Boston College

About: Boston College is a education organization based out in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 9749 authors who have published 25406 publications receiving 1105145 citations. The organization is also known as: BC.

Engineering a homogeneous alloy-oxide interface derived from metal-organic frameworks for selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid

Abstract: The selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is an important biomass conversion reaction. However, the multiple intermediates of the reaction make the catalyst design challenging. We engineered an active and selective catalyst with an active interface between Au-Pd alloy nanoparticles (NPs) and cobalt oxide supports via calcination of a composite of NPs encapsulated in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The catalyst shows an effective HMF-to-FDCA oxidation with total conversion and 95 % yield by 10 % hydrogen peroxide solution at 90 °C in one hour under atmospheric pressure. The mechanistic study shows that the engineered interface promotes the formation of hydroperoxyl radicals and dioxygen molecules, which accelerate the oxidation of reactive intermediates to FDCA. This work demonstrates the advantage of using MOF composites as a precursor to generate complex but active interfaces with a strong interaction between the metal and metal oxides.

Innovative productivity and returns to scale in the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract: This study shows that firms in the pharmaceutical industry experience decreasing returns to scale in R & D as the level of R & D expenditures rises The paper presents the results of our study of the innovative output of 16 pharmaceutical firms over a 19 year period Given the strong correlation between R & D budgets and firm size, our study suggests the wave of mergers in the industry may yield less innovative productivity than managers expect

Mothers' Transitions from Welfare to Work and the Well-Being of Preschoolers and Adolescents

Abstract: Results from a longitudinal study of 2402 low-income families during the recent unprecedented era of welfare reform suggest that mothers' transitions off welfare and into employment are not associated with negative outcomes for preschoolers (ages 2 to 4 years) or young adolescents (ages 10 to 14 years). Indeed, no significant associations with mothers' welfare and employment transitions were found for preschoolers, and the dominant pattern was also of few statistically significant associations for adolescents. The associations that did occur provided slight evidence that mothers' entry into the labor force was related to improvements in adolescents' mental health, whereas exits from employment were linked with teenagers' increased behavior problems.