Some features of spinning cuprammonium fibres into precipitation baths containing calcium salts

Conclusions On the basis of data on precipitating power and the rate of dehydration of cuprammonium solutions of cellulose, the fundamental possibility has been demonstrated of spinning fibres from such solutions into precipitation baths containing calcium salts, using the technological scheme for viscose fibre manufacture.The dependence of the basic characteristics of the freshly-spun fibre on calcium salt content and temperature of the precipitation bath has been found.Moscow Textile Institute. Translated from Khimicheskie Volokna, No. 1, pp. 11–13, January–February, 1987.     

Influence of pitch composition and surface properties of petroleum coke on their interaction during the preparation of carbon/carbon composites

The influence of pitch composition and surface properties of petroleum coke on the interaction of pitch and coke in the composite is studied. The adsorption results and EPR data indicate that recombination of paramagnetic centers and interaction of oxygen functional groups occur during the preparation of the composite. As a result of interaction between petroleum coke and pitch, polar compounds are concentrated in the adsorption layer. The baking criterion is used for the characterization of the baking ability of the pitches obtained as a result of different oxidation treatments of commercial coal tar pitch. It is determined that physico-chemical properties of the obtained pitches influence the value of the “baking criterion”. The kind of thermo-oxidation treatment of the parent pitch should be chosen hence achieving the maximum value of the baking criterion. For this purpose, the maximal part of the pitch has to take part in the adsorption layer.     

Kinetics of redox processes in manganese oxides

The redox processes in ceramic and powder samples of α-Mn₂O₃ (kurnakite) and β-Mn₃O₄ (hausmannite) have been studied in the temperature range 20–1000°C. The results demonstrate that the conversion of α-Mn₂O₃ to β-Mn₃O₄ in the binary system Mn-O is essentially irreversible, even if there are nucleation centers in the form of the higher oxide α-Mn₂O₃ during the oxidation of hausmannite. It is shown that the high reactivity of hausmannite ground in a WC mill is not due to a mechanochemical effect. Grinding-induced contamination has a significant effect on the oxidation behavior of the system: the impurities incorporated into the sample during grinding in a mill favor complete (WC contamination) or partial (Fe contamination) conversion of hausmannite to kurnakite. Hausmannite contaminated with tungsten carbide oxidizes by a catalytic mechanism. In the case of Fe impurities, oxidation follows a solid-state mechanism, through the formation of restricted Fe_xMn_2?x O₃ solid solutions.     

Accurate measurement of total attenuation coefficient of thin tissue with optical coherence tomography

Noninvasive accurate measurements of tissue optical properties are needed for many diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) recently proposed for high-resolution imaging in tissue can potentially be applied for accurate, noninvasive, and high-resolution measurement of tissue total attenuation coefficient. However, confocal function (dependence of OCT sensitivity on the distance of probed site from the focal plane of the objective lens) and multiple scattering substantially limit the accuracy of the measurement with the OCT technique. We studied the influence of the confocal function and multiple scattering on the accuracy of the measurement and proposed methods that provide measurement of the total attenuation coefficient with a significantly reduced systematic error. Experiments were performed in tissue phantoms and porcine and human skin in vitro and in vivo. Our data indicate that the tissue total attenuation coefficient can noninvasively be measured in vivo with the accuracy of 5%-10% in the range from 0.5 to 17 mm/sup -1/ and about 20% in the range up to 40 mm/sup -1/. These results suggest that the proper correction of the OCT-based measurement for the confocal function and multiple scattering provides absolute values of tissue total attenuation coefficient with high accuracy and resolution that may not be achievable by other optical techniques in vivo.     

Plasmids as Key Players in Acinetobacter Adaptation

This review briefly summarizes the data on the mechanisms of development of the adaptability of Acinetobacters to various living conditions in the environment and in the clinic. A comparative analysis of the genomes of free-living and clinical strains of A. lwoffii, as well as the genomes of A. lwoffii and A. baumannii, has been carried out. It has been shown that plasmids, both large and small, play a key role in the formation of the adaptability of Acinetobacter to their living conditions. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the plasmids of various strains of Acinetobacter differ from each other in their structure and gene composition depending on the lifestyle of their host bacteria. Plasmids of modern strains are enriched with antibiotic-resistant genes, while the content of genes involved in resistance to heavy metals and arsenic is comparable to plasmids from modern and ancient strains. It is concluded that Acinetobacter plasmids may ensure the survival of host bacteria under conditions of various types of environmental and clinical stresses. A brief overview of the main mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer on plasmids inherent in Acinetobacter strains is also given.     

γ-X-ray-spectrometric investigation of plutonium and241Am content in the soil in regions where peaceful nuclear explosions were conducted

A brief exposition of the γ-x-ray spectrometric method and apparatus for analyzing the content of plutonium and²⁴¹Am in samples of soil and vegetation is presented. The results of an analysis of some samples from the regions where peaceful nuclear explosions were conducted in Yakutiya and Perm oblast' are presented. It is concluded that the γ-x-ray spectrometric method can be used to perform large-scale measurements in regions where peaceful nuclear explosions have been conducted, 2 figures, 3 tables, 8 references. Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 88, No. 1, pp. 52–55, January, 2000.     

Finite-Volume-Particle Methods for Models of Transport of Pollutant in Shallow Water

We present a new hybrid numerical method for computing the transport of a passive pollutant by a flow. The flow is modeled by the Saint-Venant system of shallow water equations and the pollutant propagation is described by a transport equation. The idea behind the new finite-volume-particle (FVP) method is to use different schemes for the flow and the pollution computations: the shallow water equations are numerically integrated using a finite-volume scheme, while the transport equation is solved by a particle method. This way the specific advantages of each scheme are utilized at the right place. This results in a significantly enhanced resolution of the computed solution     

Carbon foam derived from pitches modified with mineral acids by a low pressure foaming process

Carbon foams with an anisotropic texture and high mechanical strength were produced using precursors obtained after thermo-oxidation treatment of commercial coal-tar pitch with H₂SO₄ and HNO₃. The investigations of the relation between the properties of the precursor and the structure of obtained foam indicate, that the composition and softening point of the pitch precursor significantly affect the foaming process, foam structure and foam mechanical strength. The composition and properties of the modified pitches allow foam formation at relatively low pressure and fast heating rate during the foaming process without a stabilization treatment. The foaming process of pitch-based carbon foams, pre-treatment of the precursors, and the properties of resultant foams are discussed in this paper.