Pt and Pt-alloy catalysts and their properties for the liquid-phase hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde

The selective hydrogenation of ,β-unsaturated aldehydes to the corresponding unsaturated alcohol is not only of general interest in fine chemical and pharmaceutical intermediate production but also of specific relevance to the perfume and flavouring industries. A number of Pt/graphite catalysts have been prepared with metal loadings in the range 5–10 wt.% metal on graphite and with added cobalt in the composition range 5–99.5 mol%. These catalysts have been characterised using temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and have been compared with a commercial 5% (w/w) Pt/graphite catalyst for the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde in toluene and biphasic toluene/aqueous solutions containing a range of bases or potassium based salts. The reactions were carried out in a stirred reactor in the pressure range 4–11 bar absolute, in the temperature range 298–373 K, and with the concentration of cinnamaldehyde in the range 0.038–0.303 kmol/m³. The presence of strong bases was found to enhance both catalyst activity and selectivity to cinnamyl alcohol.     

采用以FPGA为基础的创新技术实现从广播飞跃到“超广播”

过去10年来,电子产业由于推出一系列令人眼花撩乱的平面电视及相关技术,也逐渐将阴极放射管电视、背投式电视乃至模拟标准信号广播技术统统扫进了积满灰尘的“古董”仓库。如今．各大公司纷纷以前所未有的发展速度不断开发出更新的TV影像技术。     

Statistical analysis of bacterial spore aerosols created by opening a spore containing “anthrax letter” in an office

This report provides a statistical analysis of a Bacillus atrophaeus spore aerosol generated by opening a spore containing letter in an office, simulating the effects of an “anthrax letter”. Spore aerosols were collected by five sets of high-resolution slit to agar samplers in a vacated office building (338.4 m², 1015.2 m³) during 34 replicates of a single control scenario. Results showed that 0.1 g of B. atrophaeus spores loaded in a letter were easily detected throughout the building following the opening of the letter. Areas under the curve (AUCs) were used to summarize each replicate scenario, and the variability of the AUCs was examined to assess the sample size requirements for future scenario analyses. Based on this analysis a minimum of five replicates of each scenario will be required for future statistical comparison of new scenarios intended to determine the effectiveness of existing or proposed anthrax letter response protocols.     

National and international university departmental Web site interlinking

Summary The structural similarity between hyperlinks and citations has encouraged information scientists to apply bibliometric techniques to the Web. University links have been previously validated as a new data source through significant statistical correlations between link and research measures, together with identification of motivations for hyperlink creation at the university level. Many investigations have been conducted for university interlinking, but few for departments. University Web sites are large compared with departmental Web sites, and significant statistical results are more easily obtained. Nevertheless, universities are multidisciplinary by nature and disciplines may employ the Web differently, thus patterns identified at the university level may hide subject differences. This paper validates departmental interlinking, using Physics, Chemistry and Biology departments from Australia, Canada and the UK.     

A knotted and interconnected skeleton structural model for predicting Young's modulus of binary phase polymer blends

A knotted and interconnected skeleton structural (KISS) model is proposed for predicting Young's modulus of polymer blends. The KISS model accounts for the structure variations of polymer blends using the percolation theory and emphasizes the structural symmetry of co‐continuous polymer blends. It reduces to the Maxwell‐Eucken models below the percolation threshold and a symmetric interconnected skeleton structure at an intermediate component volume fraction. The KISS model satisfactorily predicts the Young's modulus of polymer blends for the entire component volume fraction range. Due to mathematical analogy, the model might equally be applied to predictions of electrical and thermal conductivity of binary mixtures. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Polymerization of Aniline by Cupric Sulfate: A Facile Synthetic Route for Producing Polyaniline

Polyaniline is an interesting and intensively investigated polymer due to its potential application for alternative energy sources. This report provides a simple method for the preparation of polyaniline nanofoil by using cupric sulfate as an oxidizing agent and, due to the counter reduction reaction, cupric sulfate was reduced resulting in the formation of copper nanoparticles within the size range 2–5 nm as evidenced by TEM images. SEM images demonstrate the morphology of the polymer whereas, UV-vis, Raman and IR spectra provide the structural information of the polymer.     

Evaluation of Contaminant Resuspension Potential during Cap Placement at Two Dissimilar Sites

Capping is a common remediation technology for the containment/stabilization of contaminated sediments. During capping activities, clean material is commonly released from a barge at the water surface and falls through the water column to the sediment surface, providing an uncontaminated surface sediment layer. Little information exists on the potential release of in situ contaminated sediments during and after capping operations. This paper focuses on the measured release of contaminants during capping events at Boston Harbor, Mass. (confined aquatic disposal cells for contaminated sediment) and Eagle Harbor, Wash. (creosote-contaminated sediment from a wood treating facility). The water column was sampled during capping events to evaluate whether cap placement resulted in the release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)- or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)-contaminated sediments at Boston Harbor, or PAH-contaminated sediments at Eagle Harbor. Though results at both sites indicated some contaminant resuspension during capping operations, in general contaminant resuspension was relatively low for all capping events. PCB and PAH concentrations for most samples were in the low ng/L range. The most significant releases occurred when previously uncapped sediments were initially capped, and the magnitude of contaminant resuspension decreased with successive capping layers. These results may have important implications regarding sediment cap installation techniques and their potential impacts on water quality. Resuspension during capping may be minimized by placing cap material in lifts, where the first lift provides a uniform layer of clean material using techniques that minimize sediment disturbance and subsequent lifts are placed more aggressively once contaminated sediment is covered.