bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Epistemic Value Theory and Social Epistemology
Authors: Fallis Don
Published: July 2008

In order to guide the decisions of real people who want to bring about good epistemic outcomes for themselves and others, we need to understand our epistemic values. InKnowledge in a Social World, Alvin Goldman has proposed an epistemic value theory that allows us to say whether one outcome is epistemically better than another. However, it has been suggested that Goldman's theory is not really anepistemicvalue theory at all because whether one outcome is epistemically better than another partly depends on our non-epistemic interests. In this paper, I argue that an epistemic value theory that serves the purposes of social epistemology must incorporate non-epistemic interests in much the way that Goldman's theory does. In fact, I argue that Goldman's theory does not go far enough in this direction. In particular, the epistemic value of having a particular true belief should actually be weighted by how interested we are in the topic.
Conservatism, Basic Beliefs, and the Diachronic and Social Nature of Epistemic Justification
Authors: Koons Jeremy
Published: July 2008

Discussions of conservatism in epistemology often fail to demonstrate that the principle of conservatism is supported by epistemic considerations. In this paper, I hope to show two things. First, there is a defensible version of the principle of conservatism, a version that applies only to what I will call our basic beliefs. Those who deny that conservatism is supported by epistemic considerations do so because they fail to take into account the necessarily social, diachronic and self-correcting nature of our epistemic practice. Second, I will attempt to show how our basic beliefs are justified via this principle of conservatism.
The Bias Paradox in Feminist Standpoint Epistemology
Authors: Rolin Kristina
Published: July 2008

Sandra Harding's feminist standpoint epistemology makes two claims. The thesis of epistemic privilege claims that unprivileged social positions are likely to generate perspectives that are “less partial and less distorted” than perspectives generated by other social positions. The situated knowledge thesis claims that all scientific knowledge is socially situated. The bias paradox is the tension between these two claims. Whereas the thesis of epistemic privilege relies on the assumption that a standard of impartiality enables one to judge some perspectives as better than others, the situated knowledge thesis seems to undermine this assumption by suggesting that all knowledge is partial. I argue that a contextualist theory of epistemic justification provides a solution to the bias paradox. Moreover, contextualism enables me to give empirical content to the thesis of epistemic privilege, thereby making it into a testable hypothesis.
Masking Disagreement among Experts
Authors: Beatty John
Published: July 2008

There are many reasons why scientific experts may mask disagreement and endorse a position publicly as “jointly accepted.” In this paper I consider the inner workings of a group of scientists charged with deciding not only a technically difficult issue, but also a matter of social and political importance: the maximum acceptable dose of radiation. I focus on how, in this real world situation, concerns with credibility, authority, and expertise shaped the process by which this group negotiated the competing virtues of reaching consensus versus reporting accurately the nature and degree of disagreement among them.
The Epistemology of Democracy
Authors: Anderson Elizabeth
Published: July 2008

This paper investigates the epistemic powers of democratic institutions through an assessment of three epistemic models of democracy: the Condorcet Jury Theorem, the Diversity Trumps Ability Theorem, and Dewey's experimentalist model. Dewey's model is superior to the others in its ability to model the epistemic functions of three constitutive features of democracy: the epistemic diversity of participants, the interaction of voting with discussion, and feedback mechanisms such as periodic elections and protests. It views democracy as an institution for pooling widely distributed information about problems and policies of public interest by engaging the participation of epistemically diverse knowers. Democratic norms of free discourse, dissent, feedback, and accountability function to ensure collective, experimentally-based learning from the diverse experiences of different knowers. I illustrate these points with a case study of community forestry groups in South Asia, whose epistemic powers have been hobbled by their suppression of women's participation.
Taking Advantage of Difference in Opinion
Authors: Bradley Richard
Published: July 2008

Diversity of opinion both presents problems and affords opportunities. Differences of opinion can stand in the way of reaching an agreement within a group on what decisions to take. But at the same time, the fact that the differences in question could derive from access to different information or from the exercise of different judgemental skills means that they present individuals with the opportunity to improve their own opinions. This paper explores the implications for solutions to the former (aggregation) problem of supposing that individuals exploit these opportunities. In particular, it argues that rational individual revision of opinion implies that aggregation problems are unstable in a certain sense and that solving them by exploiting the information embedded in individual opinion has profound implications for the conditions that we should impose on aggregation procedures.
No Testimonial Route to Consensus
Authors: Pettit Philip
Published: July 2008

The standard image of how consensus can be achieved is by pooling evidence and reducing if not eliminating disagreements. But rather than just pooling substantive evidence on a certain question, why not also take into account the formal, testimonial evidence provided by the fact that a majority of the group adopt a particular answer? Shouldn't we be reinforced by the discovery that we are on that majority side, and undermined by the discovery that we are not? Shouldn't this be so, in particular, when Condorcet's jury theorem applies? It turns out not. There are serious problems attending any strategy of majoritarian deference.
The Epistemic Benefits of Multiple Biased Observers
Authors: Goodin Robert E.
Published: July 2008

We know that we can learn much from the reports of multiple competent, independent, unbiased observers. There are also things we can learn from the reports of competent but biased observers. Specifically, when reports go against the grain of an agent’s known biases, we can be relatively confident in the veracity of those reports. Triangulating on the truth via that mechanism requires a multiplicity of observers with distinct biases, each of whose reports might be one-way decisive in that fashion. It also presupposes that all observers share the same fundamental epistemic standards.
Liberalism and Epistemic Diversity: Mill's Sceptical Legacy
Authors: Kelly Paul
Published: July 2008

Although John Stuart Mill places considerable emphasis on three information signalling devices – debate, votes and prices – he remains curiously sceptical about the prospects of institutional or social epistemology. In this paper, I explore Mill's modest scepticism about institutional epistemology and compare and contrast that with the attitudes of liberal theorists such as F. A. Hayek and John Dewey who are much more enthusiastic about the prospects of social epistemology as part of their defences of liberalism. The paper examines the extent to which Hayek and Dewey ignore concerns originally raised by Mill. I conclude that Mill's modest scepticism is reflected in the epistemological abstinence of contemporary liberal philosophers such as John Rawls, and that his elevation of philosophy over democracy remains a challenge to contemporary defenders of the political value of social or institutional epistemology.
The Case against Epistemic Relativism: Reflections on Chapter 6 ofFear of Knowledge
Authors: Rosen Gideon
Published: July 2008

According to one sort of epistemic relativist, normative epistemic claims (e.g., evidence E justifies hypothesis H) are never true or false simpliciter, but only relative to one or anotherepistemic system. In chapter 6 ofFear of Knowledge, Paul Boghossian objects to this view on the ground that its central notions cannot be explained, and that it cannot account for the normativity of epistemic discourse. This paper explores how the dogged relativist might respond.
In Defense of Epistemic Relativism
Authors: Neta Ram
Published: July 2008

In Fear of Knowledge, Paul Boghossian argues against various forms of epistemic relativism. In this paper, I criticize Boghossian’s arguments against a particular variety of relativism. I then argue in favor of a thesis that is very similar to this variety of relativism.
Introduction: Conspiracy Theories
Authors: Coady David
Published: July 2008

There has been a lively philosophical debate about the nature of conspiracy theories and their epistemic status going on for some years now. This debate has shed light, not only on conspiracy theories themselves, but also, in the process, on a variety of issues in social epistemology, political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion.
Radically Socialized Knowledge and Conspiracy Theories
Authors: Levy Neil
Published: July 2008

The typical explanation of an event or process which attracts the label ‘conspiracy theory’ is an explanation that conflicts with the account advanced by the relevant epistemic authorities. I argue that both for the layperson and for the intellectual, it is almost never rational to accept such a conspiracy theory. Knowledge is not merely shallowly social, in the manner recognized by social epistemology, it is also constitutively social: many kinds of knowledge only become accessible thanks to the agent's embedding in an environment that includes other epistemic agents. Moreover, advances in knowledge typically require ongoing immersion in this social environment. But the intellectual who embraces a conspiracy theory risks cutting herself off from this environment, and therefore epistemically disabling herself. Embracing a conspiracy theory therefore places at risk the ability to engage in genuine enquiry, including the enquiry needed properly to evaluate the conspiracy theory.
Are Conspiracy Theorists Irrational?
Authors: Coady David
Published: July 2008

It is widely believed that to be a conspiracy theorist is to suffer from a form of irrationality. After considering the merits and defects of a variety of accounts of what it is to be a conspiracy theorist, I draw three conclusions. One, on the best definitions of what it is to be a conspiracy theorist, conspiracy theorists do not deserve their reputation for irrationality. Two, there may be occasions on which we should settle for an inferior definition which entails that conspiracy theorists are after all irrational. Three, if and when we do this, we should recognise that conspiracy theorists so understood are at one end of a spectrum, and the really worrying form of irrationality is at the other end.
Shit Happens
Authors: Mandik Pete
Published: July 2008

In this paper I embrace what Brian Keeley calls in “Of Conspiracy Theories” the absurdist horn of the dilemma for philosophers who criticize such theories. I thus defend the view that there is indeed something deeply epistemically wrong with conspiracy theorizing. My complaint is that conspiracy theories apply intentional explanations to situations that give rise to special problems concerning the elimination of competing intentional explanations.
Blanchot in The International Review
Authors: Fynsk Christopher
Published: July 2008

This essay contains a consideration of Maurice Blanchot's contribution to the collective project that came to be known as The International Review. It focuses on Blanchot's insistence that the project be collective and international, and pursues Blanchot's effort to provide a thought of the fragmentary that will answer these imperatives. With special attention to the question of literature, the essay concludes with a consideration of Blanchot's own proposed contribution, his famous piece ‘Berlin’.
A Green Blanchot: Impossible?
Authors: Clark Timothy
Published: July 2008

Blanchot's work may at first seem remote from any sort of environmentalist thinking. While elements of his work share with Levinas and Heidegger a problematic privileging of the human, Blanchot nevertheless offers the basis of what might be seen as a timely ‘deeper ecological’ thinking, one that can engage the destructive anthropocentrism of Western thought and tradition in the very minutiae of its literary and philosophical texts. Unlike in much ‘green’ philosophy, no concept of nature or earth serves as foundation for Blanchot's thought. He is engaged by the ‘impossible’ as that which is not a matter of human power or decision, affirmed in both its ethical force and its contestation of dominant and appropriative conceptions of knowledge, rationality and invention. A comparison is offered between Max Oelschlager's representative ecocritical essay ‘Earth-Talk: Conservation and Ecology’, with its romantic attempt to find and celebrate modes of unalienated or ‘natural’ language, and Blanchot's practice of what can be seen as a more radical and questioning ‘ecology’ based on almost opposite conceptions.
From the Star to the Disaster
Authors: Hart Kevin
Published: July 2008

Franz Rosenzweig's The Star of Redemption comes before the Shoah and Maurice Blanchot's The Writing of the Disaster comes after it. The one addresses itself with hope to the figure of a star; the other meditates on the state of being without a guiding star. The figure of Emmanuel Levinas stands between these two works, since Totality and Infinity is marked by Rosenzweig's critique of totality and The Writing of the Disaster is in part a response to Levinas's philosophy. Both Rosenzweig and Blanchot propose a new way of thinking, one that calls unity into question. This essay seeks to clarify what ‘thought’ means for Rosenzweig and for Blanchot. In what ways do Rosenzweig and Blanchot converge? In what ways do they diverge?
Deleuze, Guattari and Emergence
Authors: Protevi John
Published: July 2008

The concept of emergence—which I define as the (diachronic) construction of functional structures in complex systems that achieve a (synchronic) focus of systematic behaviour as they constrain the behaviour of individual components—plays a crucial role in debates in philosophical reflection on science as a whole (the question of reductionism) as well as in the fields of biology (the status of the organism), social science (the practical subject) and cognitive science (the cognitive subject). In this article I examine how the philosophy of Deleuze and that of Deleuze and Guattari can help us see some of the most important implications of these debates.
Derrida's God: A Genealogy of the Theological Turn
Authors: Bradley Arthur
Published: July 2008

This article offers a genealogy of Jacques Derrida's philosophy of religion and the so-called ‘theological turn’ in deconstruction more generally. It is in three main parts. Firstly, it argues that it is possible to detect a problematic turn from what we might call a historical or material Derrida to an ethical Derrida that finds its logical culmination in the current theological turn within deconstruction. Secondly, the article contends that the later Derrida's adoption of a quasi-religious vocabulary risks producing an increasingly transcendentalized version of his thought that effaces the historical content of deconstruction. Finally, the article considers the political implications of this passage from the material to the theological by focusing on Derrida's re-conceptualization of the messianic tradition. In conclusion, the article offers some speculative thoughts on what might follow the theological turn within deconstruction.
Levinas at 100
Authors: Davis Colin
Published: July 2008

A century after his birth, Emmanuel Levinas is now widely read and established as one of the major thinkers of recent times. The Cambridge Companion to Levinas, edited by Simon Critchley and Robert Bernasconi, gives an informed introduction to the current state of research into his thought. However, despite the widespread acceptance of Levinas's views, some controversial aspects of his work are simplified or avoided. Moreover, telling criticisms have been levelled against him from political and philosophical perspectives. The article suggests that the best way to remain true to his legacy may be to confront and to contest it a little more.
Fissured Skin, Inner-Ear Radio, and a Telepathic Nose: The Senses as Media in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Authors: Mukherjee Ankhi
Published: July 2008

This essay brings the postcolonial novel in relation with an often-overlooked but rich resource: the embedded, materialist figurations of psychoanalysis. It examines Salman Rushdie's use of the alternative register of sensory perception in Midnight's Children to piece together an extant self that corresponds both actively and passively to the new historical and political realities of the subcontinent. In doing so, however, the essay moves beyond critical commonplaces about Rushdie's magical realism and revisionary historiography to align his æsthetic instead to the media conditions under which Freud worked, the emergent ideas of transference and telepathy, and the resultant imperatives of Freudian psychoanalysis. The capaciousness and indeterminate logic of Midnight's Children can be read as those of an analytic medium which indiscriminately receives psychic material, both individual and collective. The narrator, like Freud's analyst, is idealized as amedia technology who/which (imperfectly) reconstructs a story from the derivatives of the national unconscious.
Veiled Theory: The Transmutation of Anthropology in T. S. Eliot's Critical Method
Authors: Trexler Adam
Published: July 2008

While literary criticism is often seen as an unself-reflective forerunner to literary theory, this article argues that T.S. Eliot's theory of critical practice was a philosophically informed methodology of reading designed to create a disciplinary and institutional framework. To reconstruct this theory, it enriches theoretical methodology with intellectual and institutional history. Specifically, the article argues that Eliot's early critical theory depended on the paradigms of anthropology and occultism, developed during his philosophical investigation of anthropology and Leibniz. From this investigation, Eliot created an occult project that used spiritual monads as facts to progress toward the Absolute. The article goes on to argue that Eliot's methodology of reading was shaped by anthropology's and occultism's paradigms of non-academic, non-specialist reading societies that sought a super-historic position in human history through individual progress. The reconstruction of Eliot's intellectual and institutional framework for reading reveals a historical moment with sharp differences and surprising similarities to the present.
Self-mourning in Paradise: Writing (about) AIDS through Death-bed Delirium
Authors: Agar James N.
Published: July 2008

This article discusses the representation of AIDS in Guibert's posthumously published novel Le Paradis (Paradise). The novel is situated in relation to Guibert's better known previous AIDS writings. The article proposes that Guibert's AIDS works fall in to three related categories: writings about other peoples' AIDS; autobiographical writings about AIDS, and, in the third, terminal stage in which Le Paradis fits, writing (about) AIDS. As such the article suggests that Le Paradis manages to reflect and communicate some of the trauma of living with AIDS by specifically trying not to write about it. The article raises issues related to constructions of sexualized and AIDS identities in fiction, and presents the novel as a form which represents a loss of self. The novel, it is argued, becomes a self-mourning for a healthy past which is memorialized in a fictional present, itself always-already haunted by the nostalgia for a lost future.
Tracing the Past: Marcelo Brodsky's Photography as Memory Art
Authors: Arruti Nerea
Published: July 2008

Andreas Huyssen has called the Argentinian photographer Marcelo Brodsky's latest project, Nexo (2001), memory art, that is, a form of public mnemonic art that oscillates from installation, photography and monument to memorial, breaking artistic boundaries. The article will explore the role of photography in the field of human rights and the interspace between private and public spheres. Brodsky's work aims to reinstate the gaps in the collective spheres of recollection and this will be contextualized in his artistic production from the late 1970s onwards. Nexo follows on from the internationally acclaimed project Buena memoria (1997) that was also an attempt to create a bridge for the memory for the new generation of Argentinians. This contribution aims to explore how Brodsky's artistic production represents what the Argentinian sociologist Elizabeth Jelín has described as art that wants to create a symbolic space to mediate traumatic experiences.
Taking Sides: Jacques Rancière and Agonistic Literature
Authors: Kollias Hector
Published: July 2008

This article discusses Jacques Rancière's theory of literature as centred on an agonistic concept of literature, where literature is seen as a ‘positive contradiction’. This positive contradiction arises from what Rancière sees as literature's origins in the ‘errant letter’, which is conceived as an intrinsically democratic principle that, for Rancière, also results in the tendency of literature to incarnate the word and to propose an extra-textual truth which would signal the end of literature as democratic errancy. Asking whether it is possible to identify Rancière as ‘taking sides’ in what he sets up as a struggle, the article analyses three examples of Rancière's engagement with literary texts (Balzac, Mallarmé, and Proust) in which he demonstrates the necessity for literature to maintain its constitutive contradiction, resulting in a conception of literature as an agonistic field and as a self-critical mode of writing.
The Dedramatization of Violence in Claire Denis's I Can't Sleep
Authors: Lübecker Nikolaj
Published: July 2008

Throughout the twentieth century a significant tradition in French thought promoted a highly dramatized reading of the Hegelian struggle for recognition. In this tradition a violent struggle was regarded as an indispensable means to the realization of both individual and social ideals. The following article considers Claire Denis's film I Can't Sleep (J'ai pas sommeil, 1994) as an oblique challenge to this tradition. I Can't Sleep performs a careful dedramatization of an extremely violent story and thereby points to the possibility of an alternative form of co-existence outside a logic of conflict.
A Different Alterity: Jean-Luc Nancy's ‘Singular Plural’
Authors: Watkin Christopher
Published: July 2008

Under the influence of Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida, the theme of absolute alterity still dominates the thinking of the ethical in Continental philosophy. This article examines an alternative ethical démarche, Jean-Luc Nancy's ‘singular plurality’, which refuses to start with the opposition of same and other, arguing instead for a primacy of relation, the ‘in-common’ and the ‘with’. The article first distinguishes Nancy's ‘singular plural’ from other recent attempts to disengage ethical thinking from the Levinasian framework, before showing how Nancy proceeds otherwise than in terms of sameness and alterity while still maintaining an ethical impetus. Foregrounding what is politically and philosophically at stake in the difference between Nancy and the Levinasian/Derridean model, the article concludes by considering how Nancy can be defended against critics who mistakenly argue that he discounts alterity.
Enantioselective Michael Addition of Dicyanoolefins to α,β‐Unsaturated Aldehydes in Aqueous Medium
Authors: Lu Jun , Liu Feng , Loh Teck‐Peng
Published: July 2008

A pool of water‐compatible catalysts, namely dialkyl‐(S)‐prolinols, has been developed for the enantioselective direct vinylogous Michael addition reaction of vinylmalononitriles to α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes in aqueous medium. In many cases, the products can be obtained in almost optically pure form (>96% ee) after a single recrystallization.
A Novel Bis‐Thiourea Organocatalyst for the Asymmetric Aza‐Henry Reaction
Authors: Rampalakos Constantinos , Wulff William D.
Published: July 2008

A novel bis‐thiourea/2,2′‐diaminobinaphthalene (BINAM)‐based catalyst for the asymmetric aza‐Henry reaction has been developed. This catalyst promotes the reaction of N‐Boc imines with nitroalkanes to afford β‐nitroamines with good yields and high enantioselectivities. This catalyst has the advantage that it can be prepared in a single step from commercially available materials. A model is proposed for the catalyst action where both components of the reaction are activated simultaneously by hydrogen bonding. Regardless of the mechanism, the success of the present catalyst demonstrates the potential of bis‐thioureas as an interesting class of relatively unexplored catalysts.
Stereoselective Synthesis of γ‐Butyrolactones via Organocatalytic Annulations of Enals and Keto Esters
Authors: Li Yi , Zhao Zhuo‐An , He Hu , You Shu‐Li
Published: July 2008

4,5,5‐Trisubstituted γ‐butyrolactones bearing two stereocenters including one quaternary carbon center have been synthesized in excellent yields via N‐heterocyclic carbene‐catalyzed annulations of enals and ketoesters. Chiral N‐heterocyclic carbenes were used to tune the diastereoselectivity up to an 83/17 cis/trans ratio and the enantioselectivity up to 78% ee (trans isomer).
Domino Catalysis in the Direct Conversion of Carboxylic Acids to Esters
Authors: Held I. , von den Hoff P. , Stephenson D. S. , Zipse H.
Published: July 2008

The combined use of high concentration conditions, auxiliary bases, and new catalysts allows for the rapid synthesis of sterically hindered carboxylic acid esters at room temperature. Mechanistic analysis indicates the intermediate formation of acid anhydrides and subsequent rate‐limiting transformation to the ester products.
Organocatalytic Asymmetric Hydrophosphination of α,β‐Unsaturated Aldehydes: Development, Mechanism and DFT Calculations
Authors: Ibrahem Ismail , Hammar Peter , Vesely Jan , Rios Ramon , Eriksson Lars , Córdova Armando
Published: July 2008

The development and mechanism of the highly chemo‐ and enantioselective organocatalytic hydrophosphination reaction of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes is presented. The reactions are catalyzed by protected chiral diarylprolinol derivatives and give access to optically active phosphine derivatives in high yields with up to 99%ee. The organocatalytic addition of other phosphorus nucleophiles was also investigated. The origin of the high enantioselectivity for the reaction with diphenylphosphine as the nucleophile is investigated by density functional theory calculations.
Maternal nickel exposure and congenital musculoskeletal defects
Authors: Arild Vaktskjold , Ljudmila Vasiljevna Talykova , Valerij Petrovitsj Chashchin , Jon Öyvind Odland , Evert Nieboer
Published: July 2008

Objective

To investigate whether women occupationally exposed to nickel in early pregnancy are at elevated risk of delivering a newborn with a malformation or deformation of the musculoskeletal system (ICD‐10: Q65‐Q79).

Methods

Data about the newborn, maternal occupation and workplace were obtained using the Kola Birth Register (KBR). Each record in the KBR was assigned a categorical nickel (Ni) exposure rating according to the occupation the delivering woman had at the time of becoming pregnant. This was achieved by using as a guideline the water‐soluble Ni subfraction of the inhalable aerosol fraction obtained by personal monitoring for nickel‐ and copper‐refinery workers or/and measured urinary‐Ni concentrations. The reference population was delivering women from the source population with background exposure level. In total, the study population consisted of 22,965 births.

Results

Three hundred and four infants (13.3/1,000 births; 95% confidence interval (CI): 11.9–14.7) were diagnosed with isolated musculoskeletal defect(s) at birth. The adjusted odds ratio for the association between the maternal exposure to Ni and this outcome was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.76–1.21) per unit increase in exposure category.

Conclusion

The incidence of defects in the musculoskeletal system at birth was high, especially for feet deformities, but we found no effect of maternal exposure to water‐soluble Ni on the risk of delivering a newborn with a defect. However, the incidence among women working in the copper refinery was higher than in the other employment groups. Am. J. Ind. Med. 51:825‐833, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Cohen syndrome resulting from a novel large intragenic COH1 deletion segregating in an isolated Greek island population
Authors: Bugiani Marianna , Gyftodimou Yolanda , Tsimpouka Paraskevi , Lamantea Eleonora , Katzaki Eleni , d'Adamo Pio , Nakou Sheena , Georgoudi Nelli , Grigoriadou Maria , Tsina Efthymia , Kabolis Nikolaos , Milani Donatella , Pandelia Efthimia , Kokotas Haris , Gasparini Paolo , Giannoulia‐Karantana Aglaia , Renieri Alessandra , Zeviani Massimo , Petersen Michael B.
Published: July 2008

Cohen syndrome, caused by mutations in the COH1 gene, is an autosomal recessive disorder consisting of mental retardation, microcephaly, growth delay, severe myopia, progressive chorioretinal dystrophy, facial anomalies, slender limbs with narrow hands and feet, tapered fingers, short stature, kyphosis and/or scoliosis, pectus carinatum, joint hypermobility, pes calcaneovalgus, and, variably, truncal obesity. Here, we describe the clinical and molecular findings in 14 patients from an isolated Greek island population. The clinical phenotype was fairly homogeneous, although microcephaly was not constant, and some patients had severe visual disability. All patients were homozygous for a novel intragenic COH1 deletion spanning exon 6 to exon 16, suggesting a founder effect. The discovery of this mutation has made carrier detection and prenatal diagnosis possible in this population. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
“Nonsolvens”‐Anwendungen von ionischen Flüssigkeiten bei Biotransformationen und in der Organokatalyse
Authors: Domínguez de María Pablo
Published: July 2008

Die Anwendung ionischer Verbindungen, die bei Raumtemperatur flüssig sind, (room‐temperature ionic liquids, RTILs) als (Co‐)Solventien und/oder Reagentien ist gut dokumentiert. Außer diesen Verwendungszwecken gibt es aber auch “Nonsolvens”‐Anwendungen von RTILs in Biotransformationen sowie der Organokatalyse. Beispiele sind die Anknüpfung von Substraten an RTILs, mit ILs beschichtete Enzyme (ILCEs) und/oder gemeinsame Lyophilisierung von Enzym und IL, der Aufbau von biokatalytischen ternären Reaktionssystemen, die Kombination von Enzymen, RTILs, Membranen und (Bio‐)Elektrochemie oder IL‐gebundene Organokatalysatoren. Diese Strategien liefern robustere, schnellere und enantioselektivere Bio‐ und Organokatalysatoren, die für viele Anwendungen eingesetzt werden können. Es zeigt sich, dass RTILs eine große Zahl vielversprechender Alternativen für herkömmliche chemische Reaktionen bieten.
“Nonsolvent” Applications of Ionic Liquids in Biotransformations and Organocatalysis
Authors: Domínguez de María Pablo
Published: July 2008

The application of room‐temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as (co)solvents and/or reagents is well documented. However, RTILS also have “nonsolvent” applications in biotransformations and organocatalysis. Examples are the anchoring of substrates to RTILs; ionic‐liquid‐coated enzymes (ILCE) and enzyme–IL colyophilization; the construction of biocatalytic ternary reaction systems; the combination of enzymes, RTILs, membranes, and (bio)electrochemistry; and ionic‐liquid‐supported organocatalysts. These strategies provide more robust, more efficient, and more enantioselective bio‐ and organocatalysts with many practical applications. As shown herein, RTILs offer a wide range of promising alternatives to conventional chemistry.
An experimental kinetic model for the oxidative coupling of methane using a bench‐scale reactor
Authors: Yaghobi Nakisa , Ghoreishy Mir Hamid Reza , Eslamimanesh Vahid
Published: July 2008

The aim of this work is to develop a kinetic model for the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) based on the gas‐hourly space velocity (GHSV) and methane‐to‐oxygen ratio. The experiments were carried out in a bench‐scale tubular‐fixed bed reactor, using 30 g of perovskite titanate as the reaction catalyst. Different GHSVs (3000–6000 h−1) and methane‐to‐oxygen ratios (2,2.5 and 3) were selected. A mechanism was assumed in which the consumption rate of methane is always twice the production rate of C2 hydrocarbons. A power‐law model was assumed for rate of reaction in terms of partial pressure of oxygen and methane. Using a linear regression analysis, the kinetic model was determined. Comparison of the calculated rate of reaction with the experimentally measured data confirmed the accuracy and applicability of the developed model under various reaction conditions. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification and control of Wiener type process applied to real‐time heat exchanger
Authors: Srinivasan A. , Lakshmi P.
Published: July 2008

A simple relay feedback method is proposed for the identification and control of Wiener‐type nonlinear processes. Wiener‐type processes comprise a linear dynamic subsystem followed by a nonlinear static element. A linear dynamic subsystem is identified from the shape of the output curve. If the dynamics are not captured then the order of the subsystem is improved. The nonlinear static function is identified by the simple least square estimation (LSE) method. This method avoids the iterative procedure. The inverse static nonlinearity is also obtained by the LSE method. The Wiener‐model–based nonlinear control strategy is used to compensate the nonlinear dynamics of the process, so that the controller parameters can be determined by the usual tuning rules developed for linear processes. Two important parameters are obtained through relay feedback test (RFT): amplitude of the periodic output (ku) and the ultimate period (pu). Proportional integral (PI) parameters are obtained directly from these two parameters. This proposed method is designed to adapt easily with the real‐time processes. Finally, simulated and experimental results are given to validate the proposed method. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Improving the extraction of intracellular L‐asparaginase by high‐pressure homogenization
Authors: Zhu Jian‐Hang , Liu Juan
Published: July 2008

The effect of high‐pressure homogenization (HPH) on the primary extraction of intracellular L‐asparaginase from Escherichia coli by aqueous two‐phase extraction (ATPE) has been investigated. When HPH was operated under a pressure of 120 MPa for four passages, 17.8% of L‐asparaginase activity was lost. The addition of EOPO (a triblock copolymer of a central hydrophobic poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) block with hydrophilic poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blocks on each side) could improve the endurance of L‐asparaginase to high pressure; while the existence of KHP (a mixture of KH2PO4 and K2HPO4) could strongly facilitate such deactivation. When HPH was operated in the ATPE system formed from EOPO and KHP, the recovery of L‐asparaginase was greatly enhanced, as compared to the conventional HPH process. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
From back‐room curiosity to mainstream design tool: a short history of CFD modelling at Alcoa World Alumina
Authors: Brown Gary
Published: July 2008

This article briefly reviews the history of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling at Alcoa over the past decade. Case studies from mechanical, chemical and environmental engineering have been used to demonstrate how CFD has changed from something of a back‐room curiosity into a mainstream engineering design and retrofit tool. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Using CFD to identify means of reducing power consumption for mixing and suspension in paper pulp stock chests
Authors: Kor Yann Kae , Prince Rolf G. H. , Fletcher David F.
Published: July 2008

This paper presents ongoing work at Australia's largest paper recycler, Visy Pulp & Paper, involving experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies to understand paper pulp mixing processes, aimed at identifying means of reducing the large power consumption of the agitators currently used. The key focus of this paper is on the modelling of a pseudo‐plastic fluid and the determination of means by which adequate flow circulation can be maintained in such a system. We look at reducing the present agitator speed, at using a larger impeller, and examine the performance of a completely different design. Power consumption reductions of 50%, and perhaps 75–80%, from present levels, appear feasible and could be implemented economically. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Prediction of cluster diameter for a wide range of particles for gas–solid dispersed phase in a fast fluidized‐bed reactor
Authors: Das Mitali , Meikap B. C. , Saha R. K.
Published: July 2008

Fast fluidized‐bed (FFB) reactors have been used in chemical process industries. Clustering behavior of the FFB has been studied with Geldart group B particles like coal and iron ore in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) of inner diameter 0.1016 m and height 5.62 m. Clustering phenomena has been investigated by incorporating the effects of acceleration and friction into the homogeneous gas–solid cluster suspension model. The cluster diameter calculated from homogeneous cluster suspension model appears to tally with the measured data when the particle concentration in the suspension lies in the dilute phase. It has been found that the acceleration has some effect on the cluster diameter. However, the solid friction does not have any significant role. The result of the present study gives a clear understanding of clustering phenomena in FFB. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Interaction analysis for decentralized control based on dissipativity
Authors: Xu Shichao , Bao Jie
Published: July 2008

A new interaction analysis for decentralized control is presented in this paper. The proposed method uses (Q, S, R)‐dissipativity and passivity to identify the effect of loop interactions on the dynamic control performance achievable by multiloop controllers (in terms of open‐loop bandwidth of the plant and multiloop controller). The frequency‐dependent upper bounds of the controller gain are also formulated to provide more insights into the impacts of interactions on decentralized control. A case study on the interaction analysis of distillation column is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A comparative study on the accumulation of azo dyes using Schizophyllum commune and Trametes versicolor in different inorganic acids containing a growth medium
Authors: Renganathan S. , Gautam P. , Karthik V. , Miranda Lima Rose , Velan M.
Published: July 2008

The accumulation of Acid Orange 7 and Acid Red 88 dyes using Schizophyllum commune and Trametes versicolor in various inorganic acid media was studied as the function of initial pH (1–6) and initial dye concentration (10–100 mg/l). The optimum pH value for the accumulation of the dye was determined as 2. The maximum percentage color removal and maximum dye uptake value were observed in phosphoric acid medium when compared to all other inorganic acid media, such as sulfuric, nitric and hydrochloric acid. The maximum percentage color removal value was determined as 34.3 (S. commune) and 31.9 (T. versicolor) for Acid Orange 7; and 72.7 (S. commune) and 72.1 (T. versicolor) for Acid Red 88; respectively. The maximum dye uptake value was determined as 34.1 mg/g (S. commune) and 32.37 mg/g (T. versicolor) for Acid Orange 7; and 133.03 mg/g (S. commune) and 132.03 mg/g (T. versicolor) for Acid Red 88 dye; respectively, at an initial dye concentration of 100 mg/l. The maximum percentage color removal of Acid Red 88 dye using S. commune and T. versicolor was found to be more when compared to Acid Orange 7. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of Fe–AOT complex on the properties of iron oxide particles formed by an AOT isooctane/water emulsion system
Authors: Oshitani J. , Hatai I. , Yoshida M. , Gotoh K.
Published: July 2008

Formation of iron oxide particles with aerosol‐OT (AOT)/isooctane/water emulsion was carried out employing a coprecipitation reaction for Fe3O4 particles. Emulsions containing Fe2+/Fe3+ were mixed with those containing OH−. Iron oxide particles were formed by changing the concentration ratio of AOT to iron ions and maintaining the volume fraction of water in the emulsion at 0.25. Particle formation was also carried out using nonemulsified aqueous solutions as a reference. The morphology, crystal structure, magnetic property and hydration degree of the particles formed under various conditions were compared. The α‐FeOOH or amorphous particles are formed instead of Fe3O4 when the AOT concentration is comparable to, or higher than, the iron ion concentration. These particles contain an OH group and water, and are oxidized to become α‐Fe2O3 by heating in N2. The Fe–AOT complex as the origin of OH‐rich particle formation was the focus of this investigation. The IR measurement was carried out for the Fe–AOT complex, separately prepared with the aqueous solution. It was found that the Fe–AOT complex was hydrated, indicating that hydration of the complex affects the properties of particles formed by the emulsion. A possible mechanism for formation of α‐FeOOH or amorphous particles with emulsion is proposed. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Treatment of activated carbon for methane storage
Authors: Dai Xiao Dong , Liu Xin Mei , Zhao Guofeng , Qian Ling , Qiao Ke , Yan Zi Feng
Published: July 2008

Activated carbon used for methane storage was treated with HNO3, H2SO4, and H2, and the effects of treatment on the properties of the activated carbon were studied by N2 adsorption, temperature‐programmed desorption (TPD), Boehm titration, and Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy. Methane storage tests were carried out on untreated and treated activated carbons. It was found that surface treatment significantly influenced the surface properties and pore structures of the activated carbon. The surface area and pore volume were enhanced by acid treatment owing to the removal of impurities in the carbon; also, the number and species of the surface functional groups changed. Methane sorption capacity did increase slightly, because it was closely related to not only the porosity but also the decreased surface complex by decreased number of functional groups. H2 treatment not only decreased the surface area and porosity but also changed surface properties, which decreased methane storage capacity. In general, results of our study showed that surface treatment of activated carbon was not beneficial in methane storage. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adaptive nonlinear DMC of hydrodealkylation process using Aspen Engineering Suite
Authors: Jithender Reddy T. , Aadaleesan P. , Saha Prabirkumar
Published: July 2008

The Dynamic Matrix Control (DMC) is widely used in chemical and petrochemical industries for improving plant efficiency and reducing off‐spec products. While traditional DMC is a technique based on a linear model, the nonlinear extension of DMC is also being investigated by researchers since the early nineties. In this work, the Nonlinear Dynamic Matrix Control (NDMC) is improved to accomplish an on‐line model parameter adaptive process to make it an Adaptive Nonlinear DMC (ANDMC). The performance of the ANDMC is compared with a constant parameter NDMC for disturbance rejection. The entire simulation has been carried out using the commercial dynamic simulator Aspen™ Engineering Suite (2004.1). Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Removal of copper and zinc from aqueous solutions and industrial effluents using emulsion liquid membrane technique
Authors: Venkatesan S. , Meera Sheriffa Begum K. M.
Published: July 2008

Copper and zinc were removed from dilute aqueous solutions together with recovery of copper from electroplating wastewater containing copper ions by emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) technique. The effects of surfactant concentration, carrier concentration, emulsification speed, emulsification time, internal phase stripping agent concentration, and aqueous‐to‐organic phase (A/O) volume ratio on the emulsion stability and breakup have been studied in detail and reported. A mixture of kerosene as diluent, span 80 as surfactant, di‐(2‐ethylhexyl) phosphate as carrier was used. An experimental study was performed to optimize the pH of the aqueous external phase based on distribution coefficient of solute between aqueous external phase and organic (membrane) phase. The batch extraction was carried out under various experimental conditions such as agitation time, agitation speed, membrane‐to‐external phase (M/E) ratio, solute concentration in the feed phase and carrier concentration in membrane phase on the percentage recovery of zinc and copper ions in their respective feed streams and the operating parameters have been optimized for maximum recovery. It was found that 84% of copper and 86% of zinc were removed from aqueous solution with a concentration factor of 5. It was also found that ELM extraction of copper from wastewater was around 8–17% less than that of the synthetic solution. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synthesis, Properties, and Redox Behavior of Mono‐, Bis‐, and Tris[1,1,4,4,‐tetracyano‐2‐(1‐azulenyl)‐3‐butadienyl] Chromophores Binding with Benzene and Thiophene Cores
Authors: Shoji Taku , Ito Shunji , Toyota Kozo , Yasunami Masafumi , Morita Noboru
Published: July 2008

Mono‐, bis‐, tris‐, and tetrakis(1‐azulenylethynyl)benzene and mono‐ and bis(1‐azulenylethynyl)thiophene derivatives 5–10 have been prepared by Pd‐catalyzed alkynylation of ethynyl arenes with 1‐iodoazulene derivative or the 1‐ethynylazulene derivative with tetraiodobenzene and iodothiophenes under Sonogashira–Hagihara conditions. Compounds 5–10 reacted with tetracyanoethylene in a [2+2] cycloaddition reaction to afford the corresponding 1,1,4,4,‐tetracyano‐2‐(5‐isopropyl‐3‐methoxycarbonyl‐1‐azulenyl)‐3‐butadienyl chromophores 12–16 in excellent yields, except for the reaction of the tetrakis(1‐azulenylethynyl)benzene derivative. 1,1,4,4,‐Tetracyano‐2,3‐bis(1‐azulenyl)butadiene (17) was also prepared by the similar reaction of bis(1‐azulenyl)acetylene (11) with tetracyanoethylene (TCNE). The redox behavior of novel azulene derivatives 12–17 was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), which revealed multistep electrochemical reduction properties. Moreover, a significant color change was observed by visible spectroscopy under electrochemical reduction conditions.