Roles of oxygen vacancy and lower valence metallic ion in direct decomposition of NO over La-2-x(Sr,Th)(x)CuO4+/-lambda

Two systems of La2-xSrxCuO4+/-lambda and La2-xThxCuO4+/-lambda, mixed oxides with K2NiF4 structure were synthesized. The compositions and structures of the catalysts were characterized by means of XRD, XPS, chemical analysis and so on. The catalytic behavior for the direct decomposition of NO has been investigated. The results show that the catalytic activity is closely related to the oxygen vacancy and lower valence metallic ion in the direct decomposition of NO. The presence of oxygen vacancy is necessary for mixed oxide to have steady activity in NO decomposition.

STUDY ON THE PHENOMENA OF LASER-EXCITED POPULATION-CHANGE ON RES-ONANTLY TRANSITIONAL LOWER LEVEL AND ITS APPLICATION

Ⅰ. INTRODUCTIONLaser-excited atomic fluorescence spectrometry in hollow cathode discharge(HCD) has been widely used in the research field of laser spectroscopy in recent years. Similar to traditional method, information obtained in the researches was direct line nonresonance fluorescence arising from the resonantly transitional upper level. Attention has not been sufficiently paid to the phenomenon of population change on the resonantly transitional lower level due to laser irradiation of plasma in HCD,...

New progress in R&D of lower olefin synthesis

This paper gives a brief review of R&D researches for light olefin synthesis directly and indirectly from synthesis gas in the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP). The first pilot plant test was on methanol to olefin (MTO) reaction and was finished in 1993, which was based on ZSM-5-type catalyst and fixed bed reaction. In the meantime, a new indirect method designated as SDTO (syngas via dimethylether to olefin) was proposed. In this process, metal-acid bifunctional catalyst was applied for synthesis gas to dimethylether(DME) reaction, and modified SAPO-34 catalyst that was synthesized by a new low-cost method with optimal crystal size was used to convert DME to light olefin on a fluidized bed reactor. The pilot plant test on SDTO was performed and finished in 1995. Evaluation of the pilot plant data showed that 190-200 g of DME were yielded by single-pass for each standard cubic meter of synthesis gas. For the second reaction, 1.880 tons of DME or 2.615 tons of methanol produced 1 ton of light olefins, which constitutes of 0.533 ton of ethylene, 0.349 ton of propylene and 0.118 ton of butene. DICP also paid some attention on direct conversion of synthesis gas to light olefins. A semi-pilot plant test (catalyst 1.8 1) was finished in 1995 with a CO conversion > 70% and a C(2)(=)-C(4)(=) olefin selectivity 71-74% in 1000 h. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Computing Upper and Lower Bounds on Likelihoods in Intractable Networks

We present techniques for computing upper and lower bounds on the likelihoods of partial instantiations of variables in sigmoid and noisy-OR networks. The bounds determine confidence intervals for the desired likelihoods and become useful when the size of the network (or clique size) precludes exact computations. We illustrate the tightness of the obtained bounds by numerical experiments.

Effect of syngas addition on lower alkene production by the oxidative cracking of hexane

The lower alkene production by the gas-phase oxidative cracking (GOC) or catalytic oxidative cracking (COC) of hexane (C6) with added syngas was investigated. The addition of syngas to the COC process could effectively enhance the selectivity to lower alkenes and decrease the selectivity to COx, because of the preferential reaction between O-2 with H-2 contained in the syngas, whereas it has little effect on the conversion of C6 and product distribution in the GOC process. The high selectivity to lower alkenes of 70% and low selectivity to CO, of 6% at C6 conversion of 66% were achieved over 0.1% Pt/MgAl2O4 catalyst. The COC process of C6 combined with the syngas in the feed could directly produce a gas mixture of lower alkenes, H-2, and CO, which usually is a suitable feedstock for the hydroformylation process.

Canu Serch Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd

Edwards, Huw, 'Canu Serch Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd', Ll?n Cymru, (2008) 30 (1), pp. 1-16

A Lower-Bound Result on the Power of a Genetic Algorithm

This paper presents a lower-bound result on the computational power of a genetic algorithm in the context of combinatorial optimization. We describe a new genetic algorithm, the merged genetic algorithm, and prove that for the class of monotonic functions, the algorithm finds the optimal solution, and does so with an exponential convergence rate. The analysis pertains to the ideal behavior of the algorithm where the main task reduces to showing convergence of probability distributions over the search space of combinatorial structures to the optimal one. We take exponential convergence to be indicative of efficient solvability for the sample-bounded algorithm, although a sampling theory is needed to better relate the limit behavior to actual behavior. The paper concludes with a discussion of some immediate problems that lie ahead.

Quantum Lower Bounds for Fanout

We prove several new lower bounds for constant depth quantum circuits. The main result is that parity (and hence fanout) requires log depth circuits, when the circuits are composed of single qubit and arbitrary size Toffoli gates, and when they use only constantly many ancillae. Under this constraint, this bound is close to optimal. In the case of a non-constant number of ancillae, we give a tradeoff between the number of ancillae and the required depth.

A New Lower Bound Technique for Quantum Circuits without Ancillae

We present a technique to derive depth lower bounds for quantum circuits. The technique is based on the observation that in circuits without ancillae, only a few input states can set all the control qubits of a Toffoli gate to 1. This can be used to selectively remove large Toffoli gates from a quantum circuit while keeping the cumulative error low. We use the technique to give another proof that parity cannot be computed by constant depth quantum circuits without ancillæ.

Souterrain in Grallagh Lower Td. Co. Waterford

A souterrain was discovered here when the weight of a tractor passing overhead caused a collapse of the roof of Chamber I. It was surveyed in March 1976. The landowner, Mr. Thomas Curran of Ballylangdon has consented to keep the site open for future inspection. The site is not directly connected with any visible surface structure. A small uni-vallate ringfort is however situated c.I60m S.S.E. of the site. The bedrock is a slaty sandstone.

Lower extremity amputation in people with diabetes: Trends and determinants

Introduction: The prevalence of diabetes is rising rapidly. Assessing quality of diabetes care is difficult. Lower Extremity Amputation (LEA) is recognised as a marker of the quality of diabetes care. The focus of this thesis was first to describe the trends in LEA rates in people with and without diabetes in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) in recent years and then, to explore the determinants of LEA in people with diabetes. While clinical and socio-demographic determinants have been well-established, the role of service-related factors has been less well-explored. Methods: Using hospital discharge data, trends in LEA rates in people with and without diabetes were described and compared to other countries. Background work included concordance studies exploring the reliability of hospital discharge data for recording LEA and diabetes and estimation of diabetes prevalence rates in the RoI from a nationally representative study (SLAN 2007). To explore determinants, a systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effect of contact with a podiatrist on the outcome of LEA in people with diabetes. Finally, a case-control study using hospital discharge data explored determinants of LEA in people with diabetes with a particular focus on the timing of access to secondary healthcare services as a risk factor. Results: There are high levels of agreement between hospital discharge data and medical records for LEA and diabetes. Thus, hospital discharge data was deemed sufficiently reliable for use in this PhD thesis. A decrease in major diabetes-related LEA rates in people with diabetes was observed in the RoI from 2005-2012. In 2012, the relative risk of a person with diabetes undergoing a major LEA was 6.2 times (95% CI 4.8-8.1) that of a person without diabetes. Based on the systematic review and meta-analysis, contact with a podiatrist did not significantly affect the relative risk (RR) of LEA in people with diabetes. Results from the case-control study identified being single, documented CKD and documented hypertension as significant risk factors for LEA in people with diabetes whilst documented retinopathy was protective. Within the seven year time window included in the study, no association was detected between LEA in patients with diabetes and timing of patient access to secondary healthcare for diabetes management. Discussion: Many countries have reported reduced major LEA rates in people with diabetes coinciding with improved organisation of healthcare systems. Reassuringly, these first national estimates in people with diabetes in the RoI from 2005 to 2012 demonstrated reducing trends in major LEA rates. This may be attributable to changes in diabetes care and also, secular trends in smoking, dyslipidaemia and hypertension. Consistent with international practice, LEA trends data in Ireland can be used to monitor quality of care. Quantifying this improvement precisely, though, is problematic without robust denominator data on the prevalence of diabetes. However, a reduction in major diabetes-related LEA rates suggests improved quality of diabetes care. Much controversy exists around the reliability of hospital discharge data in the RoI. This thesis includes the first multi-site study to explore this issue and found hospital discharge data reliable for the reporting of the procedure of LEA and diagnosis of diabetes. This project did not detect protective effects of access to services including podiatry and secondary healthcare for LEA in people with diabetes. A major limitation of the systematic review and meta-analysis was the design and quality of the included studies. The data available in the area of effect of contact with a podiatrist on LEA risk are too sparse to say anything definitive about the efficacy of podiatry on LEA. Limitations of the case-control study include lack of a diabetes register in Ireland, restricted information from secondary healthcare and lack of data available from primary healthcare. Due to these issues, duration of disease could not be accounted for in the study which limits the conclusions that can be drawn from the results. The model of diabetes care in the RoI is currently undergoing a re-configuration with plans to introduce integrated care. In the future, trends in LEA rates should be continuously monitored to evaluate the effectiveness of changes to the healthcare system. Efforts are already underway to improve the availability of routine data from primary healthcare with the recent development of the iPCRN (Irish Primary Care Research Network). Linkage of primary and secondary healthcare records with a unique patient identifier should be the goal for the future.

Alternate lower extremity resistance training to increase stability in young and elderly adults

Gemstone Team BALANCE