Search

Efficient and applicable catalysts are highly desirable for advanced biomass transformation industry, here, we fabricated a series of Nd-Co-P catalysts for hydrogenation of furfural (FAL) to furfuryl alcohol (FOH). By comprehensive characterizations, it is demonstrated that the prepared Nd-Co-P samples are structured as (NdPO4)m/Co2P nanocomposites with molar ratio (m) in range of 0.24–1.1; by manipulating m, the outstanding catalytic efficiency comparable with the performance of precious metal catalysts, such as turnover frequency (TOF) up to 0.50 s−1 (being ten-fold higher than Co2P) and FOH yield up to 97%, is achieved on the reusable (NdPO4)m/Co2P composites. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD), in-situ infrared spectroscopy (IR) and kinetic-mechanism studies further disclose that Co2P is decisive for activating FAL, instead, NdPO4 possesses unique capability of activating hydrogen which readily facilitate the selective hydrogenation of FAL to FOH through a rapid Langmuir–Hinshelwood process over (NdPO4)m/Co2P catalyst. These results indicate that rare-earth phosphates like NdPO4 can act as the promising and reliable catalytic component to activate hydrogen, which can be of interest not only for innovating novel and applicable non-metallic catalysts for sustainable biomass transformation analogous to hydrogenation of FAL, but also for expanding material base for other green mass transformation techniques involving hydrogen.

To span the inherent application limitation of state-of-the-art catalysts for the chemical transformation of biomass derivatives, here, we formulate a series of Pr–Ni–P catalysts for the hydrogenation transformation of biomass-derived levulinic-acid, furfural and maleic anhydride. With comprehensive characterizations, Pr–Ni–P samples are verified as (PrPO4)m/Ni2P nanocomposites with a molar ratio (m) in the range of 0.24–11.0. In comparison with the poor catalytic performance of Ni2P, a ten-fold enhancement in TOF up to 0.45 s−1 and at least five-time promotion on the yield of objective products up to 91–98% are achieved by introducing proper amounts of PrPO4 to form reusable (PrPO4)m/Ni2P nanocomposites. Surface chemistry and kinetic mechanism studies further disclose that the cooperative catalytic function of two components, in particular the exclusive capability of PrPO4 to activate hydrogen, is responsible for the promoted hydrogenation transformation of biomass derivatives via a quick Langmuir–Hinshelwood process over (PrPO4)m/Ni2P. These findings imply that an easily obtainable, cost-affordable and robust rare earth phosphate like present PrPO4 could be a potential replacement catalytic component for the traditional metal catalyst in the hydrogenation transformation reactions of biomass derivatives, which was also worth noting as a new kind of basic material for other green mass-transformation techniques involving hydrogen activation processes such as corresponding optical and electrical transformations.

Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, yet the prevalence of MetS among nonagenarians and centenarians was rarely reported. Here we investigated the prevalence of MetS and its components among nonagenarians and centenarians in our Zhuang population from Bama, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. Method In Bama area, there registered 881 individuals who lived more than 90 years old in 269,800 local residents and our study involved 307 long-lived participants and 486 local younger (35–68 years) persons, as controls. MetS was defined according to the revised National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATPIII) criteria. Results The overall prevalence estimates of MetS among longevity group were 28.0% based on NCEP ATPIII criteria. The most common metabolic component was elevated blood pressure (61.1%), followed by raised fasting glucose (39.1%) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (low HDL-C) (28.0%). The prevalence of MetS and abdominal obesity in women (33.6% and 22.1% respectively) was higher than that of men (19.8% and 3.7% respectively) (Prange

The blurred image blind restoration is a difficult problem of image processing. The key is the estimation of the Point Spread Function and non-blind deconvolution algorithm. In this paper, we propose a fast robust algorithm based on radon transform-domain to determine the blur kernel function. Then the blurred images are restored by using a modified fast non-blind deconvolution method based on image prior. Compared with R. Fergus’ algorithm, the experiment results prove that the algorithm for a class of motion blurred image caused by the linear movement parallel to the lens has higher speed and good recovery effect.

Background Previous association studies examining the relationship between the APOC1 polymorphism and susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have shown conflicting results, and it is not clear if an APOC1 variant acts as a genetic risk factor in AD etiology across multiple populations. Methods To confirm the risk association between APOC1 and AD, we designed a case-control study and also performed a meta-analysis of previously published studies. Results Seventy-nine patients with AD and one hundred fifty-six unrelated controls were included in case-control study. No association was found between the variation of APOC1 and AD in stage 1 of our study. However, our meta-analysis pooled a total of 2092 AD patients and 2685 controls. The APOC1 rs11568822 polymorphism was associated with increased AD risk in Caucasians, Asians and Caribbean Hispanics, but not in African Americans. APOE e4 carriers harboring the APOC1 insertion allele, were more prevalent in AD patients than controls (χ2 = 119.46, OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 2.31–3.36, P