Photocatalytic reaction of CH4 gas with H2O vapor was examined over Pt/TiO2 around room temperature (ca. 323 K) in a flow reactor. H2 and CO2 were the main products, and only trace amounts of C2H6 and CO were also observed. After an induction period, the molar ratio of H2 to CO2 in the outlet gas became close to 4. Thus, the main reaction is suggested as the equation CH4 + 2H2O(g) → 4H2 + CO2, which can be referred to as photocatalytic steam reforming of methane (photocatalytic SRM), where the photoenergy is converted to chemical potential of products (= 113 kJ mol-1). The reaction would be promoted by photoexcited electrons and holes, which were generated by band gap photoexcitation of the TiO2 photocatalyst. The apparent quantum yield in the range 345−385 nm with high-intensity light (60 mW cm-2) was 0.6%, while the one in the range 240−270 nm with low-intensity light (2 mW cm-2) reached 2%. Highly active Pt/TiO2 photocatalysts consisted of anatase phase TiO2 having large surface area and enough loading amount (more than 0.1 wt %) of metallic Pt nanosized particles, which should be loaded by the photodeposition method, preferentially in the reaction condition. During the induction period, the photoirradiated side of the catalyst in the reaction cell turned pale brown, and the reaction was much accelerated. The colored surface substances accelerating the reaction rate, whose chemical formula can be described as [CH2O] n , were revealed as the reaction intermediates. The reaction mechanism was also investigated.

Hydrogen can be photocatalytically produced from methane and water by using platinum-loaded semiconductor photocatalysts. Platinum-loaded lanthanum-doped NaTaO3 (Pt/NaTaO3:La) showed higher photocatalytic activity for this reaction than platinum-loaded TiO2 did. The apparent quantum yield of this system employing Pt/NaTaO3:La was estimated to be higher than that of photocatalytic water splitting system employing NiO/NaTaO3:La.

Objective/BackgroundMost parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties with the selective eating behaviour of their children. This study aimed to develop a newly designed intervention programme on improving selective eating behaviour for parents of children with ASD and evaluate its effectiveness.MethodsThe participants were 23 parents of children (aged 3–6 years) with ASD. The education programme included a session that addressed approaches to improve selective eating and attitudes at meal times, with a discussion. The intervention aimed to identify the underlying factors and approaches to improve selective eating in children and the self-efficacy of parents.ResultsSignificant differences were observed before and after the intervention in the degree of difficulty perceived by parents, their degree of self-efficacy, the number of recommendations conducted by them, their subjective view of the degree of dietary imbalance, and the number of food items consumed by their children.ConclusionWe developed an interventional programme for parents of children with ASD and this programme was found to be useful. It is important for occupational therapists to consider the factors and approaches for selective eating in children with ASD in order to provide early intervention for their parents.

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To increase the film quality of the nickel electrode in a multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC), the BaTiO3 particles are usually used as an additive material in the electrode paste. In this report, we investigated the effects of particle size (30-100 nm) and the amount (10-20% mass ratio to Ni) of BaTiO3 nanoparticle additives on the quality of thin-film Ni electrodes, stated by a dry film density and Ni film coverage after a firing process. The use of 30 nm BaTiO3 particles resulted in a high Ni film coverage larger than 75% using only 10 mass% of BaTiO3 additive in the paste. Using larger particle sizes, a greater amount of BaTiO3 additive was needed in order to obtain the same Ni film coverage. The use of a smaller particle size of BaTiO3 nanoparticles leads to the increase of particle numbers for the same mass, resulting in effective BaTiO3 nanoparticles surrounded on Ni particles. In addition, by decreasing the amount of BaTiO3 additives, the BaTiO3 absorbance by the dielectric layer was reduced, and, consequently, the increasing of dielectric layer thickness could also be minimized.