Microcellular foaming of polypropylene containing low glass transition rubber particles in an injection molding process

Microcellular foams in polypropylene containing rubber particles were produced in an injection molding process. The foams are generated because of the thermodynamic instability and are controlled by formation process. The effect of processing parameters on microcellular foaming was investigated in the injection molding process. Injection speed and pressure are less important factors but packing pressure plays an important role in controlling the foam density. A critical packing pressure, about 5 × 10⁶ Pa, was found to generate microcellular foams in our polypropylene material system. Rubber particles inside the polypropylene seem to stabilize the microcellular foams.     

Performance evaluation of canine-associated Bacteroidales assays in a multi-laboratory comparison study

The contribution of fecal pollution from dogs in urbanized areas can be significant and is an often underestimated problem. Microbial source tracking methods (MST) utilizing quantitative PCR of dog-associated gene sequences encoding 16S rRNA of Bacteroidales are a useful tool to estimate these contributions. However, data about the performance of available assays are scarce. The results of a multi-laboratory study testing two assays for the determination of dog-associated Bacteroidales (DogBact and BacCan-UCD) on 64 single and mixed fecal source samples created from pooled fecal samples collected in California are presented here. Standardization of qPCR data treatment lowered inter-laboratory variability of sensitivity and specificity results. Both assays exhibited 100% sensitivity. Normalization methods are presented that eliminated random and confirmed non-target responses. The combination of standardized qPCR data treatment, use of normalization via a non-target specific Bacteroidales assay (GenBac3), and application of threshold criteria improved the calculated specificity significantly for both assays. Such measures would reasonably improve MST data interpretation not only for canine-associated assays, but for all qPCR assays used in identifying and monitoring fecal pollution in the environment.     

Rerandomization tests for analyzing correlated data from dental studies

Dental research studies often produce relatively small data sets in which observations are serially or spatially correlated. Rerandomization tests are presented as alternatives to analysis of variance and multivariate analysis for assessing group differences using such data. Rerandomization tests are particularly useful when the investigator is unwilling to make strong assumptions about the nature of the serial correlation or the distribution of the data. Two examples are discussed that demonstrate these techniques.     

On the internal structure of weakly nonlinear bores in laminar high Reynolds number flow

The paper deals with the internal structure of hydraulic jumps in near-critical single-layer flows which replaces the discontinuities predicted by hydraulic theory if viscous effects acting inside a thin laminar boundary layer are properly accounted for. In the limit of large Reynolds number this leads to a structure problem formed by the classical triple-deck equations supplemented with a novel nonlinear interaction relationship which allows for the passage through the critical state. Hydraulic jumps are shown to represent eigensolutions of the structure problem where this passage is achieved by the local thickening of the boundary layer which acts as a viscous hump. The effects of detuning and dispersion due to streamline curvature and surface tension on the internal structure of hydraulic jumps are studied in detail. In addition, the interaction of hydraulic jumps with surface mounted obstacles is investigated.     

A comparison of formulas for the design of cumulative sum control charts

A conventional cumulative sum control chart has a V‐mask where each arm makes an angle θ with the horizontal and has a lead distance d. These parameters are usually related to h (=dA tan(?), A is a scaling factor) and k(=A tan(?)). Two systems of formulas are examined for deriving h and k for selected values of the in control and out of control average run lengths. This is the first time an exhaustive comparison has been made. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of externally-generated electrons on pressure measurements of inverted magnetron gauges at Diamond

Diamond Light Source (Diamond) utilises a large number of Inverted Magnetron Gauges (IMGs) for both monitoring the vacuum and as a source of interlocks for protection of the machine. During storage ring operation it has been found that, in the presence of the stored electron beam, charged particles, assumed to be electrons, impinging on some of the gauges cause the pressures indicated by the gauges to drop to zero which causes problems with the operation of the storage ring. Diamond has designed and fitted a magnetic filter at the neck of each affected gauge port to eliminate this problem. This paper reports on and discusses experiments and proposed experiments with an electron flood gun and IMGs from two different manufacturers (MKS Instruments and Pfeiffer Vacuum) aimed at obtaining a better understanding of the effect. Externally-generated electrons from the flood gun can cause serious errors in the pressures indicated by the gauges; the error can be positive or negative depending on the gauge current-measuring circuit. Methods aimed at eliminating these spurious pressure readings, such as magnetic filters, bias voltages within the gauges and the use of earth meshes and baffles are also discussed.     

Investigation of a Novel Condensation Aerosol Generator: Solute and Solvent Effects

Part I of this article presents results of an experimental study on gas-phase nucleation for three model solutes and their solvent, propylene glycol (PG), with variables being solute concentration and the nature of the solute substance. A single manifestation of an aerosol generator, which forms condensation aerosols by cooling of hot vapor issuing from an electrically heated, pumped capillary, is described and used for all experiments. The effects of solute concentration and solute type were studied for deoxycorticosterone (DOC), benzil (BZ), and phenyl salicylate (PhS). Suppression of homogeneous nucleation and occurrence of heterogeneous condensation of the solvent was observed at different solute concentrations for BZ, PhS, and DOC. The nature and concentration of the solute dissolved in the solvent was shown to determine the final particle size distribution of the condensed aerosol. In the case of the least volatile solute, DOC, solute aerosol and total aerosol size distributions were identical at low solute concentrations. A transitional concentration region then existed in which a bimodal solute aerosol was formed, followed at high concentrations by increasing separation of the solvent-dominated aerosol size distribution and that of the solute. In Part II of this article, the effect of DOC dissolution in different solvents was studied at fixed solute concentration. The effects of six glycol solvents--i.e., PG, ethylene glycol (EG), dipropylene glycol (DPG), diethylene glycol (DEG), triethylene glycol (TEG), and tetraethylene glycol (TetEG)--and three nonglycol solvents--i.e., dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), formamide (FORM), and oleyl alcohol (OA)--were studied, as these affected the resultant aerosol sizes. Suppression of total aerosol mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMAD) was observed on dissolution of 0.5% w/w DOC in each solvent, although suppression occurred to different extents. It was shown that the boiling point or volatility of the solvent used to dissolve the less volatile DOC had an effect on the final particle size distribution of the condensed aerosol and whether the aerodynamic size distributions for the solute and the total aerosol were the same or different.