18,697 research outputs found
Psychology ethics down under: A survey of student subject pools in Australia
A survey of the 37 psychology departments offering courses accredited by the Australian Psychological Society yielded a 92% response rate. Sixty-eight percent of departments employed students as research subjects, with larger departments being more likely to do so. Most of these departments drew their student subject pools from introductory courses. Student research participation was strictly voluntary in 57% of these departments, whereas 43% of the departments have failed to comply with normally accepted ethical standards. It is of great concern that institutional ethics committees apparently continue to condone, or fail to act against, unethical research practices. Although these committees have a duty of care to all subjects, the final responsibility for conducting research in an ethical manner lies with the individual researcher
Labelled Polymers - Synthesis, Analysis and Degradation Studies.
The study of polymer degradation and the mechanisms involved is essential if materials with improved properties are to be developed. Isotopes and isotopically labelled compounds can be useful tools in studies of reaction mechanisms, offering some unique advantages over the more common techniques. The work presented here details the labelling and analysis of a range of monomers and polymers with deuterium and tritium followed by a preliminary investigation of their usefulness in mechanistic studies. The thesis is divided into four sections as follows:- Chapter one contains a literature survey which describes the use to which isotopes and isotopically labelled compounds have been put in the study of polymer chemistry. Chapter two details the labelling with tritium and analysis by tritium NMR spectroscopy of a range of monomers and polymers. Chapter three describes the labelling with deuterium and analysis by deuterium NMR spectroscopy of a range of monomers and polymers. Chapter four details a study of the kinetics of the degradation of poly([G-3H]-butylmethacrylate) by acid catalysed hydrolysis
A MERLIN Study of 6 GHz Excited-state OH & 6.7 GHz Methanol Masers in ON1
MERLIN observations of 6.668-GHz methanol and both 6.031- and 6.035-GHz
hydroxyl (OH) emission from the massive star-formation region ON1 are
presented. These are the first methanol observations made in full polarization
using 5 antennas of MERLIN, giving high resolution and sensitivity to extended
emission. Maser features are found to lie at the southern edge of the
ultra-compact HII region, following the known distribution of ground-state OH
masers. The masers cover a region ~1 arcsec in extent, lying perpendicular to
the H13CO+ bipolar outflow. Excited-state OH emission demonstrates consistent
polarization angles across the strongest linearly polarized features which are
parallel to the overall distribution. The linear polarizations vary between
10.0 and 18.5 per cent, with an average polarization angle of -60 deg +/- 28
deg. The strongest 6.668-GHz methanol features provide an upper limit to linear
polarization of ~1 per cent. Zeeman splitting of OH shows magnetic fields
between -1.1 to -5.8 mG, and a tentative methanol magnetic field strength of
-18 mG is measured.Comment: 10 Pages, 5 Figure
Photo- and solvatochromic properties of nitrobenzospiropyran in ionic liquids containing the [NTf2]- anion
The photo-, thermo- and solvatochromic properties of 2,3-dihydro-10,30,30-trimethyl-6-nitrospiro-
[1-benzopyran-2,20-1H-indole] (BSP-NO2) were studied in ILs containing the anion [NTf2]- by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, ab initio molecular orbital theory and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It was found that the kinetics and thermodynamics of the BSP-NO2 MC (merocyanine) equilibrium was sensitive to the nature of the cation. It was also observed that the imidazolium cation can form a through-space orbital interaction with the MC isomer, rather than a simple electrostatic interaction, thus preventing the MC conversion back to the BSP-NO2 isomer. The BSP-NO2 MC equilibrium thus serves as a model system for studying modes of interaction of the cations in ionic liquids
New Analysis Indicates No Thermal Inversion in the Atmosphere of HD 209458b
An important focus of exoplanet research is the determination of the
atmospheric temperature structure of strongly irradiated gas giant planets, or
hot Jupiters. HD 209458b is the prototypical exoplanet for atmospheric thermal
inversions, but this assertion does not take into account recently obtained
data or newer data reduction techniques. We re-examine this claim by
investigating all publicly available Spitzer Space Telescope secondary-eclipse
photometric data of HD 209458b and performing a self-consistent analysis. We
employ data reduction techniques that minimize stellar centroid variations,
apply sophisticated models to known Spitzer systematics, and account for
time-correlated noise in the data. We derive new secondary-eclipse depths of
0.119 +/- 0.007%, 0.123 +/- 0.006%, 0.134 +/- 0.035%, and 0.215 +/- 0.008% in
the 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 micron bandpasses, respectively. We feed these
results into a Bayesian atmospheric retrieval analysis and determine that it is
unnecessary to invoke a thermal inversion to explain our secondary-eclipse
depths. The data are well-fitted by a temperature model that decreases
monotonically between pressure levels of 1 and 0.01 bars. We conclude that
there is no evidence for a thermal inversion in the atmosphere of HD 209458b.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
Affordable Housing, Land Tenure, and Urban Policy: The Matrix Revealed
Under current law, most new affordable housing is constructed by private entities employing a variety of federal, state, and local subsidies. Developers and residents must choose which among various, sometimes conflicting goals their project will emphasize. In this paper, the authors analyze the differing goals subsidized housing projects can serve, the trade offs that different goals may present, and the means to achieve goals and minimize conflicts. Goals identified include the provision of physically decent housing, building residents\u27 wealth, social integration in the larger community, urban vitality, training, social engagement, institution building, and efficient use of public funds. The authors also examine leading federal and state housing programs, including traditional public housing, Section 8, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and inclusionary zoning to identify how they promote or frustrate achievement of these goals
SiO masers in TX Cam: Simultaneous VLBA observations of two 43 GHz masers at four epochs
We present the results of simultaneous high resolution observations of v=1
and v=2, J=1-0 SiO masers toward TX Cam at four epochs covering a stellar
cycle. Near maser maximum (Epochs III and IV), the individual components of
both masers are distributed in ring-like structures but the ring is severely
disrupted near stellar maser minimum (Epochs I and II). In Epochs III and IV
there is a large overlap between the radii at which the two maser transitions
occur. However in both epochs the average radius of the v=2 maser ring is
smaller than for the v=1 maser ring, the difference being larger for Epoch IV.
The observed relative ring radii in the two transitions, and the trends on the
ring thickness, are close to those predicted by the model of Humphreys et al.
(\cite{humphreys02}). In many individual features there is an almost exact
overlap in space and velocity of emission from the two transitions, arguing
against pure radiative pumping. At both Epochs III and IV in many spectral
features only 50% of the flux density is recovered in our images, implying
significant smooth maser structure. For both transitions we find that red- and
blue-shifted masers occur in all parts of the rings, with relatively few masers
at the systemic velocity. Thus there is no evidence for rotation, although the
blue-shifted masers are somewhat more prominent to the west. At all four epochs
red-shifted components are generally brighter than blue-shifted ones. At Epochs
III and IV, we see many filamentary or spoke-like features in both v=1 and v=2
masers, especially in the red-shifted gas. These spokes show systematic
velocity gradients consistent with a decelerating outward flow with increasing
radius. We outline a possible model to explain why, given the presence of these
spokes, there is a deficit of maser features at the systemic velocity.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figs, accepted to A&A, Abstract is reduced (see the
paper for full length
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