Religious Factors and Hippocampal Atrophy in Late Life

Despite a growing interest in the ways spiritual beliefs and practices are reflected in brain activity, there have been relatively few studies using neuroimaging data to assess potential relationships between religious factors and structural neuroanatomy. This study examined prospective relationships between religious factors and hippocampal volume change using high-resolution MRI data of a sample of 268 older adults. Religious factors assessed included life-changing religious experiences, spiritual practices, and religious group membership. Hippocampal volumes were analyzed using the GRID program, which is based on a manual point-counting method and allows for semi-automated determination of region of interest volumes. Significantly greater hippocampal atrophy was observed for participants reporting a life-changing religious experience. Significantly greater hippocampal atrophy was also observed from baseline to final assessment among born-again Protestants, Catholics, and those with no religious affiliation, compared with Protestants not identifying as born-again. These associations were not explained by psychosocial or demographic factors, or baseline cerebral volume. Hippocampal volume has been linked to clinical outcomes, such as depression, dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease. The findings of this study indicate that hippocampal atrophy in late life may be uniquely influenced by certain types of religious factors

Zinc Based High Temperature Methanol Synthesis Catalysts Enabling Direct Synthesis of Olefins and Aromatics from CO₂

A route for converting CO2 into valuable products, such as plastic monomers, is the combination of methanol synthesis and methanol dehydration to hydrocarbons. Methanol synthesis is equilibrium limited and a strategy to overcome this is to combine a methanol synthesis catalyst with a zeolite catalyst within one reactor [1,2]. In the temperature range of 300 to 420 °C, necessary for the zeolite to be active, the traditional Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 methanol synthesis catalyst cannot be used due to severe sintering of the metallic copper deactivates the catalyst. Furthermore, the hydrogen spill-over effect and likely surface reactions on the metallic copper result in the hydrogenation of the olefins formed in the zeolite [3].<br/