Why do consumers fail to follow waste segregation rules? What would motivate them to obey the regulations?

Most of empirical literature on participation in and choice of recycling at the household level has been focused on factors determining the direct cost for households engaging in recycling efforts (Czajkowski, Kądziela, & Hanley 2012; Huhtala, 2010, Jenkins, Martinez, Palmer, & Podolsky, 2003). Researchers noticed mixed findings in the literature on the significance of waste collection fees for recycling efforts. There is also a question as whether household recycling efforts represent a social cost, which should be taken into account in cost-benefit analyses of alternative waste treatment systems. Some argue that it should not be calculated, since recycling efforts are, to a large extent, voluntary. But on the other hand, households devote time to segregation, which is, in fact, an alternative cost (Bruvoll & Nyborg, 2002). One of the barriers of effective segregation seems to be a low level of awareness on recycling and segregation issues among households. That was also noticed in research conducted by Omran, Mahmood, Abdul Aziz and Robinson (2009). The aim of this case study is to recognise why citizens’ knowledge on waste segregation rules is not sufficient enough. Despite research results confirming rather limited consumer skills related to the subject, efficient methods to make people increase their awareness of what correct selective waste collection is, seem to remain still undiscovered. The students’ task is both to identify why mistakes in waste segregation are made, as well as to propose ways of helping citizens avoid them.

Single crystal growth and properties investigation of Dy3+ and Tb3+ co-doped Gd3Sc2Al3O12 (GSAG): multi-applications for GaN blue LD pumped all-solid-state yellow lasers and UV or blue lights chip excited solid-state lightings

A high-quality Dy3+ and Tb3+ co-doped GSAG single crystal with crystal size of ϕ25×25 mm3 has been grown successfully with the traditional Czochralski method. The crystal structure and effective segregation...

Secondary structure drives self-assembly in weakly segregated globular protein–rod block copolymers

Imparting secondary structure to the polymer block can drive self-assembly in globular protein–helix block copolymers, increasing the effective segregation strength between blocks with weak or no repulsion.

Bridgman Growth of New Nonlinear Optical Crystal (La1 − xSmx)3Ga5.5Nb0.5O14 for Quasi-Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplification

Samarium-doped La3Nb0.5Ga5.5O14 (Sm:LGN) crystals were grown along a (100)-orientation by the Bridgman method for quasi-parametric chirped pulse amplification (QPCPA) applications. The structure of La1-xSxmGN (x = 0.1, 0.2) crystals was the same as that of La3Nb0.5Ga5.5O14 (LGN) crystals. The effective segregation coefficient of Sm3+ in the La0.9Sm0.1GN crystal was 0.140. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of La1-xSxmGN (x = 0.1,0.2) crystals was lower than 50″, which indicated the high quality of the crystals. The density of the La0.9Sm0.1GN crystal was 5.968 g/cm3 and that of the La0.8Sm0.2GNcrystal was 5.988 g/cm3. The transmittance of the crystals at 532nm and 800nm was all above 73%. The absorption spectra indicated that the crystals had strong absorption peaks at wavelengths of 1544 and 1595 nm. The thermal properties of La1-xSxmGN (x = 0.1, 0.2) crystals were similar to those of the LGN crystals. The laser damage thresholds of La0.9Sm0.1GN and La0.8Sm0.2GN crystals were, respectively, 188.30 and 54.84 TW/cm2 (@800 nm,35 fs).

Aerobic Methanol Oxidation over Unsupported Nanoporous Gold: The Influence of an Added Base

We studied the aerobic oxidation of methanol over nanoporous gold catalysts under neutral and alkaline conditions. We find that under neutral conditions the catalyst has an activation period of about 10 h while upon addition of a base the catalyst becomes active right away. After this activation period, however, the activity of the catalyst is in both cases similar. Moreover, the selectivity was not affected by the base. We tested different bases and found the largest effect when adding OH−. The cation, however, does not play a role. We conclude that it is OH−, which is impacting the reaction and propose a mechanism for the suppression of the activation period. While the catalytic cycle, i.e., the reaction of methanol on the catalyst surface seems unaffected, the transient adsorption of OH− onto the surface can facilitate the activation of molecular oxygen by donating electrons to the surface. Due to the intermediate formation of oxidic Ag species, an effective segregation of surface-near Ag can be induced, which increases the abundance of Ag being essential for the activation of oxygen at the surface. In this way, a more efficient pathway for the generation of active oxygen is opened, allowing the reaction to set in faster.

Effective segregation of cytocompatible chitosan molecules in a silica-surfactant nanostructure formation process

Segregated nanostructures of Chi molecules by a silica-surfactant self-assembly film formation process were successfully prepared, and it is shown that their self-organization affects the cytocompatibility.

One-Step Effective Segregation of Ginger Essential Oil and Gingerol in Oleoresin Ginger via Transcritical CO2

We developed a supercritical CO2 extraction procession and determinated ginger essential oil contents from the ginger oleoresin to explore the effects of temperatures or pressures on the supercritical CO2 extraction. Our research indicated that pressures had little effect on the liquid CO2 extraction capacity. However, supercritical CO2 extraction capacity was affected dramatically by the variant pressures. Additionally, changing pressures or temperature pushed the CO2 into transcritical isolation state. Under this circumstance, we not only ensured the yield of ginger oleoresin, but also did we obtain the ginger essential oil and gingerol simultaneously.