Sticks, Stones and Words: Emotional Harm and the English Criminal Law

This article discusses the rule that criminal liability does not normally attach for the causing of emotional harm or mental distress in the absence of proof of a 'recognised psychiatric injury'. It considers what is involved in the diagnosis of psychiatric injury, and to what extent the difference between such injury and 'ordinary' mental distress is one of degree rather than one of kind. It reviews the situations in which the law already criminalises the infliction of emotional harm without proof of psychiatric injury, and assesses the policy arguments for drawing the distinction in the normal case. The article concludes that the law can and should adopt a more flexible approach to cases of this sort.

A novel reversible relative-humidity indicator ink based on methylene blue and urea

A new relative-humidity sensitive ink based on methylene blue and urea is described which can utilise the deliquescent nature of urea.

A Novel, Fast-Responding, Indicator Ink for Thin Film Photocatalytic Surfaces

A new photocatalyst indicator ink based on methylene blue (MB) is described that allows the presence and activity of a thin (15 nm) photocatalytic film to be assessed in seconds. The ink is very stable (shelf life > 6 months) and the color change (blue to colorless) striking. The ink utilizes a sacrificial electron donor, glycerol, to trap the photogenerated holes, leaving the photogenerated electrons to react with MB to produce its. reduced, leuco, form (LMB). The efficacy of the MB ink is due to the presence of acid in its formulation, which curtails significantly. the otherwise usual, rapid reoxidation of LMB by ambient O-2.

A rapid method of assessing the photocatalytic activity of thin TiO2 films using an ink based on the redox dye 2,6-dichloroindophenol

An indicator ink based on the redox dye 2,6-dichloroindophenol ( DCIP) is described, which allows the rapid assessment of the activity of thin, commercial photocatalytic films, such as Activ. The ink works via a photoreductive mechanism, DCIP being reduced to dihydro-DCIP within ca. 7.5 minutes exposure to UVA irradiation of moderate intensity ( ca. 4.8mW cm(-2)). The kinetics of photoreduction are found to be independent of the level of dye present in the ink formulation, but are highly sensitive to the level of glycerol. This latter observation may be associated with a solvatochromic effect, whereby the microenvironment in which the dye finds itself and, as a consequence, its reactivity is altered significantly by small changes in the glycerol content. The kinetics of photoreduction also appear linearly dependent on the UVA light intensity with an observed quantum efficiency of ca. 1.8 x 10(-3). Copyright (C) 2008.

A solvent-based intelligence ink for oxygen

A solvent-based, irreversible oxygen indicator ink is described, comprising semiconductor photocatalyst nanoparticles, a solvent-soluble redox dye, mild reducing agent and polymer. Based on such an ink, a film - made of titanium dioxide, a blue, solvent-soluble, coloured ion-paired methylene blue dye, glycerol and the polymer zein - loses its colour rapidly (

Method of rapid assessment of photocatalytic activities of self-cleaning films

An ink, comprising the redox dye resazurin (Rz) and the sacrificial electron donor glycerol, is shown to be capable of the rapid assessment of the photocatalytic activities of self-cleaning films. In the key initial stage of photocatalysis the ink changes from blue to pink. Prolonged irradiation bleaches the ink and eventually mineralizes it. The kinetics of the initial photoinduced color change is studied as a function of UV irradiance, [glycerol], [Rz], and temperature. The results reveal an apparent approximate quantum yield of 3.5 x 10(-3) and an initial rate, r(i), which increases with [glycerol] and decreases with [Rz]. It is proposed that the reduction of Rz, dispersed throughout the thick (ca. 590 nm) indicator film, may take place either via the diffusion of the dye molecules in the ink film to the surface of the underlying semiconductor layer and their subsequent reaction with photogenerated electrons and/or via the diffusion of alpha-hydroxyalkyl radicals, produced by the oxidation of the glycerol by photogenerated holes, or hydroxy radicals, away from the surface of the semiconductor into the ink film and their subsequent reaction with the dye molecules therein. The decrease in r(i) with [Rz] appears to be due to dimer formation, with the latter impeding the reduction process. The activation energy for the initial color-change process is low, ca. 9.1 +/- 0.1 kJ mol(-1) and not unlike many other photocatalytic processes. The initial rate of dye reduction appears to be directly related to the rate of destruction of stearic acid. The ink can be applied by spin-coating, stamping, or writing, using a felt-tip pen. The efficacy of such an ink for assessing the photocatalytic activity of any photocatalytic film, including those employed on commercial self-cleaning glasses, tiles, and paving stones, is discussed briefly.

An intelligence ink for photocatalytic films

An ink is described which, when printed or coated onto a photocatalyst film, changes colour irreversibly and rapidly upon UV activation of the photocatalyst film and at a rate commensurate with its activity.

An intelligence ink for oxygen

A generic ink formulation is described, comprising semiconductor photocatalyst particles, a brightly-coloured redox dye, a mild reducing agent, a polymer and a solvent, that creates an irreversible, reusable, UV-light-activated, colorimetric indicator or intelligence ink for oxygen.