On the origin of strain hardening in glassy polymers

The influence of network density on the strain hardening behaviour of amorphous polymers is studied. The network density of polystyrene is altered by blending with poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene-oxide) and by cross-linking during polymerisation. The network density is derived from the rubber-plateau modulus determined by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Subsequently uniaxial compression tests are performed to obtain the intrinsic deformation behaviour and, in particular, the strain hardening modulus. At room temperature, the strain hardening modulus proves to be proportional to the network density, irrespective of the nature of the network, i.e. physical entanglements or chemical cross-links. With increasing temperature, the strain hardening modulus is observed to decrease. This decrease appears to be related to the influence of thermal mobility of the chains, determined by the distance to the glass-transition temperature (T−T_g).     

Performance study of iSCSI-based storage subsystems

iISCSI is emerging as an end-to-end protocol for transporting storage I/O block data over IP networks. By exploiting the ubiquitous Internet infrastructure, iSCSI greatly facilitates remote storage, remote backup, and data mirroring. This article evaluates the performance of two typical iSCSI storage subsystems by measuring and analyzing block-level I/O access performance and file-level access performance. In the file-level performance study, we compare file access performance in an NAS scheme with that in an iSCSI-based SAN scheme. Our test results show that Gigabit Ethernet-based iSCSI can reach very high bandwidth, close to that of a direct FC disk access in block I/O access. However, when the iSCSI traverses through longer distance, throughput relies heavily on the available bandwidth between the initiator and the target. On the other hand, the file-level performance shows that iSCSI-based file access (SAN scheme) provides higher performance than using NFS protocol in Linux and SMB protocol in Windows (NAS scheme). However, the advantage of using iSCSI-based file accesses decreases as the file size increases. The obtained experimental results shed some light on the performance of applications based on iSCSI storage.     

Inhibition of microbial growth in ready‐to‐eat food stored at ambient temperature by modified atmosphere packaging

This study was undertaken to develop a modified atmosphere package to control microbial growth in ready‐to‐eat (RTE) products stored at ambient temperature. Ethanol and/or limonene associated with modified atmosphere (CO₂ : O₂ : N₂ = 30% : 5% : 65%) was used to inhibit the growth of total air‐borne microorganisms and Escherichia coli in RTE products stored at 25°C. The results indicated that 0.05% ethanol vapour in the headspace was effective to inhibit the growth of air‐borne microorganisms and E. coli at 25°C for 72 h in a model study, and the effectiveness was related to ethanol content. Both 73 ppm limonene and 0.05% ethanol vapour enhanced the bacteriostatic effect of modified atmosphere in RTE sushi roll products, and no off‐flavour was detected using this formulated gas; however, no significant inhibitory effect was observed for RTE cold noodle products. This study concludes that combinations of carbon dioxide, ethanol or limonene vapours are effective to inhibit microbial growth in RTE food at ambient temperature, and the outcome may be due to the hurdle effect. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure and electrical characteristics of Ce4+-doped Ba2In2O5

The In-site of Ba₂In₂O₅ with Brownmillerite structure was partially substituted for Ce⁴⁺ ions in order to examine the doping effect on the order-disorder transition. Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5) were prepared by solid state reaction. X-Ray diffraction analyses of these powder samples demonstrated that Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.1 and 0.2) possesses Brownmillerite structure. With increasing content of Ce⁴⁺ ion the crystal system of Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0) changed to cubic perovskite structure above the order-disorder transition temperature of Ba₂In₂O₅. Arrhenius plots of the electrical conductivities of Ba₂In_{2 – x} Ce _x O_{5 + x/2} (x = 0.2, 0.3, and 1.0) exhibited no discontinuity. These compounds had high transference numbers of oxide ion above 973 k.     

Methods of Verifying Continuous Automatic Belt Weighers: State and Prospects

The basic methods of verifying continuous automatic belt weighers are described. A comparative analysis of these methods on the basis of experimental studies is made and ways of implementing the results in industry are recommended.     

Managing Fashion Goods Inventories: Dynamic Recourse for Retailers with Outlet Stores

The proliferation of both online and bricks and mortar outlet stores underscores the observation that secondary markets are readily accessible to retailers of short-life-cycle products. These secondary markets provide recourse channels for retailers to sell excess inventory of out-of-favor items at reduced prices when overstocking occurs in a primary market. We study the problem of determining when a retailer should terminate its primary selling season by selling remaining inventory on a secondary market. The retailer has a single opportunity to procure prior to a primary selling season consisting of multiple periods. Demand in each period is random, but correlated. At the end of each period, any remaining inventory incurs a holding cost. Then, based upon the current level of inventory and the cumulative demand-to-date, the retailer decides either to terminate the primary selling season by selling all or part of the remaining inventory on a secondary market, or to extend the current primary selling season by another period. We develop structural properties of the optimal policy for determining when to terminate the primary selling season, and we develop corresponding implications for procurement.     

Experimental and modeling approaches of MR behaviors under large step strains

Rheological properties of MR fluids under large step strain shear are presented in this paper. The experiments were carried out using a rheometer with parallel-plate geometry. Under the large step strain shear, MR fluids behave as nonlinear viscoelastic properties, where the stress relaxation modulus, G(t, γ), shows a decreasing trend with step strain. The experimental results indicate that G(t, γ) obeys time-strain separability. Thus, a mathematical form based on finite exponential serials is proposed to predict MR behavior. In this model, G(t, γ) is represented as the product of a linear stress relaxation, G(t), and the damping function, h(γ), i.e. G(t, γ)=G(t) h(γ). G(t) is simply represented as a three-parameter exponential serial and h(γ) has a sigmoidal form with two parameters. The parameters are identified by adopting an efficient optimization method proposed by Stango et al. The comparison between the experimental results and the model-predicted values indicates that this mathematical model can accurately predict MR behavior.     

Assessing the Market Stability of Chemical Industry Enterprises

Breakdown of a company is examined and the concept of its stability is given. A system of indexes for characterizing the market position of an enterprise in the chemical industry and predicting its dynamics is proposed. An integral index can be an effective tool in the hands of managers in making managerial decisions related to effectively reacting to changes in the company's market position.     

Parallel algorithm for numerical self-consistent field theory simulations of block copolymer structure

An efficient algorithm is presented for numerically evaluating a self-consistent field theoretic (SCFT) model of block copolymer structure. This algorithm is implemented on a distributed memory parallel cluster in order to solve the SCFT equations on large computational grids. Simulation results are presented for a two-component molten mixture of a symmetric ABA triblock copolymer with an A homopolymer. These results illustrate a case in which simulating a large system is required to resolve features with a wide range of length scales.     

High-performance and power-efficient CMOS comparators

Several design techniques for high-performance and power-efficient CMOS comparators are proposed. First, the comparator is based on the priority-encoding (PE) algorithm, and the dynamic circuit technique developed specifically for the priority encoder can be applied. Second, the PE function and the subsequent logic functions are merged and efficiently realized in the multiple output domino logic (MODL) to result in a shortened logic depth. The circuit in MODL CMOS is also compact and power efficient because few transistors are needed. Third, the multilevel look-ahead technique is used to shorten the path of priority-token propagation. Finally, the circuit is realized with a latch-based two-stage pipelined structure, and the comparison function is partitioned into two parts, with each part executed in each half of the clock cycle in a delay-balanced manner. Post-layout simulation results show that a 64-b comparator designed with the proposed techniques in a 3-V 0.6-/spl mu/m CMOS technology is 16% faster, 50% smaller, and 79% more power efficient as compared with the all-n-transistor comparator, which is the fastest among the conventional comparators. Measurement results of the test chip conform with simulation results and prove the feasibility of the proposed techniques.