The dependence of the hydrogen sorption capacity of single-walled carbon nanotubes on the concentration of catalyst

The adsorption of hydrogen on single-walled carbon nanotubes was measured using micro-gravimetric nitrogen and hydrogen adsorption isotherms at 77 K for gas pressures of up to 1 bar (nitrogen) and 12 bar (hydrogen). Results show that surface area and hydrogen uptake depend on the concentration of the iron catalyst used for making the nanotubes. Langmuir fits to the hydrogen uptake curves clearly show two adsorption energies for each sample which we attribute to the groove site for the higher adsorption energy and to the convex tube surface for the lower energy. We also present calculations of the binding energy of hydrogen on these same sites on SWCNTs and confirm that the groove site has a significantly higher (radius-dependent) binding energy than the surface site, consistent with the experimental values. This suggests that the use of the Langmuir model is appropriate to the adsorption of H2 on activated carbons for the temperature and pressure range investigated and could be used as a rapid way of estimating the average tube radius in the sample

Specimen records of Bombus (Alpinobombus) in the Oregon State Arthropod Collection as of December 2018

Digital records for 88 specimens of Bombus (Alpinobombus) are provided in an attached supplemental data file, including an important state record for Bombus (Alpinobombus) kirbiellus Curtis 1835 from Mount Baker, Whatcom County, Washington collected in 1980 by D. Shaw

Ciudadanos: Constructing the nation at the margin of the state in Venezuela, Colombia, and Mexico, 1846-1870

Recently, there has been significant historical inquiry into the political role plebeians played in early republican Latin America. However, the role of plebeians in liberal nation-building efforts in the early 19th century has received far less attention. This study addresses this question through case studies of Ezequiel Zamora in Venezuela, Ramón Mercado in Colombia, and Juan Álvarez in Mexico. Each of these men, as local leaders of liberal societies in rural areas, interacted directly with plebeians in their efforts to build national liberal political movements, acting as mediators between national liberal parties and their plebeian supporters. Through this interaction they also gave rural plebeians an opportunity to participate in and influence national politics. By focusing on these cases, this study illuminates how plebeians across Latin America helped shape conceptions of the nation and national identity. Drawing on primary accounts from each figure, alongside contemporary petitions, newspapers, and pamphlets, the paper outlines how the formation of cross-class political coalitions championed by middle-class “mediators” contributed to the construction of nations in early republican Latin America. Most interestingly of all, this form of nation-building occurred largely without powerful state backing, differentiating it from the traditional historical perspective that the state has been the primary author of the nation

The Rebel Cafe: America's Nightclub Underground and the Public Sphere, 1934-1963

From 1934 through 1963, New York and San Francisco nightspots were community institutions and public forums for radical cultural producers, intellectuals, and political dissidents. This dissertation explores bars, nightclubs, and coffeehouses in bohemian Greenwich Village and North Beach as nodal points in alternative social networks connecting patrons and performers marginalized by their Left politics, race, gender, or sexual orientation. It traces unconventional ideas from subterranean domains through their dissemination by the mass media, examining how local political discourse and cultural diffusion informed social change in the twentieth-century United States. This study illuminates nightclubs' cultural function, shedding new light on familiar subjects such as the Beat Generation, jazz, civil rights, and social satire, and linking the Left's Cultural Front of the 1930s to 1950s dissident culture. Nightspots provide useful models to study identity formation and oppositional political consciousness, as patrons and performers challenged dominant social norms through cultural avant-gardism, explorations of sexuality and gender, and interracial alliances. Tourism, meanwhile, contributed to the extension of new social norms into the mainstream. Moreover, drinking establishments served a vital function within the public sphere as spaces of discussion and debate which both critiqued and contributed to mass-media content. As outspoken nonconformists clashed with conservative critics, the result was sometimes legal woes for oppositional figures, from the anarchist libertarians who met in urban cafes in the 1930s to gay-rights activists and the controversial comic Lenny Bruce. Yet the art, literature, music, and satire that emerged from the nightclub underground of the 1950s proved to be forces for social liberation, showing the relation between culture and politics. Subcultural networks provided psychological and material support to the budding gay liberation and feminist movements, as well as the Black Freedom Struggle. By examining the use of public space and built environments, and charting the confluence of culture, politics, and urban geography, "The Rebel Cafe" demonstrates how historical subjects transformed American society by investing nightspots with significance as sites of public discourse

Has education lost sight of children?

The reflections presented in this chapter are informed by clinical and personal experiences of school education in the UK. There are many challenges for children and young people in the modern education system and for the professionals who support them. In the UK, there are significant gaps between the highly selective education provided to those who pay privately for it and to the majority of those educated in the state-funded system. Though literacy rates have improved around the world, many children, particularly boys, do not finish their education for reasons such as boredom, behavioural difficulties or because education does not ‘pay’. Violence, bullying, and sexual harassment are issues faced by many children in schools and there are disturbing trends of excluding children who present with behavioural problems at school whose origins are not explored. Excluded children are then educated with other children who may also have multiple problems which often just make the situation worse. The experience of clinicians suggests that school-related mental health problems are increasing in severity. Are mental health services dealing with the consequences of an education system that is not meeting children’s needs? An education system that is testing- and performance-based may not be serving many children well if it is driving important decisions about them at increasingly younger ages. Labelling of children and setting them on educational career paths can occur well before they reach secondary schools, limiting potential very early on in their developmental trajectory. Furthermore, the emphasis at school on testing may come at the expense of creativity and other forms of intelligence, which are also valuable and important. Meanwhile the employment marketplace requires people with widely different skills, with an emphasis on innovation, creativity, and problem solving. Is education losing sight of the children it is educating

Stabilities of nanohydrated thymine radical cations: insights from multiphoton ionization experiments and ab initio calculations

Multi-photon ionization experiments have been carried out on thymine-water clusters in the gas phase. Metastable H2O loss from T+(H2O)n was observed at n ≥ 3 only. Ab initio quantum-chemical calculations of a large range of optimized T+(H2O)n conformers have been performed up to n = 4, enabling binding energies of water to be derived. These decrease smoothly with n, consistent with the general trend of increasing metastable H2O loss in the experimental data. The lowest-energy conformers of T+(H2O)3 and T+(H2O)4 feature intermolecular bonding via charge-dipole interactions, in contrast with the purely hydrogen-bonded neutrals. We found no evidence for a closed hydration shell at n = 4, also contrasting with studies of neutral clusters

Constitutivism

A brief explanation and overview of constitutivism

Medical Student Perception of Force Application: An Accuracy Assessment and Pilot Training Program

Background: It is unclear how accurately students can reproduce specific forces that are often required for physical examination maneuvers. This study aimed to determine the baseline accuracy of force application for preclinical medical students, evaluate the effectiveness of a quantitative visual feedback intervention, and investigate whether certain demographics influence accuracy. Materials and Methods: First- and second-year medical students were enrolled and demographic data were collected. Students blindly applied their estimation of 15 lbs (6.8 kg), 3 lbs (1.4 kg), 10 lbs (4.5 kg), 1.5 lbs (0.7 kg), and 6 lbs (2.7 kg) of force on a scale. Visual feedback training was then performed wherein students applied a series of additional forces unblinded five times, and then blindly administered the same five initial forces 12 minutes and one week later. Accuracy was compared at each time point and a regression analysis was evaluated for predictors of accuracy. Results: Thirty-three students participated. The mean baseline accuracy was 38.3%, 41.1% immediately following intervention, and 35.6% one week later (P = 0.66). Accuracy was significantly higher at higher intended forces compared to lower forces (P \u3c 0.05). The number of prior occupations was a positive independent predictor (P = 0.04), and the number of sports played was noted to be a negative predictor (P = 0.01), of baseline accuracy. Conclusions: Medical students’ ability to accurately reproduce clinically relevant forces is poor. There is a clear need to implement a robust training program in medical education, and students may need multiple training sessions to refine this skill

Evaluation of a Shortened REDON Fit Test Protocol for Half-Mask Respirators

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a shortened REDON method is as effective and accurate compared to the reference method when measuring respirator fit for elastomeric half-mask respirators using the Quantifit® CNP instrument