Methanol oxidation on Fe2O3catalysts and the effects of surface Mo

The adsorption of methanol on haematite has been investigated using temperature programmed methods, combined with in situ DRIFTS. Model catalysts based on this material have then been made with a shell–core configuration of molybdenum oxide monolayers on top of the haematite core. These are used as models of industrial iron molybdate catalysts, used to selectively oxidise methanol to formaldehyde, one of the major chemical outlets for methanol. Haematite itself is completely ineffective in this respect since it oxidises it to CO2 and the DRIFTS shows that this occurs by oxidation of methoxy to formate at around 200 °C. The decomposition behaviour is affected by the absence or presence of oxygen in the gas phase; oxygen destabilises the methoxy and enhances formate production. In contrast, when a monolayer of molybdena is placed onto the surface by incipient wetness, and it remains there after calcination, the pathway to formate production is blocked and formaldehyde is the main gas phase product in TPD after methanol dosing

Theory, Research & Practice of a Comprehensive Teen Sexuality Education Curriculum

Rates of sexually transmitted disease (STD), teen pregnancy, and teen births are higher in the United States than in most other industrialized countries (Kohler, 2008; Manhart, 2006; Teitelman, 2004; Terry-Humen, 2006). Five years ago, a Christian based, sexuality retreat curriculum was initiated that focused on teen knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about sexuality. The developmentally appropriate curriculum promoted an increased awareness of self and issues influencing sexuality. The goal was to create a common language and a better understanding of the way adolescent males and females think and behave in matters of sexuality. This paper presents an evaluative retrospective analysis of the Christian based curriculum for the sexuality retreat, plus the summative and formative evaluations of the participants. Madeline Leininger’s theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality served as a conceptual guide for this evaluative project. The Sunrise Enabler was applied to the sexuality retreat curriculum to identify cultural and social structure dimensions of culture care in the adolescent culture

Measuring the Contribution of Water and Green Space Amenities to Housing Values: An Application and Comparison of Spatially-weighted Hedonic Models

This study estimates the influence of proximity to water bodies and park amenities on residential housing values in Knox County, Tennessee, using the hedonic price approach. Values for proximity to water bodies and parks are first estimated globally with a standard ordinary least square (OLS) model. A locally weighted regression model is then employed to investigate spatial non-stationarity and generate local estimates for individual sources of each amenity. The local model is able to capture the variability in the quality of water bodies and parks across the county, something a conventional hedonic model using OLS cannot do.Land Economics/Use,

Methanol photo-reforming with water on pure titania for hydrogen production

The behavior of titania for the photo-reforming of methanol with water at ambient temperature has been examined. It is shown that the reactivity is very poor, compared with metal-loaded catalysts at low methanol levels in solution, but the rate becomes much higher at high methanol levels, such that the difference from metal-loaded samples is much less. The optimum yield is with approximately a 1:1 methanol/water solution. The reaction also proceeds well in the gas phase. During all such catalysis the titania becomes blue, due to light absorption increasing across the range 400-800 nm. However, this does not result in visible range activity for the photo-reforming and is due to the reduction of the material in the presence of light and the formation of anion vacancies and Ti3+ centres. These anion vacancies are only very slowly re-oxidised in air on P25 titania, taking days to recover the original whiteness of the oxide. The performance of anatase, rutile and the mixed phase are compared

SNIFFER WFD119: Enhancement of the River Invertebrate Classification Tool (RICT)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Project funders/partners: Environment Agency (EA), Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), Scotland & Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) Background to research The Regulatory Agencies in the UK (the Environment Agency; Scottish Environment Protection Agency; and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency) now use the River Invertebrate Classification Tool (RICT) to classify the ecological quality of rivers for Water Framework Directive compliance monitoring. RICT incorporates RIVPACS IV predictive models and is a highly capable tool written in a modern software programming language. While RICT classifies waters for general degradation and organic pollution stress, producing assessments of status class and uncertainty, WFD compliance monitoring also requires the UK Agencies to assess the impacts of a wide range of pressures including hydromorphological and acidification stresses. Some of these pressures alter the predictor variables that current RIVPACS models use to derive predicted biotic indices. This project has sought to broaden the scope of RICT by developing one or more RIVPACS model(s) that do not use predictor variables that are affected by these stressors, but instead use alternative GIS based variables that are wholly independent of these pressures. This project has also included a review of the wide range of biotic indices now available in RICT, identifying published sources, examining index performance, and where necessary making recommendations on further needs for index testing and development. Objectives of research •To remove and derive alternative predictive variables that are not affected by stressors, with particular emphasis on hydrological/acidification metric predictors. •To construct one or more new RIVPACS model(s) using stressor independent variables. •Review WFD reporting indices notably AWIC(species), LIFE (species), PSI & WHPT. Key findings and recommendations : Predictor variables and intellectual property rights : An extensive suite of new variables have been derived by GIS for the RIVPACS reference sites that have been shown to act as stressor-independent predictor variables. These include measures of stream order, solid and drift geology, and a range of upstream catchment characteristics (e.g. catchment area, mean altitude of upstream catchment, and catchment aspect). It is recommended that decisions are reached on which of the newly derived model(s) are implemented in RICT so that IPR issues for the relevant datasets can be quickly resolved and the datasets licensed. It is also recommended that licensing is sought for a point and click system (where the dataset cannot be reverse engineered) that is capable of calculating any of the time-invariant RIVPACS environmental predictor variables used by any of the newly derived (and existing) RIVPACS models, and for any potential users. New stressor-independent RIVPACS models : Using the existing predictor variables, together with new ones derived for their properties of stressor-independence, initial step-wise forward selection discriminant models suggested a range of 36 possible models that merited further testing. Following further testing, the following models are recommended for assessing watercourses affected by flow/hydromorphological and/or acidity stress: • For flow/hydromorphological stressors that may have modified width, depth and/or substrate in GB, it is suggested that a new ‘RIVPACS IV – Hydromorphology Independent’ model (Model 24) is used (this does not use the predictor variables width, depth and substratum, but includes a suite of new stressor-independent variables). • For acidity related stressors in GB, it is suggested that a new ‘RIVPACS IV – Alkalinity Independent’ model (Model 35) is used (this does not use the predictor variable alkalinity, but includes new stressor-independent variables). • For flow/hydromorphological stressors and acidity related stressors in GB, it is suggested that a new ‘RIVPACS IV – Hydromorphology & Alkalinity Independent’ model (Model 13) is used (this does not use the predictor variables width, depth, substratum and alkalinity, but includes a suite of new stressor-independent variables). • Reduced availability of appropriate GIS tools at this time has meant that no new models have been developed for Northern Ireland. Discriminant functions and end group means have now been calculated to enable any of these models to be easily implemented in the RICT software. Biotic indices : The RIVPACS models in RICT can now produce expected values for a wide range of biotic indices addressing a variety of stressors. These indices will support the use of RICT as a primary tool for WFD classification and reporting of the quality of UK streams and rivers. There are however a number of outstanding issues with indices that need to be addressed: • There is a need to develop a biotic index for assessing metal pollution. • WFD EQR banding schemes are required for many of the indices to report what is considered an acceptable degree of stress (High-Good) and what is not (Moderate, Poor or Bad). • A comprehensive objective testing process needs to be undertaken on the indices in RICT using UK-wide, large-scale, independent test datasets to quantify their index-stressor relationships and their associated uncertainty, for example following the approach to acidity index testing in Murphy et al., (in review) or organic/general degradation indices in Banks & McFarland (2010). • Following objective testing, the UK Agencies should make efforts to address any index under-performance issues that have been identified, and where necessary new work should be commissioned to modify existing indices, or develop new ones where required so that indices for all stress types meet certain minimum performance criteria. • Testing needs to be done to examine index-stressor relationships with both observed index scores and RIVPACS observed/expected ratios. Work should also be done to compare the existing RIVPACS IV and the new stressor-independent models (developed in this project) as alternative sources of the expected index values for these tests. • Consideration should be given to assessing the extent to which chemical and biological monitoring points co-occur. Site-matched (rather than reach-matched) chemical and biological monitoring points would i) generate the substantial training datasets needed to refine or develop new indices and ii) generate the independent datasets for testing

Sociologists in Schools of Social Work: Marginality or Integration?

In this paper, we examine the responses of 180 faculty members in graduate and undergraduate social work programs. These faculty members all achieved their highest degrees in fields other than social work, but approximately half of them also acquired the M.S.W. degree at some point in their careers. It was originally hypothesized that sociologists working in social work programs woulkd exhibit some of the characteristics of marginality, and the questionnaire contained a number of items on collegiality, conflict, discrimination, recognition and satisfaction. It was found that sociologists teaching in social work program suffered no negative effects on any of these dimensions, and that faculty members lacking the M.S.W. degree suffered only very limited marginality effects. Taken together, our results suggest that sociologists in social work programs are alive and well. They may not have been converted to social work perspectives in a technical sense, but they are integrated well enough with social work faculty members so that they cannot be considered to be marginal in any sense of the word

The importance of Pd carbide formation for reactions with ethene and other organic molecules

The reactions of a range of unsaturated hydrocarbons and oxygenated organic molecules with pure Pd surfaces can result in the carbidisation of the bulk of the metal, even though Pd is not usually recognised as a carbide-forming material. This can have important implications for catalysis by Pd. In this personal review it is shown that for the case of ethene, such bulk carbidisation is very fast above about 400 K. Adsorption and reaction with both pure single crystal Pd and supported nanoparticulate Pd is reported. For the former every ethene molecule has a 70 % probability per collision with the surface of dehydrogenating and depositing C into the metal. At low temperature (400 K) this accumulates near the surface, while at higher temperatures the C dissolves in the bulk and is reduced in the surface region. It can be retrieved by treatment in oxygen. For the nanoparticulate metal, the bulk is saturated very quickly with C, ultimately making a Pd4C-like material. During this time a disproportionation reaction occurs in which methane only evolves into the gas phase and C is deposited in the Pd. Once the bulk is saturated with C, then reaction with ethene stops. It is shown that similar carbidisation also takes place with acetaldehyde