Steam reforming of acetic acid over Ni/biochar of low metal-loading:Involvement of biochar in tailoring reaction intermediates renders superior catalytic performance

Biochar is a reactive carrier as it may be partially gasified with steam in steam reforming,which could influence the formation of reaction intermediates and modify catalytic behaviors.Herein,the Ni/biochar as well as two comparative catalysts,Ni/Al_(2)O_(3) and Ni/SiO_(2),with low nickel loading(2%(mass))was conducted to probe involvement of the varied carriers in the steam reforming.The results indicated that the Ni/biochar performed excellent catalytic activity than Ni/SiO_(2) and Ni/Al_(2)O_(3),as the biochar carrier facilitated quick conversion of the -OH from dissociation of steam to gasify the oxygen-rich carbonaceous intermediates like C=O and C-O-C,resulting in low coverage while high exposure of nickel species for maintaining the superior catalytic performance.In converse,strong adsorption of aliphatic intermediates over Ni/Al_(2)O_(3) and Ni/SiO_(2) induced serious coking with polymeric coke as the main type(21.5%and 32.1%,respectively),which was significantly higher than that over Ni/biochar(3.9%).The coke over Ni/biochar was mainly aromatic or catalytic type with nanotube morphology and high crystallinity.The high resistivity of Ni/biochar towards coking was due to the balance between formation of coke and gasification of coke and partially biochar with steam,which created developed mesopores in spent Ni/biochar while the coke blocked pores in Ni/Al_(2)O_(3) and Ni/SiO_(2) catalysts.

Detection of dengue virus serotype 3 in Cajamarca,Peru:Molecular diagnosis and clinical characteristics

Objective:To describe and molecularly characterize an outbreak of dengue virus(DENV)infection in Cajamarca,an Andean region in Peru.Methods:A total of 359 serum samples from patients with acute febrile illness were assessed for the presence of DENV via RT-PCR,ELISA NS1,Ig M and Ig G in Cajamarca,Peru from January 2017 to June 2017.The evaluation of the different diagnostic tests and their applicability was performed.Results:Dengue virus was detected in 24.7%of samples by RTPCR.Meanwhile,serological analysis detected 30.3%positive cases via ELISA NS1 antigen,16.7%via ELISA Ig G and 9.7%via ELISA Ig M.Most of the cases corresponded to DENV-3(77.5%).The use of RT-PCR performed better in primary infections(P<0.01),while detection of ELISA Ig M performed better in secondary infections(P<0.01).The combination of NS1 and Ig M performed better than the other assays in detecting primary(92.5%)and secondary infections(96.6%).The most frequent symptoms associated with fever were headaches,myalgias,and arthralgias across all groups.Conclusions:We report an important outbreak of dengue infection caused by DENV-3 in Cajamarca,Peru.Our findings encourage the use of NS1 antigen and Ig M co-detection.These findings demonstrate an increasing expansion of DENV-3 in Peru and highlight the importance of molecular diagnosis and serotype characterization among the clinically defined dengue cases to strengthen the Peruvian epidemiological surveillance.