A highly N-doped carbon phase "dressing" of macroscopic supports for catalytic applications

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015. The straightforward "dressing" of macroscopically shaped supports (i.e. β-SiC and α-Al2O3) with a mesoporous and highly nitrogen-doped carbon-phase starting from food-processing raw materials is described. The as-prepared composites serve as highly efficient and selective metal-free catalysts for promoting industrial key-processes at the heart of renewable energy technology and environmental protection

Viral Etiology of Encephalitis in Children in Southern Vietnam: Results of a One-Year Prospective Descriptive Study

Viral encephalitis is associated with high morbidity and mortality in Vietnam. However little is known about the causes of the disease due to a lack of diagnostic facilities in this relatively resource-poor setting. Knowledge about the etiologies and clinical outcome of viral encephalitis is necessary for future design of intervention studies targeted at improvement of clinical management, treatment and prevention of the disease. We report the viral agents, clinical outcome and prognostic factors of mortality of encephalitis in children admitted to a referral hospital for children in southern Vietnam. We show that about one third of the enrolled patients die acutely, and that mortality is independently associated with patient age and Glasgow Coma Scale on admission. Japanese encephalitis, dengue virus and enterovirus (including enterovirus 71) are the major viruses detected in our patients. However, more than half of the patients remain undiagnosed, while mortality in this group is as high as in the diagnosed group. This study will benefit clinicians and public health in terms of clinical management and prevention of childhood encephalitis in Vietnam

Vibration and buckling analysis of functionally graded sandwich beams by a new higher-order shear deformation theory

This paper proposes a new higher-order shear deformation theory for buckling and free vibration analysis of isotropic and functionally graded (FG) sandwich beams. The present theory accounts a new hyperbolic distribution of transverse shear stress and satisfies the traction free boundary conditions. Equations of motion are derived from Lagrange’s equations. Analytical solutions are presented for the isotropic and FG sandwich beams with various boundary conditions. Numerical results for natural frequencies and critical buckling loads obtained using the present theory are compared with those obtained using the higher and first-order shear deformation beam theories. Effects of the boundary conditions, power-law index, span-to-depth ratio and skin-core-skin thickness ratios on the critical buckling loads and natural frequencies of the FG beams are discussed

Deadline-aware scheduling and flexible bandwidth allocation for big-data transfers

10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2882877IEEE Access674400-7441

High pressure thermal sterilization of barramundi (Lates calcarifer) muscles in brine : effects on selected physicochemical properties

Barramundi (Lates calcarifer) muscle with brine 2% in Stand-up-retort pouches was treated at different temperatures from 90°C to 120°C at 600 MPa, 5 min. Samples retorted with Fo = 3.38 min were used as control. Texture attributes such as hardness and springiness of the high pressure thermal sterilized (HPTS) barramundi samples were increased compared to the retorted samples. Color, TBA, and pH values were similar for all treatments, except for a significant increase in pH of samples treated at 90°C, 600 MPa, 5 min after 3 months of storage, indicating microbial spoilage. Textural sensory quality of HPTS products was also better than retorted products. High pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS) at 600 MPa and 110°C or 120°C for 5 min resulted in shelf-stable barramundi products. Overall, HTPS could be a feasible option for the production of sterilized fish product with better texture compared to conventional retorted fish product. Practical applications: High pressure and thermal sterilization (HPTS) of food products is emerging as an innovative method with many advantages. HPTS could result in better nutrition and sensory quality of sterilized food products as lower thermal load applied to the product and less unwanted food processing contaminants such as furan are also produced in food products. However, the application of HPTS on food products, especially, seafood products is still in early stage and limited. The result of this study could be used to develop a scale-up process for sterilized barramundi products in the food industry

Combined steam and CO2 reforming of methane for syngas production over carbon-resistant boron-promoted Ni/SBA-15 catalysts

The unpromoted and B-promoted 10%Ni/SBA-15 catalysts synthesized via sequential incipient wetness impregnation approach were assessed for combined steam and CO2 reforming of methane (CSCRM) at various reaction temperatures of 973–1073 K and stoichiometric feed composition. An expected and noteworthy drop in mean NiO crystallite size and BET surface area with boron promotion from 1% to 5%B loading could be due to the agglomeration of B2O3 particles and deboration reaction during calcination and hence blocking mesopores of SBA-15 support at elevated B composition. The complete NiO reduction to metallic Ni0 form was achieved during H2 activation and the reduction temperature of NiO phase was shifted towards higher temperature with B-addition owing to enhancing interaction between the acidic B2O3 and basic NiO phases. For all reaction temperature employed, 3%B appeared to be the optimal promoter loading in terms of reactant conversions and 3%B-10%Ni/SBA-15 catalyst revealed the greatest H2 yield (69.4%) at 1073 K. In addition, CH4 and CO2 conversions were enhanced about 23.2% and 32.4%, correspondingly with rising reaction temperature from 973 to 1073 K. Ratio of H2 to CO varied from 1.26 to 2.71 and the desired H2/CO ratio of about 2 favored for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis was achieved on 3%B-10%Ni/SBA-15 sample at 973 K. Boron promoter suppressed graphitic carbon formation and the amount of carbonaceous deposition was reduced about 4 times. Noticeably, 3%B-10%Ni/SBA-15 was also resilient to metallic Ni0 re-oxidation throughout CSCRM