Book reviews

Housing Systems in Europe Part I A Comparative Study of Housing Policy. Peter Boelhouwer & Harry van der Heijden 314 pp

Part II A Comparative Study of Housing Finance. Oscar Papa 207 pp Delft University Press, 1992

Time to put our House in Order. John Newton The Catholic Housing Aid Society, 1993, 88 pp., £9.50 paper

Repossessed. A Fresh Look at Mortgage Lending Practice. Sarah Jenkinson The Catholic Housing Aid Society, 1992, 73 pp., £7.50, paper

All in One Place. The British Housing Story 1971–1990. John Newton The Catholic Housing Aid Society, 1991, 109 pp., £7.99, paper

Housing for Life. Christine Davies E. & F. N. Spon, 1992, 168 pp., £14.95

Whatever Happened to Local Government?. Allan Cochrane Open University Press, 1993, 124 pp., £10.99

In Search of a Home: Rental and Shared Housing in Latin America. Alan Gilbert, in association with Oscar Olinto Camacho, Rene Coulomb and Andres Necochea. London, UCL Press, 1993, pp. 192, £35     

Observations of physical aging in a polycarbonate and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene blend

The effects of physical aging of a 75 : 25 PC/ABS blend have been studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). From DSC, two distinct peak endotherms at about 90°C and 110°C, which are associated with the glass transition of ABS (T_g,ABS) and PC (T_g,PC) components, respectively, were observed. When progressive aging was monitored at 80°C for over 1000 h, the changes in enthalpic relaxation, glass and fictive temperatures for the blend followed similar trends to those already seen in the literature for PC aged between 125 and 130°C. The rate of enthalpy relaxation was also comparable. The plot of peak endotherm against logarithmic aging time for the PC blend constituent, however, behaved quite differently from the linear relationship known for highly aged PC. The ABS peak component also appeared to be insensitive to aging. Both observations were confirmed to be statistically significant using analysis of variance methods. Using temperature modulated‐DSC, there is evidence that aging increases the blend miscibility as the T_g,PC shifts toward the stationary T_g,ABS during aging. Parallel FTIR investigations found oxidation of butadiene during aging to be even at this relatively low temperature, forming hydroxyl and carbonyl degradation products. The presence of ABS in the blend also appeared to have prevented the shifting from the trans‐cis to trans‐trans arrangement of the carbonate linkage, which is a well‐known phenomenon during elevated temperature aging of PC alone. Moreover, the carbonate linkage appears to have been at the lower energy, trans‐trans, arrangement prior to the aging process. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Tensile creep of a long‐fibre glass mat thermoplastic (GMT) composite. II. Viscoelastic‐viscoplastic constitutive modeling

In Part I of this article, the short‐term tensile creep of a 3‐mm‐thick continuous long‐fibre glass mat thermoplastic composite was characterized and found to be linear viscoelastic up to 20 MPa. Subsequently, a nonlinear viscoelastic model has been developed for stresses up to 60 MPa for relatively short creep durations. The creep response was also compared with the same composite material having twice the thickness for a lower stress range. Here in Part II, the work has been extended to characterize and model longer term creep and recovery in the 3‐mm composite for stresses up to near failure. Long‐term creep tests consisting of 1‐day loading followed by recovery were carried out in the nonlinear viscoelastic stress range of the material, i.e., 20–80 MPa in increments of 10 MPa. The material exhibited tertiary creep at 80 MPa and hence data up‐to 70 MPa has been used for model development. It was found that viscoplastic strains of about 10% of the instantaneous strains were developed under load. Hence, a non‐linear viscoelastic–viscoplastic constitutive model has been developed to represent the considerable plastic strains for the long‐term tests. Findley's model which is the reduced form of the Schapery non‐linear viscoelastic model was found to be sufficient to model the viscoelastic behavior. The viscoplastic strains were modeled using the Zapas and Crissman viscoplastic model. A parameter estimation method which isolates the viscoelastic component from the viscoplastic part of the nonlinear model has been developed. The model predictions were found to be in good agreement with the average experimental curves. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Possibilities for Acid Mine Drainage Co-treatment with Other Waste Streams: A Review

The co-treatment of AMD with other common liquid wastes is a promising synergistic approach, fusing characteristics of active and passive AMD treatment for a sustainable remediation strategy. This paper discusses existing literature on AMD co-treatment approaches, focusing on factors that influence the feasibility of co-treatment, such as mixing proportions, microbiological elements, reactor design, and mixed-water chemistry. Finally, this paper highlights future possibilities, drawing attention to prospects that require exploration.     

An 18-Mb, 12.3-GB/s CMOS pipeline-burst cache SRAM with 1.54Gb/s/pin

An 18-Mbit CMOS pipeline-burst cache SRAM achieves a 12.3-Gbyte/s data transfer rate with 1.54-Gbit/s/pin I/O's. The SRAM is fabricated on a 0.18-μm CMOS technology. The 14.3×14.6-mm² SRAM chip uses a 5.59-μm², six-transistor cell. Circuit techniques used for achieving high bandwidth include fully self-timed array architecture, segmented hierarchical sensing with separated global read/write bitlines in different metal layers, a high-speed data-capture technique, a reduced-swing output buffer, and a high-sensitivity, high-bandwidth input buffer     

Modeling of structural mechanics,moisture diffusion,and heat conduction coupled with physical aging in thin plastic plates

This paper offers an approach to model the coupled physics of structural mechanics, moisture diffusion, and heat conduction together with physical aging. The modeling is performed on a glassy polymer blend and hence incorporates the material viscoelastic behavior. Determination of the coupling coefficients, which link the governing equations of the mechanisms to each other, is particularly challenging. In this work, an estimation procedure has been used to determine the coupling coefficients, based on the experimental data reported in our recent papers. The effects of physical aging on mechanical stress–strain are also included using the shift factors, which were specified experimentally. The effect of physical aging on moisture diffusion is also modeled using a time-varying boundary condition. Experimental verification of the model shows that the developed model is capable of predicting the deflection of plastic parts subjected to hygrothermal conditions; i.e., conditions where moisture diffusion and physical aging phenomena are influential.     

Structural basis for inhibition of the Hsp90 molecular chaperone by the antitumor antibiotics radicicol and geldanamycin

OBJECTIVES: Prostate cancer recurrence, evidenced by rising prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels after radical prostatectomy, is an increasingly prevalent clinical problem in need of new treatment options. Preclinical studies have suggested that for tumors in general, settings of minimal cancer volume may be uniquely suitable for recombinant vaccine therapy targeting tumor-associated antigens. A clinical study was undertaken to evaluate the safety and biologic effects of vaccinia-PSA (PROSTVAC) administered to subjects with postprostatectomy recurrence of prostate cancer and to assess the feasibility of interrupted androgen deprivation as a tool for modulating expression of the vaccine target antigen, as well as detecting vaccine bioactivity in vivo. METHODS: A limited Phase I clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the safety and biologic effects of vaccinia-PSA administered in 6 patients with androgen-modulated recurrence of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy. End points included toxicity, serum PSA rise related to serum testosterone restoration, and immunologic effects measured by Western blot analysis for anti-PSA antibody induction. RESULTS: Toxicity was minimal, and dose-limiting toxicity was not observed. Noteworthy variability in time required for testosterone restoration (after interruption of androgen deprivation therapy) was observed. One subject showed continued undetectable serum PSA (less than 0.2 ng/mL) for over 8 months after testosterone restoration, an interval longer than those reported in previous androgen deprivation interruption studies. Primary anti-PSA IgG antibody activity was induced after vaccinia-PSA immunization in 1 subject, although such antibodies were detectable in several subjects at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Interrupted androgen deprivation may be a useful tool for modulating prostate cancer bioactivity in clinical trials developing novel biologic therapies. Immune responses against PSA may be present among some patients with prostate cancer at baseline and may be induced in others through vaccinia-PSA immunization.