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Acute respiratory tract infections are of paramount importance in the poultry industry. We developed an xTAG bead assay for the simultaneous detection and discrimination of avian influenza virus (AIV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) and infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV). The assay lacked nonspecific reactions with other common avian viruses and the limit of detection was 6.75 × 10 2 – 3.52 × 10 3 copies/μL. We examined 60 clinical specimens and found 18 positive for respiratory viruses. Our result demonstrated that xTAG-multiplex PCR method is a high-throughput, rapid, specific and sensitive assay for use in epidemiological studies and clinical detection of avian respiratory pathogens.

The selective synthesis of SAPO-5, SAPO-5/SAPO-34 mixture and SAPO-34 was performed by increasing Si/Al ratio and pH through hydrothermal synthesis route, in which the product was successively switched from AFI to AFI/CHA and to CHA. The samples were characterized by XRD, XRF, SEM, and NH3-TPD techniques. It indicates that the SAPO-5/SAPO-34 mixture exhibits higher acidity than the pure SAPO-5 and SAPO-34 phases. During methanol-to-olefins reaction, the catalytic lifetime of the SAPO-5/SAPO-34 mixture was significantly longer than that of SAPO-34, which may be attributed to the moderate acidity of the SAPO-5/SAPO-34 mixture.

Although insurance companies are increasingly paying for home-based palliative care (HBPC), enrollment remains low. To identify patient and caregiver perceived barriers to HBPC and their recommendations for overcoming these barriers, we conducted semi-structured individual interviews. Our interview protocol elicited participants’ perspectives on HBPC services; positive and negative aspects of the palliative program explanation; and suggestions for improving HBPC messaging. Seventeen patients and eight caregivers who were eligible for a randomized controlled trial of HBPC were interviewed. Themes related to HBPC referral barriers included reluctance to have home visits, enrollment timing, lack of palliative care knowledge, and patients’ self-perceived health condition. Themes related to recommendations for overcoming these obstacles included ensuring that HBPC referrals come from healthcare providers or insurance companies and presenting HBPC more clearly. Findings reinforce the need for palliative care education among seriously ill patients and the importance of delivering palliative care information and referrals from trusted sources.

A series of NbmCu0.1-mCe0.9Ox catalysts were synthesized with the help of citric acid method, and used for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with NH3 (NH3-SCR). The catalytic performance of the NbmCu0.1-mCe0.9Ox samples was greatly improved after the introducing of niobium. Among all catalysts, the Nb0.06Cu0.04Ce0.9Ox catalyst revealed the best low-temperature SCR activity, higher N2 selectivity and extraordinary SO2 and H2O durability with 100% NO conversion at 150–390 °C. The various characterization techniques were carried out to investigate the effect of niobium doping on the physical structures, surface properties and NH3-SCR activity of catalysts. Results reveal that the oxidation ability decrease but the acidity is enhanced with the Nb addition. The improved acidity by niobium doping is considered the primary cause for the superior deNOx performance of the Nb0.06Cu0.04Ce0.9Ox catalyst at low temperature, which can offset the negative effects of the reduced oxidation ability on activity. Furthermore, in situ DRIFTS results were applied for the investigation of the reaction process in detail.

Murine parvovirus is one of the most prevalent infectious pathogens in mouse colonies. A specific primer pair targeting the VP2 gene of minute virus of mice (MVM) and mouse parvovirus (MPV) was utilized for high resolution melting (HRM) analysis. The resulting melting curves could distinguish these two virus strains and there was no detectable amplification of the other mouse pathogens which included rat parvovirus (KRV), ectromelia virus (ECT), mouse adenovirus (MAD), mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV), polyoma virus (Poly), Helicobactor hepaticus (H. hepaticus) and Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium). The detection limit of the standard was 10 copies/μL. This study showed that the PCR-HRM assay could be an alternative useful method with high specificity and sensitivity for differentiating murine parvovirus strains MVM and MPV.

OMS-2 with the hierarchical pore structure (OMS-2-OA) was successfully synthesized by etching with H2C2O4 and applied for catalytic toluene oxidation. A series of characterizations (including XRD, SEM, TEM, N2 adsorption-desorption, O2-TPD and so on) were performed to explore the relation between the activity and properties of OMS-2-OA. The results confirm the formation of mesopore on the OMS-2-OA after etching with H2C2O4, but it still maintains the cryptomelane structure and nano-rod morphology of OMS-2. Compared with OMS-2, OMS-2-OA shows the better catalytic toluene oxidation performance that the temperatures of 50% and 100% toluene conversion get to 212 and 225 °C, respectively, which can be attributed to the more amount of K+ and Mn4+ on OMS-2-OA than those on OMS-2, enhancing its lattice oxygen activity and oxidation ability. Moreover, a small amount of H2O addition in the feed can improve the catalytic performance and stability of OMS-2 and OMS-2-OA. In addition, a series of OMS-2-OA samples after long-term use were treated at different reaction conditions and characterized to investigate the factors in affecting catalytic activity for OMS-2-OA. This work provides a method to change surface chemical environment and form mesopore structure of MnOx to tune its catalytic activity by etching with H2C2O4.

A low hydrothermal temperature, short crystallization time and green strategy is developed for the synthesis of low-silica SAPO-34. The samples were prepared by adjusting the additional pressure with N2 using TEA as the sole template. The pure SAPO-34 (SP-C4) was obtained only under pressure of 2.7 MPa which possessed the smaller crystal size and moderate acidity and showed enhanced the lifetime and light olefins selectivity in methanol to olefins. And the possible formation mechanism of low-silica SAPO-34 was proposed.

Despite some insurance plans now paying for home-based palliative care, recent reports have suggested that coverage for palliative care may be insufficient to expanding patient access to home-based palliative care. Research has yet to explore palliative care barriers from the perspective of palliative care-eligible patients and their caregivers. To identify patients and caregivers’ perceived barriers to home-based palliative care and their recommendations for overcoming these barriers, we conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured individual interviews. Participants (patients, proxies, and their caregivers) who were eligible for a randomized controlled trial of home-based palliative care were interviewed via telephone. Our interview protocol elicited participants’ perspectives on home-based palliative care services; positive and negative aspects of the program explanation; and suggestions for improving messaging around home-based palliative care. Researchers used grounded theory to identify the themes within the transcripts. Two researchers independently coded the transcripts and then met to compare coding and reconciled discrepancies until 100% consensus was reached. Identified themes related to home-based palliative care referral barriers included reluctance to have home visits, timing, lack of palliative care knowledge, misconceptions of palliative care, and patients’ self-perceived health condition (not sick enough for palliative care). Themes related to recommendations for overcoming these barriers included preferring a palliative care referral from healthcare providers or from insurance company and clearer presentation of palliative care service. Findings reinforce the need for additional palliative care education among patients with serious illness and the importance of delivering the information from a trusted source.

The low-temperature catalytic performance of Cu-ion-exchanged SSZ-52 catalysts (with different amounts of ion-exchanged Cu) for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx by NH3 (NH3-SCR) is investigated. The Cu-ion-exchanged SSZ-52 catalysts are prepared by a new method by using fumed silica as the silicon source. Among the synthesized Cux-SSZ-52 catalyst series, Cu2.4-SSZ-52 exhibits the highest NH3-SCR activity. In addition, the de-NOx performance of Cu2.4-SSZ-52 is superior to that of Cu2.4-SSZ-13. Moreover, the catalytic performance of Cu2.4-SSZ-52 reduces only slightly after hydrothermal aging at 750 °C. The microporous structure, redox ability, acidity properties as well as the location and nature of the Cu species and the reactant adsorption process of the support and Cux-SSZ-52 catalysts are investigated in detail. Overall, the findings show that the unique structure and cages of SSZ-52 are responsible for its excellent catalytic performance.

A series of Cux-Ce0.5-x-Zr0.5 oxides catalysts with different Cu/Ce ratio were synthesized by citric acid method. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET surface area, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD, NO-TPD, XPS and in-situ DRIFTS. The synergistic effect between copper and cerium on the catalytic performance of Cux-Ce0.5-x-Zr0.5 for selective catalytic reduction of NO with ammonia was investigated. It was found that the Cu0.2-Ce0.3-Zr0.5 catalyst show the excellent SCR activity, N2 selectivity and H2O/SO2 durability in a low temperature range of 150–270 °C even at high gas hourly space velocity of 84,000 h−1. The strong interaction leads to the improvement of the acidity and the increase in the amount of active oxygen species (oxygen vacancy), which are responsible for the higher activity at low temperatures. The SCR reaction process over Cu0.2-Ce0.3-Zr0.5 was also examined using in-situ DRIFTS. The DRIFTS results indicate that abundant ionic NH4+ (Bronsted acid sites), coordinated NH3 on the Lewis acid sites, as well as highly active monodentate nitrate and bridging nitrate species were the key intermediates in the SCR reaction.

In this paper, the activity of La1.6Ba0.4NiO4 (LBN) and Ru/La1.6Ba0.4NiO4 (Ru/LBN) perovskite-like catalysts was investigated for NO + CO reaction. Meanwhile, Ru/LBN exhibited much higher activity than LBN. The catalysts were fully characterized by means of XRD, elemental analysis, N2-physisorption, H2-TPR, XPS, O2-TPD, NO-TPD and CO-TPD. These results demonstrated that the excellent catalytic performance of Ru/LBN catalyst was associated with the strong interaction between Ru and LBN, leading to enhancing reducibility and mobility of oxygen species and increasing the amount of the surface adsorbed oxygen. In addition, the amount of adsorbed CO and NO increased largely for Ru/LBN. And Ru3+ species on the surface of Ru/LBN was considered as an effective active site for NO + CO reaction. In-situ DRIFTS was used for studying the relationship between catalytic activity and NO, CO adsorption ability, species and sites. The results indicated that the new active species were formed on the surface of Ru/LBN compared with LBN including inorganic carboxylate, monodentate carbonate, Ru-NO, bridged nitrate and nitrite.

A serial of Rux-Co3O4 (x = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) catalysts were prepared by the coprecipitation method and applied to the decomposition of N2O. They were characterized by the XRD, TEM, Raman, H2-TPR, XPS, O2-TPD and in situ DRIFTS. The results indicate that the strong interaction between Co and Ru exists in the Rux-Co3O4 catalysts, which results in much larger BET surface area, better structural stability and more surface Co2+, Ru3+ and oxygen species compared with Co3O4. Additionally, the Rux-Co3O4 catalysts, especial Ru0.2-Co3O4, show much higher activity and stability than the Co3O4 catalyst due to the synergistic effect of Ru and Co3O4. Moreover, the Ru0.2-Co3O4 catalyst shows much stronger resistance against 2.1% H2O and 1.5% O2 in the feed than Co3O4.

A series of graphitized carbon (GC) supports with different degrees of graphitization was prepared and characterized. The study clearly showed that GC800 was the most proper support after loading the noble metal in the hydrogenation of biomass-derived 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to liquid fuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) under mild reaction conditions. Over the Pd/GC800 catalysts, relatively high selectivity to DMF was achieved, whereas the Au/GC800 catalysts displayed extremely low selectivity to DMF. Furthermore, PdAux/GC800 (x = 1–4) catalysts with different Au/Pd mass ratios were synthesized, which showed excellent catalytic activity without any activator or acidic media. More gratifyingly, the PdAu4/GC800 catalyst gave 94.4% DMF selectivity with 86.8% HMF conversion at 150 °C for 4 h and maintained good stability after five cycles, which was attributed to the intimate contact and intensive interaction between the Pd and Au nanoparticles. As a result, the dispersion of particles was improved, and the co...

Mn- or/and Ni-modified SAPO-34 molecular sieves (Mn–SAPO-34, Ni–SAPO-34, and MnNi–SAPO-34) were synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis method using morpholine as a structure directing agent. XRD, XRF, SEM, TEM-EDX, UV-vis-DRS, NH3-TPD, XPS, NMR, and in situ DRIFTS analyses were performed to study the properties of the samples. The MnNi–SAPO-34 catalyst demonstrated much better NOx conversion (>95%) and N2 selectivity (>98%) for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx by NH3 than those of the other catalysts from 320 °C to 470 °C. Moreover, NOx conversion could still be maintained at about 100% at 380 °C even after 80 h over MnNi–SAPO-34. Its excellent activity can be ascribed to the strong interaction between the Mn and Ni species in the framework of MnNi–SAPO-34, leading to the suitable redox ability of MnNi–SAPO-34 by the reaction Ni3+ + Mn3+ ↔ Ni2+ + Mn4+. The in situ DRIFTS results suggested that the NH3-SCR reaction was mainly performed by an Eley–Rideal (E–R) reaction pathway at 300 °C for the MnNi–SAPO-34 catalyst. Thus, MnNi–SAPO-34 is considered as a promising candidate for controlling NOx emissions at middle temperatures.

In this work, a series of NixMn1−xTi10 (x = 0.0–0.5) catalysts were synthesized using a one-pot sol–gel method for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH3. The effects of Ni doping on the catalytic activity and SO2 resistance were investigated by XRD, TEM-EDS, XPS, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, SO2-TPD and in situ DRIFTS. It is found that the higher the amounts of surface Mn4+ and Oα species existing on the catalyst surface, the greater the oxidation ability that they present for NO and NH3, which results in better activity at low temperature and worse selectivity to N2 at high temperature due to the overoxidation of NH3. Among NixMn1−xTi10 (x = 0.0–0.5), the Ni0.4Mn0.6Ti10 catalyst exhibited excellent NH3-SCR activity, a wide temperature window (190–360 °C) and good H2O and SO2 durability even in the presence of 100 ppm SO2 and 15% H2O under a GHSV of 40 000 h−1, which is very competitive for the practical application in controlling the NOx emission from stationary sources. It is concluded that more surface Lewis acid sites and the appropriate contents of surface active Mn4+ and surface oxygen species on the surface of Ni0.4Mn0.6Ti10 play key roles in the special SCR performance due to the interactions among Mn, Ni and Ti oxides. The SO2-TPD and in situ DRIFTS results confirm the reason for the good SO2 resistance of the Ni0.4Mn0.6Ti10 catalyst. Moreover, in situ DRIFTS results reveal that the NH3-SCR reaction over Ni0.4Mn0.6Ti10 mainly follows the Eley–Rideal (E–R)-type mechanism.

In this paper, entropies, including measure-theoretic entropy and topological entropy, are considered for random Z k \mathbb {Z}^k -actions which are generated by random compositions of the generators of Z k \mathbb {Z}^k -actions. Applying Pesin’s theory for commutative diffeomorphisms we obtain a measure-theoretic entropy formula of C 2 C^{2} random Z k \mathbb {Z}^k -actions via the Lyapunov spectra of the generators. Some formulas and bounds of topological entropy for certain random Z k \mathbb {Z}^k (or Z + k ) \mathbb {Z}_+^k) -actions generated by more general maps, such as Lipschitz maps, continuous maps on finite graphs and C 1 C^{1} expanding maps, are also obtained. Moreover, as an application, we give a formula of Friedland’s entropy for certain C 2 C^{2} Z k \mathbb {Z}^k -actions.

The La1.6Ba0.4NiO4-x%BaO (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30) catalysts were prepared by heating the mixture of Ba(NO3)2 and La1.6Ba0.4NiO4 in situ, and their catalytic performances were evaluated for NO direct decomposition. The results showed that the activities of the La1.6Ba0.4NiO4-x%BaO catalysts had been improved with the increasing of BaO amount. Among these catalysts, the La1.6Ba0.4NiO4-20%BaO exhibited the best catalytic performance for NO direct decomposition, and the yield of N2 kept 57% during 500 h at 923 K in the absence of O2, even the concentration of O2 was 0.2% in the feed, the N2 yield still up to 57% at 923 K. So much higher activity for the perovskite(-like) oxides catalysts at such reaction temperature was first observed. In order to understand the role of BaO, a serial of experiments and characterizations were carried out on the La1.6Ba0.4NiO4-x%BaO catalysts. The results revealed that the number of chemical adsorption oxygen adsorbed on the oxygen vacancies increased and the mobility of the lattice oxygen could be improved due to the BaO addition. Moreover, BaO may play an important role in NOx transportation and storage, which is favorable for the regeneration of the active sites.

Ni(0.4)-MnO x catalyst was prepared by citrate combustion, which showed high catalytic performance for NH 3 -SCR reaction. After the resistance tests of SO 2 and H 2 O, Ni(0.4)-MnO x -SH showed better NH 3 -SCR activity than that of Ni(0.4)-MnO x , when the temperature was > 240 °C. The characterizations suggest that Ni(0.4)-MnO x -SH has more acid sites for ammonia adsorption and far weaker oxidation capacity for NH 3 , which resulted in the high catalytic activity at middle-temperature.

Until recently, consumers have had limited resources to assess quality of hospices agencies, contributing to growing numbers of consumers turning to online review sites, such as Yelp. Yet little is known about the content of hospice Yelp reviews and how these relate to recently available Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospice Compare site data. No study has examined Yelp hospice reviews and compared the themes identified in Yelp reviews to the topics addressed by CMS’s HC measures. To better understand how consumers perceive hospice care, we drew a purposeful sample of 67 hospices in California. Researchers used grounded theory to identify themes and categories within the hospice reviews. Each of two teams of two researchers independently coded the reviews and then met to compare coding and reconcile discrepancies until 100% consensus was reached. We coded a total of 692 consumer Yelp reviews, identifying 15 themes and grouping them under five overarching thematic categories: patient/caregiver-provider relationship; clinical care; agency competency; staff professionalism; and medical equipment and supplies. We found that overall Yelp comments were positive. The most frequently mentioned Yelp themes in hospice reviews were compassionate, caring staff; patient/family gratitude; and staff responsiveness. There was considerable overlap between the themes captured in HC caregivers survey items and Yelp. However, Yelp reviews cover a greater number and more diverse themes than those measures reported on the CMS Hospice Compare site. We recommend that consumers consider both HC and online review sites such as Yelp when evaluating a hospice.

Background Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) is an emerging circovirus species, that has been reported in major pig-raising countries including the United States, China, South Korea, Brazil, Spain, and Poland. Results A real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was developed for rapid detection of porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3). The method had a detection limit of 1 × 101 copies/μL with no cross-reactions with classical swine fever virus (CSFV) C strain, foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) LG vaccine strain, porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV), porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus (PRRSV), or pseudorabies virus (PRV). The PCV3 positive detection rate of 203 clinical samples for the real-time LAMP assay was 89.66% (182/203). Conclusions The real-time LAMP assay is highly sensitive, and specific for use in epidemiological investigations of PCV3.

For the task with complicated manipulation in unstructured environments, traditional hand-coded methods are ineffective, while reinforcement learning can provide more general and useful policy. Although the reinforcement learning is able to obtain impressive results, its stability and reliability is hard to guarantee, which would cause the potential safety threats. Besides, the transfer from simulation to real-world also will lead in unpredictable situations. To enhance the safety and reliability of robots, we introduce the force and haptic perception into reinforcement learning. Force and tactual sensation play key roles in robotic dynamic control and human-robot interaction. We demonstrate that the force-based reinforcement learning method can be more adaptive to environment, especially in sim-to-real transfer. Experimental results show in object pushing task, our strategy is safer and more efficient in both simulation and real world, thus it holds prospects for a wide variety of robotic applications.

In the present work, a serial of Cu

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation is an attractive route for the synthesis of biomass-derived chemicals. However, development of efficient, low-cost, and stable catalysts for that reaction is still a challenge. Here, we report on the preparation and testing of a non-noble perovskite oxide (LaFeO

Background Murine norovirus (MNV) is recognized as the most prevalent viral pathogen in captive mouse colonies. The rapid detection assay for MNV would be a useful tool for monitoring and preventing MNV infection. A recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay was established in this study to provide a solution for rapid and sensitive detection of MNV. Results The detection limit of the RT-RPA assay for the detection of MNV was 1 × 102 copies of RNA molecules per reaction. The assay was specific since there was no cross-reaction with other common murine viruses. In addition, the broad reactivity of the RT-RPA assay was validated using the synthesized template carrying seven point mutations among several MNV strains. The MNV RT-RPA assay could detect as few as 1 × 102 copies of the mutant per reaction, suggesting the assay could be broadly reactive against a large diversity of MNV strains. Forty eight clinical samples including 16 gastric tissue specimens, 16 cecal tissue specimens and 16 fecal specimens were tested for the validation of the new developed RT-RPA assay. The detection results of RT-RPA and RT-qPCR for clinical samples were very similar, except that a gastric tissue sample which was positive by RT-qPCR, with a RNA titer of 27 copies, was negative by RT-RPA. Conclusions A broadly reactive RT-RPA assay was successfully established for MNV detection.

Cerium and titanium oxides are considered as promising alternative catalysts for selective catalytic reduction with NH3 (NH3-SCR) to remove NOx. However, the poor SO2 or H2O tolerance and stability limit their practical applications. Herein, CeTiOx with nanotube structure (CeTiOx-T) was prepared by hydrothermal method and used for NH3-SCR reaction. CeTiOx-T shows the excellent catalytic activity, SO2 and H2O tolerance and stability, in which more than 98 % NO conversion can be achieved in the range of 180−390 °C with 100 % N2 selectivity. The characterizations verify that CeTiOx-T exhibits amorphous structure due to the strong interaction between Ce and Ti to form short-range ordered Ce-O-Ti species. As results, CeTiOx-T displays the larger BET surface area, more surface Bronsted acid amounts and chemisorbed oxygen, leading to its higher NH3-SCR performance. In situ DRIFTS results suggest the SCR reaction mainly follow L-H and E-R mechanisms at low and high temperature for over CeTiOx-T, respectively.

A series of CoxCe1-xO2-δ (x = 0.05−0.6) oxides were synthesized through non-ionic surfactant hydrothermal method and applied for catalytic toluene oxidation. Various characterizations were performed to investigate the relation between structure and activity of the catalysts, including XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, Raman spectra, TEM, H2-TPR, O2-TPD, XPS and in situ DRIFTS. CoxCe1-xO2-δ shows higher catalytic performance than pure Co3O4 and CeO2, meanwhile Co0.2Ce0.8O2-δ exhibits the best catalytic activity for toluene oxidation in the presence and absence of water, moreover, no obvious difference in activity among three successive testing runs. This good activity can be mainly attributed to the strong interaction between Co and Ce oxides to form Co0.2Ce0.8O2-δ solid solution, leading to abundant surface active oxygen species, more surface Co3+ and Ce3+ species. In situ DRIFTS is used to probe the catalytic reaction process, which reveals that toluene can be rapidly adsorbed and transferred to benzoate species, finally oxidized into CO2 and H2O.

Low acidity SAPO-34 was synthesized by adding seeding SAPO-34 as Si source without additional Si reagent, named as CSSAPO-34-x (x = 1, 2, 3) according to the seeding SAPO-34 content for 6 wt%, 8 wt% and 9 wt%, respectively. The characterizations prove that the CSSAPO-34-x samples display much lower Si content and acidity, good catalytic performance and light olefins selectivity in methanol to olefins (MTO) process compared with the seeding SAPO-34 and the similar Si content SAPO-34 synthesized in one pot procedure. Further studies demonstrate that Si distribution can be manipulated when the seeding SAPO-34 is recrystallized by the hydrothermal treatment, decreasing the acidity of the CSSAPO-34-x, leading to much better catalytic MTO performance.

Medication-related problems (MRPs) remain one of the largest health risks for older adults, yet there are few studies that identify the complete myriad of problems associated with medication use among community-dwelling older adults with chronic diseases. The aim of this study is to identify the range and quantity of MRPs among community-dwelling older adults and determine the relationship between number of MRPs and emergency room (ER) visits. Primary data were collected from a community medication program for diverse older adults (N=206). A comprehensive medication review was conducted to identify MRPs including adverse drug reaction, inappropriate storage, and non-adherence. We conducted multivariate logistic regression to examine the relationship between the number of MRPs and ER visits controlling for health conditions and demographic information including age, gender and race. The mean age of participants was 74.2 (SD=8.8) and 65% were female. Racial groups include Whites (39%), Blacks (21%), Hispanics (29%) and Asian/Pacific Islanders (11%). On average, participants had 5.3 (SD=2.3) health conditions and 18.8 (SD=5.9) MRPs, among which adherence (36%) and coordination of care (28%) were most commonly identified. About 30% had at least 1 ER visit in the previous 6 months. The number of MRPs was significantly associated with ER visits (OR=1.08, p=.03). Older adults experienced a variety of MRPs and for each problem experienced, the odds of having an ER visit increased by 8%. Interventions are needed to assess the myriad of MRPs among community-dwelling older adults and address those potential risks.

Feline coronavirus (FCoV) is classified into two pathotypes: the avirulent feline enteric coronavirus (FECV), and the virulent feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV). Rapid pathogen detection, which is efficient and convenient, is the best approach for early confirmatory diagnosis. In this study, we first developed and evaluated a rapid recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) detection method for FCoV that can detect FCoV within 15 min at 39°C. The detection limit of that assay was 233 copies/μL DNA molecules per reaction. The specificity was high: it did not cross-react with canine distemper virus (CDV), canine coronavirus (CCoV), canine adenovirus (CAV), feline calicivirus (FCV), feline herpesvirus (FHV), or feline parvovirus (FPV). This assay was evaluated using 42 clinical samples (30 diarrhea samples and 12 ascites samples). The coincidence rate between FCoV-RPA and RT-qPCR for detection in clinical samples was 95.2%. In summary, FCoV-RPA analysis provides an efficient, rapid, and sensitive detection method for FCoV., Highlights • FCoV RPA has the shortest reaction time within 15 min among all the PCR-based methods. • FCoV RPA detection method has no cross-reactivity with other pathogens. • The sensitivity of FCoV RPA was consistent with real-time PCR, as low as 204 copies/μL of DNA molecules per reaction.

Here, we tune the surface area and the anchoring environment of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) by adjusting the mass of ammonium chloride to obtain different mesoporous g-C3N4 supports (m-CN-x). Then Pt nanoparticles (NPs) supported on different m-CN-x (Pt/m-CN-x) have been prepared by a facile and eco-friendly ultrasonic impregnation assisted ethylene glycol reduction method, and applied for selective hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol (FOL). The Pt/m-CN-2 catalyst shows the best catalytic performance with 99.3% selectivity to FOL and 98.5% conversion of FAL, moreover can be recycled for five times without significant deactivation. The enhanced catalytic activity can be attributed to the fact that the m-CN-2 support has more suitable distribution of surface nitrogen species and anchoring environment for the nucleation and dispersion of Pt NPs, leading to the formation of small Pt NPs size (2.1 nm) and high content of electron-rich active Pt0 species (92.6%) on the surface of the Pt/m-CN-2 catalyst. Furthermore, the effects of different N species of m-CN-x on the anchoring of Pt NPs and formation of the Pt0 species were also investigated in detail. Our work provides a new idea for the regulation of graphitic phase carbon nitride supported Pt NPs catalysts.

Highlights • A duplex real-time RT-PCR was developed and evaluated for detection of TMEV and RTV. • The duplex assay could differentiate between TMEV and RTV. • The duplex assay was specific, sensitive and reproducible. • The duplex assay was more sensitive and effective than conventional RT-PCR. • It is a useful tool for routine health monitoring of laboratory rodents., Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) and rat theilovirus (RTV), the member of the genus Cardiovirus, are widespread in laboratory mice and rats, and are potential contaminants of biological materials. Cardioviruses infection may cause serious complications in biomedical research. To improve the efficiency of routine screening for Cardioviruses infection, a duplex real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed for simultaneous detection and differentiation of TMEV and RTV. The duplex assay was specific for reference strains of TMEV and RTV, and no cross-reaction was found with seven other rodent viruses. The limits of detection of both TMEV and RTV were 4 × 101 copies RNA/reaction. Reproducibility was estimated using standard dilutions, with coefficients of variation

Pt–Co alloy supported on SBA-15 catalysts (Pt–Co/SBA-15) were prepared by impregnation and NaBH4 reduction method. Their catalytic performances were investigated for selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. It was found that the formation of Pt–Co markedly enhanced the conversion to cinnamaldehyde and selectivity to cinnamyl alcohol compared with Pt/SBA-15. Meanwhile, the Pt–Co/SBA-15-0.6 catalyst performed the best catalytic activity that 71 % CAL conversion and 91 % selectivity to COL were attained. Moreover, no obvious deactivation was observed after using 4 times for Pt–Co/SBA-15-0.6. This improvement was contributed to the formation of Pt–Co alloy, which increased the amount of the Pt0 species on the catalysts. Pt–Co alloy supported on SBA-15 catalyst shows excellent catalytic selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol

Herein, a series of catalysts made of Pd–WN on various supports was synthesized by modifying supports with small-size WN NPs firstly and loading Pd subsequently. Their catalytic performances were evaluated for selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (CAL) to hydrocinnamaldehyde (HALD). Interestingly, it was found the synergistic effect between Pd and WN can improve conversion and selectivity of CAL to HALD. Among these catalysts, Pd–WN/SBA-15 shows best performance with highest conversion (99 %) and selectivity to HALD (97 %), which is superior to commercial 5 % Pd/C catalyst. The hydrogenation kinetics of Pd–WN/SBA-15 has been adequately represented by a standard pseudo-first-order approximation, and it discloses that the existence of WN can effectively decrease the activation energy (23.2 kJ mol−1). The synergistic effect of Pd and WN results in enriching the electron density of Pd, increasing the ratio of surface Pd0 and decreasing the size of Pd on the Pd–WN/SBA-15 catalyst.

In this paper, the activity and stability of Ru supported on La1.6Sr0.4NiO4 perovskite-like catalysts prepared by two different methods, incipient wetness procedures with the addition of ethylene glycol (Ru/LSN-EG) and without ethylene glycol (Ru/LSN), were investigated for the decomposition of N2O. The catalysts were fully characterized by means of XRD, elemental analysis, N2-physisorption, TEM, H2-TPR, N2O-TPD and XPS. The Ru/LSN-EG catalyst retained high activity for 10 h without deactivation, which is attributed to the stable Ru3+ species, the much higher mobility of lattice oxygen and the regeneration ability of oxygen vacancies. However, the Ru/LSN catalyst presented deactivation; the initial N2O conversion of about 95% was only maintained for the first hour and decreased with time to 55% after 6 h. The reasons for this deactivation were investigated by a series of experiments and characterizations. The results indicate that the deactivation of the Ru/LSN catalyst can be ascribed to the difficult desorption of the oxygen species derived from N2O decomposition on the active sites; moreover, all the metallic Ru and Ru3+ species are oxidized to high oxidation state Ru4+ species. All the results demonstrated that the Ru3+ species was more favorable for N2O decomposition. Furthermore, the effects of O2 and H2O on the decomposition of N2O were also evaluated over the Ru/LSN-EG catalyst. High stability and no irreversible deactivation of the Ru/LSN-EG catalyst, even in the presence of O2 and H2O, were found.

A series of cerous phosphate (CP) catalysts with different crystal structures were synthesized by a hydrothermal method at different temperatures (120, 140, 160, 180 and 200 °C) and their performances for the dehydration of glucose into 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) were also thoroughly investigated. These catalysts were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption–desorption, SEM, in situ DRIFT, NH3-TPD and XPS. The results indicate that changing the temperature of synthesis will lead to a transformation of the crystal phase and morphology from 120 °C (nanoparticles, hexagonal structure) to 200 °C (nanorods, monoclinic structure); also, the different crystal phases possess different surface Ce4+ amounts and acidities. A good linear correlation is found between the Lewis acid content and the surface Ce4+ amount among these CP catalysts, and very good linearity is also displayed between the Lewis acid amount and the conversion of glucose or the selectivity of HMF, which indicates that Lewis acidity plays an important role in the dehydration of glucose to HMF. CP120, which has a hexagonal crystal structure, exhibits the best catalytic activity (97% conversion of glucose and 61% yield of HMF) because it has the highest amounts of Lewis acid and total acid.

The introduction of a suitable co-catalyst is a promising way to improve the catalytic efficiency of Pt catalysts. Herein, SBA-15 modified with well-dispersed Mo2N nanoparticles (NPs) is synthesized by anchoring phosphomolybdic acid (HPM) on aminated SBA-15 (SBA-15-NH2) primarily, followed by nitridation treatment under NH3. After loading of Pt, the Pt–Mo2N/SBA-15 catalyst with close-contact Pt and Mo2N NPs can be formed. The intensive interaction of Pt and Mo2N benefited from the close contact is verified by XRD and XPS tests. As a result, the ternary Pt–Mo2N/SBA-15 catalysts have shown superior performance to Pt/SBA-15 catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol. The TOF over the 1 wt% Pt–Mo2N/SBA-15 catalyst is close to that over the 3 wt% Pt/SBA-15 catalyst, but its selectivity to cinnamyl alcohol (COL) is 2.5 times that of 3 wt% Pt/SBA-15. The promoted activity of Pt–Mo2N/SBA-15 is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of Pt and Mo2N NPs, which can cause the full development of the catalytic ability of Pt, thus reducing the Pt usage, through increasing the dispersion of Pt NPs and the fraction of Pt0 species in the catalyst.

A series of CeaTiOx catalysts with different Ce/Ti molar ratios was prepared by a sol–gel method and used for selective catalytic reaction (SCR) of NO with NH3. The NO conversion values confirmed that the Ce0.3TiOx catalyst showed a much higher activity at low temperature, and the catalyst exhibited 100% NO conversion in the broad temperature range of 200–350 °C and nearly 100% N2 selectivity. The catalysts were characterized by the BET surface area, XRD, XPS, NH3-TPD and H2-TPR. These results demonstrated that the excellent catalytic performance of the complete amorphous Ce0.3TiOx catalyst was associated with the strong interactions between Ce and Ti, the higher BET surface area, abundant acid sites, and greater presence of Ce3+ and chemisorbed oxygen. In situ DRIFTS was used for studies of the reaction mechanism and SO2 resistance. The results indicate that the L–H reaction pathway can be hindered in the presence of SO2 at low temperature ( 200 °C) led to a satisfactory SO2 resistance.

In this work, Pt and Pd catalysts supported on carbon nanosheets (CNS) with different graphitization degrees were prepared via a simple borohydride reduction method. The effect of graphitization degree on the catalytic activity of Pt/CNS and Pd/CNS was investigated to obtain the optimal activity. The prepared catalysts were well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The activity and selectivity of Pt/CNS and Pd/CNS catalysts increases with the rise of the graphitization degree of CNS. A high graphitization degree of the CNS support can enhance the transfer of electrons from the CNS support to Pt and Pd nanoparticles, leading to the increase in the surface Pt0 and Pd0 content. The more surface Pt0 and Pd0 content the catalyst has, the higher selectivity to COL and CALD it exhibits, respectively. The good graphitization degree of the CNS support is an advantage of the strong π–π interactions between CAL and the surface sp2-bonded of CNS support. Thus, the different catalytic activity and selectivity over the Pt/CNS and Pd/CNS catalysts are attributed to the surface Pt0 and Pd0 content and the adsorption capacity for CAL on the catalyst surface that are closely related to the graphitization degree of CNS.

Bulk, supported and macroporous perovskite LaFeO3 are synthesized and investigated as catalysts for CO and soot oxidation. The structure and physicochemical properties of LaFeO3 are characterized by XRD patterns, N2 physisorption isotherms, TEM, XPS, O2-TPD and H2-TPR measurements. Pure LaFeO3 with desired textural structures are successfully prepared, and the porous sample exhibits the best activity to both reactions, pointing out the importance of fabrication of porous perovskite for the reactions. By correlating with the catalytic activities and the physicochemical properties, it is inferred that the best activity obtained from the porous LaFeO3 is attributed to its large surface area, rich active lattice oxygen and strong surface reducibility. A decrease in the activity of porous LaFeO3 is observed for both reactions when vapor is added, but the activity is sustainable even the vapor percentage increases up to 13.5%, and moreover, the activity can be recovered after vapor is removed.

Let $\mathcal{F}$ be a $C^2$ random partially hyperbolic dynamical system. For the unstable foliation, the corresponding unstable metric entropy, unstable topological entropy and unstable pressure via the dynamics of $\mathcal{F}$ on the unstable foliation are introduced and investigated. A version of Shannon-McMillan-Breiman Theorem for unstable metric entropy is given, and a variational principle for unstable pressure (and hence for unstable entropy) is obtained. Moreover, as an application of the variational principle, equilibrium states for the unstable pressure including Gibbs $u$-states are investigated., 26 pages

Carbon encapsulated LaFeO3 perovskite composites (LaFeO3@C) were synthesized by a one-pot method and the effects of carbohydrates as carbon precursor on the activity of LaFeO3@C for catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) reactions were investigated. The textural and surface properties (e.g., pore structure, surface acidity and basicity) of LaFeO3@C vary significantly with carbohydrates, which offer a facile route to tailor the sample by simply changing the carbon precursor. LaFeO3@C-M, using maltose as carbon precursor, shows the best catalyst for the CTH of furfural with isopropanol, with conversion and selectivity of 90.3 % and 94.3 %, respectively, owing to the surface La enrichment, rich oxygen functional groups / oxygen vacancy and matched surface acidity-basicity. This sample is also recyclable after post-treatment in N2 atmosphere and can be applied to catalytic hydrogenation of various carbonyl compounds. The current one-step synthesis method provides an efficient way to design carbon-containing composite catalysts with controllable properties for catalytic applications.

Herein, a series of CenTiOx (n = 0.068, 0.15, 0.21 and 0.30) flakes with hierarchical structure was prepared by alcoholysis under solvothermal conditions and explored for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH3. The morphology of the CenTiOx flakes was related to the Ce doping content. Remarkably, the flakes morphology of catalyst greatly promoted the SCR activity derived from the strong interaction between the Ce and Ti oxides. Among these samples, the Ce0.21TiOx with rod-like hierarchical structures demonstrated good SCR activity that the NO conversion was still over 90% from 270 °C to 450 °C even under SO2 and H2O. Various characterizations clarified that the good activity over Ce0.21TiOx was due to the increase of BET surface area (195 m2/g), surface Ce3+ amount and surface Oα species. In-situ DRIFTS was conducted to determine the distribution and reactivity of surface acid sites. The results demonstrated that there was a direct correlation between the coverage of the Bronsted acid sites and the NO conversion. Eley-Rideal (E-R) mechanism is the most likely to represent the reaction mechanism on Ce0.21TiOx catalyst.

In the present work, a serial of Cu0.02Fe0.2CeyTi1-yOx catalysts are prepared by sol-gel method and applied for NH3-SCR of NO, meanwhile Cu0.02Fe0.2Ce0.2Ti0.8Ox shows good low-temperature NH3-SCR performance with/without water and an outstanding water resistance. The bulk structure, redox ability, surface acidity and surface species of Cu0.02Fe0.2CeyTi1-yOx are measured and discussed by series of characterization in details to illuminate the reasons for the good low-temperature activity and water resistance. The Ce modification can tune the surface acidic distribution, improve the surface oxygen content and surface oxidation reduction cycle (Ce4+ + Fe2+ ↔ Ce3+ + Fe3+), which contribute the good activity. In addition, the effect of water on NH3-SCR performance over Cu0.02Fe0.2TiOx and Cu0.02Fe0·2Ce0·2Ti0.8Ox are investigated emphatically by in situ DRIFTS.

Small-sized SAPO-34 was successfully synthesized by using Pluronic F127 nonionic surfactant as growth inhibitor and triethylamine (TEA)/morpholine (Mor) as structure-directing agents (SDA). It was proved that Si distribution and the crystal size changed with the addition of Pluronic F127 in the gel. It was found that the lifetime of the smallest size sample is about four times longer than that of conventional counterparts in the reaction of methanol to olefins (MTO).

A series of Sm-modified SmaMnNi2Ti7Ox (a = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4) catalysts were synthesized and showed better NH3-SCR activity than MnNi2Ti7Ox, meanwhile, the Sm0.3MnNi2Ti7Ox sample exhibited much higher low temperature NH3-SCR performance below about 200 °C, and good SO2 and/or H2O durability. The bulk and surface physicochemical properties were measured to investigate the influence of the Sm addition on the activity by various characterization methods including NO/NH3 oxidation, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, XPS. The results illustrate that the Sm addition can not only increase the adsorbed NO/NH3 species, BET surface area, surface acid amount, Mn4+ content, surface adsorbed oxygen and the redox ability but also inhibit the generation of ammonium sulfate/bisulfate, which are beneficial to the NH3-SCR activity. Moreover, the in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy was applied to analyze the reaction process, which reveals that the NH3-SCR reaction follows both E–R and L-H mechanisms over Sm0.3MnNi2Ti7Ox.

Background: National and state surveys have found that only 8% - 17% of people know what palliative care (PC) is. Anecdotal reports also suggest many of those knowledgeable have misconceptions about PC. This lack of knowledge or misconceptions about PC can serve as barriers to accessing palliative care for seriously ill patients. Additionally, individuals often use the internet to seek health information, but it is unclear if this improves palliative care health literacy. Methods: We used the Health Information National Trends Survey 5, Cycle 2 (2018), a nationally representative dataset (n=3,504) to compare self-rated PC knowledge level with actual knowledge. We conducted chi-square and logistic regression to examine the association between PC knowledge and seeking health information on the internet. Results: About 33% of participants self-reported having PC knowledge. When these individuals were queried about specific PC knowledge, 58% failed to answer three basic questions correctly. After controlling for demographic and socioeconomic status, using the Internet to seek health information was positively associated with being knowledge about PC (P=0.006, OR=1.64), while having less than high school education was associated with lower PC knowledge. Implications: We found that self-reported PC knowledge may not reflect actual PC knowledge and thus clinicians should be sure to define the service when introducing it to patients. In addition, since use of internet in seeking health information is significantly associated with PC knowledge, it is important to ensure that internet PC information is valid, reliable, easy to access, and presented in simple language.

SAPO-34 shows higher light olefin selectivity in the reaction of methanol to olefin (MTO), but its small pore system implies diffusion limitations to bigger molecular products and results in coking too. To inhibit these limitations, sub-micrometric sized SAPO-34 crystallites were successfully synthesized by a facile surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesis route, in which cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was used as a crystal growth inhibitor (CGI). It was found that the crystal size changes in the V shape with the increase in the amount of CTAB. The sub-micrometric sized sample (SP-0.02CTAB) was obtained when the molar ratio of CTAB to Al2O3 was 0.02 in a precursor gel. The SP-0.02CTAB catalyst presents excellent performance for the MTO reaction with 97.8% C2-C4 selectivity and 3 times longer lifetime than the conventional SAPO-34 sample (SP-Conv), which is attributed to its much higher surface area and enhanced acidity derived from the formation of the sub-micrometric sized crystallites. Further study about the appropriate time of CTAB addition demonstrates that CTAB can play its role as a crystal growth inhibitor effectively, only when it is added at the very initial stage of the crystallization process.