Advances in oxygen evolution catalysis in solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis

Continuous polarization of a stabilized RuO₂ oxygen anode in a solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis cell at 1072 mA cm^?2 resulted in severe anode deterioration within 24–48 hr. In contrast, a new Ru-based mixed oxide catalyst, termed WE-3, exhibited stability in oxygen evolution over a 6700 hr period, with testing beyond that point still in progress. The activation energy for oxygen evolution on WE-3 is comparable to that observed on new RuO₂ anodes.     

The relation of parental marital status and perceived family conflict to adjustment in White adolescents.

Examined 2 contrasting views of how divorce relates to the long-term adjustment of children. The physical-wholeness position views divorce as the salient explanatory variable to adversely affect children's later adjustment through the physical dissolution of the 2-parent family; the psychological-wholeness position views perceived current family conflict as the critical variable that influences adjustment, regardless of parental marital status. Results from 823 White adolescents (age 13–18 yrs) fail to support the physical-wholeness position; parental marital status was not significantly related to psychological adjustment or satisfaction with social life. However, results provide strong support for the psychological-wholeness position: Ss' psychological adjustment and satisfaction with social life were significantly related to level of perceived conflict in the family. It is suggested that divorce be conceptualized as a crisis situation rather than as a universally negative event. Use of conflict identification and resolution interventions to reduce family conflict may prevent future problems in child development. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation Of Ozone/Biological Treatment For Disinfection Byproducts Control And Biologically Stable Water

Impacts of ozonation followed by biological filtration on the formation of disinfection byproducts and the production of biologically stable water were studied on pilot plant and full-scale at two U.S. locations (Oakland, CA and Tampa, FL). Also evaluated is a method to estimate bacterial regrowth potential by comparing it to assimilable organic carbon (AOC) measurements. At both locations, settled plant water is diverted to the pilot plant where it is split into two parallel trains. One train is ozonated, then Filtered through anthracite/sand dual media followed by GAC or through a GAC/sand dual media filter. The other train (control) is identical except that the water is not ozonated. The full scale plants have sedimentation, ozonation, then GAC/sand filtration.     

Characterization of a photochromic triaryl methane dye sulphite for use as a tracer in the visualization of water flows

The chemical and photochemical properties of a photochromic water soluble triaryl methane dye sulphite, acid magenta monomethyl magenta sulphite, (AMMM · SO₃)^4?, have been examined, and the application of this photochromic system to the visualization of water flows is discussed. Addition of sulphite to an aqueous solution of the parent dye acid magenta monomethyl magenta, AMMM^2?, (a methylated derivative of acid magenta, C.I. acid violet 19) leads to formation of the colourless sulphite complex, (AMMM · SO₃)^4?. Pulsed irradiation of a solution of this compound, with light of wavelength shorter than ≈ 340 nm, causes transient production of the parent dye, whose lifetime is influenced by pH, sulphite concentration, temperature and ionic strength. Longest useful lifetimes are of the order of a few seconds and a general equation is presented for the calculation of dye lifetimes for a variety of conditions. The complex formation constant for (AMMM · SO₃)^4? is 1.8 (± 0.2) × 10⁵ M^?1, while that for the weakly photochromic hydroxide (AMMM · OH)^3? is 1.3 (± 0.3) × 10⁶ M^?1. The quantum yield of dye production at 308 nm is ≈ 0.5 – 1.0, and this is discussed along with the absorption spectra of AMMM^2? and (AMMM · SO₃)^4? with respect to the penetration characteristics of a pulse of 308 nm laser radiation with an energy of a few millijoules. The action spectrum for dye production from (AMMM · SO₃)^4? suggests that there is a non-photochromic absorption band at about 350 nm, an assumption which is supported by the failure to detect efficient dye production when using 355 nm excitation from a Nd/YAG laser.     

Tutorial Series 5 Software Design

Evolving from historical and contemporary practices, various forces of change will combine in the near future to bring significant improvement to software design.     

Ozone Assisted Biological Treatment Of Industrial Wastewaters Containing Biorefractory Compound

Ozone pretreatment studies of organic compounds that are difficult to biodegrade were conducted to evaluate the effects of ozonation on biodegradability of these compounds. Initial testing was conducted in batch activated sludge experiments with and without preozonation to evaluate the impacts of ozonation on the ultimate BOD/COD and ultimate BOD/TOC ratios of these compounds. Experimental results indicated wastewater preozonation to be an effective pretreatment step for some compounds, ineffective for other compounds and detrimental to biological treatment of still other compounds. These same compounds were then investigated in continuous flow, complete–mix activated sludge systems. Complete material balances, including influent, effluent, waste sludge and off–gas specific compound analyses, were conducted so that the actual fate of the compound could be determined. Removal mechanisms of the ozonated or unozonated compound were then determined to be biodegradation, stripping, or sorption to the biomass. Three compounds were investigated: acrylonitrile, 2,4 dinitrophenol, and 1,2 dichloropropane.     

A critical-strain criterion for hydrogen embrittlement of cold-drawn, ultrafine pearlitic steel

A stress-modified, critical-strain model of fracture-initiation toughness has been adapted to the case of hydrogen-affected pearlite shear cracking, which is a critical event in transverse fracture of cold-drawn, pearlitic steel wire. This shear cracking occurs via a process of cementite lamellae failure, followed by microvoid nucleation, growth, and linkage to create shear bands that form across pearlite colonies. The key model feature is that the intrinsic resistance to shear-band cracking at a transverse notch or crack is related to the effective fracture strain at the notch root. This fracture strain decreases with the logarithm of the diffusible hydrogen concentration (C _H). Good agreement with experimental transverse fracture-initiation-toughness values was obtained when the sole adjustable parameter of the model, the critical microstructural dimension (l*), was set to the mean dimension of shearable pearlite colonies within this steel. The effect of hydrogen was incorporated through the relationship between local effective plastic strain (ɛ _eff ^f ) and C _H, obtained from sharply and bluntly notched tensile specimens analyzed by finite-element analysis (FEA) to define stress and strain fields. No transition in the transverse fracture-initiation morphology was observed with increasing constraint or hydrogen concentration. Instead, shear cracking from transverse notches and precracks was enabled at lower global applied stresses when C _H increased. This shear-cracking process is assisted by absorbed and trapped hydrogen, which is rationalized to either reduce the cohesive strength of the Fe/Fe₃C interface, localize slip in ferrite lamellae so as to more readily enable shearing of Fe₃C by dislocation pileups, or assist subsequent void growth and link-up. The role of hydrogen at these sites is consistent with the detected hydrogen trapping. Large hydrogen-trap coverages at carbides can be demonstrated using trap-binding-energy analysis when hydrogen-assisted shear cracking is observed at low applied strains.     

An ID-based signcryption scheme with compartmented secret sharing for unsigncryption

In this paper the ID-based signcryption scheme of Li, Xin, and Hu is extended to a compartmented scheme. If an organization is partitioned into different compartments, this scheme allows any member of a specific compartment to participate in the unsigncryption; moreover, each member of a compartment has information unique to that individual. This construction is the first (to the authors' knowledge) to combine identity-based encryption, Shamir's threshold scheme, and signcryption into an implementable compartmented sharing scheme.     

Drug identification through analysis of maggots

The examination of insect larvae from decomposed bodies not only can serve in the estimation of the postmortem interval but also can be used in qualitative identification of drug substances.