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Worldwide Attention (worldwide + attention)
Selected AbstractsSustainability as global attractor: the greening of the 2008 Beijing OlympicsGLOBAL NETWORKS, Issue 4 2010ARTHUR P. J. MOL Abstract If one interprets sustainability as an attractor, it means that across time and place notions and ideas of sustainability structure, order and pattern institutions and practices. One can effectively explore the idea that sustainability is turning into a global attractor through mega events. As high profile and very visible happenings that attract worldwide attention, it is difficult to ignore common and widely shared norms on sustainability in the route towards such events. In investigating the 2008 Beijing Olympics I conclude that sustainability norms indeed restructured and patterned this global mega event. Moreover, these sustainability norms are crystallized, institutionalized and fixed in material and social structures, and thus will likely have some permanency. [source] Hydrogen Storage in Metal,Organic FrameworksADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 20 2010Yun Hang Hu Abstract Metal,organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly attractive materials because of their ultra-high surface areas, simple preparation approaches, designable structures, and potential applications. In the past several years, MOFs have attracted worldwide attention in the area of hydrogen energy, particularly for hydrogen storage. In this review, the recent progress of hydrogen storage in MOFs is presented. The relationships between hydrogen capacities and structures of MOFs are evaluated, with emphasis on the roles of surface area and pore size. The interaction mechanism between H2 and MOFs is discussed. The challenges to obtain a high hydrogen capacity at ambient temperature are explored. [source] Second law analysis of two-stage compression transcritical CO2 heat pump cycleINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH, Issue 13 2008Arif Emre Özgür Abstract Because of the global warming impact of hydro fluorocarbons, the uses of natural refrigerants in automotive and HVAC industries have received worldwide attention. CO2 is the most promising refrigerant in these industries, especially the transcritical CO2 refrigeration cycle. The objective of this work is to identify the main factors that affect two-stage compression transcritical CO2 system efficiency. A second law of thermodynamic analysis on the entire two-stage CO2 cycle is conducted so that the exergy destruction of each system component can be deduced and ranked, allowing future efforts to focus on improving the components that have the highest potential for advancement. The inter-stage pressure is used as a variable parameter in the analysis study. The second law efficiency, coefficient of cooling performance and total exergy destruction of the system variations with the inter-stage pressure are presented graphically. It was concluded that there is an optimum inter-stage pressure that maximizes both first law and second law efficiencies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] OPTIMIZATION OF NATTOKINASE PRODUCTION CONDUCTION USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGYJOURNAL OF FOOD PROCESS ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2006DJA-SHIN WANG ABSTRACT Natto has attracted worldwide attention because of its health benefits and long history in Japanese food. It has been found that a potent fibrinolytic enzyme named nattokinase, which is extracted from natto, is able to prevent atherosclerosis. The production of nattokinase may be influenced by various factors such as temperature, shaking speed, volume of medium, fermentation time and so forth. Three-step response surface methodology was applied to obtain the optimal operation conditions of the fermentation process in order to maximize the nattokinase yield. The three major steps are described as follows. First, the important factors for fermentation were identified by L8 orthogonal array experiment. The chosen factors were temperature (37 or 45C), shaking speed (110 or 150 rpm), volume of medium (80 or 120 mL), Brix of wheat bran extract (1.5 or 3°), Brix of soy meal extract (1 or 2°), glucose concentration (0.6 or 1.2%) and fermentation time (24 or 36 h). Second, a regression equation was established between the response (i.e., the enzyme activity) and the two statistically significant factors (i.e., the volume of medium and fermentation time). Third, the optimal solutions for the volume of medium and fermentation time were obtained based on the response surface of the regression equation. According to the response surface analysis, the optimal operation conditions for the fermentation process should be 80 mL and 37.0817 h for the volume of medium and the fermentation time, respectively, which resulted in 459.11 FU/mL as the predicted enzyme activity. [source] China's Oil Strategy: "Going Out" to IranASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 1 2010Wen-Sheng Chen China's rapid development has drawn worldwide attention and has been referred to as a "peaceful rise" in recent years. The country's booming economy feeds Beijing's insatiable thirst for sufficient, stable, and secure energy sources. This article argues that Iran's plentiful oil reserves and its capacity to produce and export vast quantities of oil make Tehran a natural partner as China pursues its goal of rising to global-power status. Furthermore, Iran's location on the "Energy Silk Road" to China is potentially of great significance for Beijing as it seeks to break out of the "Malacca predicament." This article suggests that China sees an important role for Iran in securing its oil supply and pursuing a "westward oil strategy." The article also demonstrates that China's energy ties with Iran are constrained and conditioned by Sino-U.S. cooperation and competition and by the Middle Eastern power structure. [source] Examining the Rising Dragon: A Review of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy's Articles on China in 2008ASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 4 2009Dongjin Chen China's rise as a global power has sparked worldwide attention. How do foreigners, particularly Americans, perceive today's China? The answer is not simply to label these foreign or "outside" voices as biased or even hostile because it fails to recognize that different opinions exist. By drawing evidence from two top journals in America, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, this article demonstrates that there are different views on China. This article concludes with the implications that stem from this more nuanced understanding. [source] Novel nickel-based catalyst for low temperature hydrogen production from methane steam reforming in membrane reformerASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 1 2010Yazhong Chen Abstract Hydrogen production from various hydrocarbon fuels, particularly biomass-derived fuels, has attracted worldwide attention due to its potential for application to fuel cells, a device which converts chemical energy into electricity efficiently and cleanly. However, current technology, such as natural gas steam reforming, could not meet the specific requirements of hydrogen for fuel cells. Therefore, novel processes are intensively investigated, aiming to develop economic and efficient ones for the specific purpose. An important direction is the integrated membrane reformer for one-step high-purity hydrogen production. However, for the commercial realization of this technology, there are still some difficulties to overcome. By comparison with previous investigations with a similar membrane, this work showed that catalyst also played an important role in determining membrane reformer performance. We proposed that when thickness of membrane was several micrometers, the permeance of membrane became less important than the kinetics of catalyst, due to the fact that under such conditions, hydrogen permeation rate was faster than the kinetics of steam reforming reaction when commercial catalyst was applied, but further evidence is indispensable. In this initial work, we focused on developing efficient nickel catalyst for low temperature steam reforming. Nickel-based catalyst was developed by deposition,coprecipitation and used as pre-reduced, showing high performance for methane steam reforming at low temperatures and good durability, which may find practical application for the integrated membrane reforming process. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||