Melt spun matrix fibers of toughened polypropylene copolymers modified by high energy electrons

Binary blends of polypropylene (PP) and ethylene‐octene copolymer (EOC) are prepared by continuous electron‐induced reactive processing at various mass ratios of the blend components and various doses without adding of any grafting agents. The influence of mass ratio and dose is investigated in order to get the optimum processing behavior of toughened PP as well as optimum properties of resulting fibers. It is found that toughened PP with a PP/EOC blend ratio of 97.5–2.5  mass % can be used advantageously as a matrix component for the process of online spinning of glass fiber/toughened PP hybrid yarns. Such hybrid yarns belong to one of the most advanced production methods for the manufacturing of fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites with an increased mechanical performance. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44011.     

Reaktionen mit Cyclobutendionen. LII. Reaktionen von 4-Hydroxy-3-phenyl-cyclobut-(3)-en-onen-(1) mit Arylhydrazinen

Reactions of Cyclobutendiones. LII. Reaction of 4-Hydroxy-3-phenyl-3-cyclobuten-1-ones with Arylhydrazines In the reaction of hydroxycyclobutenones of the typ 1 – 4 with arylhydrazines 5 an unexpected reaction behaviour is found. The major products are hydrazones of different structure, the well known hydroxy-cyclopropane-carboxylicacid hydrazines 6 [1] are byproducts. The direction of the reaction depends on the substituents X, on the different substituted arylhydrazines and the solvents.     

Pressure dependence of the electric conductance of aqueous solutions of LiCl,KCl and (CH3)4NCl. Correlation of kinetic parameters

The electrical conductivity and the compression of solutions of LiCl, KCl, and (CH₃)₄NCl have been measured as a function of pressure up to 2 kbar at the temperatures 25°, 35° and 45°C in the concentration range 0·1–1 molal. The results are discussed in terms of the transition state theory in relation to kinetic parameters for viscous flow and partial molal volume.     

Inhibition of HIV-1 by a peptide ligand of the genomic RNA packaging signal Psi

The interaction of the nucleocapsid NCp7 of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag polyprotein with the RNA packaging signal Psi ensures specific encapsidation of the dimeric full length viral genome into nascent virus particles. Being an essential step in the HIV-1 replication cycle, specific genome encapsidation represents a promising target for therapeutic intervention. We previously selected peptides binding to HIV-1 Psi-RNA or stem loops (SL) thereof by phage display. Herein, we describe synthesis of peptide variants of the consensus HWWPWW motif on membrane supports to optimize Psi-RNA binding. The optimized peptide, psi-pepB, was characterized in detail with respect to its conformation and binding properties for the SL3 of the Psi packaging signal by NMR and tryptophan fluorescence quenching. Functional analysis revealed that psi-pepB caused a strong reduction of virus release by infected cells as monitored by reduced transduction efficiencies, capsid p24 antigen levels, and electron microscopy. Thus, this peptide shows antiviral activity and could serve as a lead compound to develop new drugs targeting HIV-1.     

Tetraacylgermanes as highly efficient photoinitiators for visible light cured dimethacrylate resins and dental composites

Tetrabenzoylgermane 1 and various substituted tetrabenzoylgermanes 2 – 7 were investigated as visible light (VL) photoinitiators (PIs) for dental dimethacrylate resins and dimethacrylate‐based composites. The tetrabenzoylgermanes 1 – 7 show a very strong VL absorption between 400 and 450 nm. Substituents on the benzoyl chromophore strongly influence their properties such as melting point, solubility, absorption behavior, or PI reactivity. A good photobleaching behavior and a very high reactivity as VL PI was found in photo‐differential scanning calorimeter experiments for selected tetrabenzoylgermanes. Composite pastes containing only ～0.1 wt % of Ge‐PI exhibited a sufficient photocuring due to the high PI‐reactivity of the tetraacylgermanes. Among the investigated germane PIs, tetrakis(2‐methylbenzoyl)germane 2 shows the best performance as VL PI for restorative composites and enables the composites to be photocured using an LED with an emission maximum of 500 nm. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46115.     

Three-dimensional echo-planar cine imaging of cerebral blood supply using arterial spin labeling

Objective

Echo-planar imaging (EPI) with CYlindrical Center-out spatiaL Encoding (EPICYCLE) is introduced as a novel hybrid three-dimensional (3D) EPI technique. Its suitability for the tracking of a short bolus created by pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) through the cerebral vasculature is demonstrated.

Materials and methods

EPICYCLE acquires two-dimensional planes of k-space along center-out trajectories. These “spokes” are rotated from shot to shot about a common axis to encode a k-space cylinder. To track a bolus of labeled blood, the same subset of evenly distributed spokes is acquired in a cine fashion after a short period of pCASL. This process is repeated for all subsets to fill the whole 3D k-space of each time frame.

Results

The passage of short pCASL boluses through the vasculature of a 3D imaging slab was successfully imaged using EPICYCLE. By choosing suitable sequence parameters, the impact of slab excitation on the bolus shape could be minimized. Parametric maps of signal amplitude, transit time, and bolus width reflected typical features of blood transport in large vessels.

Conclusion

The EPICYCLE technique was successfully applied to track a short bolus of labeled arterial blood during its passage through the cerebral vasculature.

     

Experimental and numerical analysis of seat belt bunching phenomenon

In current cars, loops are commonly used to redirect the webbing which reels out from the retractor to the passenger's shoulder. Some types of pillar loops, also called D-rings, lead to a non-systematic instability. The webbing, which should scroll without hindrance through the D-ring, laterally shifts, bunches and produces the overturning of the ring.     

Demosaicing algorithms for area- and line-scan cameras in print inspection

Most color image sensors use color filter arrays (CFA). With this sensor design the captured information at each sensor pixel position is restricted to a specific spectral portion (typically red, green and blue bands). To obtain the missing color responses at each pixel position, so-called CFA demosaicing algorithms are commonly used. We propose two new CFA demosaicing algorithms, which are well suited for industrial print inspection with respect to the requirements in accuracy and speed. As a main contribution, we introduce novel demosaicing algorithms for specific high-speed color digital time delay and integration (DTDI) CFA line-scan cameras. We compare the suggested CFA demosaicing algorithms to state-of-the art algorithms for area and line-scan camera operation modes. We show that the two new algorithms perform superior to conventional algorithms as indicated by reconstruction error.