CLIMATE CHANGE: FROM GLOBAL CONCERN TO REGIONAL CHALLENGE

This paper aims to map out various research and policy challenges inherent in the need to cope with climate change. Therefore, four critical domains are identified which will most likely be seriously affected by climate change. Next, both the global/general and the regional/specific dimensions of these domains are described, with a view to the identification of a proactive research and policy constellation that might be put in effect to effectively address climate issues.climate change effects, ecosystem, region, environmental policy

Effective Catalytic Oxidation of 1-Alkenes Using Palladium-nitro Complexes in the Presence of Amides.

The rate of oxidation and the catalyst stability in the oxidation of 1-alkenes with O2 using [PdCl(NO2)(MeCN)2] as catalyst is considerably improved by the use of amides as ligands or solvents.</p

The Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a Remarkable Binuclear, Double Pd–Cl–H–O–Pd Bridged Palladium Alcohol Complex. Catalytic Oxidations with Molecular Oxygen mediated by [{[Me2C(OH)CH2CONMe2]Pd(Cl)NO2}2]

The Pd(Cl)NO2 complex of N,N-3-trimethyl-3-hydroxybutyramide is dimeric in the solid state with two Pd–Cl–H–O–Pd hydrogen-bond bridges; however, in solution the complex is monomeric and catalytically active in the oxidation of alkenes

Multidiameter single-fiber reflectance spectroscopy of heavily pigmented skin:modeling the inhomogeneous distribution of melanin

When analyzing multidiameter single-fiber reflectance (MDSFR) spectra, the inhomogeneous distribution of melanin pigments in skin tissue is usually not accounted for. Especially in heavily pigmented skins, this can result in bad fits and biased estimation of tissue optical properties. A model is introduced to account for the inhomogeneous distribution of melanin pigments in skin tissue. In vivo visible MDSFR measurements were performed on heavily pigmented skin of type IV to VI. Skin tissue optical properties and related physiological properties were extracted from the measured spectra using the introduced model. The absorption of melanin pigments described by the introduced model demonstrates a good correlation with the co-localized measurement of the well-known melanin index. (C) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License

The interaction triangle as a tool for understanding stakeholder interactions in marine ecosystem based management

Expectations about ecosystem based management (EBM) differ due to diverging perspectives about what EBM should be and how it should work. While EBM by its nature requires trade-offs to be made between ecological, economic and social sustainability criteria, the diversity of cross-sectoral perspectives, values, stakes, and the specificity of each individual situation determine the outcome of these trade-offs. The authors strive to raise awareness of the importance of interaction between three stakeholder groups (decision makers, scientists, and other actors) and argue that choosing appropriate degrees of interaction between them in a transparent way can make EBM more effective in terms of the three effectiveness criteria salience, legitimacy, and credibility. This article therefore presents an interaction triangle in which three crucial dimensions of stakeholder interactions are discussed: (A) between decision makers and scientists, who engage in framing to foster salience of scientific input to decision making, (B) between decision makers and other actors, to shape participation processes to foster legitimacy of EBM processes, and (C) between scientists and other actors, who collaborate to foster credibility of knowledge production. Due to the complexity of EBM, there is not one optimal interaction approach; rather, finding the optimal degrees of interaction for each dimension depends on the context in which EBM is implemented, i.e. the EBM objectives, the EBM initiator’s willingness for transparency and interaction, and other context-specific factors, such as resources, trust, and state of knowledge

An iridium–SPO complex as bifunctional catalyst for the highly selective hydrogenation of aldehydes

A secondary phosphine oxide (SPO) ligand (tert-butyl(phenyl)phosphine oxide) was employed to generate an Ir–SPO complex which shows a particular ability to activate dihydrogen under mild conditions without the help of an external base or additive. Such an iridium (I) complex serves as a precursor for homogeneous catalysis since under H2 it is converted to a mixture of several iridium (III) hydride species that are the active catalysts. This system was found to be a highly active catalyst for the hydrogenation of substituted aldehydes, giving very high conversions and chemoselectivities for a wide range of substrates. The SPO ligand presumably plays a key role in the catalytic process through heterolytic cleavage of H2 by metal–ligand cooperation. In addition, an exhaustive characterization of the different iridium hydride species was performed by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The oxidative addition of H2 to the Ir(I)–SPO complex is highly stereoselective, as all generated Ir(III) hydrides are homochiral. Finally, the crystal structure, as determined by X-Ray Diffraction, of a dinuclear iridium (III) hydride complex is described