Increase in energy and land use by a bio-based chemical industry

About 80% of the chemical products are still based on crude oil. Bio-based materials will increasingly gain importance. As the fraction of oxygen is normally higher in biomass than in crude oil as well as in the derived conventional products, this implies a need to develop new synthesis pathways. Depending on the types of new synthesis pathways, the effects of a complete raw-material change on land and exergy use differ. Here, different synthesis pathways starting from glucose and plant oil to different kinds of end products are evaluated utilizing material and exergy balances. These evaluations are carried out under today's and future conditions and constraints, like yield, demand of organic chemicals and world population. The analysis in this paper shows that the land and energy use can be significantly reduced, if the products are adapted to the chemical structure of their bio-based feedstock.     

Ethical knowledge exhibited by clients and nonclients.

Two studies were conducted to explore the relation between (a) experience in counseling and psychotherapy and (b) ethical knowledge. In Study 1, 77 college students reported their experience as clients in a variety of settings and then completed a questionnaire concerning their knowledge of ethical issues. The hypothesis that clients (subjects who had counseling experience) would demonstrate ethical knowledge superior to that of nonclients (those with no such experience) was not supported. Ethical knowledge did not differ as a function of counseling experience, the setting in which counseling was received, or the number of sessions. However, though overall ethical knowledge was high across groups, knowledge with respect to each ethical issue was incomplete. In Study 2, following the same procedure, we compared 17 current psychotherapy clients at a Veterans Administration medical center with 15 nonclients, patients in the hypertension clinic who had never received psychological services. These clients demonstrated superior ethical knowledge on specific issues (.008?ps?     

Aristotle and epistemology: Implications for professional psychological training.

In this article I propose that epistemological considerations are crucial to effective training. Present-day epistemologies have arisen in response to social and economic forces rather than to an a priori consideration of psychology's understanding of knowledge. Aristotle's epistemology can be used as an example, and the implications for psychology and training are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process models: plans,predictions, proclamations or prophecies?

Design process models have a complex and changing relationship to the processes they model, and mean different things to different people in different situations. Participants in design processes need to understand each other’s perspectives and agree on what the models mean. The paper draws on philosophy of science to argue that understanding a design process model can be seen as an imagination game governed by agreed rules, to envisage what would be true about the world if the model were correct. The rules depend on the syntax and content of the model, on the task the model is used for, and on what the users see the model as being. The paper outlines twelve alternative conceptualizations of design process models—frames, pathways, positions, proclamations, projections, predictions, propositions, prophecies, requests, demands, proposals, promises—and discusses when they fit situations that stakeholders in design processes can be in. Articulating how process models are conceptualised can both help to understand how process management works and help to resolve communication problems in industrial practice.     

Philosophical tensions influencing psychology and social action.

Debate on psychology's role in social action centers on whether an acceptable minimal standard for social activism by members of the profession and the profession as a whole can be determined. The debate is often couched in political terms. This article examines psychology's role in social action from the vantage point of philosophical tensions that make definition of social action and psychology's role difficult. Three tensions are discussed—tensions between those operating from a perspective of judgment of care versus judgment of rights; tensions between those arguing that the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles inform choice versus mandate behavior; and tensions between those in the profession who are consumers versus creators of facts. These tensions, although not resolvable, can provide increased understanding of professional and moral decision making within a heterogeneous professional community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biomass as Feedstock in the Chemical Industry – An Examination from an Exergetic Point of View

Crude oil is the most important raw material for the chemical industry. Due to the continually rising price of crude oil, alternative carbon sources are becoming increasingly important. Biomass is basically the only available renewable carbon source. Because the chemical composition of biomass differs from fossil raw materials, the raw‐material change also offers many chances for new product properties and applications. At the same time, the chemical processes have to be redesigned if the feedstock changes to biomass. Here, the effects of a raw‐material change are examined on a rather generic level. The study is based on exergy balances and indicates that it is exergetically advisable to reconsider the previously established system of platform and basic chemicals. In general, exergy losses can be minimized if the synthesis pathways leading to the final products are adapted to the chemical structure of biomass.