A Spectroscopic Paradox: The Interaction of Methanol with ZSM-5 at Room Temperature

The adsorption of methanol in HZSM-5 at low temperatures has long been regarded as an associative process involving hydrogen bonding to the acidic zeolite hydroxyl groups. Recent studies employing inelastic neutron scattering spectroscopy (INS) have reported that complete dissociation to methoxylate the zeolite occurs at 298 K, and infrared evidence for a partial dissociation at 298 K has also been described. Here we investigate the apparent contradictions between different techniques, using a combination of INS, infrared spectroscopy and solid-state NMR spectroscopy, including isotopic substitution experiments. Different possible explanations are proposed and considered; we conclude that at room temperature methanol is very largely associatively adsorbed, although the presence of some small extent (>1%) of methoxylation cannot be ruled out.

Six-year follow-up of a survivor of cervical spine fracture and dislocation with oesophageal perforation following long scarf syndrome - a case report and literature review

Background Accidental strangulation due to scarf getting caught in the wheels of a vehicle or machine was called “Isadora Duncan Syndrome” or “Long Scarf Syndrome”. Survival of concomitant fracture dislocation of cervical spine and oesophageal perforation following Long Scarf Syndrome was rarely described and medium-term follow-up for this lesion has not been reported. Case presentation We present a 39-year-old female who suffered accidental strangulation caused by the scarf around her neck getting trapped in the wheels of the a vehicle and was referred to our hospital forty days post injury. The CT examination showed a fracture dislocation at C5/6 levels with complete dissociation of the supporting structures. She developed paravertebral abscesses, cutaneous fistulas and oesophageal perforation confirmed by oesophagoscope. The patient was treated conservatively because of poor general condition and inappropriate initial treatment. Halo-vest was used to immobilize the cervical spine. The oesophagus-cutaneous fistula was managed with enteral tube feeding and repeated local care. The patient survived despite such severe injury. Nine months after the injury, the oesophageal perforation closed spontaneously and fixed malunion of the cervical spine was achieved. Six-year follow-up demonstrated that the patient survived with complete C5 tetraplegia. Literature associated with this lesion was reviewed and factors contributing to the survival were discussed. Conclusions Concomitant fracture dislocation of cervical spine and oesophageal perforation following Long Scarf Syndrome is extremely rare with high risk of mortality. Though surgical intervention is always necessary, the optimal management for this kind of lesion should be made on an individual basis through a multidisciplinary approach.

Economic and Legal Aspects of Compensation for Environmental Damage

The article considers the economic and legal aspects of compensation for environmental damage. The variety of consequences that occur as a result of environmental offenses, the complex structure of environmental damage, and specific objects of environmental legal relations determine the necessity to apply environmental legal, as well as civil, norms to the regulation of relations on compensation for environmental damage. Interaction, convergence, and interpenetration of social relations lead to the strengthening of integration processes of their legal mediation. The necessity of complete dissociation of norms of environmental and civil legislation, especially as regards the regulation of the considered relations, can hardly be accepted. Ecologized norms appear, the inclusion of which in various normative legal acts is connected with the economic development of countries, threat of ecological crisis, complication of public relations, and the necessity to consider the laws of nature.

Ligand photodissociation in Ru(ii)–1,4,7-triazacyclononane complexes enhances water oxidation and enables electrochemical generation of surface active species

Ligand transformations involved in metal complexes during water oxidation (WO), such as ligand decomposition, partial oxidation, or complete dissociation have been reported, however, ligand photodissociation has not been reported yet.

Sequential binary decay of light nuclear systems: An assessment of statistical model codes

The sequential decay of excited nuclei is described as a succession of binary processes involving fragments in their ground, excited-bound and unbound states. Primary together with secondary decays lead to the final mass and charge distributions. Asymmetric mass splittings involving nucleon emission up to symmetric binary ones are treated within the Weisskopf evaporation formalism, in a unified manner. This procedure was imple- mented in the Monte-Carlo multi-step statistical model code MECO (Multisequential Evaporation COde). We study the evolution of the calculated final mass and charge distributions from 40Ar* as a function of the excitation energy, up to complete dissociation. Our results are compared with the predictions of statistical evaporation codes based on different assumptions for the compound nucleus decay.