Expansion of the ligand knowledge base for chelating P,P-donor ligands (LKB-PP)

[Image: see text] We have expanded the ligand knowledge base for bidentate P,P- and P,N-donor ligands (LKB-PP, Organometallics2008, 27, 1372–1383) by 208 ligands and introduced an additional steric descriptor (nHe(8)). This expanded knowledge base now captures information on 334 bidentate ligands and has been processed with principal component analysis (PCA) of the descriptors to produce a detailed map of bidentate ligand space, which better captures ligand variation and has been used for the analysis of ligand properties

Bis(1,3-dibenzyl­imidazolium) μ-oxido-bis­[trichloridoferrate(III)]

In the title compound (C17H17N2)2[Fe2Cl6O], obtained from the solid-state reaction of FeCl2 and N,N′-dibenzyl­imidazolium chloride, the complex anion has approximate D 3d symmetry with crystallographically imposed inversion symmetry coincident with the bridging μ-O atom. The stereochemistry about each FeCl3O centre is distorted tetra­hedral [Fe—Cl = 2.2176 (5)–2.2427 (5) Å and Fe—O = 1.7545 (2) Å]. The Cl atoms are involved in weak anion–cation C—H⋯Cl inter­actions, giving a network structure

Adamantane-1-ammonium acetate

In the title compound, C10H18N+·C2H3O2 −, the ammonium H atoms of the cation are linked to three acetate anions via N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a chain structure extending along the b axis

Remote real-time monitoring of subsurface landfill gas migration

The cost of monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites is of major concern for regulatory authorities. The current monitoring procedure is recognised as labour intensive, requiring agency inspectors to physically travel to perimeter borehole wells in rough terrain and manually measure gas concentration levels with expensive hand-held instrumentation. In this article we present a cost-effective and efficient system for remotely monitoring landfill subsurface migration of methane and carbon dioxide concentration levels. Based purely on an autonomous sensing architecture, the proposed sensing platform was capable of performing complex analytical measurements in situ and successfully communicating the data remotely to a cloud database. A web tool was developed to present the sensed data to relevant stakeholders. We report our experiences in deploying such an approach in the field over a period of approximately 16 months. Copyright 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Determinants of Managerial Values on Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from China

This paper empirically investigates how Chinese executives and managers perceive and interpret corporate social responsibility (CSR), to what extent firms’ productive characteristics influence managers’ attitudes towards their CSR rating, and whether their values in favour of CSR are positively correlated to firms’ economic performance. Although a large proportion of respondents express a favourable view of CSR and a willingness to participate in socially responsible activities, we find that the true nature of their assertion is linked to entrepreneurs’ instincts of gaining economic benefits. It is the poorly-performing firms, or rather, firms with vulnerable indicators – smaller in size, State-owned, producing traditional goods and located in poorer regions that are more likely to have managers who opt for a higher CSR rating. Managers’ personal characteristics per se are not significant in determining their CSR choice. Moreover, controlling for other observed variables, we find that managers’ CSR orientation is positively correlated with their firms’ performance. The better-off a firm is, the more likely its manager is to get involve in CSR activities. Firms with better economic performance before their restructuring would sustain higher post-restructuring performance

Orientalising deafness: race and disability in imperial Britain

This article explores the conflations and connections that postcolonial and disability scholars have drawn between ‘race’, ‘colonialism’ and ‘disability’ from a historical perspective. By looking at the connections drawn between ‘race’ and ‘disability’ in the context of nineteenth-century imperial Britain, I hope to probe beyond them to examine the origins and implications of their interplay. I do so by focusing on ideas about deafness, an impairment radically reconfigured in the colonial period, and inflected with concerns about degeneration, belonging, heredity and difference. Disability, I argue, not only operated as an additional ‘category of difference’ alongside ‘race’ as a way of categorising and subjugating the various ‘others’ of Empire, but intersected with it. The ‘colonisation’ of disabled people in Britain and the ‘racial other’ by the British were not simply simultaneous processes or even analogous ones, but were part and parcel of the same cultural and discursive system. The colonising context of the nineteenth century, a period when British political, economic and cultural expansion over areas of South Asia, Australasia and Africa increased markedly, structured the way in which all forms of difference were recognised and expressed, including the difference of deafness. So too did the shifts in the raced and gendered thinking that accompanied it, as new forms of knowledge were developed to justify, explain and contest Britain's global position and new languages were developed through which to articulate otherness. Such developments reconfigured the meaning of disability. Disability was, in effect, ‘orientalised’. ‘Race’ I argue was formative in shaping what we have come to understand as ‘disability’ and vice versa; they were related fantasies of difference

An exploratory analysis of planning characteristics in Australian visitor attractions

This paper provides an exploratory analysis of the planning practices of 408 Australian attraction operators. The results indicate that attraction managers can be divided into four categories: those that do not engage in any formal planning, those that adopt a short-term planning approach, those that develop long-term plans, and those that use both short-term and long-term planning approaches. An evaluation of the sophistication of attraction planning showed a bipolar distribution. Attraction managers favored a planning horizon of three or five years, and were inclined to involve their employees in the planning process. Managers relied strongly on their own research and tourism industry intelligence when formulating business plans. The content of plans tended to focus on operational activities, financial planning and marketing. The study provides a benchmark for the comparison of attraction planning efforts in various contexts. © 2006 Asia Pacific Tourism Association