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The article discusses the use of classic work of chemical literature as both the primary textual resource and the unifying organizational theme for an undergraduate class in organometallic chemistry. According to the author, the idea of using selected chemical papers is to introduce undergraduates to the central tenets of organometallic chemistry through studying some of the best work in the field in its original published form. In addition, the objectives of the strategy are to give the students a sense of responsibility for and ownership of the class.

The article presents a paper on chemistry topics that cause problems to high school students and until they reach college and university. It states that the models used in the study such as the Ausubel's theories and Piaget's theories are made in a simple form so that chemist teachers can apply them to their teaching process. It mentions that Ausubel's theories focus on how to handle the new information acquired by an individual while Piaget's theories center on the discussion of the student and the teacher as a way to know if the student has understood the given information. It adds that problems on chemical education research can be solved with the help of agencies such as American Chemical Society (ACS) and Royal Society of Chemistry.

This paper presents a geographic information systems (GIS) methodology for evaluating the environmental justice implications of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Burden Reduction Rule, which was issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December 2006 under the authority of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. This rule exempts industrial facilities meeting certain higher reporting thresholds from filing detailed reports about the quantities of chemicals used, released, or managed as waste. Our analytical approach examines demographic characteristics within a 1, 3, and 5 km buffer around a georeferenced facility location, applied on a national, regional, and state scale. The distance-based GIS analysis demonstrates that TRI facilities that are eligible for reduced reporting are more likely to be located in proximity to communities with a higher percentage of minority and low-income residents. The differences are more pronounced for percent minority and percent minority under age 5 in comparison to percent in poverty, and the demographic differences are more apparent at increasingly resolved geographic scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach to estimate chemical concentration in multiple environmental media (soil, water, and the atmosphere) with the sole use of basic geographical information system (GIS) operations and, particularly, map algebra. This allows solving mass balance equations in a different way from the traditional methods involving numerical or analytical solution of systems of equations, producing maps of chemical fluxes and concentrations only through combinations of maps of emissions and environmental removal or transfer rates. Benchmarking with the well-established EMEP MSCE-POP model shows that the method provides consistent results with this more detailed description. When available, experimental evidence equally supports the proposed method in relation to the more complex approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable, high temporal, and spatial resolution data is essential for enhancing our understanding of aquatic nitrogen bio-geochemical cycling. This paper describes a novel UV spectrophotometric sensor (ProPS, TriOS GmbH, Oldenburg, Germany) for the real time, in situ, high resolution simultaneous mapping of nitrate/nitrite (linearity 0.01 - 6 mg N L-1, RSD's NO3-N 4-10%, NO2-N 7-14%)in fresh and estuarine waters. Good agreement (t test at p = 0.05) was found with MOOS-1 certified reference material and with reference segmented flow analysis data. River Taw deployments identified a diurnal cycle for NO3-N (0.22-0.63 mg L-1, RSD 3.9%) and for NO2-N (0.01-0.28 mg L-1, RSD 12.4%) with the photo-oxidation of dissolved organic nitrogen a source of diurnal nitrate/nitrite, and a large cyclical amplitude (30-62% of mean nitrate/nitrite). In situ Tamer Estuary nitrate/nitrite concentrations, mapped through the salinity gradient, were strongly correlated with suspended particulate material and inversely correlated with dissolved oxygen and pH, indicating midestuarine, bacterially mediated nitrification/denitrification, with the raised estuarine nitrite also significantly correlated with particulate organic nitrogen. Such previously unquentified inputs have important implications for N loadings calculated from coarse scale sampling and laboratory analysis, pollution assessment, and our understanding of the biological rhythms of aquatic organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Difficulties with obtaining suitable reference materials, which are applied for validation of analytical procedures and calibration of measured devices used in gaseous examinations (atmospheric air, indoor air, workplace atmosphere), are one of the most important challenges that stand in front of analytics. Known gaseous standard mixtures preparation techniques, both static and dynamic, are burdened with lots of inconveniences and disadvantages, which can be responsible for false analytical results. It appears that a very important step in the way of obtaining suitable reference materials useful in gaseous analysis is the technique of thermal decomposition of surface compounds. The paper describes a new type of matrix-free reference material-chemically modified glass fiber, which significantly makes it easier and simplifies the usage of reference materials produced using this technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the "ACS Directory of Graduate Research 2005," a well-known source of information on faculty and their research at programs in chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry and related chemical sciences. This directory is continuing to be the premier source of information in the U.S. and Canada. The directory, reportedly, lists faculty members' biographical information, area of specialization, titles of all papers published within the last two years, individual telephone numbers, and fax numbers. It also contains listings for over 650 academic programs, 10,000 faculty members, and 90,000 publication citations. Its electronic version, named DGRweb 2005, is also now as the American Chemical Society has launched an improved DGRweb in November 2005. The search feature for faculty includes specific research area, academic rank, and gender, and the search results produce complete contact information for faculty including direct links to faculty email addresses and Web pages.

This article presents information about the winners of "Excellence in Review" award. The award is established by the journal "Environmental Science & Technology," and it is given to the reviewers who ensure the excellence of papers that appear in the journal. Some of the winners for the award in 2005 are: William Arnold, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota; Teresa J. Bandosz, The City College of New York; Alan M. Dunker, General Motors R&D Center Warren, Michigan; Hung-Lung Chiang, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; and Cleveland J. Dodge, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York.