Saponification kinetic study of mica-acrylonitrile graft copolymers

Kinetics of alkaline hydrolysis of mica-acrylonitrile graft copolymers was studied. The dependence of alkali concentration and the time of hydrolysis on the degree of saponification was determined. Chemical and spectroscopical techniques were used to determine the mechanism of hydrolysis.     

Anionic synthesis of poly(epichlorohydrin-g-styrene) and chemical modification of polyepichlorohydrin

Poly(epichlorohydrin-g-styrene) copolymers, P(ECH-g-S)s, have been prepared in solution by two different methods of coupling polyepichlorohydrin, PECH, with polystyrene, PS, containing a functional end group. In the first method, polystyryl carboxylic acid, PSCOOH, prepared from living polystyrene, was converted to the corresponding potassium salt which was coupled with PECH in dimethyl formamide solution usually at 60°C. In the second method, polystyryl potassium, PS^?K⁺, in tetrahydrofuran solution was end-capped with propylene sulphide to form PSCH₂CH(CH₃)S^?K⁺ which was coupled directly with PECH in tetrahydrofuran at 40°C. Grafting by the first reaction was relatively slow but occurred without significant adverse side reactions. The grafting by the second reaction was relatively fast, but side reactions occurred resulting in a cleavage of the graft copolymer. The graft copolymers were purified by fractional precipitation and extraction procedures and were characterized by infra-red and ultra-violet spectroscopy, microanalysis, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, solution viscometry, dynamic mechanical testing, and electron microscopy. Solution properties of the graft copolymers in benzene-carbon tetrachloride and toluene-cyclohexane mixtures were studied. There was evidence of micelle formation in dilute solutions of the mixed solvents and microphase separation of components in the solid state. Nucleophilic substitution of chlorine atoms in PECH by phenyl acetate (C₆H₅ CH₂COO-) and thiophenoxide (C₆H₅S-) groups was performed.     

Inhibition by 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid of fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis in isolated rat hepatocytes

Fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis in isolated rat hepatocytes were strongly inhibited by 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid. With either³H₂O or [2-¹⁴C]acetate as the labeled precursor, the concentrations of inhibitor causing 50% decrease in fatty acid and cholesterol synthesis were, respectively, <0.005 mM and 0.020 mM. At 0.1 mM inhibitor, citrate concentration in cells from fed rats was increased by 75%; lactate and pyruvate concentrations were decreased by 30%; ethanol oxidation was decreased by 20%; with cells from starved rats, the mitochondrial [NAD⁺]/[NADH] was decreased. Other parameters were unaffected. Both its potency and its specificity indicate that 5-(tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid will be useful in studies on the regulation of lipid biosynthesis.     

Scandinavian Thins on Top of Cake: New and Improved Algorithms for Stacking and Packing

We show how to compute the smallest rectangle that can enclose any polygon, from a given set of polygons, in nearly linear time; we also present a PTAS for the problem, as well as a linear-time algorithm for the case when the polygons are rectangles themselves. We prove that finding a smallest convex polygon that encloses any of the given polygons is NP-hard, and give a PTAS for minimizing the perimeter of the convex enclosure. We also give efficient algorithms to find the smallest rectangle simultaneously enclosing a given pair of convex polygons.     

Exploring aspects of cell intelligence with artificial reaction networks

The Artificial Reaction Network (ARN) is a Cell Signalling Network inspired connectionist representation belonging to the branch of A-Life known as Artificial Chemistry. Its purpose is to represent chemical circuitry and to explore computational properties responsible for generating emergent high-level behaviour associated with cells. In this paper, the computational mechanisms involved in pattern recognition and spatio-temporal pattern generation are examined in robotic control tasks. The results show that the ARN has application in limbed robotic control and computational functionality in common with Artificial Neural Networks. Like spiking neural models, the ARN can combine pattern recognition and complex temporal control functionality in a single network, however it offers increased flexibility. Furthermore, the results illustrate parallels between emergent neural and cell intelligence.     

The selectivity of porous catalysts: parallel reactions

The influence of intraparticle mass diffusion on the overall and relative rates of the parallel reactions A → B and A → C is examined for the case of an isothermal catalyst particle with no external concentration or temperature gradients. Calculations for three pairs of reaction orders: (0,1), (0,2) and (1,2), show that internal concentration gradients can cause the yield of the product formed in the higher-order reaction to decrease by as much as 80 percent. Extension of the analysis to other reaction orders is discussed. Criteria for close approach to various asymptotic limits are presented, together with an asymptotic expression which allows the maximum effect of pore diffusion on selectivity to be estimated for any pair of reaction orders.     

Non-manual cues in automatic sign language recognition

Present work deals with the incorporation of non-manual cues in automatic sign language recognition. More specifically, eye gaze, head pose, and facial expressions are discussed in relation to their grammatical and syntactic function and means of including them in the recognition phase are investigated. Computer vision issues related to extracting facial features, eye gaze, and head pose cues are presented and classification approaches for incorporating these non-manual cues into the overall Sign Language recognition architecture are introduced.     

Highly potent germination inhibitors in aqueous eluate of fruits of Bishop's weed (Ammi majus L.) and avoidance of autoinhibition

The aqueous eluate from fruits ofAmmi majus (Bishop's weed, Umbelliferae) remarkably inhibited germination of adjacent seeds ofAnastatica hierochuntica, lettuce, or tomato but had no effect on intact fruits ofAmmi. Similar inhibition was found in dark or in light, except that seeds ofA. hierochuntica were significantly more inhibited in the dark than in the light. Xanthotoxin was isolated, identified, and found to account for about a sixth of the inhibitory activity of the eluate. After fruits ofAmmi were submerged in a large volume of water for 4 days, the fruits still exuded enough inhibitors to prevent germination ofA. hierochuntica, lettuce, or tomato. Data support also the proposal that the phytotoxins are compartmentalized between the inner and the outer fruit envelopes. The inner layer excludes inhibitors from the embryo and autotoxicity is thus avoided, whereas the outer one ensures a gradual liberation of the phytotoxic compounds. This, as well as the high reactivity of the eluate, the high densities ofAmmi fruits in nature, and their relatively limited annual germination, suggest chemical inhibition of neighboring plant species other thanAmmi. Hence, in addition to their chemical protection against predators of either lower or higher organisms, furanocoumarins in fruits ofAmmi majus may contribute to its success as a weed.     

Mobil Zeolite Catalysts for Monomers

It has been about 20 years since Plank, Rosinski, and Hawthorne reported their spectacular results with metal-modified zeolite cracking catalysts for more efficient production of gasoline [1]. This discovery has saved an estimated 200 million barrels of crude oil each year in the United States alone [2]. In 1972, a patent by Argauer and Landolt described the preparation of a member of a generation of new synthetic zeolites, called ZSM- 5. It was unique because of its high silica/alumina ratio and greatly reduced coking rates for reactions with hydrocarbons by comparison with known low silica zeolites [3]. This material was an early member of a series of over 50 synthetic zeolitic substances prepared in Mobil laboratories.     

Introducing robustness in model predictive control with multiple modelsand switching

Model predictive control is model-based. Therefore, the procedure is inherently not robust to modelling uncertainties. Further, a crucial design parameter is the prediction horizon. Only offline procedures to estimate an upper bound of the optimal value of this parameter are available. These procedures are computationally intensive and model-based. Besides, a single choice of this horizon is perhaps not the best option at all time instants. This is especially true when the control objective is to track desired trajectories. In this paper, we resolve the issue by a time-varying horizon achieved by switching between multiple model-predictive controllers. The stability of the overall system is discussed. In addition, an introduction of multiple models to handle modelling uncertainties makes the overall system robust. The improvement in performance is demonstrated through several examples.