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•Additively manufactured catalytic static mixers were used for continuous flow hydrogenation.•Manufacture of catalytic static mixers uses novel methods for catalyst deposition: metal ...cold spraying and electrodeposition.•New approach to heterogeneous catalysis for laboratory and small production scale using tubular reactor geometry with catalytic inserts.•Reaction optimization performed for the C–C double bond reduction of vinyl acetate using molecular hydrogen.•Two metal(0) catalyst layers were successfully used for the reduction of vinyl acetate: Ni(0) and Pd(0).
Process intensification of the continuous flow hydrogenation of vinyl acetate using catalytic static mixer (CSM) technology is described. This concept is based on a series of static mixers coated with a catalytic metal layer, either Ni(0) or Pd(0), which can be inserted into tubular reactors. The static mixers were prepared using additive manufacturing on an electron beam melting 3D printer, which provides maximum design flexibility and can be tailored to a large number of fluidic applications. The metal(0) catalysts were deposited either by metal cold spraying or electrodeposition. The influence of several process parameters, including reactor pressure, temperature, throughput and substrate concentration on the performance of the reduction of vinyl acetate to ethyl acetate were investigated and optimised conditions for this reactor system are presented.
Although erectile dysfunction is frequently seen in patients with manifestations of arteriosclerotic disease, the independent contribution of serum cholesterol in predicting erectile dysfunction is ...unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between serum cholesterol and erectile dysfunction. Medical histories, physical examinations, and blood tests were obtained at Cooper Clinic, Dallas, Texas, from 3,250 men aged 26-83 years (mean, 51 years) without erectile dysfunction at their first visit, who had one more clinic visit, all between 1987 and 1991. These men were followed 6-48 months after the first clinic visit (mean, 22 months). Erectile dysfunction was reported in 71 men (2.2%) during follow-up. Every mmol/liter of increase in total cholesterol was associated with 1.32 times the risk of erectile dysfunction (95% confidence interval 1.04-1.68), while every mmol/liter of increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol was associated with 0.38 times the risk (95% confidence interval 0.18-0.80). Men with a high density lipoprotein cholesterol measurement over 1.55 mmol/liter (60 mg/dl) had 0.30 times the risk (95% confidence interval 0.09-1.03) as did men with less than 0.78 mmol/liter (30 mg/dl). Men with total cholesterol over 6.21 mmol/liter (240 mg/dl) had 1.83 times the risk (95% confidence interval 1.00-3.37) as did men with less than 4.65 mmol/liter (180 mg/dl). Those differences remained essentially unchanged after adjustment for other potential confounders. The authors conclude that a high level of total cholesterol and a low level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol are important risk factors for erectile dysfunction.
To assess the relationship between ethnicity and Health Care wishes, including Advance Directives, in a group of frail older persons in PACE (Program For All Inclusive Care Of The Elderly).
...Retrospective chart review of 1193 participants in the PACE program.
Program of All Inclusive Care Of The Elderly (PACE), a comprehensive managed care demonstration program serving frail older participants at 10 sites across the nation.
A total of 1193 older adults, all of whom met state criteria for nursing home level of care. There were 385 non-Hispanic whites, 364 blacks, 156 Hispanics, and 288 Asians.
Presence or absence of advance directives, type of health care wishes selected including living will, durable power of attorney, and health care proxy.
Frail older white, black, Hispanic and Asian Americans differ significantly in their health care wishes and how they choose to express them. Blacks were significantly more likely to select aggressive interventions and less likely than non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics to utilize a written instrument for expressing health care wishes. Whites were significantly more likely to utilize written documents for advance directives, whereas Asians were more likely to select less aggressive interventions but were unlikely to use written advance directives.
In this population, we found significant ethnic variations in choice of health care wishes. Although health care wishes are an individual decision, an awareness of cross cultural patterns can assist practitioners in addressing the concerns of their patients, as well as assisting Health Care Policy Development.
A precision mass investigation of the neutron-rich titanium isotopes ^{51-55}Ti was performed at TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN). The range of the measurements covers the ...N=32 shell closure, and the overall uncertainties of the ^{52-55}Ti mass values were significantly reduced. Our results conclusively establish the existence of the weak shell effect at N=32, narrowing down the abrupt onset of this shell closure. Our data were compared with state-of-the-art ab initio shell model calculations which, despite very successfully describing where the N=32 shell gap is strong, overpredict its strength and extent in titanium and heavier isotones. These measurements also represent the first scientific results of TITAN using the newly commissioned multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer, substantiated by independent measurements from TITAN's Penning trap mass spectrometer.
TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN) has specialized in fast Penning Trap mass spectrometry of very short-lived radioactive isotopes. The facility has been upgraded with a ...Multiple-Reflection Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) to continue its quest towards more exotic nuclides, which are critical for our understanding of nuclear structure effects far from the valley of beta stability and for the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements in explosive astrophysical environments. In this publication, we discuss the implementation, operation and performance of TITAN’s MR-TOF-MS as a stand-alone high-precision mass spectrometer and as an isobar separator. By using the novel mass-selective re-trapping technique for the isobar separation, the MR-TOF-MS can consecutively perform separation and mass measurement of the same ion population, acting as its own isobar separator. The device boosts the dynamic range and reach of the TITAN facility by several orders of magnitude. The MR-TOF-MS reaches a high mass resolving power (m/Δm∼400000), high precision and mass accuracy (δm/m<10−7), is fast (common cycle time 20ms), shows high sensitivity and very large dynamic range (ion of interest to contaminant ratios of up to 1 to 106).
OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between ethnicity and decision‐makers expressing healthcare wishes in a group of frail older persons enrolled in the Program of All‐inclusive Care for the ...Elderly (PACE).
DESIGN: A retrospective chart review of 1193 participants in the PACE program.
SETTING: Program of All‐inclusive Care for the Elderly, a comprehensive managed care demonstration program serving frail older participants at 10 sites across the nation.
PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1193 older adults, all of whom met state criteria for nursing home level of care. Three hundred were non‐Hispanic whites, 364 were black, 156 were Hispanic, and 288 were Asian.
MEASUREMENTS: Demographic characteristics of the patients and the presence or absence of an alternative decision‐maker; the characteristics of alternative decision‐makers included the relationship to the participant as recorded in the patient's medical record.
RESULTS: Ninety‐one percent of white patients expressed their own healthcare wishes in contrast to only 85% of Hispanic, 83% of Asian, and 67% of black patients. An alternative decision‐maker was identified for about 15% of Asians and Hispanics and for one‐third of blacks, but only about 8% of whites had an alternative decision‐maker. Black and Hispanic patients were most likely to have a daughter as an alternative decision‐maker, Asians were most likely to have a son, and whites patients were most likely to have a spouse as an alternative decision‐maker. Blacks, particularly black men, were the most likely to have a relative other than a spouse or child as an alternative decision‐maker.
CONCLUSIONS: In this population, we found significant ethnic variation in the person identified to be the decision‐maker in a group of frail older people. Ethnic variation reflected sociodemographic as well as cultural differences. However, there are important limitations to this study, and caution should be used in extrapolating the results to other populations or in attributing the results to ethnicity alone. An awareness of cross‐cultural patterns in identified or de facto decision‐makers can be significant for healthcare workers when they approach patients and their families about issues surrounding end of life decisions.
In this paper, the major upgrades and technical improvements of the buffer gas handling system for the cryogenic stopping cell of the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI/FAIR (in Darmstadt, Germany) are ...described. The upgrades include implementation of new gas lines and gas purifiers to achieve a higher buffer gas cleanliness for a more efficient extraction of reactive ions as well as suppression of the molecular background ionized in the stopping cell. Furthermore, additional techniques have been implemented for improved monitoring and quantification of the purity of the helium buffer gas.
Nuclear properties across the chart of nuclides are key to improving and validating our understanding of the strong interaction in nuclear physics. Here we present high-precision mass measurements of ...neutron-rich Fe isotopes performed at the TITAN facility. The multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-ToF-MS), achieving a resolving power greater than 600000 for the first time, enabled the measurement of 63–70Fe, including first-time high-precision direct measurements (δm/m ≈ 10-7) of 68–70Fe, as well as the discovery of a long-lived isomeric state in 69Fe. These measurements are accompanied by both mean-field and ab initio calculations using the most recent realizations which enable theoretical assignment of the spin-parities of the 69Fe ground and isomeric states. Together with mean-field calculations of quadrupole deformation parameters for the Fe isotope chain, these results benchmark a maximum of deformation in the N = 40 island of inversion in Fe and shed light on trends in level densities indicated in the newly refined mass surface.
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