Esters of hydroxystearic acids as primary low-temperature plasticizers for a vinyl chloride—Vinyl acetate copolymer

Summary Thirty-one acyloxy or aryloxy esters prepared from hydroxystearic acids have been evaluated as plasticizers for a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer (95∶5). Many of them were found to be primary plasticizers, having outstanding low-temperature performance when employed at the 35% level. Formulations with these compounds compared quite favorably in tensile properties with those containing the di-2-ethylhexyl esters of phthalic, sebacic, azelaic, and adipic acids. Volatility losses were similar to those of the four di-2-ethylhexyl esters. The loss of plasticizer through migration was equal to or less than that from compositions containing the esters of sebacic, azelaic, and adipic acids but was greater than that of the phthalate ester. A mechanistic scheme of plasticizer-polymer interaction has been presented, proposing that the rate of diffusion of plasticizer through the polymer mass is a controlling factor in both good low-temperature performance and the resulting high migration losses. Methyl esters, some aromatic esters, and esters containing three or more polar centers have improved permanence but show a more rapid change in torsional modulus as the temperature is lowered during the determination of the Clash-Berg stiffening temperature. Eastern Utilization Research and Development Division, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture.     

A Complete and Highly Effective Mothproofing Agent Comprising a Pyrethroid and a Hexahydropyrimidine

Pyrethroids, considered as a general class of compounds, have been shown to provide effective protection from the larvae of the keratin-digesting insects Tineola bisselliella H., Tinea pellionella Linn., Hofmannophila pseudo-spretella Station and Attagenus piceus Oliv. The position regarding the susceptibility of the furniture carpet beetle to pyrethroids is less clear, however. It has been reported that both deltamethrin and permethrin are effective against Anthrenus flavipes Le Conte, whilst permethrin is also reported elsewhere to be effective against the same species. Results obtained in our laboratory, however, have indicated that pyrethroids may offer inadequate protection against Anthrenus vorax Waterh. [1, 2]. This latter species is identical to Anthrenus flavipes var. seminiveus Casey, a colour variety of Anthrenus flavipes Le Conte. The 1,3-disubstituted5-phenylcarbamoyl-2,4,6-trioxo- and 4,6-dioxo-2-thione-hexahydropyrimidine derivatives described in this paper exhibit a surprisingly high and selective toxicity to the Anthrenus species. Thus, a combination of an appropriate hexahydropyrimidine with a suitable pyrethroid, e.g. permethrin, provides complete control of a wide range of commonly encountered textile insect pests. The influence of substituents on the mothproofing activity is discussed.     

Biodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene sulfone by Arthrobacter sp. and studies with oxidized Illinois No. 6 coal

A bacterium identified as Arthrobacter sp. was grown on dibenzothiophene (DBT) sulfone as a sole source of sulfur, producing sulfite and sulfate. Sulfur in DBT sulfone (1.0 mM) was nearly quantitatively converted to sulfate by the organism. The organism could also use DBT sulfone as a sole source of carbon and energy. There was evidence for transient accumulation of benzoic acid in the culture medium after growth of the cells slowed. The DBT sulfoxide analogue 9-fluorenone was converted by resting cells to a product identified as 1,10-dihydroxy-1,10-dihydrofluoren-9-one, suggesting that DBT sulfone may be metabolized via an angular hydroxylation resulting in carbon- sulfur bond cleavage. This strain of Arthrobacter showed no ability to desulfurize oxidized Illinois No. 6 coal.     

Mullite for Structural, Electronic, and Optical Applications

Mullite (3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂) is becoming increasingly important in electronic, optical, and high-temperature structural applications. This paper reviews the current state of mullite-related research at a fundamental level, within the framework of phase equilibria, crystal structure, synthesis, processing, and properties. Phase equilibria are discussed in terms of the problems associated with the nucleation kinetics of mullite and the large variations observed in the solid-solution range. The incongruent melting behavior of mullite is now widely accepted. Large variations in the solid solubility from 58 to 76 mol% alumina are related to the ordering/disordering of oxygen vacancies and are strongly coupled with the method of synthesis used to form mullite. Similarly, reaction sequences which lead to the formation of mullite upon heating depend on the spatial scale at which the components are mixed. Mixing at the atomic level is useful for low-temperature (<1000°C) synthesis of mullite but not for low-temperature sintering. In contrast, precursors that are segregated are better suited for low-temperature (1250° to 1500°C) densification through viscous deformation. Flexural strength and creep resistance at elevated temperatures are significantly affected by the presence of glassy boundary inclusions; in the absence of glassy inclusions, polycrystalline mullite retains >90% of its room-temperature strength to 1500°C and displays very high creep resistance. Because of its low dielectric constant, mullite has now emerged as a substrate material in high-performance packaging applications. Interest in optical applications mainly centers on its applicability as a window material within the mid-infrared range.     

Initial cholesterol uptake by everted sacs of rat small intestine: Kinetic and thermodynamic aspects

The kinetics of initial cholesterol uptake by everted rat proximal and distal small intestinal sacs were evaluated in vitro. The mucosal incubation solution consisted of 0.05 mM cholesterol solubilized in 4.8 mM sodium taurocholate micellar solution at pH 7.4. Experiments were performed at temperatures from 26 to 38 C. The rate of cholesterol uptake followed a linear relationship when plotted against time indicating an apparent zero-order kinetics mechanism for initial uptake. An Arrhenius plot of the results of uptake versus temperature remained linear over the entire range of temperatures studied. The large free energy of activation (20 kcal/mole) suggests that an energy barrier for cholesterol uptake exists at the enterocyte luminal cell membrane and may be an important limiting step in cholesterol uptake. It is proposed that a transient association between cholesterol and a component of the enterocyte luminal cell membrane is formed during initial uptake of cholesterol. The transient association may be an activated complex formed with proteins present at or within the luminal enterocyte cell membrane.     

Nanobubble generation and its applications in froth flotation (part Ⅲ): specially designed laboratory scale column flotation of phosphate

Froth flotation is used widely for upgrading raw phosphate. The flotation recovery of coarse phosphate (-1.18+0.425 mm) is much lower than that achieved on the -0.425+0.15 mm size fraction. Enhanced recovery of coarse phosphate particles is of great economic and environmental importance for phosphate industry. In this investigation, four different phosphate samples were aquired, characterized and tested in a specially designed laboratory-scale flotation column. Significant recovery improvement of coarse phosphate flotation was achieved using cavitation-generated nanobubble though its effects differ among the four testing phosphate samples. The laboratory-scale flotation column test results indicate that nanobubble increased P2O5 recovery by up to 10%-30% for a given Acid Insoluble (A.I.) rejection, depending on the characteristic of phosphate samples. The improvement ef-fect of nanobubble on the hard-to-float particles was more significant than that on easy-to-float particles, especially at lower col-lector dosages. Nanobubbles reduced the collector dosage by 1/3 to 1/2. Nanobubbles almost doubled the coarse phosphate flotation rate constant and increased the flotation selectivity index by up to 25%.     

Tar sand extractions with microemulsions: I-the dissolution of light hydrocarbons by microemulsions using 2-butoxyethanol and diethylmethylamine as cosurfactants

For oil sand extractions with microemulsions it is important to disperse large quantities of light hydrocarbons in an aqueous medium. Fundamental studies on the properties of 2-butoxyethanol (BE) and diethylmethylamine (Et₂McN) in water suggest that these two liquids could be more effective cosurfactants than the usual alcohols used for this purpose. The phase diagrams of microemulsions using BE and Et₂MeN as cosurfactants, combined with typical ionic and non-ionic surfactants and typical aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, were therefore investigated and compared with microemulsions based on n-butanol. Although the phase diagrams depend significantly on the nature of the surfactant and of the oil, the monophasic region generally increases with the cosurfactant in the order n-butanol < Et₂McN < BE. With the active mixture BE-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, temperature has little effect on the phase diagram and NaCl generally destabilizes the microemulsion.     

Pilot proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid in Alzheimer's disease

Proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) holds great promise in understanding the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). As one of the primary reservoirs of neuronal biomolecules, CSF provides a window into the biochemical and cellular aspects of the neurological environment. CSF can be drawn from living participants allowing the potential alignment of clinical changes with these biochemical markers. Using cutting-edge mass spectrometry technologies, we perform a streamlined proteomic analysis of CSF. We quantify greater than 700 proteins across 10 pairs of age- and sex-matched participants in approximately one hour of analysis time each. Using the paired participant study structure, we identify a small group of biologically relevant proteins that show substantial changes in abundance between cognitive normal and AD participants, which were then analyzed at the peptide level using parallel reaction monitoring experiments. Our findings suggest the utility of fractionating a single sample and using matching to increase proteomic depth in cerebrospinal fluid, as well as the potential power of an expanded study.     

A linear algebra approach to OLAP

Inspired by the relational algebra of data processing, this paper addresses the foundations of data analytical processing from a linear algebra perspective. The paper investigates, in particular, how aggregation operations such as cross tabulations and data cubes essential to quantitative analysis of data can be expressed solely in terms of matrix multiplication, transposition and the Khatri–Rao variant of the Kronecker product. The approach offers a basis for deriving an algebraic theory of data consolidation, handling the quantitative as well as qualitative sides of data science in a natural, elegant and typed way. It also shows potential for parallel analytical processing, as the parallelization theory of such matrix operations is well acknowledged.     

Note: The intermodulation lockin analyzer

Nonlinear systems can be probed by driving them with two or more pure tones while measuring the intermodulation products of the drive tones in the response. We describe a digital lockin analyzer which is designed explicitly for this purpose. The analyzer is implemented on a field-programmable gate array, providing speed in analysis, real-time feedback, and stability in operation. The use of the analyzer is demonstrated for intermodulation atomic force microscopy. A generalization of the intermodulation spectral technique to arbitrary drive waveforms is discussed.