X-ray diffraction studies of electrochemical graphite intercalation compounds of ionic liquids

Electrochemical intercalation studies are used to characterize a series of ionic liquids composed of a variety of cationic and anionic species. Electrochemically, the ionic liquids are characterized by cyclic voltammograms and charge–discharge experiments for the intercalation and de-intercalation of the various cationic and anionic species into graphite. X-ray structure analysis is also performed to determine the relationship between the electrochemical behaviour of the ionic liquids, and the formation of intercalated graphitic compounds. Two different types of imidazolium cations are studied, specifically the di- and trisubstituted imidazolium. These cations are paired with the following anions: tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, bis(perfluoroethanesulfonyl)imide, nitrate and hydrogen sulfate. Results indicate stronger intercalation chemistry for the trisubstituted imidazoliums, correlating with the greater charge–discharge efficiencies found for these types of ionic liquids. Many of the anions exhibit very poor charge–discharge efficiencies, correlating to very poorly formed graphite intercalates. The exception to this is the hydrogen sulfate intercalate, which had low charge–discharge efficiencies but formed a well defined graphite intercalate. Only the imide based anions exhibited both high charge–discharge efficiencies and the formation of a clearly defined graphite intercalate.     

Optimum synthesis of the four-bar function generator in its symmetric embodiment: the Ackermann steering linkage

The problem of optimum synthesis of the planar four-bar function generator is investigated and the practical case of the Ackermann steering linkage considered as an example. The reduced number of design parameters of this symmetric four-bar linkage allowed inspecting the design space of various types of objective functions through 3D representations, and their properties suggestively highlighted. For practical purposes, the numerical results were summarized in a set of parametric design-charts useful to the automotive engineer in conceiving the steering linkage of a new vehicle.     

Reviews

READING LANDSCAPE; COUNTRY-CITY-CAPITAL, Simon Pugh, ed., Manchester : Manchester University Press, 1990, pp. 245, £35.00 HB, £9.95 PB, ISBN 0-7190-2979-1, 0-7190-3189-3.

ENVISIONING INFORMATION

by Edward R. Tufte, Cheshire, Connecticut, The Graphics Press, 1990, £30.00.

THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE, Michael P. Conzen, ed., Boston and London: Unwin Hyman, 1990. pp. xvi + 434. ISBN 0-04-917010-4. £14.95 PB.

THE EFFECTS OF THE GREAT STORM: REPORT OF A TECHNICAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE AND THE GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE, London: HMSO, 1988, 43pp, £5.00, P.B., ISBN 011 752144 2.

THE 1987 STORM: IMPACTS AND RESPONSES, A. J. Grayson (ed.), London: HMSO, 1989, 46pp, £4.00, P.B., ISBN 011 752144 2.

VIEWS OF AMERICAN LANDSCAPES, edited by Mick Gidley and Robert Lawson-Peebles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989, £27.50; $39.50, H.B., 228pp.

TAMING THE FLOOD: A HISTORY AND NATURAL HISTORY OF RIVERS AND WETLANDS by Jeremy Purseglove, Oxford: Oxford University Press in association with Channel 4, 1989, 291pp, ISBN 0 19 286091 7, £9.95, P.B.

THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE GARDEN FROM THE CONVENTIONS OF PLANTING, DESIGN, AND ORNAMENT TO THE GRAND GARDENS OF SIXTEENTH-CENTURY CENTRAL ITALY, Claudia Lazzaro with photographs by Ralph Lieberman, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1990, pp. i-ix + 342, £45.00, $65.00, ISBN 0-300-4765-7.

LANDSCAPE OR LAND?, poems for Devon, Mark Beeson and Christopher Southgate, Wheal Press, Devon, ISBN 0-9511588-1-3.     

Sediment geochemistry of Al, Fe, and P for two historically acidic, oligotrophic Maine lakes

Phosphorus (P) may be liberated from lake sediments by reductive dissolution of Fe(OH)(3(S)) during periods of hypolimnetic anoxia. P, however, remains adsorbed to Al(OH)(3(S)) regardless of redox conditions. During chronic or episodic acidification of a catchment, ionic Al is mobilized from soils to receiving waters. A fraction of the mobilized Al may precipitate as a consequence of higher pH of the receiving waters. We hypothesized that phosphorus retention in lake sediments is directly related to the magnitude of Al loading in response to low pH in the watershed. We studied cores representing over 200 years of sediment accumulation in historically acidic Mud Pond and Little Long Pond in eastern Maine, USA. Sequential chemical extractions of sediment were used to assess the history of Al, Fe, and P interactions. Mud Pond is a first-order pond with a pH of approximately 4.7, having acidified slightly in response to anthropogenic acidification from approximately 1930. The inlet stream to Mud Pond has dissolved Al concentrations often exceeding 500 microg/L, of which more than half is organically-bound. Mud Pond drains into Little Long Pond, a second-order pond with a historical pH of <6, and which has shown little pH or alkalinity response to increases or decreases in atmospheric SO(4)(2-) input. Sequential extractions show that Al and P are predominantly in the 0.1 M NaOH-extractable fraction in the sediments from both ponds throughout the cores. The concentration of the likely biogenic and non-reactive P within the NaOH fraction increases up core from <30% to approximately 60%. Extractable Fe (<20% of extractable Al) is mainly in the 0.1 M NaOH-extractable fraction, except for the top few cm, which are predominantly in the bicarbonate-dithionite reducible fraction. Accumulation rates of sediment, Al, Fe, and P in both ponds have increased in the last 50-60 yr, but fractions remain in the same proportion. Throughout both sediment cores the molar ratio of specific Al:P fractions greatly exceeds 25, and molar ratio of specific Al:Fe fractions greatly exceeds 3, the thresholds proposed by Kopácek et al. [Kopácek J, Borovec J, Hejzlar J, Ulrich K-U, Norton SA, Amirbahman A. Aluminum control of phosphorus sorption by lake sediments. Environ Sci Technol 2005; 39: 8784-89.] for P release during anoxia. The data illustrate a continuous association of P with Al in both ponds during the last two centuries, likely due to the persistent natural acidity of the catchments.     

Interactions between Bacteria And Aspen Defense Chemicals at the Phyllosphere – Herbivore Interface

Plant- and insect-associated microorganisms encounter a diversity of allelochemicals, and require mechanisms for contending with these often deleterious and broadly-acting compounds. Trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides, contains two principal groups of defenses, phenolic glycosides (salicinoids) and condensed tannins, which differentially affect the folivorous gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, and its gut symbionts. The bacteria genus Acinetobacter is frequently associated with both aspen foliage and gypsy moth consuming that tissue, and one isolate, Acinetobacter sp. R7-1, previously has been shown to metabolize phenolic glycosides. In this study, we aimed to characterize further interactions between this Acinetobacter isolate and aspen secondary metabolites. We assessed bacterial carbon utilization and growth in response to different concentrations of phenolic glycosides and condensed tannins. We also tested if enzyme inhibitors reduce bacterial growth and catabolism of phenolic glycosides. Acinetobacter sp. R7-1 utilized condensed tannins but not phenolic glycosides or glucose as carbon sources. Growth in nutrient-rich medium was increased by condensed tannins, but reduced by phenolic glycosides. Addition of the P450 enzyme inhibitor piperonyl butoxide increased the effects of phenolic glycosides on Acinetobacter sp. R7-1. In contrast, the esterase inhibitor S,S,S,-tributyl-phosphorotrithioate did not affect phenolic glycoside inhibition of bacterial growth. Degradation of phenolic glycosides by Acinetobacter sp. R7-1 appears to alleviate the cytotoxicity of these compounds, rather than provide an energy source. Our results further suggest this bacterium utilizes additional, complementary mechanisms to degrade antimicrobial phytochemicals. Collectively, these results provide insight into mechanisms by which microorganisms contend with their environment within the context of plant-herbivore interactions.     

The meta-governance of regions and the need for a political geography of planning

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to explore a recently neglected aspect of the mainstream planning approach to natural resource regions and ‘the rural’: the role of the state and other powerful meta-governance actors. I address this issue by drawing on developments from planning and development theory, political geography, political science, and resilience studies. After discussing the different ways in which natural resource regions can be understood according to these strands, I explain the challenges confronting these approaches and introduce some of the ways in which these strands have attempted to overcome them. I argue that a renewed focus on the meta-governance of natural resource regions will both challenge and enrich future planning and development scholarship and practice. A political geography approach to understanding the role of meta-governance in planning natural resource regions is central to this agenda.     

Precision engineering for future propulsion and power systems: a perspective from Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce today is an increasingly global business, supplying integrated power systems to a wide variety of customers for use on land, at sea and in the air. Its reputation for 'delivering excellence' to these customers has been built largely on its gas turbine technology portfolio, and this reputation relies on the quality of the company's expertise in design, manufacture and delivery of services. This paper sets out to examine a number of examples, such as the high-pressure turbine blade, of the company's reliance on precision design and manufacture, highlighting how this precision contributes to customer satisfaction with its products. A number of measures the company is taking to accelerate its competitiveness in precision manufacture are highlighted, not least its extensive relationships with the academic research base. The paper finishes by looking briefly at the demands of the company's potential future product portfolio.     

The role of the nucleus accumbens core in impulsive choice, timing, and reward processing.

The present series of experiments aimed to pinpoint the source of nucleus accumbens core (AcbC) effects on delay discounting. Rats were trained with an impulsive choice procedure between an adjusting smaller sooner reward and a fixed larger later reward. The AcbC-lesioned rats produced appropriate choice behavior when the reward magnitude was equal. An increase in reward magnitude resulted in a failure to increase preference for the larger later reward in the AcbC-lesioned rats, whereas a decrease in the larger later reward duration resulted in normal alterations in choice behavior in AcbC-lesioned rats. Subsequent experiments with a peak timing (Experiments 2 and 3) and a behavioral contrast (Experiment 4) indicated that the AcbC-lesioned rats suffered from decreased incentive motivation during changes in reward magnitude (Experiments 2 and 4) and when expected rewards were omitted (Experiments 2 and 3), but displayed intact anticipatory timing of reward delays (Experiments 2 and 3). The results indicate that the nucleus accumbens core is critical for determining the incentive value of rewards, but does not participate in the timing of reward delays. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)