigers, and ecologically non-exchangeable with other tiger populations, and thus should be managed as a separate "evolutionarily significant unit" (ESU) following the adaptive evolutionary conservation (AEC) concept.Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun (India)

Albiglutide and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (Harmony Outcomes): a double-blind, randomised placebo-controlled trial

Background: Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists differ in chemical structure, duration of action, and in their effects on clinical outcomes. The cardiovascular effects of once-weekly albiglutide in type 2 diabetes are unknown. We aimed to determine the safety and efficacy of albiglutide in preventing cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in 610 sites across 28 countries. We randomly assigned patients aged 40 years and older with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (at a 1:1 ratio) to groups that either received a subcutaneous injection of albiglutide (30–50 mg, based on glycaemic response and tolerability) or of a matched volume of placebo once a week, in addition to their standard care. Investigators used an interactive voice or web response system to obtain treatment assignment, and patients and all study investigators were masked to their treatment allocation. We hypothesised that albiglutide would be non-inferior to placebo for the primary outcome of the first occurrence of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke, which was assessed in the intention-to-treat population. If non-inferiority was confirmed by an upper limit of the 95% CI for a hazard ratio of less than 1·30, closed testing for superiority was prespecified. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02465515. Findings: Patients were screened between July 1, 2015, and Nov 24, 2016. 10 793 patients were screened and 9463 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to groups: 4731 patients were assigned to receive albiglutide and 4732 patients to receive placebo. On Nov 8, 2017, it was determined that 611 primary endpoints and a median follow-up of at least 1·5 years had accrued, and participants returned for a final visit and discontinuation from study treatment; the last patient visit was on March 12, 2018. These 9463 patients, the intention-to-treat population, were evaluated for a median duration of 1·6 years and were assessed for the primary outcome. The primary composite outcome occurred in 338 (7%) of 4731 patients at an incidence rate of 4·6 events per 100 person-years in the albiglutide group and in 428 (9%) of 4732 patients at an incidence rate of 5·9 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·78, 95% CI 0·68–0·90), which indicated that albiglutide was superior to placebo (p<0·0001 for non-inferiority; p=0·0006 for superiority). The incidence of acute pancreatitis (ten patients in the albiglutide group and seven patients in the placebo group), pancreatic cancer (six patients in the albiglutide group and five patients in the placebo group), medullary thyroid carcinoma (zero patients in both groups), and other serious adverse events did not differ between the two groups. There were three (<1%) deaths in the placebo group that were assessed by investigators, who were masked to study drug assignment, to be treatment-related and two (<1%) deaths in the albiglutide group. Interpretation: In patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, albiglutide was superior to placebo with respect to major adverse cardiovascular events. Evidence-based glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists should therefore be considered as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes. Funding: GlaxoSmithKline

Abductive Markov Logic for plan recognition

Plan recognition is a form of abductive reasoning that involves inferring plans that best explain sets of observed actions. Most existing approaches to plan recognition and other abductive tasks employ either purely logical methods that do not handle uncertainty, or purely probabilistic methods that do not handle structured representations. To overcome these limitations, this paper introduces an approach to abductive reasoning using a first-order probabilistic logic, specifically Markov Logic Networks (MLNs). It introduces several novel techniques for making MLNs efficient and effective for abduction. Experiments on three plan recognition datasets show the benefit of our approach over existing methods

Sandplay and symbol work: Emotional healing and personal development with children, adolescents and adults

No abstract available

The DNAxs software suite: A three-year retrospective study on the development, architecture, testing and implementation in forensic casework

In forensic DNA casework software tools aid in the data management and efficient, with low risk for error, interpretation and comparison of DNA profiling data. The need for such software has grown with increased numbers of genetic markers, more sensitive analysis methods and growing numbers of crime scene samples send for DNA analysis. To that end, the DNA eXpert System, DNAxs, was developed. This study describes how the expert system was realized and how it evolved during the first three years after the initial implementation. Insight is given in the software architecture, its modular design enabling to communicate with various software systems and how this system was implemented in a casework setting. The importance of quality aspects are highlighted, such as (automated) software testing at various levels. The code coverage is presented as well as the numbers of software bugs that were discovered. These bugs were more severe in earlier software versions than in the more recent versions and did not affect the interpretation of DNA results. The usefulness of the overall software suite and automated steps in DNA profile interpretation were evaluated based on its usage in forensic DNA casework during the first three years after its implementation at the developing laboratory. Because of automated profile comparisons, cases with larger numbers of profiles can be handled, are less prone to error and are extremely less time consuming. The implementation of an integrated quantitative probabilistic genotyping module into DNAxs enabled a more efficient workflow as no longer data files have to be exported and imported into different software. Extensive automated software tests and an audit trail serve as quality aspects for the usage of DNAxs. In times of the pandemic this software was found even more valuable than ever thought as it enabled working from home and it proved robust when used with many simultaneous users. The DNAxs software is regarded future proof and many new features and applications are envisioned

Patterns of utilization and clinical adoption of 0.35 Tesla MR-guided radiation therapy in the United States - Understanding the transition to adaptive, ultra-hypofractionated treatments.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) utilization is rapidly expanding worldwide, driven by advanced capabilities including continuous intrafraction visualization, automatic triggered beam delivery, and on-table adaptive replanning (oART). Our objective was to describe patterns of 0.35Tesla(T)-MRgRT (MRIdian) utilization in the United States (US) among early adopters of this novel technology. MATERIALS/METHODS: Anonymized administrative data from all US MRIdian treatment systems were extracted for patients completing treatment from 2014 to 2020. Detailed treatment information was available for all MRIdian linear accelerator (linac) systems and some cobalt systems. RESULTS: Seventeen systems at 16 centers delivered 5736 courses and 36,389 fractions (fraction details unavailable for 1223 cobalt courses), of which 21.1% were adapted. Ultra-hypofractionation (UHfx) (1-5 fractions) was used in 70.3% of all courses. At least one adaptive fraction was used for 38.5% of courses (average 1.7 adapted fractions/course), with higher oART use in UHfx dose schedules (47.7% of courses, average 1.9 adapted fractions per course). The most commonly treated organ sites were pancreas (20.7%), liver (16.5%), prostate (12.5%), breast (11.5%), and lung (9.4%). Temporal trends show a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 59.6% in treatment courses delivered, with a dramatic increase in use of UHfx to 84.9% of courses in 2020 and similar increase in use of oART to 51.0% of courses. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first comprehensive study reporting patterns of utilization among early adopters of MRIdian in the US. Intrafraction MR image-guidance, advanced motion management, and increasing adoption of adaptive radiation therapy has led to a substantial transition to ultra-hypofractionated regimens. 0.3