Mixtures of poly(vinyl chloride) and copolyesters based on ε‐caprolactone and L‐lactide: Miscibility,thermal stability,and weathering resistance

Properties of the blends of Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCLO) and copolyesters based on ε‐caprolactone and L‐lactide (LLA) prepared by rolling were studied. Incorporating the LLA units into the structure of PCLO the content of the crystalline phase was controlled. Miscibility of the blends was assessed using DMA, and basic mechanical properties were correlated with the type and content of the polymer plasticizer. The PVC blends containing up to 20 wt parts polyesters were miscible. The presence of the LLA units in the copolyester influenced negatively the thermal stability. On the other hand even small content of copolyester in the blend enhanced the resistivity against aging. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

A survey of clinical psychology training in Canadian federal corrections: Implications for psychologist recruitment and retention.

Although survey results seem to indicate an abundant interest among Canadian psychology graduate students in pursuing training in criminal justice psychology, the recruitment and retention of psychologists in the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has been of some concern. The present study is a 2008 survey of sites within CSC that provide opportunities for clinical psychology training with offender clientele. Survey findings demonstrated that a broad range of clinical psychology training opportunities were available across 16 sites. The most frequently cited barrier to providing training was lack of time by prospective trainers, and sites reported retaining relatively few of their trainees for subsequent psychologist positions. Information was also obtained regarding vacant psychologist positions across CSC regions. In light of survey findings, substantive discussion is devoted toward the issues of psychologist recruitment and retention in Canadian federal corrections, including a discussion of both potential and existing training initiatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modulation Excitation X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy to Probe Surface Species on Heterogeneous Catalysts

The advantages and open questions of the combination of modulation excitation spectroscopy and phase sensitive detection (PSD) with X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) for the analysis of heterogeneous catalysts at work are reviewed. The characteristic spectral signatures of two different edges (Pd K and Pt L₃) are described in relation to the red-ox chemistry of Pd/Al₂O₃ and Pt/Al₂O₃ with respect to NO reduction by CO and CO oxidation, respectively. Both examples demonstrate that PSD makes XAS sensitive to potentially active species for the catalytic reaction.     

A simple method for the inclusion of external and internal supports in the spline finite strip method (SFSM) of buckling analysis

The SFSM is an attractive numerical technique for the buckling analysis of folded-plate structures where general loading regimes and boundary conditions need to be modelled. In implementing splines as interpolation functions in the longitudinal direction of the strip, amended splines have been used conventionally to model the variety of end conditions that may occur. These amended splines are fairly difficult to implement, particularly so if internal restraints are also to be specified. A simple technique for replacing the specification of dedicated amended splines is presented in this paper. The method is then employed to study the local buckling of flat plates under longitudinally and transversely varying compression and bending with different boundary conditions at the ends.     

Moving Averages of Random Vectors with Regularly Varying Tails

Regular variation is an analytic condition on the tails of a probability distribution which is necessary for an extended central limit theorem to hold, when the tails are too heavy to allow attraction to a normal limit. The limiting distributions which can occur are called operator stable. In this paper we show that moving averages of random vectors with regularly varying tails are in the generalized domain of attraction of an operator stable law. We also prove that the sample autocovariance matrix of these moving averages is in the generalized domain of attraction of an operator stable law on the vector space of symmetric matrices.
AMS 1990 subject classification. Primary 62M10, secondary 62E20, 62F12, 60F05.     

Geometry of the minimum zone flatness functional: planar and spatial case

The zone straightness and flatness functional is constructed from the definition of the measure. The geometry of the straightness functional is illustrated in the plane, and in three dimensions, a novel means to visually represent flatness is described using the zone separation body. The zone separation body is a new construction that is uniquely associated with every measurement dataset and can be used to represent the flatness functional visually.     

A predictive technique for evaluating structural vibration gain of damped suspensions in hard disk drives

The problem of resonant vibration of suspensions used in hard disk drives has been the subject of ongoing research. This study focuses on implementation of a finite element modeling methodology to predict the response for a suspension that includes an added damping component, either as a traditional constraint layer damper or as a design tool. High gains in suspensions result in off-track of the slider, which is the mechanism for reading and writing data. Analytical methodology uses the concept of modal strain energy to predict the modal damping of the structure at each resonant mode. Loss factors and strain energies of each material used in the structure quantify the amount of modal damping at a particular mode. Development of the methodology allows optimization studies of standard damping applications, such as a constraint layer damper. In addition, the methodology enables FEA as a design tool to develop innovative solutions for improved efficiency and higher performance.