Measurements of the Refractive Index Increment on Hydroxyethyl Starch as a Basis for Absolute Molecular Weight Determinations

Solutions of hydroxyethyl starch are used as a blood plasma substitute. If their physiological efficiency is to be optimized, they need to be accurately characterized in terms of their molecular weight and its distribution. The absolute determination of molecular weight and molecular weight distribution by means of light scattering require a knowledge of the refractive index increment. Although numerous investigations of the refractive index increment of hydroxyethyl starch have already been published, the results vary significantly due to the use of different samples and the choice of different measuring parameters. There was therefore an urgent need to examine the extent to which the refractive index increment depends on molecular parameters, the experimental method used and the type of processing. Here it was found that different sample preparations result in different contents of solid matter, so that an exact determination of the quantity is required. Hydroxyethyl starches in the molecular weight range of about Mw = 200.000 g/mol and varying degrees of substitution between DS 0.38 and 0.50 which are regarded as optimal for clinical use give a refractive index increment of dn/dc^633nm = 0.146 = 0.005 cm³/g (solvent: H₂O/0.02% NaN₃; T = 25°C).     

119Sn-NMR spektroskopische Untersuchungen an Tributylzinnderivaten aromatischer Sulfonsäuren

¹¹⁹Sn-NMR Spectroscopic Investigations of Tributyltin Derivatives of Aromatic Sulfonic Acids . Tributyltin derivatives of nine aromatic sulfonic acids were synthesized and investigated by means of ¹¹⁹Sn-n.m.r. spectroscopy. ¹¹⁹Sn-chemical shifts and ¹J (Sn, C) coupling constants in dependence on temperature and concentration were applied to study the association processes of the substances in solution. In CDCl₃ as a solvent a monomeric/polymeric equilibrium of the substances was demonstrated, while CD₃OD as a donor solvent forms five-coordinated complexes with the tin compounds.     

Investigations on High Amylose Corn Starch Films. Part 3: Stress Strain Behaviour

By autoclaving a watery high amylose corn starch suspension, homogenous and isotrope films were obtained with different processing parameters. The films were used for investigations on the stress strain behavior. A systematical dependence on the water content and the relationship between native lipids and the starch chains was observed. Especially for films obtained from defatted corn starch, a clear transition was obtained, depending on the water content, from a brittle behavior far below the glass transition temperature T_G with a very high Youngsmodulus to a ductile failure behavior above T_G. The results led to a microscopical model for the native high amylose corn starch films, which in addition outlines the very interesting possibility of controlling in detail changes of the macroscopic stress strain behavior through variations on a molecular scale.     

Molecular Cross-Talk between Gravity- and Light-Sensing Mechanisms in Euglena gracilis

Euglena gracilis is a photosynthetic flagellate. To acquire a suitable position in its surrounding aquatic environment, it exploits light and gravity primarily as environmental cues. Several physiological studies have indicated a fine-tuned relationship between gravity sensing (gravitaxis) and light sensing in E. gracilis. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is largely unknown. The photoreceptor photoactivated adenylyl cyclase (PAC) has been studied for over a decade. Nevertheless, no direct/indirect interaction partner (upstream/downstream) has been reported for PAC. It has been shown that a specific protein, kinase A (PKA), showed to be involved in phototaxis and gravitaxis. The current study reports the localization of the specific PKA and its relationship with PAC.     

A Unified Analysis of Structured Sonar-Terrain Data Using Bayesian Functional Mixed Models

Sonar emits pulses of sound and uses the reflected echoes to gain information about target objects. It offers a low cost, complementary sensing modality for small robotic platforms. Although existing analytical approaches often assume independence across echoes, real sonar data can have more complicated structures due to device setup or experimental design. In this article, we consider sonar echo data collected from multiple terrain substrates with a dual-channel sonar head. Our goals are to identify the differential sonar responses to terrains and study the effectiveness of this dual-channel design in discriminating targets. We describe a unified analytical framework that achieves these goals rigorously, simultaneously, and automatically. The analysis was done by treating the echo envelope signals as functional responses and the terrain/channel information as covariates in a functional regression setting. We adopt functional mixed models that facilitate the estimation of terrain and channel effects while capturing the complex hierarchical structure in data. This unified analytical framework incorporates both Gaussian models and robust models. We fit the models using a full Bayesian approach, which enables us to perform multiple inferential tasks under the same modeling framework, including selecting models, estimating the effects of interest, identifying significant local regions, discriminating terrain types, and describing the discriminatory power of local regions. Our analysis of the sonar-terrain data identifies time regions that reflect differential sonar responses to terrains. The discriminant analysis suggests that a multi- or dual-channel design achieves target identification performance comparable with or better than a single-channel design. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Combustion and emission characteristics of converging group-hole nozzle under lean engine operating conditions

This paper describes the combustion and emission characteristics of converging group-hole nozzles and compares the results to those of a single hole nozzle with the same overall nozzle exit hole area. Engine experiments were performed using a single-cylinder diesel engine operating under overall lean conditions (i.e., equivalence ratio 0.45). The considered nozzle configurations in the experiments included a converging group-hole nozzle (cGHN) with 3° converging angle, 0.090 mm hole diameter, and a single hole nozzle (SHN) of 0.128 mm hole diameter. The CFD calculations used the KIVA engine simulation code integrated with a Gasjet superposition model. Using the validated calculation models, the test conditions were also expanded to consider wider converging angle cGHNs (up to 12°). The results show that the evaporation of sprays from the cGHN-3° nozzle is more delayed than that of the SHN case and the cGHNs entrain more ambient gas due to smaller droplet sizes in the outer spray periphery. In addition, an increase in the converging angle of the cGHNs promotes fuel evaporation and produces a more homogeneous fuel–air mixture.