"Producers and Consumers in EU E-Commerce Law by John Dickie, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2005 (ISBN 1-841-13454-6)"

Book Review

Wavelength Dependence of Raman Enhancement from Gold Nanorod Arrays: Quantitative Experiment and Modeling of a Hot Spot Dominated System

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra from molecules adsorbed on the surface of vertically aligned gold nanorod arrays exhibit a variation in enhancement factor (EF) as a function of excitation wavelength that displays little correlation with the elastic optical properties of the surface. The key to understanding this lack of correlation and to obtaining agreement between experimental and calculated EF spectra lies with consideration of randomly distributed, sub-10 nm gaps between nanorods forming the substrate. Intense fields in these enhancement “hot spots” make a dominant contribution to the Raman scattering and have a very different spectral profile to that of the elastic optical response. Detailed modeling of the electric field enhancement at both excitation and scattering wavelengths was used to quantitatively predict both the spectral profile and the magnitude of the observed EF.

The use of short time-on-stream in situ spectroscopic transient kinetic isotope techniques to investigate the mechanism of hydrocarbon selective catalytic reduction (HC-SCR) of NOx at low temperatures

The problem of differentiating between active and spectator species that have similar infrared spectra has been addressed by developing short time-on-stream in situ spectroscopic transient isotope experimental techniques (STOS-SSITKA). The techniques have been used to investigate the reaction mechanism for the reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by hydrocarbons under lean-burn (excess oxygen) conditions on a silver catalyst. Although a nitrate-type species tracks the formation of isotopically labeled dinitrogen, the results show that this is misleading because a nitrate-type species has the same response to an isotopic switch even under conditions where no dinitrogen is produced. In the case of cyanide and isocyanate species, the results show that it is possible to differentiate between slowly reacting spectator isocyanate species, probably adsorbed on the oxide support, and reactive isocyanate species, possibly on or close to the active silver phase. The reactive isocyanate species responds to an isotope switch at a rate that matches that of the rate of formation of the main product, dinitrogen. It is concluded that these reactive isocyanates could potentially be involved in the reduction of NOx whereas there is no evidence to support the involvement of nitrate-type species that are observable by infrared spectroscopy.

Investigating the mechanism of the H 2-assisted selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with octane using fast cycling transient in situ DRIFTS-MS analysis

A mechanistic study of the H-2-assisted Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) of NOx with octane as reductant over a Ag/Al2O3 catalyst was carried out using a modified DRIFTS cell coupled to a mass spectrometer Using fast transient cycling switching of H-2 with a time resolution of a few seconds It was possible to differentiate potential reaction intermediates from other moieties that are clearly spectator species Using such a periodic operation mode effects were uncovered that are normally hidden in conventional transient studies which typically consist of a single transient In experiments based on a single transient addition of H-2 to or removal of H-2 from the SCR feed it was found that the changes in the concentrations of gaseous species (products and reactants) were not matched by changes at comparable timescales of the concentration of surface species observed by IR This observation indicates that the majority of sur face species observed by DRIFTS under steady-state reaction conditions are spectators In contrast under fast cycling experimental conditions It was found that a surface isocyanate species had a temporal response that matched that of N-15(2) This suggests that some of the isocyanate species observed by infrared spectroscopy could be important intermediates in the hydrogen-assisted SCR reaction although it is emphasised that this may be dependent on the way in which the infrared spectra are obtained It is concluded that the use of fast transient cycling switching techniques may provide useful mechanistic information under certain circumstances.

Dioxygenase-catalysed cis-dihydroxylation of meta-substituted phenols to yield cyclohexenone cis-diol and derived enantiopure cis-triol metabolites

cis-Dihydroxylation of meta-substituted phenol (m-phenol) substrates, to yield the corresponding cyclohexenone cis-diol metabolites, was catalysed by arene dioxygenases present in mutant and recombinant bacterial strains. The presence of cyclohexenone cis-diol metabolites and several of their cyclohexene and cyclohexane cis-triol derivatives was detected by LC-TOFMS analysis and confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Structural and stereochemical analyses of chiral ketodiol bioproducts, was carried out using NMR and CD spectroscopy and stereochemical correlation methods. The formation of enantiopure cyclohexenone cis-diol metabolites is discussed in the context of postulated binding interactions of the m-phenol substrates at the active site of toluene dioxygenase (TDO).

John P. Mackintosh, Devolution and the Union

This article provides a discussion of the political thinking of John P. Mackintosh (1929–1978) around the debate over Scottish devolution, and the constitutional reform of the UK, during the 1960s and 1970s. The article explores Mackintosh's ‘Union State’ vision of the UK and connects this to his interest in, and study of, the Northern Ireland experience of devolution from 1921 to 1972. It also considers the significance of Mackintosh's confrontations with Scottish nationalism and suggests that his unionism was representative of a more authentic and rooted tradition than is usually acknowledged. The article offers an evaluation of Mackintosh's legacy and considers the extent to which the questions he posed, and the lines of argument he advanced, have retained their relevance and interest in the new context of partial devolution in the UK, and in the current period of renewed constitutional speculation and debate over the future of the Union and the UK.

Epistolarum Familiarium Liber Unus in The Complete Works of John Milton: Volume XI (672pp.)

This edition of Milton’s Epistolarum Familiarium Liber Unus and of his Uncollected Letters, will appear as 672 pp. of The Complete Works of John Milton Volume XI, eds. Gordon Campbell and Edward Jones (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2016). A diplomatic Latin text and a new facing English translation are complemented by a detailed Introduction and commentary that situate Milton’s Latin letters in relation to the classical, pedagogical and essentially humanist contexts at the heart of their composition. Now the art of epistolography advocated and exemplified by Cicero and Quintilian and embraced by Renaissance pedagogical manuals is read through a humanist filter whereby, via the precedent (and very title) of Epistolae Familiares, the Miltonic Liber is shown to engage with a neo-Latin re-invention of the classical epistola that had come to birth in quattrocento Italy in the letters of Petrarch and his contemporaries. At the same time the Epistolae are seen as offering fresh insight into Milton’s views on education, philology, his relations with Italian literati, his blindness, the poetic dimension of his Latin prose, and especially his verbal ingenuity as the ‘words’ of Latin ‘Letters’ become a self-conscious showcasing of etymological punning on the ‘letters’ of Latin ‘words’. The edition also announces several new discoveries, most notably its uncovering and collation of a manuscript of Henry Oldenburg’s transcription (in his Liber Epistolaris held in Royal Society, London) of Milton’s Ep. Fam. 25 (to Richard Jones). Oldenburg’s transcription (from the original sent to his pupil Jones) is an important find, given the loss of all but two of the manuscripts of Milton’s original Latin letters included in the 1674 volume. The edition also presents new evidence in regard to Milton’s relationships with the Italian philologist Benedetto Buonmattei, the Greek humanist Leonard Philaras, the radical pastor Jean Labadie (and the French church of London), and the elusive Peter Heimbach.