Predicting Chicago's Land Use Pattern

The planning of community facilities requires accurate quantitative estimates of the area, type, intensity, and location of land uses required by the growth of urban activities. The distribution of these activities and the intensity of their use of land are highly related to accessibility as measured by distance from the CBD. This paper outlines a procedure whereby area-wide estimates of future population and economic activity can be distributed to small subareas so that measures of local land requirements may be obtained.     

Data Processing for City Planning

In city planning, data-processing machines permit the rapid handling and summarization of data in housing, renewal, land use, transportation, and basic urban research. Electronic computers. specifically, are exciting because they offer a means of solving complex city planning problems, especially in forecasting land use and travel demand.

For most planning operations punched card data processing is superior to other processes. The functions of these machines are described herein and three examples of data processing are elaborated on. In future years, planning techniques may have to be altered considerably to take advantage of the potentials of data processing.     

The grain-boundary resistance of CeO2 ceramics: A combined microscopy-spectroscopy-simulation study of a dilute solution

Weakly acceptor-doped ceria ceramics were characterized structurally and compositionally with advanced transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques and electrically with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The grain boundaries studied with TEM were found to be free of second phases. The impedance spectra, acquired in the range 703 ≤ T/K ≤ 893 in air, showed several arcs that were analyzed in terms of bulk, grain-boundary, and electrode responses. We ascribed the grain-boundary resistance to the presence of space-charge layers. Continuum-level simulations were used to calculate charge-carrier distributions (of acceptor cations, oxygen vacancies, and electrons) in these space-charge layers. The acceptor cations were assumed to be mobile at high (sintering) temperatures but immobile at the temperatures of the EIS measurements. Space-charge formation was assumed to be driven by the segregation of oxygen vacancies to the grain-boundary core. Comparisons of data from the simulations and from the EIS measurements yielded space-charge potentials and the segregation energy of vacancies to the grain-boundary core. The space-charge potentials from the simulations are compared with values obtained by applying the standard, analytical (Mott–Schottky and Gouy–Chapman) expressions. The importance of modelling space-charge layers from the thermodynamic level is demonstrated.     

Structure and properties of poly(p-xylylene) composites made by electrochemical and vapor deposition polymerization

Poly(para-xylylene)(PPX)/carbon fiber towpregs were produced by two different in-situ polymerization processes: Electrochemcal polymerization (ECP) and vapor deposition polymerization (VDP). The monomer used for the ECP process was α, α′ -dibromo-para-xylylene and di-para-xylylene was the starting material for the VDP process. A series of tests, including FTIR, WAXD, DSC, TG, and SEM were carried out to identify and compare these two composite towpregs. It has been confirmed that the PPX samples obtained by the two different polymerization processes were basically chemically identical. However, the polymer coating on the fiber surface produced by the VDP process was much smoother than that produced by the ECP process, which produced a porous coating.     

Fatty acid composition of fats of differing melting points extracted from ram subcutaneous tissue

The observation that the subcutaneous fat of pasture-fed Southdown rams consists of two distinct regions is reported. Fatty acid composition of fat from the outer and inner regions of subcutaneous tissue taken from the rib region of eight Southdown rams fed pasture were determined. Relative to the harder inner regions (mean melting point 43.1°C), the softer outer regions (mean melting point 31.8°C) were shown to contain more 9∶0-, 15∶0-, 17∶0-, 17∶1-, 18∶1-cis and total 18∶1 fatty acids; less 14∶0-, 16∶0-, 18∶0- and 18∶1-trans fatty acids; and a greater variety and a greater concentration of branched-chain components. Proportions of medium chain-length fatty acids other than 9∶0, did not differ between the layers. The fatty acid contents of serial samples taken at 1-mm intervals through these tissues were determined. Changes in concentrations of components among samples were gradual through the tissues. There was no clear connective tissue sheet, as has been reported for pigs. The inner region of the tissues contains apparently nonrandom fluctuating changes in fatty acid composition.     

The source of degradation during extrusion of polystyrene

The nature and magnitude of mechanical reactions of polystyrene in capillary flow has been examined in a model extrusion process. Studies on polystyrene quantify the sensitive increase in shear degradation tendency with increasing polymer molecular weight. A molecular weight spectrum caused by the shear stress profile was measured across the extrudate radius by the new technique of solvent coring. It was further determined that an appreciable fraction of the mechanical reaction is shear induced in the capillary reservoir. This is confirmed by precision determinations of molecular weights and distributions by gel permeation chromatography on samples taken from concentric layers in the capillary reservoir after 50% sample extrusion. These results, involving traces of oxygen as a chemical probe, describe the stress profile in the reservoir and in the capillary during the pressure extrusion of high molecular weight polystyrene. Thus, changes in molecular weight and distribution may be attributable to changes in different portions of the shear geometry rather than the uniform changes generally considered. Clear evidence is also presented showing the dramatic effects of oxygen on these shear-induced changes in molecular weight and distribution.     

Preparation of semirigid polyurethane foam with liquefied bamboo residues

Bamboo residues were liquefied by using a solvent mixture consisting of polyethylene glycol 400 and crude glycerol (4/1, w/w) with 98% sulfuric acid as catalyst at 160°C for 120 min. The liquefied bamboo had hydroxyl values from 178 to 200 mg KOH/g and viscosities from 507 to 2201 mPa S. The obtained bamboo‐based polyols were reacted with various amounts of polyaryl polymethylene isocyanate (PAPI), using distilled water as blowing agent, silicone as surfactant, and triethylenediamine and dibutyltine dilaurate as cocatalyst to produce semirigid polyurethane (PU) foams. The [NCO]/[OH] ratio was found to be an important factor to control the mechanical properties of PU foams. At a fixed [NCO]/[OH] ratio, both density and compressive strength of PU foams decreased with the increase of bamboo content. The microstructure of PU foams indicates that [NCO]/[OH] ratios are important for cell formation and chemical reactions. The uniformity and cell structure of the foams are comparable to their corresponding compressive strengths. Moreover, the thermogravimetry analysis showed that all the semirigid PU foams had approximately the same degradation temperature of about 250 to 440°C. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Molecular Interactions of Tannic Acid with Proteins Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity

The overall impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on our society is unprecedented. The identification of small natural ligands that could prevent the entry and/or replication of the coronavirus remains a pertinent approach to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Previously, we showed that the phenolic compounds corilagin and 1,3,6-tri-O-galloyl-β-D-glucose (TGG) inhibit the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV-2 target receptor on the cell membrane of the host organism. Building on these promising results, we now assess the effects of these phenolic ligands on two other crucial targets involved in SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and replication, respectively: transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) and 3-chymotrypsin like protease (3CLpro) inhibitors. Since corilagin, TGG, and tannic acid (TA) share many physicochemical and structural properties, we investigate the binding of TA to these targets. In this work, a combination of experimental methods (biochemical inhibition assays, surface plasmon resonance, and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring) confirms the potential role of TA in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity through the inhibition of extracellular RBD/ACE2 interactions and TMPRSS2 and 3CLpro activity. Moreover, molecular docking prediction followed by dynamic simulation and molecular mechanics Poisson–Boltzmann surface area (MMPBSA) free energy calculation also shows that TA binds to RBD, TMPRSS2, and 3CLpro with higher affinities than TGG and corilagin. Overall, these results suggest that naturally occurring TA is a promising candidate to prevent and inhibit the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.