Nickel‒cobalt bimetallic catalysts prepared from hydrotalcite-like compounds for dry reforming of methane

Ni–Co/Mg(Al)O alloy catalysts with different Co/Ni molar ratios have been prepared from Ni- and Co-substituted Mg–Al hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTlcs) as precursors and tested for dry reforming of methane. The XRD characterization shows that Ni–Co–Mg–Al HTlcs are decomposed by calcination into Mg(Ni,Co,Al)O solid solution, and by reduction finely dispersed alloy particles are formed. H₂-TPR indicates a strong interaction between nickel/cobalt oxides and magnesia, and the presence of cobalt in Mg(Ni,Co,Al)O enhances the metal-support interaction. STEM-EDX analysis reveals that nickel and cobalt cations are homogeneously distributed in the HTlcs precursor and in the derived solid solution, and by reduction the resulting Ni–Co alloy particles are composition-uniform. The Ni–Co/Mg(Al)O alloy catalysts exhibit relatively high activity and stability at severe conditions, i.e., a medium temperature of 600 °C and a high space velocity of 120000 mL g^?1 h^?1. In comparison to monometallic Ni catalyst, Ni–Co alloying effectively inhibits methane decomposition and coke deposition, leading to a marked enhancement of catalytic stability. From CO₂-TPD and TPSR, it is suggested that alloying Ni with Co favors the CO₂ adsorption/activation and promotes the elimination of carbon species, thus improving the coke resistance. Furthermore, a high and stable activity with low coking is demonstrated at 750 °C. The hydrotalcite-derived Ni–Co/Mg(Al)O catalysts show better catalytic performance than many of the reported Ni–Co catalysts, which can be attributed to the formation of Ni–Co alloy with uniform composition, proper size, and strong metal-support interaction as well as the presence of basic Mg(Al)O as support.     

Ocular conditions and dry eye due to traditional and new forms of smoking: A review

Addiction to cigarette smoking has high prevalence rates recorded worldwide. Smoking has been linked to several life-threatening systemic conditions such as cancer, heart attack and stroke, in addition to a range of ocular pathologies. In recent years, electronic cigarettes (EC) have emerged as alternatives to smoking. ECs are nicotine delivery devices which produce an aerosol by heating, rather than combusting, a liquid which contains nicotine, flavours and preservatives. This review focuses on the association of traditional and new forms of smoking with dry eye disease, contact lens wear and four other common ocular diseases: cataract, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and Graves’ ophthalmopathy. It is concluded that smoking and vaping appear as a risk factor for the aforementioned ocular conditions. An evidence-based, clear link between cigarette smoking, or EC vaping and ocular problems is yet to be discovered.     

A design of experiments investigation into dry separation using a Knelson Concentrator

Enhanced gravity, or centrifugal, separators have revolutionised gold processing over the past decades, significantly increasing the recovery of fine (−100 μm) free gold. One of the main drawbacks of centrifugal gravity concentrators is the large volume of water required (even if it is all recycled). With water becoming an ever increasingly important “commodity”, reducing this is of importance both from an environmental and a monetary point of view. This work investigated operating a laboratory scale Knelson Concentrator with a dry feed and using air as the fluidising medium. The feed used was a synthetic mixture of tungsten and quartz, used to mimic a gold ore. The response surface method and central composite design techniques were used to design the experiments and to model the results, with the experimental variables being the bowl speed (G-Level), air fluidising pressure and the feed rate. The models corresponded well to the experimental results, indicating that for this experimental setup, the optimal conditions were a bowl G-Level of 40 G, a feed rate of 220 g/min and an air fluidising pressure of 8 psi.     

积极降压对脑小血管病防治策略的影响

2017年,美国心脏病学会和美国心脏协会提出将高血压诊断标准降为130/80 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0. 133 kPa),这与其他指南有所不同。降压治疗的核心目标在于靶器官的保护,近年来降压治疗与脑小血管病预防的相关问题日益受到临床重视。目前研究结果表明,降压治疗对腔隙性卒中患者的二级预防以及白质病变进展的预防可能有一定积极意义,但确切的降压目标值并未确定。血压与临床结局可能呈现J型关系,血压过低或过高可能均有害,而取得最大获益的降压目标有待进一步探索。     

Results from the ORPHEUS dark matter detector

The ORPHEUS dark matter detector consists of 450 g superconducting tin granules with diameters of 28 and 36 μm. The detector has been operating in the shallow site of the underground laboratory in Bern (70 m.w.e). First preliminary results on WIMP detection sensitivity will be presented.     

可拓检测的方案生成

以可拓学理论为基础，论述了可拓检测的有关定义和概念，提出了可拓检测的方案生成方法及过程，同时探讨了检测方法的优化和评价方法。     

构造作用对油气生成和运聚的影响

有机质从埋藏开始，就处于极其复杂的地球物理化学场中，环境提的能量，一是热量，二是机械能，机械能，主要是通过机械力作用传递给系统的，另外还以机械波的形式赋予系统一定的机械能。当发生断褶构造运动时，机械力对油气运移的影响尤为突出，它经能量的迁移转化，促成了包括机械力降解和地应力驱动等一系列的连锁反应，制造了一次次高效的成油（生运）事件，本文以突变论为着眼点，按照改造控制建造的思路，大胆提出构造运动制造生排烃事件，成就含油气系统的假说。     

The GENIUS-test-facility—first results on background from Rn daughters

GENIUS-TF (Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 511 (2003) 341; Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A 481 (2002) 149.) is a test-facility for the GENIUS project (GENIUS-Proposal, 20 November 1997; Z. Phys. A 359 (1997) 351; CERN Courier, November 1997, 16; J. Phys. G 24 (1998) 483; Z. Phys. A 359 (1997) 361; in: H.V. Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, H. Pas. (Eds.), First International Conference on Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Model, Castle Ringberg, Germany, 8–14 June 1997, IOP Bristol (1998) 485 and in Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 13 (1998) 3953; in: H.V. Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, I.V. Krivosheina (Eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Particle Physics Beyond the Standard Model BEYOND’ 99, Castle Ringberg, Germany 6–12 June 1999, IOP Bristol (2000) 915), a proposed large scale underground observatory for rare events which is based on operation of naked germanium detectors in liquid nitrogen for an extreme background reduction. Operation of naked Ge crystals in liquid nitrogen has been applied routinely already for more than 20 years by the CANBERRA Company for technical functions tests (CANBERRA Company, private communication, 5 March 2004.), but it never had found entrance into basic research. Only in 1997 first tests of application of this method for nuclear spectroscopy have been performed, successfully, in Heidelberg (Klapdor-Kleingrothaus et al., 1997, 1998; J. Hellmig and H.V. Klapdor-Kleingrothaus, 1997).

On May 5, 2003 the first four naked high-purity germanium detectors (total mass 10.52 kg) were installed in liquid nitrogen in the GENIUS Test Facility at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. Since then the experiment has been running continuously, testing for the first time the novel technique in an underground laboratory and for a long-lasting period.

In this work, we present the first analysis of the GENIUS-TF background after the completion of the external shielding, which took place in December 2003. We focus especially on the background coming from ²²²Rn daughters. This is found to be at present by a factor of 200 higher than expected from simulation. It is still compatible with the scientific goal of GENIUS-TF, namely to search for cold dark matter by the modulation signal, but on the present level would cause serious problems for a full GENIUS—like experiment using liquid nitrogen.     

Research on charge ordering and magnetic properties in La0.3Ca0.7Mn1-xWxO3 system

The perovskite manganite sample La0.3Ca0.7Mn1-xWxO3 （x = 0.08, 0.12） was prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The effect of W doping on the Mn site to La0.3Ca0.7MnO3 charge ordering phase and the changing process of magnetic properties were studied through the measurement of the M-T curve, M-H curves, and ESR curves of the sample. The results showed that when x = 0.08, the charge ordering （CO） phase exists in the system, the transition temperature Tco= 275 K, and the system exhibits PM when T 〉 275 K. The system transforms from spin-disordering paramagnetism to spin-ordering antiferromagnetism in the charge ordering state with the temperature decreasing from 275 K to 230 K. The long-range antiferromagnetism forms and AFM/CO states coexist between 230 K and 5 K. There is a little ferromagnetic component in the AFM/CO background in a low temperature range. When x = 0.12, the CO phase in the system has almost melted completely. There is a little remnant of the CO phase below 150 K. The system exhibits paramagnetism when T 〉 150 K and transforms from paramagnetism to ferromagnetism when T〈 150 K.