Niobium-containing catalysts—the state of the art

This review article is devoted to the materials containing niobium, which have been discovered or developed in the past few years and exhibit the potential application in heterogeneous catalysis. Niobium oxides and mixed oxides as well as sulfides, nitrides (oxynitrides), carbides (oxycarbides), and phosphates are considered. Among the catalytic processes in which Nb-containing materials were tested, liquid and gas phase oxidation is described in details, and the role of niobium in the prevention of the catalyst from SO₂ poisoning is mentioned.     

Design Methodology and Area Sensitivity Analysis of Horizontal Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands

An approach is presented to satisfy the demand for simple criteria, guidelines and models for the preliminary sizing of horizontal subsurface flow (SF) constructed wetland systems. This approach eliminates time-consuming calculations and iterations by providing graphical solutions for wetland system sizing. Therefore, it can be used for the preliminary assessment of new or performance evaluation of existing subsurface flow constructed wetland systems. The validity of this methodology is checked with data from existing systems and is found to be quite satisfactory. This methodology is combined with simple equations predicting the maximum wetland capacity in summer, so as to assist designers in sizing installations in tourist areas with increased summer populations. Furthermore, based on this methodology, a sensitivity analysis is performed of the area requirements for wastewaters of various strengths and various design conditions and performance criteria. The results provide a useful overview to engineers and further simplify the design methodology of new subsurface flow constructed wetland systems.     

Characterization of the Residence Time Distribution in Spray Dryers

In this work it is presented a study on the residence time distribution (RTD) of particles in a co-current pilot-plant spray dryer operated with a rotary atomization system. A nuclear technique is applied to investigate the RTD responses of spray dryers. The methodology is based on the injection of a radioisotope tracer in the feed stream followed by the monitoring of its concentration at the outlet stream. The experiments were performed during the drying of aqueous suspensions of gadolinium oxide. The RTD responses obtained experimentally presented good reproducibility, indicating that the technique applied is well suited to investigating fluid-dynamics of spray dryers. In addition to the experimental investigation, a mathematical model was used to describe the RTD experimental curves.     

Heavy Metals Bioremediation from Polluted Water by Glass-Ceramic Materials

The objective of this research was to study the removal of cadmium and lead from an aqueous solution through a biological treatment. For this purpose a glass-ceramic material was manufactured from industrial and urban wastes. Biofilms of microorganisms found in wastewater were developed on its surface, and continuous tests were conducted in the presence and absence of the biofilm to analyze the glass-ceramic's ability to remove the heavy metals from an aqueous environment. The results suggest that this bioremediation process, developed on an industrial scale, could represent an alternative to the chemical processes currently used.     

Cardiac tamponade as a presentation of primary hypothyroidism in a young woman

Pericardial effusion (PE) as a hypothyroidism associated sign, is something that can be found with relative frequency; nevertheless, cardiac tamponade (CT) as the first sign of this disease may be considered exceptional especially in young patients. We report a 31 years old woman with clinical symptoms and signs of CT that in the forward workshop was diagnosed of primary hypothyroidism as cause of the CT. We shortly describe the case and review the literature, emphasizing the importance of the knowledge of CT trigger factors in myxedematous PE, as well as its usual benign evolution with hormonal treatment, without recurrences of the CT after pericardiocentesis is performed. This justify a conservative approach, in spite of the slow resolution of the PE what can take as long as 1.5 years.     

Interaction of triton X-100 on silica: A relationship between surface characteristics and adsorption isotherms

Adsorption of Triton X-100 on various silica substrates has been investigated. A number of solids, including a natural quartz, this quartz washed with HCl acid and subsequently heated at 1273 K; two aerosils and one Kieselgel silicas were studied. These solids exhibit surface areas in the range of 5 to 430 m² g^?1. All the Triton adsorption isotherms display an S-shape at the adsorption temperatures studied (298 and 308 K). It has been found that the pretreatments of natural quartz (by water washing, impurities removed by acid and/or high temperature calcination) affect considerably the amounts of TX-100 adsorbed. Measurements of surface composition have been made by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) with particular emphasis on the presence of impurities and on the number of OH groups at the surface of the samples. The nature of the surface hydroxyl has also been studied by infrared spectroscopy. Furthermore, the specific number of hydroxyl groups on the surface of the silica samples has been determined by thermogravimetric analysis. Finally an attempt to correlate solid surface characteristics with adsorption isotherms has been developed.     

Carcinoembryonic antigen in diagnosis and monitoring of colorectal cancer]

Female SJL mice are more susceptible than male mice to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T lymphocytes. In the present study, we examined mechanisms involved in this gender-related difference in disease susceptibility. MBP-specific T lymphocytes derived from spleens of males during the effector phase of adoptive EAE produced significantly higher levels of IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine in EAE. A protective effect of testosterone was then shown. Females implanted with dihydrotestosterone pellets demonstrated a significantly less severe course of EAE as compared with females implanted with placebo pellets. Finally, MBP-specific T lymphocytes derived from dihydrotestosterone-implanted females produced significantly higher levels of IL-10 than those from placebo. Together these data indicate that testosterone exerts a protective effect in EAE that is mediated at least in part by enhanced production of IL-10 by autoantigen-specific T lymphocytes.     

A survey of parental knowledge about car seats in children

Motor vehicle accidents are the main cause of death and disability between 1 and 4 years of age. Since 1980 the Academy of Pediatrics has been promoting the correct use of car seats. The major reason that car seats are not fulfilling their full potential is their incorrect or lack of use. In order to evaluate parental knowledge about car seat use for children and their actual use in the population visiting HURRA, a survey was performed which demonstrated that only 57.6% of the parents interviewed had infant car seats and that only 83.3% of owners actually use it. As many as 94.4% had correct knowledge about car seat use, but the majority of correct information was not provided by the medical staff. The majority of parents use seat belts for their own protection but a significantly smaller percentage use car seats for their own children.