The mechanism of pyridine hydrogenolysis on molybdenum-containing catalysts : IV. The conversion of piperidine

The conversion of piperidine was investigated on a CoO-MoO3-Al2O3 catalysts as a function of the temperature, reaction time, initial piperidine partial pressure and the hydrogen pressure.\ud \ud At 60 atm of hydrogen and conversions below 50% piperidine is selectively converted to ammonia and N-pentylpiperidine. This reaction appears to be a two-step process, ring-opening to pentylamine followed by a fast alkyl transfer from pentylamine to piperidine. The piperidine conversion is first order in piperidine as well as in hydrogen, and of -1 order in the total pressure of the nitrogen bases.\ud At higher conversions the rate of formation of pentane and ammonia are influenced by the rate of the (hydro)cracking steps, and also by the equilibrium constants of the alkyl transfer equilibria. The rate of a (hydro)cracking reaction is lower when a ring is present in the nitrogen base. The activation energies of these reactions were 160 kJ mol−1, about 60 kJ mol−1 greater than those of alkyl transfer reactions.\ud At 1 atm of hydrogen the product composition was completely different from that observed at higher pressures of hydrogen.\ud The mechanism of the reactions is briefly discussed

CONFIDENCE-BASED DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT FOR MULTI-SENSOR SYSTEMS

We live in a world where computer systems are omnipresent and are connected to more and more sensors. Ranging from small individual electronic assistants like smartphones to complex autonomous robots, from personal wearable health devices to professional eHealth frameworks, all these systems use the sensors’ data in order to make appropriate decisions according to the context they measure. However, in addition to complete failures leading to the lack of data delivery, these sensors can also send bad data due to influences from the environment which can sometimes be hard to detect by the computer system when checking each sensor individually. The computer system should be able to use its set of sensors as a whole in order to mitigate the influence of malfunctioning sensors, to overcome the absence of data coming from broken sensors, and to handle possible conflicting information coming from several sensors. In this thesis, we propose a computational model based on a two layer software architecture to overcome this challenge. In a first layer, classification algorithms will check for malfunctioning sensors and attribute a confidence value to each sensor. In the second layer, a rule-based proactive engine will then build a representation of the context of the system and use it along some empirical knowledge about the weaknesses of the different sensors to further tweak this confidence value. Furthermore, the system will then check for conflicting data between sensors. This can be done by having several sensors that measure the same parameters or by having multiple sensors that can be used together to calculate an estimation of a parameter given by another sensor. A confidence value will be calculated for this estimation as well, based on the confidence values of the related sensors. The successive design refinement steps of our model are shown over the course of three experiments. The first two experiments, located in the eHealth domain, have been used to better identify the challenges of such multi-sensor systems, while the third experiment, which consists of a virtual robot simulation, acts as a proof of concept for the semi-generic model proposed in this thesis

LGBTQ Commission 2018 Open Forum Report

The purpose of a Clemson University President’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Commission is to serve in an advisory capacity to the university administrators, faculty, staff, and students regarding matters which affect the LGBTQ people, and make recommendations based on the commission\u27s engagement with the community and feedback from university organizations involved in LGBTQ programming and services. One forum was held in March to hear directly from the constituency the commission represents

Towards a Semantic Interoperable Flemish Research Information Space: Development and Implementation of a Flemish Application Profile for Research Datasets

In Flanders, Research Performing Organizations (RPO) are required to provide information on publicly financed research to the Flemish Research Information Space (FRIS), a current research information system and research discovery platform hosted by the Flemish Department of Economics, Science and Innovation. FRIS currently discloses information onresearchers, research institutions, publications, and projects. Flemish decrees on Special and Industrial research funding, and the Flemish Open Science policy require RPOs to also provide metadata on research datasets to FRIS. To ensure accurate and uniform delivery of information across all information providing institutions on research datasets to FRIS, it isnecessary to develop a common application profile for research datasets. This article outlines the development of the Flemish application profile for research datasets that was developed by the Flemish Open Science Board (FOSB) WorkingGroup Metadata and Standardization. The main challenge was to achieve interoperability among stakeholders, which in part had existing metadata schemes and research information infrastructures in place, while others were still in the early stages of development

The importance of combating malnutrition in care

Malnutrition results from a deficiency of macronutrients (energy and protein) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), that may impact on body composition, function and/or clinical outcomes (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2006). A range of factors, including impaired food intake (seen in individuals who are anorexic or have difficulties swallowing), increased nutrient requirements (seen during infection) and/or loss of nutrients which may be present in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease, have been known to cause malnutrition (Dunne, 2009)

The Persuasiveness of Child-Targeted Endorsement Strategies: A Systematic Review

Several European and U.S. reviews have established the link between food marketing and childhood obesity (EU Pledge, 2012; FTC, 2006; Persson, Soroko, Musicus & Lobstein, 2012), which has stimulated researchers to investigate the effects of the most prevalent child-targeted marketing technique: the use of endorsing characters. This systematic review of these studies (15 identified; participants age 3-12 years) focuses on three important questions: (a) Does a basic endorser effect exist?, (b) Is the strength of the endorsement effect influenced by endorser type?, and (c) Does the endorsement strength differ according to the type of food being promoted

Principles and design of global proactive scenarios over a network of proactive engines

This thesis examines Global Proactive Scenarios (GPaSs) in the context of proactive computing. GPaSs are Proactive Scenarios (PaSs) that dynamically collect information, provide strategies for cooperative reasoning and support collective decision making [1]. More precisely we will extract properties from GPaSs and define them. Based on these properties we will then create templates for GPaSs, which will help to facilitate and standardize the creation of future GPaSs. The applicability of these templates is showed through the design of GPaSs for three example applications and finally we will implement one of these applications as a proof of concept example to showcase the usage of the templates in the real world

Le syndrome fémoro-patellaire en médecine de ville : technique du patient standardisé

CONTEXT: Anterior knee-pain is, after the back-pain, the main reason for consultation regarding musculoskeletal disorders. Currently, in France, there is no consensus about this syndrome definition, pathology or treatment. According to other countries recommendations, an efficient management relies on knee-x-ray and physiotherapy. METHOD: Descriptive study using the simulated-standardized-patient method. Evaluation of a randomized sample of 30 general practitioners (GPs) in 15 Parisian boroughs and 15 cities in Val de Marne, visited by a 28 year-old patient with a knee pain suffered for the last 10 months. Economic analysis to assess this pathologyeconomic impact. RESULTS: 73 % of the GPS prescribed knee x-ray, 57% a knee MRI, 40 % prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and only 10% physiotherapy. The cost of the GP’s strategies varied between 46,61 et 260,27euros. CONCLUSION: Even if our study is not representative, due to the small sample, we find out that diagnostic management and therapeutic measures to be very random, which leads to an additional cost for society. Official recommendations and improvement in the formation seem essentialContexte : Les douleurs antérieures du genou sont, après les lombalgies, le motif de consultationle plus fréquent concernant l'appareil locomoteur avec une prévalence de 40% chez les adolescents etles adultes jeunes. En France, il n'existe actuellement aucun consensus quant à la définition de cesyndrome, sa physiopathologie ou son traitement. D’après certaines recommandations internationales,la prise en charge efficiente repose sur des radiographies du genou et un traitement par kinésithérapie.Méthodes : Étude descriptive utilisant la méthode du patient simulé standardisé. Évaluation d’unéchantillon randomisé de trente médecins généralistes de 15 arrondissements de Paris et 15 villes duVal de Marne, visités par une patiente de 28ans présentant une douleur au genou depuis 10 mois.Analyse économique pour étudier l’impact économique de cette pathologie.Résultats : 73% des médecins ont prescrit des radiographies du genou, 57% une IRM du genou,40% des AINS et 40% un traitement par physiothérapie.Pour ce qui concerne l’analyse économique, le coût des différentes prises en charge varie entre 46,61et 260,27 euros.Conclusion : Même si notre étude présente de nombreux biais, nous constatons une prise encharge très aléatoire diagnostique et thérapeutique ce qui entraine un surcoût pour le patient et pour lasociété. La méthode utilisée dans cette étude du patient simulé est un excellent outil d’évaluation de lapratique réelle des médecins. Des recommandations officielles ainsi qu’une amélioration de laformation initiale et continue nous semblent essentielles. Enfin, le travail en coordination avec leskinésithérapeutes doit être développé