Size-dependent Kinetics Determination of MoS2-K2O/CNTS Nanocatalyst in the Synthesis of Alcohols from Syngas

The influence of Mo particle size on the catalytic activity and product selectivity of alkalized MoS2 nanocatalysts has been investigated. Nanocatalysts are prepared using a microemulsion technique with water-to-surfactant ratios of 1-12. Three different techniques, including XRD, TEM, and hydrogen chemisorption were used to determine the molybdenum average particle size and their activity and selectivity in higher alcohols synthesis (HAS) carried out in a fixed bed microreactor at 330 °C and 70 bar. To fix the percentage of CO conversion, the GHSV is changed from 3.6 to 2.57 (nl/(hr.g catalyst)). The average MoS2 particle sizes are changed from 4.5 to 11.9 nm. The experimental results showed that changing particle size from 11.9 to 4.5 nm decreased the methanol formation rate from 0.00634 to 0.00534 (mol/(hr.g catalyst)) but increased ethanol formation rate from 0.00581 to 0.00787 (mol/(hr.g catalyst)) and higher alcohols formation rate from 0.00473 to 0.00657 (mol/(hr.g catalyst)). A size-dependent kinetics model was developed to calculate the alcohol formation rates versus catalyst average particle size. The model not only matched experimental and theoretical results, but also showed that MoS2 catalyst had size-dependent structure and for the prediction of product selectivity it was easier to use this mathematical model.</span

Theoretical and experimental investigation on internal reflectors in a single-slope solar still

This study investigated the effect of an internal reflector (IR) on the productivity of a single-slope solar still (during the summer and winter) experimentally and theoretically. A mathematical model was presented which took into account the effect of all walls (north, south, west and east) of the still on the amount of received solar radiation to brine, and the model was validated with the experimental data. The model can calculate the yield of the still with and without IR on various walls. The results show that the simultaneous use of IR on front and side walls enhances the still’s efficiency by 18%. However, installation of an IR on the back wall can increase the annual efficiency by 22%. The installation of IRs on all walls in comparison to a still without IR can increase the distillate production at winter, summer and the entire year by 65%, 22% and 34%, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of cloud factor on the installation of IRs on all walls was examined, and the results indicate that the increasing the cloud factor decreases the influence of IRs significantly

Investigating centering, scan length, and arm position impact on radiation dose across 4 countries from 4 continents during pandemic: mitigating key radioprotection issues

Purpose: Optimization of CT scan practices can help achieve and maintain optimal radiation protection. The aim was to assess centering, scan length, and positioning of patients undergoing chest CT for suspected or known COVID-19 pneumonia and to investigate their effect on associated radiation doses. Methods: With respective approvals from institutional review boards, we compiled CT imaging and radiation dose data from four hospitals belonging to four countries (Brazil, Iran, Italy, and USA) on 400 adult patients who underwent chest CT for suspected or known COVID-19 pneumonia between April 2020 and August 2020. We recorded patient demographics and volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP). From thin-section CT images of each patient, we estimated the scan length and recorded the first and last vertebral bodies at the scan start and end locations. Patient mis-centering and arm position were recorded. Data were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The extent and frequency of patient mis-centering did not differ across the four CT facilities (&gt;0.09). The frequency of patients scanned with arms by their side (11–40% relative to those with arms up) had greater mis-centering and higher CTDIvol and DLP at 2/4 facilities (p = 0.027–0.05). Despite lack of variations in effective diameters (p = 0.14), there were significantly variations in scan lengths, CTDIvol and DLP across the four facilities (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: Mis-centering, over-scanning, and arms by the side are frequent issues with use of chest CT in COVID-19 pneumonia and are associated with higher radiation doses

Investigating centering, scan length, and arm position impact on radiation dose across 4 countries from 4 continents during pandemic: Mitigating key radioprotection issues

Purpose: Optimization of CT scan practices can help achieve and maintain optimal radiation protection. The aim was to assess centering, scan length, and positioning of patients undergoing chest CT for suspected or known COVID-19 pneumonia and to investigate their effect on associated radiation doses. Methods: With respective approvals from institutional review boards, we compiled CT imaging and radiation dose data from four hospitals belonging to four countries (Brazil, Iran, Italy, and USA) on 400 adult patients who underwent chest CT for suspected or known COVID-19 pneumonia between April 2020 and August 2020. We recorded patient demographics and volume CT dose index (CTDIvol) and dose length product (DLP). From thin-section CT images of each patient, we estimated the scan length and recorded the first and last vertebral bodies at the scan start and end locations. Patient mis-centering and arm position were recorded. Data were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The extent and frequency of patient mis-centering did not differ across the four CT facilities (&gt;0.09). The frequency of patients scanned with arms by their side (11�40 relative to those with arms up) had greater mis-centering and higher CTDIvol and DLP at 2/4 facilities (p = 0.027�0.05). Despite lack of variations in effective diameters (p = 0.14), there were significantly variations in scan lengths, CTDIvol and DLP across the four facilities (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: Mis-centering, over-scanning, and arms by the side are frequent issues with use of chest CT in COVID-19 pneumonia and are associated with higher radiation doses. © 202

Dysregulated apoptosis and NFκB expression in COPD subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The abnormal regulation of neutrophil apoptosis may contribute to the ineffective resolution of inflammation in chronic lung diseases. Multiple signalling pathways are implicated in regulating granulocyte apoptosis, in particular, NFκB (nuclear factor-kappa B) signalling which delays constitutive neutrophil apoptosis. Although some studies have suggested a dysregulation in the apoptosis of airway cells in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), no studies to date have directly investigated if NFκB is associated with apoptosis of airway neutrophils from COPD patients. The objectives of this study were to examine spontaneous neutrophil apoptosis in stable COPD subjects (n = 13), healthy smoking controls (n = 9) and non-smoking controls (n = 9) and to investigate whether the neutrophil apoptotic process in inflammatory conditions is associated with NFκB activation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Analysis of apoptosis in induced sputum was carried out by 3 methods; light microscopy, Annexin V/Propidium iodide and the terminal transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) method. Activation of NFκB was assessed using a flow cytometric method and the phosphorylation state of IκBα was carried out using the Bio-Rad Bio-Plex phosphoprotein IκBα assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Flow cytometric analysis showed a significant reduction in the percentage of sputum neutrophils undergoing spontaneous apoptosis in healthy smokers and subjects with COPD compared to non-smokers (p < 0.001). Similar findings were demonstrated using the Tunel assay and in the morphological identification of apoptotic neutrophils. A significant increase was observed in the expression of both the p50 (p = 0.006) and p65 (p = 0.006) subunits of NFκB in neutrophils from COPD subjects compared to non-smokers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results demonstrate that apoptosis is reduced in the sputum of COPD subjects and in healthy control smokers and may be regulated by an associated activation of NFκB.</p

Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: A multi-cohort analysis

Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life. We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries. The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect. Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity

Socioeconomic position, lifestyle habits and biomarkers of epigenetic aging: A multi-cohort analysis

Differences in health status by socioeconomic position (SEP) tend to be more evident at older ages, suggesting the involvement of a biological mechanism responsive to the accumulation of deleterious exposures across the lifespan. DNA methylation (DNAm) has been proposed as a biomarker of biological aging that conserves memory of endogenous and exogenous stress during life.We examined the association of education level, as an indicator of SEP, and lifestyle-related variables with four biomarkers of age-dependent DNAm dysregulation: the total number of stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) and three epigenetic clocks (Horvath, Hannum and Levine), in 18 cohorts spanning 12 countries.The four biological aging biomarkers were associated with education and different sets of risk factors independently, and the magnitude of the effects differed depending on the biomarker and the predictor. On average, the effect of low education on epigenetic aging was comparable with those of other lifestyle-related risk factors (obesity, alcohol intake), with the exception of smoking, which had a significantly stronger effect.Our study shows that low education is an independent predictor of accelerated biological (epigenetic) aging and that epigenetic clocks appear to be good candidates for disentangling the biological pathways underlying social inequalities in healthy aging and longevity

Global, regional, and national burden of colorectal cancer and its risk factors, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Funding: F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT), in the scope of the project UIDP/04378/2020 and UIDB/04378/2020 of the Research Unit on Applied Molecular Biosciences UCIBIO and the project LA/P/0140/2020 of the Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy i4HB; FCT/MCTES through the project UIDB/50006/2020. J Conde acknowledges the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC-StG-2019-848325). V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), IP, under the Norma Transitória DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006.proofepub_ahead_of_prin