Enhanced hydrogen storage in Ni/Ce composite oxides

The properties of dried (but not calcined) coprecipitated nickel ceria systems have been investigated in terms of their hydrogen emission characteristics following activation in hydrogen. XRD and BET data obtained on the powders show similarities to calcined ceria but it is likely that the majority of the material produced by the coprecipitation process is largely of an amorphous nature. XPS data indicate very little nickel is present on the outermost surface of the particles. Nevertheless, the thermal analytical techniques (TGA, DSC and TPD-MS) indicate that the hydrogen has access to the catalyst present and the nickel is able to generate hydrogen species capable of interacting with the support. Both unactivated and activated materials show two hydrogen emission features, viz. low temperature and high temperature emissions (LTE and HTE, respectively) over the temperature range 50 and 500 °C. A clear effect of hydrogen interaction with the material is that the activated sample not only emits much more hydrogen than the corresponding unactivated one but also at lower temperatures. H2 dissociation occurs on the reduced catalyst surface and the spillover mechanism transfers this active hydrogen into the ceria, possibly via the formation and migration of OH− species. The amount of hydrogen obtained (0.24 wt%) is 10× higher than those observed for calcined materials and would suggest that the amorphous phase plays a critical role in this process. The affiliated emissions of CO and CO2 with that of the HTE hydrogen (and consumption of water) strongly suggests a proportion of the hydrogen emission at this point arises from the water gas shift type reaction. It has not been possible from the present data to delineate between the various hydrogen storage mechanisms reported for ceria

The Dynamic Formation of Prominence Condensations

We present simulations of a model for the formation of a prominence condensation in a coronal loop. The key idea behind the model is that the spatial localization of loop heating near the chromosphere leads to a catastrophic cooling in the corona (Antiochos & Klimchuk 1991). Using a new adaptive grid code, we simulate the complete growth of a condensation, and find that after approx. 5,000 s it reaches a quasi-steady state. We show that the size and the growth time of the condensation are in good agreement with data, and discuss the implications of the model for coronal heating and SOHO/TRACE observations.Comment: Astrophysical Journal latex file, 20 pages, 7 b-w figures (gif files

Detoxification in rehabilitation in England: effective continuity of care or unhappy bedfellows?

There is evidence that residential detoxification alone does not provide satisfactory treatment outcomes and that outcomes are significantly enhanced when clients completing residential detoxification attend rehabilitation services (Gossop, Marsden, Stewart, & Rolfe, 1999; Ghodse, Reynolds, Baldacchino, et al., 2002). One way of increasing the likelihood of this continuity of treatment is by providing detoxification and rehabilitation within the same treatment facility to prevent drop-out, while the client awaits a rehabilitation bed or in the transition process. However, there is little research evidence available on the facilities that offer both medical detoxification and residential rehabilitation. The current study compares self-reported treatment provision in 87 residential rehabilitation services in England, 34 of whom (39.1%) reported that they offered detoxification services within their treatment programmes. Although there were no differences in self-reported treatment philosophies, residential rehabilitation services that offered detoxification were typically of shorter duration overall, had significantly more beds and reported offering more group work than residential rehabilitation services that did not offer detoxification. Outcomes were also different, with twice as many clients discharged on disciplinary grounds from residential rehabilitation services without detoxification facilities. The paper questions the UK classification of residential drug treatment services as either detoxification or rehabilitation and suggests the need for greater research focus on the aims, processes and outcomes of this group of treatment providers

Adaptation and acclimatization to ocean acidification in marine ectotherms: an in situ transplant experiment with polychaetes at a shallow CO₂ vent system

Metabolic rate determines the physiological and life-history performances of ectotherms. Thus, the extent to which such rates are sensitive and plastic to environmental perturbation is central to an organism's ability to function in a changing environment. Little is known of long-term metabolic plasticity and potential for metabolic adaptation in marine ectotherms exposed to elevated pCO₂. Consequently, we carried out a series of in situ transplant experiments using a number of tolerant and sensitive polychaete species living around a natural CO₂ vent system. Here, we show that a marine metazoan (i.e. Platynereis dumerilii) was able to adapt to chronic and elevated levels of pCO₂. The vent population of P. dumerilii was physiologically and genetically different from nearby populations that experience low pCO₂, as well as smaller in body size. By contrast, different populations of Amphiglena mediterranea showed marked physiological plasticity indicating that adaptation or acclimatization are both viable strategies for the successful colonization of elevated pCO₂ environments. In addition, sensitive species showed either a reduced or increased metabolism when exposed acutely to elevated pCO₂. Our findings may help explain, from a metabolic perspective, the occurrence of past mass extinction, as well as shed light on alternative pathways of resilience in species facing ongoing ocean acidification

Semi-classical Laguerre polynomials and a third order discrete integrable equation

A semi-discrete Lax pair formed from the differential system and recurrence relation for semi-classical orthogonal polynomials, leads to a discrete integrable equation for a specific semi-classical orthogonal polynomial weight. The main example we use is a semi-classical Laguerre weight to derive a third order difference equation with a corresponding Lax pair.Comment: 11 page

Higher analogues of the discrete-time Toda equation and the quotient-difference algorithm

The discrete-time Toda equation arises as a universal equation for the relevant Hankel determinants associated with one-variable orthogonal polynomials through the mechanism of adjacency, which amounts to the inclusion of shifted weight functions in the orthogonality condition. In this paper we extend this mechanism to a new class of two-variable orthogonal polynomials where the variables are related via an elliptic curve. This leads to a `Higher order Analogue of the Discrete-time Toda' (HADT) equation for the associated Hankel determinants, together with its Lax pair, which is derived from the relevant recurrence relations for the orthogonal polynomials. In a similar way as the quotient-difference (QD) algorithm is related to the discrete-time Toda equation, a novel quotient-quotient-difference (QQD) scheme is presented for the HADT equation. We show that for both the HADT equation and the QQD scheme, there exists well-posed $s$-periodic initial value problems, for almost all \s\in\Z^2. From the Lax-pairs we furthermore derive invariants for corresponding reductions to dynamical mappings for some explicit examples.Comment: 38 page

Survival of patients with small cell lung cancer undergoing lung resection in England, 1998–2009

Introduction: Chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy is the recommended treatment for small cell lung cancer (SCLC), except in stage I disease where clinical guidelines state there may be a role for surgery based on favourable outcomes in case series. Evidence supporting adjuvant chemotherapy in resected SCLC is limited but this is widely offered. Methods: Data on 359 873 patients who were diagnosed with a first primary lung cancer in England between 1998 and 2009 were grouped according to histology (SCLC or non-SCLC (NSCLC)) and whether they underwent a surgical resection. We explored their survival using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression, adjusting for age, sex, comorbidity and socioeconomic status. Results: The survival of 465 patients with resected SCLC was lower than patients with resected NSCLC (5-year survival 31% and 45%, respectively), but much higher than patients of either group who were not resected (3%). The difference between resected SCLC and NSCLC diminished with time after surgery. Survival was superior for the subgroup of 198 'elective' SCLC cases where the diagnosis was most likely known before resection than for the subgroup of 267 'incidental' cases where the SCLC diagnosis was likely to have been made after resection. Conclusions: These data serve as a natural experiment testing the survival after surgical management of SCLC according to NSCLC principles. Patients with SCLC treated surgically for early stage disease may have survival outcomes that approach those of NSCLC, supporting the emerging clinical practice of offering surgical resection to selected patients with SCLC

Receptor antagonism/agonism can be uncoupled from pharmacoperone activity

Pharmacoperones rescue misrouted mutants of the vasopressin receptor type 2 (V2R) and enable them to traffic to the correct biological locus where they function. Previously, a library of nearly 645,000 structures was interrogated with a high throughput screen; pharmacoperones were identified for V2R mutants with a view toward correcting the underlying mutational defects in nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. In the present study, an orthologous assay was used to evaluate hits from the earlier study. We found no consistent relation between antagonism or agonism and pharmacoperone activity. Active pharmacoperones were identified which had minimal antagonistic activity. This increases the therapeutic reach of these drugs, since virtually all pharmacoperone drugs reported to date were selected from peptidomimetic antagonists. Such mixed-activity drugs have a complex pharmacology limiting their therapeutic utility and requiring their removal prior to stimulation of the receptor with agonist

Cultural change in the FCA, PRA & Bank of England: Practising what they preach?

Our report examines how the culture of the financial regulators contributed to the financial crisis. It assesses the actions taken by the UK’s financial regulators to change their culture. It identifies the progress which has been made and the barriers encountered. To gather information we interviewed current and former staff at the regulators together with stakeholders from large and small financial institutions, consumer and SME groups and regulatory experts. The report includes the reactions from staff at the regulators to the cultural change programmes and the perceptions of external stakeholders

An Investigation into Tetrodotoxin (TTX) Levels Associated with the Red Dorsal Spots in Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) Efts and Adults

We investigated the concentration of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in sections of skin containing and lacking red dorsal spots in both Eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) efts and adults. Several other species, such as Pleurodeles waltl and Echinotriton andersoni, have granular glands concentrated in brightly pigmented regions on the dorsum, and thus we hypothesized that the red dorsal spots of Eastern newts may also possess higher levels of TTX than the surrounding skin. We found no difference between the concentrations of TTX in the red spots as compared to neighboring skin lacking these spots in either efts or adults. However, efts with more red dorsal spots had elevated TTX levels relative to efts with fewer spots