Participatory mass observation and citizen science.

The authors outline and reflect upon a new research agenda on participatory mass observation and citizen science as an introduction to the 3 project outlines in this special section of Transactions

Public perceptions and community issues

This paper is the seventh in a series of 8 that make up the evidence base for SDC report 'The role of nuclear power in a low carbon economy'.Publisher PD

The ethics of ‘public understanding of ethics’—why and how bioethics expertise should include public and patients’ voices

“Ethics” is used as a label for a new kind of expertise in the field of science and technology. At the same time, it is not clear what ethical expertise consists in and what its political status in modern democracies can be. Starting from the “participatory turn” in recent social research and policy, we will argue that bioethical reasoning has to include public views of and attitudes towards biomedicine. We will sketch the outlines of a bioethical conception of “public understanding of ethics,” addressing three different issues: (a) the methodological relevance of moral questions and problems raised by lay persons in everyday life regarding biomedicine and technology, (b) the normative relevance of such lay moralities for the justification of ethical decisions, and (c) the necessity of public deliberation in this context. Finally, we draw conclusions in view of the concepts and methods such a conception of “public understanding of ethics” should employ

¿pueden las ovejas pastar seguras? una mirada reflexiva sobre la separación entre conocimiento experto - conocimiento lego

En el artículo se presenta una visión crítica del modelo propuesto por Giddens y Beck en de la relación entre el conocimiento lego y el conocimiento experto y la dimensión calculativa del riesgo, explorando una comprensión hermenéutico / cultural. En el texto se pone en cuestión el concepto mismo de sociedad del riesgo con su comprensión de la modernización reflexiva, como forma característica de relación con el conocimiento y los sistemas expertos en la modernidad tardía en contraste con una aceptación acrítica que sería propia de la modernidad simple. Se destaca la dimensión hermenéutica interpretativa que tiene no sólo el conocimiento lego, sino también el conocimiento experto. Se discuten también cuestiones relativas a la confianza de los legos en relación con el conocimiento experto y se plantea cómo la falta de crítica abierta a los sistemas expertos no puede interpretarse como signo de confianza o de falta de reflexividad, como lo supone la distinción entre modernidad simple y modernidad reflexiva. PALABRASCLAVES. Conocimiento lego, conocimiento experto, sociedad del riesgo, modernidad reflexiva

Optimization of Palladium Promoted Transition Metal Catalysts for Lean Methane Oxidation

The substantial increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has been linked to global warming. Although carbon dioxide (CO2) has the largest contribution to the increase in the Earth's temperature, methane (CH4) has a global warming potential (GWP) that is 25 times that of CO2 and must be regulated as well due to this significant impact. This issue is exemplified by fugitive methane emissions from coal mining, which have a considerable contribution to anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States. In this study, a stable and economical system was investigated for catalytic CH4 mitigation with a state-of-the-art catalyst for the complete combustion of methane. Palladium (Pd)-based supported catalysts show high activity for the methane oxidation reaction but are very sensitive to the poisonous effect of water vapor. This sensitivity is problematic as water vapor is a product of the methane oxidation reaction and is present in the coal-mine ventilation air along with methane. A cobalt (Co)-based system was proposed as an alternative to the Pd-based catalysts, to avoid this water vapor sensitivity. The characterization technique of X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) were utilized for determining the physical and chemical properties of the resulting Co-based catalysts. Methane oxidation activity tests were performed on the synthesized Pd-based and Co-based catalysts, both in the presence and absence of water vapor. These characterization and activity tests demonstrated that despite the higher light-off temperatures of Co-based catalysts compared to Pd-based catalysts, the Co-based catalysts were significantly more resistant to the poisonous effect of water vapor. This resistance was maintained for levels of water vapor present in a typical ventilation air methane (VAM) stream as well as that produced during the oxidation reaction. Comparatively, Pd-based catalysts suffered from lower activity in the presence of water vapor due to the formation of the non-active Pd-OH phase. Therefore, the Co-based catalysts are a well-founded alternative as they did not display deactivation due to the presence of H2O in the reaction medium, and still allowed for methane combustion.OCRC Agreement Number: R-17-14 This project was funded in part by the Ohio Coal Development Office of the state of Ohio.Academic Major: Chemical Engineerin

Optimization of Palladium Promoted Transition Metal Catalysts for Lean Methane Oxidation

The substantial increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has been linked to global warming. Although carbon dioxide (CO2) has the largest contribution to the increase in the Earth's temperature, methane (CH4) has a global warming potential (GWP) that is 25 times that of CO2 and must be regulated as well due to this significant impact. This issue is exemplified by fugitive methane emissions from coal mining, which have a considerable contribution to anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States. In this study, a stable and economical system was investigated for catalytic CH4 mitigation with a state-of-the-art catalyst for the complete combustion of methane. Palladium (Pd)-based supported catalysts show high activity for the methane oxidation reaction but are very sensitive to the poisonous effect of water vapor. This sensitivity is problematic as water vapor is a product of the methane oxidation reaction and is present in the coal-mine ventilation air along with methane. A cobalt (Co)-based system was proposed as an alternative to the Pd-based catalysts, to avoid this water vapor sensitivity. The characterization technique of X-Ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR) were utilized for determining the physical and chemical properties of the resulting Co-based catalysts. Methane oxidation activity tests were performed on the synthesized Pd-based and Co-based catalysts, both in the presence and absence of water vapor. These characterization and activity tests demonstrated that despite the higher light-off temperatures of Co-based catalysts compared to Pd-based catalysts, the Co-based catalysts were significantly more resistant to the poisonous effect of water vapor. This resistance was maintained for levels of water vapor present in a typical ventilation air methane (VAM) stream as well as that produced during the oxidation reaction. Comparatively, Pd-based catalysts suffered from lower activity in the presence of water vapor due to the formation of the non-active Pd-OH phase. Therefore, the Co-based catalysts are a well-founded alternative as they did not display deactivation due to the presence of H2O in the reaction medium, and still allowed for methane combustion.OCRC Agreement Number: R-17-14 This project was funded in part by the Ohio Coal Development Office of the state of Ohio.No embargoAcademic Major: Chemical Engineerin

Observations and reflexivity:responsibilising interdisciplinarity and integration

This policy report is based in Epinet WP2 and complements WP1 reporting on the EPINET Integrated Assessment Framework as a Tool for RRI . We present key findings from the empirical research we conducted and was designed to be an instrument of observation and reflexivity in reference to the interdisciplinary innovation assessment cases conducted as part of the Epinet project. In particular, we report on the procedural conditions in carrying out these cases as the basis on which our policy recommendations rest