New ceramer high optical abrasion resistant transparent coating materials based on functionalized melamine and a tris(m-aminophenyl)phosphine oxide compound

Summary The synthesis of new high optical abrasion resistance coating materials has been undertaken by functionalizing melamine and tris(m-aminophenyl)phosphine oxide with a triethoxysilane containing reagent. These highly functionalized compounds have been used for coating a bis-phenol-A polycarbonate substrate by the sol-gel method. Preliminary data shows the abrasion resistance of the polymer substrate is considerably improved when it is coated by these optically clear materials.     

The evolution of custom microarray manufacture

Given the enormous size of the genome and that there are potentially many other types of measurements we need to do to understand it, it has become necessary to pick and choose one's targets to measure because it is still impossible to evaluate the entire genome all at once. What has emerged is a need to have rapidly customizable microarrays. There are two dominant methods to accomplish custom microarray synthesis, Affymetrix-like microarrays manufactured using light projection rather than semiconductor-like masks used by Affymetrix to mass manufacture their GeneChip/sup TM/ arrays now, or the ink-jet printing method employed by Agilent. The manufacture of these custom Affymetrix-like microarrays can now be done on a digital optical chemistry (DOC) machine developed at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and this method offers much higher feature numbers and feature density than is possible with ink-jet printed arrays. On a microarray, each feature contains a single genetic measurement. The initial DOC prototype has been described in several publications, but that has now led to a second-generation machine. This machine reliably produces a number of arrays daily, has been deployed against a number of biomedical questions, is being used in new ways and has also led to a number of spin-off technologies.     

Measurements of single chain form factors by small-angle neutron scattering from polystyrene blends containing high concentrations of labelled molecules

A series of small angle neutron scattering measurements on blends of normal polystyrene (PSH) and labelled (deuterated) polystyrene (PSD) have been made with concentrations of PSD from 5 to 50 mol %. It is shown that the single chain form factor of the polymer in bulk can be obtained from a single concentration measurement for any concentration of labelled molecules, providing the molecular weights of the parent and labelled molecules are the same and the molecular weight distributions are narrow.     

Functional Properties and Food Applications of Rapeseed Protein Concentrate

Rapeseed protein concentrate (RC), prepared with 2% hexameta-phosphate, was tested for its functionality and performance in some foods. The RC had good nitrogen solubility, fat absorption, emulsification, and whipping capacities but poor water absorption and gelling properties. It increased the emulsion stability, and protein but lowered the fat content of wieners. It also increased the cooking yield, reduced the shrinkage and tenderized meat patties. Results were similar to soybean isolate except for the poorer color and flavor. The cooking yield of RC supplemented wieners was less than the all-meat control and soybean-supplemented wieners. A 9% RC dispersion mixed with an equal volume of eggwhite produced a meringue of comparable stability and texture to that of eggwhite alone.     

Interdisciplinary research: roles for self-organization

No generally accepted principles and guidelines currently exist to help engineers design local interaction mechanisms that result in a desired global behavior. However, several communities have developed ways of approaching this problem in the context of niched application areas. Because the ideas underlying these approaches are often obscured or underemphasized in technical papers, the authors review the role of self-organization in their work. They provide a better picture of the status of the emerging field of self-organizing systems or autonomic computing.     

Influence of coherent structures on mass transfer near stagnation region in agitated small tanks

Electrochemical method is applied to study coherent structures in a complex three-dimensional flow generated by a rotating magnetic rod. In order to detect these structures, the power spectral density (PSD) analysis of the limiting diffusion current fluctuations is provided. This analysis reveals the existence of resonance frequencies when the probe is located in the very vicinity of the stirrer. The main resonance is related to the mechanical excitation frequency. The detailed analysis of the PSD curves points out some mechanisms of development of turbulence as sub-harmonics and non-linear interactions. For different locations of the probe and different angular rates of the stirrer Ω, a similarity of the energy repartition is obtained when the PSD is plotted versus the adimensional frequency f/Ω. Flow visualization by laser tomography is also provided and the local secondary flow past the electrode probe is sketched. The laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) at a given location in a horizontal z-plane indicates a tornado wise mean flow structure.     

Seasat over-land scatterometer data. I. Global overview of theKu-band backscatterer coefficients

Statistics on the backscatter coefficient σ⁰ from the Ku-band Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) collected over the world's land surfaces are presented. This spaceborne scatterometer provided data on σ⁰ between latitude 80° S and 80° N at incidence angles up to 70°. The global statistics of vertical (V) and horizontal (H) polarization backscatter coefficients for 10° bands in latitude are presented for incidence angles between 20° and 70° and compared with the Skylab and ground spectrometer results. Global images of the time-averaged V polarization σ⁰ at a 45° incidence angle and its dependence on the incidence angle are presented and compared to a generalized map of the terrain type. Global images of the differences between the V an H polarization backscatter coefficients are presented and discussed. The most inhomogeneous region, which contains the deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is studied in greater detail and compared with the terrain type     

Electromagnetic scattering by a straight thin wire

The traveling-wave energy, which multiply diffracts on a straight thin wire, is represented as a sum of terms, each with a distinct physical meaning, that can be individually examined in the time domain. Expressions for each scattering mechanism on a straight thin wire are cast in the form of four basic electromagnetic wave concepts: diffraction, attachment, launch, and reflection. Using the basic mechanisms from P.Ya. Ufimtsev (1962), each of the scattering mechanisms is included into the total scattered field for the straight thin wire. Scattering as a function of angle and frequency is then compared to the moment-method solution. These analytic expressions are then extended to a lossy wire with a simple approximate modification using the propagation velocity on the wire as derived from the Sommerfeld wave on a straight lossy wire. Both the perfectly conducting and lossy wire solutions are compared to moment-method results, and excellent agreement is found. As is common with asymptotic solutions, when the electrical length of wire is smaller than 0.2 λ the results lose accuracy. The expressions modified to approximate the scattering for the lossy thin wire yield excellent agreement even for lossy wires where the wire radius is on the order of skin depth