Catalytic conversion of light alkanes: Quarterly report, January 1-March 31, 1992

The first Quarterly Report of 1992 on the Catalytic Conversion of Light Alkanes reviews the work done between January 1. 1992 and March 31, 1992 on the Cooperative Agreement. The mission of this work is to devise a new catalyst which can be used in a simple economic process to convert the light alkanes in natural gas to oxygenate products which can either be used as clean-burning, high octane liquid fuels, as fuel components or as precursors to liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuel. During the past quarter we have continued to design, prepare, characterize and test novel catalysts for the mild selective reaction of light hydrocarbons with air or oxygen to produce alcohols directly. These catalysts are designed to form active metal oxo (MO) species and to be uniquely active for the homolytic cleavage of the carbon-hydrogen bonds in light alkanes producing intermediates which can form alcohols. We continue to investigate three molecular environments for the active catalytic species that we are trying to generate: electron-deficient porphryinic macrocycles (PHASE I), polyoxometallates (PHASE II), and regular oxidic lattices including zeolites and related structures as well as other molecular surface structures having metal oxo groups (PHASE III)

State of the art and future challenges of interregional migration empirical research in Oceania

With an estimated eight million international immigrants, Oceania is a region with the highest proportion of immigrants worldwide. The flow of migrants between Australia and New Zealand is especially large given their geographic proximity, cultural similarities, and a shared history as part of the British Commonwealth. This chapter places a particular focus on the interregional flows in Australia and New Zealand given that they represent the two most popular immigration destinations in Oceania. We discuss how immigration policy in both nations are likely to continue to focus on attracting and retaining immigrants that are selected based on their skills in an attempt to address persistent skill shortages and to ameliorate the effects of ageing populations. The challenge for regional scientists, population geographers and labour economists will be to identify sources of data through which we can better understand the migratory pathways through which both domestic and new international arrivals pass. Understanding these complex pathways will be the first step to unveiling the factors that underpin interregional migrations and how these shape outcomes for both individuals and local labour markets