Photo-thermal reactions of ethanol over Ag/TiO2 catalysts. The role of silver plasmon resonance in the reaction kinetics.

Photo-thermal catalytic reactions of ethanol over Ag/TiO2 were conducted in order to probe into the role of plasmonic resonance response in the reaction kinetics. In the 300-500 K temperature domain the increase in reaction rate is found to be mainly due to changes in the activation energy while above this temperature range the increase was due to the pre-exponential factor. These results might be linked to the role of plasmonic Ag particles in polarising the reaction intermediates and therefore increasing the reaction products at temperatures up to about 500 K.

The effect of gold loading and particle size on photocatalytic hydrogen production from ethanol over Au/TiO2 nanoparticles.

Catalytic hydrogen production from renewables is a promising method for providing energy carriers in the near future. Photocatalysts capable of promoting this reaction are often composed of noble metal nanoparticles deposited on a semiconductor. The most promising semiconductor at present is TiO2. The successful design of these catalysts relies on a thorough understanding of the role of the noble metal particle size and the TiO2 polymorph. Here we demonstrate that Au particles in the size range 3-30 nm on TiO2 are very active in hydrogen production from ethanol. It was found that Au particles of similar size on anatase nanoparticles delivered a rate two orders of magnitude higher than that recorded for Au on rutile nanoparticles. Surprisingly, it was also found that Au particle size does not affect the photoreaction rate over the 3-12 nm range. The high hydrogen yield observed makes these catalysts promising materials for solar conversion.

Effect of low-protein diets having constant energy-to-protein ratio on performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens from one to thirty-five days of age.

A trial was conducted to determine the effect of low-protein diets with constant ME:CP ratio on performance and carcass characteristics of broilers from 1 to 35 d of age. Four experimental diets were formulated to have 4 levels of CP and ME, respectively, in each phase: 23, 22, 21, and 20% CP with 3,036, 2,904, 2,772, and 2,640 kcal/kg in the starter phase (1 to 10 d); 22, 21, 20, and 19% CP with 3,146, 3,003, 2,860, and 2,717 kcal/kg in the grower phase (11 to 26 d); and 20, 19, 18, and 17% CP with 3,100, 2,945, 2,790, and 2,635 kcal/kg in the finisher phase (27 to 35 d). Digestible Lys was maintained at 1.10, 1.02, and 0.90% of the diet in the starter, grower, and finisher periods, respectively. A total of 1,760 one-day-old Hubbard broiler chickens were randomly divided into 16 experimental pens, 110 chickens in each pen, and each diet was offered to 4 replicates at random. Weight gain was linearly decreased (P < 0.001), whereas feed intake and feed conversion ratio were increased (P < 0.001) linearly as dietary protein and energy decreased during grower, finisher, and overall experimental periods. Protein efficiency ratio and energy efficiency ratio were decreased (P < 0.05) with low-CP and low-ME diets during the grower, finisher, and overall experimental period. However, carcass yield, breast meat yield, thigh yield, abdominal fat, and relative liver and heart weights were not affected by the treatments. Feeding broiler chickens low-CP diets with constant ME:CP ratio has adversely affected the growth performance, but carcass parameters were unaffected without any increase in abdominal fat content.

Malignant mixed tumor ex eccrine spiradenoma: an unusual pattern of malignant dedifferentiation.

Eccrine spiradenoma (ES) is a benign tumor of the skin adnexal origin. It is often seen in the head and neck region of young adults and may be present for years. While there have been numerous case reports of malignant degeneration within ES, they have been mostly carcinomatous dedifferentiation and rarely carcinosarcomas. A malignant mixed tumor is a neoplasm with a malignant epithelial component and areas of chondroid and myxoid differentiation within the malignant epithelial proliferation. While the epithelial component is malignant, the mesenchymal component is felt to represent a benign, metaplastic response of the stroma. While the malignant mixed tumor has a benign counterpart, the benign mixed tumor, the former is usually not seen in continuity with the latter. We describe a case of ES with malignant degeneration and demonstrate the transformation from benign to malignant. The histology and immunohistochemistry of the neoplasm supports a malignant mixed tumor, an extremely unusual neoplasm to see in association with ES or any benign adnexal neoplasm.

Ventilatory function of healthy, urban, non smoking, Pakistani young adults aged 18-24 years.

Age may have a different contribution to normal lung function values in those aged less than 25 years, as compared to older individuals. We report regression equations predicting ventilatory parameters in this age group, as none have been reported from Pakistan. The study was conducted on students of King Edward Medical College Lahore, Pakistan. Participants had never smoked and reported no respiratory symptoms. In addition to anthropometric data, forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow (PEF) and forced expiratory flow at 50% of FVC (FEF50) were measured. Equations predicting normal values of these parameters were derived using SPSS (Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.) P < or = 0.05 was treated as statistically significant. Of the students, 519 took part in the study. All four parameters correlated significantly (P < 0.001) and positively with height. FEF50 had a negative correlation with age in both sexes (P < 0.05). The correlation of other parameters with age was variable and not statistically significant. On multiple regression, height featured as an independent predictor in equations for all parameters. The contribution of age as an independent predictor of ventilatory function was, once again, variable. Independent variables were retained in the raw form as their transformation did not improve the goodness of fit of the derived equations. Only height and age emerged as independent predictors of ventilatory function. Values derived from the equations presented in this study were less than those for height and age matched white Caucasians. Such differences were greater than the 'Asian correction factors'.