An in situ spatially resolved method to probe gas phase reactions through a fixed bed catalyst

A new method to spatially probe heterogeneous catalysed reactions within a packed bed of catalyst has been developed. The spatial resolution is achieved using a stationary perforated capillary coupled to a mass spectrometer while the catalyst bed is moved. The oxidation of CO promoted by H-2 over a Pd catalyst has been used to demonstrate the technique.

Guest sorption and desorption in the metal-organic framework [Co(INA)(2)] (INA = isonicotinate) - evidence of intermediate phases during desorption

The metal-organic framework [Co(INA)(2)].0.5EtOH (INA = isonicotinate, NC5H4-4-CO2-), 1 was synthesised under solvothermal conditions. Its X-ray crystal structure shows channels containing ethanol guests which are hydrogen-bonded to carboxylate oxygens of the framework. The pyridyl rings of the framework alternate between `open' and `closed' positions along the channels resulting in large variation in the channel cross-sectional area from ca. 1.4 by 2.3 at the narrowest point to 4.9 by 5.3 at the widest. Despite the very small windows, the ethanol guests (of van der Waals diameter ca. 4.2-6.1 Angstrom) may be reversibly desorbed and sorbed into the structure quantitatively, as shown by in situ variable-temperture IR spectroscopy and XRPD. The single-crystal structure of the desolvated form [Co(INA)(2)]2 shows that there is no change in the overall connectivity on desolvation, but the rotational positions of the pyridine rings are altered. This suggests that pyridyl rotation may occur to allow guests to pass in and out. When the synthesis was conducted in 1-propanol solvent [Co(INA)(2)].0.5Pr(n)OH.H2O 3, was obtained, and a single-crystal X-ray structure revealed the same overall connectivity as in 1 but with pyridine rings disordered over closed and open positions. There was no evidence of included guests from X-ray crystallography, suggesting that they are also highly disordered. Variable-temperature XRPD performed on bulk samples showed peaks which were unsymmetrical and exhibited shoulders, suggesting that for each pattern obtained the material actually consisted of several closely-related phases. The movements of the peaks during desolvation showed the presence of intermediate phases before the final desolvated product was formed. The peak positions of the intermediate phases matched more closely with the calculated pattern for 3 than with 1 or 2, suggesting that they may have disordered structures similar to 3. The results also suggest that the intermediate phase represents an initial increase in volume before a larger decrease in volume occurs to give the final desolvated material.

Phosphorus Adsorption onto an Industrial Acidified Laterite By‒Product: Equilibrium and Thermodynamic Investigation

The present research investigates the uptake of phosphate ions from aqueous solutions using acidified laterite (ALS), a by-product from the production of ferric aluminium sulfate using laterite. Phosphate adsorption experiments were performed in batch systems to determine the amount of phosphate adsorbed as a function of solution pH, adsorbent dosage and thermodynamic parameters per fixed P concentration. Kinetic studies were also carried out to study the effect of adsorbent particle sizes. The maximum removal capacity of ALS observed at pH 5 was 3.68 mg P g^-1. It was found that as the adsorbent dosage increases, the equilibrium pH decreases, so an adsorbent dosage of 1.0 g L^-1 of ALS was selected. Adsorption capacity (q_m) calculated from the Langmuir isotherm was found to be 2.73 mg g^-1. Kinetic experimental data were mathematically well described using the pseudo first-order model over the full range of the adsorbent particle size. The adsorption reactions were endothermic, and the process of adsorption was favoured at high temperature; the ΔG and ΔH values implied that the main adsorption mechanism of P onto ALS is physisorption. The desorption studies indicated the need to consider a NaOH 0.1M solution as an optimal solution for practical regeneration applications.

The Scottish Reformations and the Origin of Religious and Civil Liberty in Britain and Ireland: Presbyterian Interpretations, c.1800-60

This article examines Presbyterian interpretations in Scotland and Ireland of the Scottish Reformations of 1560 and 1638–43. It begins with a discussion of the work of two important Presbyterian historians of the early nineteenth century, the Scotsman, Thomas McCrie, and the Irishman, James Seaton Reid. In their various publications, both laid the template for the nineteenth-century Presbyterian understanding of the Scottish Reformations by emphasizing the historical links between the Scottish and Irish churches in the early-modern period and their common theology and commitment to civil and religious liberty against the ecclesiastical and political tyranny of the Stuarts. The article also examines the commemorations of the National Covenant in 1838, the Solemn League and Covenant in 1843, and the Scottish Reformation in 1860. By doing so, it uncovers important religious and ideological linkages across the North Channel, including Presbyterian evangelicalism, missionary activity, church–state relationships, religious reform and revival, and anti-Catholicism

Multi-centre research in Australia:analysis of a recent National Health and Medical Research Council-funded project

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Human research ethics committees provide essential review of research projects to ensure the ethical conduct of human research. Several recent reports have highlighted a complex process for successful application for human research ethics committee approval, particularly for multi-centre studies. Limited resources are available for the execution of human clinical research in Australia and around the world.

METHODS: This report overviews the process of ethics approval for a National Health and Medical Research Council-funded multi-centre study in Australia, focussing on the time and resource implications of such applications in 2007 and 2008.

RESULTS: Applications were submitted to 16 hospital and two university human research ethics committees. The total time to gain final approval from each committee ranged between 13 and 77 days (median = 46 days); the entire process took 16 months to complete and the research officer's time was estimated to cost $A34 143.

CONCLUSIONS: Obstacles to timely human research ethics committee approval are reviewed, including recent, planned and potential initiatives that could improve the ethics approval of multi-centre research.

Capturing Goodwillie's Derivative

Recent work of Biedermann and Roendigs has translated Goodwillie's calculus of functors into the language of model categories. Their work focuses on symmetric multilinear functors and the derivative appears only briefly. In this paper we focus on understanding the derivative as a right Quillen functor to a new model category. This is directly analogous to the behaviour of Weiss's derivative in orthogonal calculus. The immediate advantage of this new category is that we obtain a streamlined and more informative proof that the n-homogeneous functors are classified by spectra with an action of the symmetric group on n objects. In a later paper we will use this new model category to give a formal comparison between the orthogonal calculus and Goodwillie's calculus of functors.

SnaPshot based genotyping of the RYR1 mutation in Portuguese breeds of pigs

The porcine stress syndrome or malignant hyperthermia is an inherited autosomic recessive disease, which results in neuromuscular disorders leading to death in homozygous individuals and is associated with deterioration of meat quality. The defect in susceptible animals results from modifications in the calcium release channel or Ryanodine Receptor (RYR1), with a mutation leading to a C to T transition in nucleotide 1843 of the gene. The objective of this work was to develop a method based on analysis of SNPs to detect the mutation described in the RYR1 locus in pigs, and study polymorphisms of the gene in four exotic (Large White, Landrace, Duroc and Pietrain) and three native (Bísaro, Alentejano and Malhado de Alcobaça) breeds of pigs in Portugal. The method was successful in identifying the mutation by analysis of SNPs, and results indicate a high incidence of the mutant allele in Pietrain (0.75) and, to a lesser degree, in Malhado de Alcobaça (0.34) and Landrace (0.28); frequencies in Alentejano, Bísaro and Large White ranged between 0.04 and 0.09. These results suggest the need to establish breeding programs aimed at eliminating the susceptibility allele from those populations.

Teófilo Braga e Adolfo Coelho: duas posições face aos irmãos Grimm e à colecção Kinder-und Hausmärchen

No presente artigo pretendo documentar as diferentes posições assumidas pelos dois fundadores do movimento etnográfico português, Teófilo Braga (1843-1924) e Adolfo Coelho (1847-1919), face ao trabalho de investigação e recolha de contos populares alemães realizado pelos Irmãos Grimm. Ao longo da sua obra, Teófilo Braga testemunhou repetidamente uma enorme admiração pelos Irmãos Grimm, muito em especial por Jacob, cujo exemplo procurou seguir. Teófilo Braga orientou-se na sua pesquisa pelas teses dos Irmãos Grimm, nomeadamente, pela tese da génese mítica dos contos, e concebeu a sua colecção de contos populares portugueses como recolha etnográfica e livro infantil, na esteira dos Kinder- undHausmärchen. A relação de Adolfo Coelho com a obra dos Grimm revela-se bem mais distanciada que a de Teófilo Braga. Adolfo Coelho leu criticamente os principais estudos e recolhas dos dois filólogos alemães, avaliou-os à luz das mais recentes teorias e optou pela publicação em separado de duas colecçõesde contos populares portugueses uma mais "científica" e uma outra destinada à leitura por crianças. Curiosa é também a resistência de Adolfo Coelho à tradução de contos da colecção dos Irmãos Grimm para língua portuguesa, que, a seu ver, poderia ser nociva, pois facilitaria a contaminação dos contos populares nacionais.

The letters of Lowndes, addressed to the Hon. John C. Calhoun

This document contains an address to John C. Calhoun about various points that they disagree on and why.