Occurrence of wax esters in the tissues of the organge roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus)

The skin, skeleton and a fat-filled swim bladder of the orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) each contained greater than 20% lipid by wet weight which was almost entirely wax esters. These had carbon numbers of 34–40 consistent with the major fatty acid being 18∶1 and the major fatty alcohols being 16∶0, 18∶1, 20∶1 and 22∶1. In contrast, the liver and the roe contained appreciable quantities of glycerolipids with 18∶1 and 22∶6 as the major fatty acids.     

Observations on the relatively high strength of a chalk-aggregate concrete

It has been observed that concrete containing chalk aggregate had a higher compressive strength than other wise similar concrete which contained basalt aggregate, although the chalk rock had a lower compressive strength than the basalt. Measurements of the rates of development of hardness of concrete containing these aggregates, measurements of the surface areas of these aggregates and X-ray examinations of the crystal phases in the set cement are reported and discussed. It was concluded that the relatively low strength of concrete containing basalt aggregate may be due to development of a phase, not chemically identified in the present work, which had a relatively weak bonding strength to the augite crystals in the basalt concrete.     

Studies of microhardness and mar resistance using a scanning probe microscope

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) is in a period of rapid development. It shows great promise for characterizing coating surfaces. This paper describes modification of an SPM so that it can be used to mar the surfaces of coatings under controlled conditions and to characterize the mars. Mar resistance of coatings is analyzed in terms of a ‘three response, two mechanism model.' The three responses (fracture, elastic, and plastic) can be measured quantitatively using the SPM. Of the three responses, only two (fracture and plastic deformation) are marring mechanisms – elastic deformations recover instantaneously. In some cases mars resulting from plastic deformation may recover slowly with time or with immersion in water; this phenomenon is attributed to viscoelastic creep. Microhardness is also measured with the modified SPM. Some thermoset coatings appear to be substantially harder near their surfaces than in the mass of material, and such materials may respond quite differently to stress applied at different levels near the surface. This finding has important implications for all coating properties that are strongly influenced by the surface. A quantity called ‘micro mar resistance' is defined. It may be useful for comparing different coatings under specified conditions of marring. However, there can be no single quantity that expresses ‘mar resistance' of a coating under all conditions.     

Free radicals in coal and coal conversions. 8. Experimental determination of conversion in hydroliquefaction

The results of conversion determinations on the products from Powhatan No.5 coal liquefied in an autoclave and in a high-pressure, high-temperature e.s.r. cavity are reported. Oil, asphaltene and preasphaltene yields, and overall conversion have been determined for Powhatan No.5 coal samples liquefied in tetralin, SRC-11 heavy distillate, and naphthalene at temperatures from 400 to 480 ° C in both reactor systems. The concept of reaction severity is introduced and used to formalize the relation between the effect of temperature and reaction time on oil yield and conversion. Oil is the predominant product in liquefaction in tetralin or naphthalene, asphaltene is the major product of liquefaction in SRC-II heavy distillate. Retrogressive reaction (THF-insoluble product formation) becomes severe when SRC-II heavy distillate is the liquefaction solvent and residence time of >10 min are used at temperatures >450 °C. Preasphaltenes appear to be the only intermediate species in Powhatan No.5 liquefaction.     

Programmed cooling crystallization of potassium sulphate solutions

The crystal size distribution from a batch cooling crystallizer is predicted by the numerical solution of a mathematical model which uses empirical kinetics of nucleation and crystal growth. The predictions clearly point out the potential advantages of controlled cooling at a constant nucleation rate for improving the product crystal size over that obtained by either natural or linear cooling.Experimental runs following programmed cooling curves for seeded potassium sulphate solutions showed reasonable agreement with the theoretical predictions. A size dispersion of the crystals was observed which contributes to a slight deviation from theory. Nevertheless, controlled cooling significantly reduced the quantity of nuclei formed and improved the product crystal size distribution.     

Characterisation of the neutral oil from a low-temperature coal tar

Tar resulting from fluidised-bed, low-temperature carbonisation of coal was treated to yield a neutral oil from which a series of six other samples was extracted. These were examined by proton magnetic resonance (p.m.r.) spectroscopy, low-ionising-voltage (11 eV) mass spectroscopy (m.s.), gel chromatography followed by fluorescent indicator analysis, and cryoscopy. Aliphatic fractions separated chromatographically were also examined by infra-red spectroscopy. Distributions of hydrogen between chemical types were found for the several fractions from 60 MHz p.m.r. spectra and presented in terms of average structural parameters. M.s. analysis indicated negligible cracking of paraffin components, and the average molecular weight of 197 agreed well with cryoscopic determinations. For the carbon ratio, f_a, between aromatic and total, agreement between m.s. and p.m.r. depends on the p.m.r. structural analysis scheme adopted. P.m.r. and m.s. structural analyses of the aromatics emphasise the predominance of di- and tri-nuclears, with about 40% of available sites substituted, and the importance of acenes in lowtemperature carbonisation material. Gas and gel chromatography showed urea-adductable paraffins to be largely straight-chain C₁₀-C₂₆, much as for tars from carbonisation at higher temperature.     

Retarding effects of DNA on the autoxidation of liposomal suspensions

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is associated with the cell membrane of prokaryotes and the inner nuclear membrane of eukaryotes. The unsaturated fatty acids of phospholipids, which constitute the bilaminar structure of membranes, undergo autoxidation in the presence of O₂. Calf thymus DNA was incubated with methyl archidonate-enriched phosphatidyl choline liposomes in order to study the effect of DNA upon the oxidation of phospholipids while present in their natural in vivo bilayer configuration. DNA retarded the rate of lipid oxidation and the TBA test, but it did not alter the induction period. These results suggest that DNA is scavenging free radicals produced within the phospholipid bilayer.     

Assessment of response function in two PET scanners with and without interplane septa

The authors have assessed the response function both experimentally and theoretically for two commercial tomographs: CTI 931/08-12 and CTI 953B with and without interplane septa. Monte Carlo simulations were undertaken using the GEANT package from CERN. Spatial resolution (tomographic and axial) was calculated for line sources at various positions in the field of view. Sensitivity and scatter fraction (SF) were calculated for various source geometries as a function of energy discrimination. A very realistic response function in positron emission tomography (PET) is obtained by Monte Carlo methods, using global parameters to account for unsimulated phenomena such as scintillation light transport inside a detector block and its sharing among the various phototubes. Minor discrepancies remain for sensitivity and SF at high energy thresholds and may probably be explained by introducing the observed dispersion in the energy response for the various crystals within a detector block.     

Noise equivalent count measurements in a neuro-PET scanner with retractable septa

The noise-equivalent count-rate (NEC) performance of a neuro-positron emission tomography (PET) scanner has been determined with and without interplane septa on uniform cylindrical phantoms of differing radii and in human studies to assess the optimum count rate conditions that realize the maximum gain. In the brain, the effective gain in NEC performance for three-dimensions (3-D) ranges from >5 at low count rates to approximately 3.3 at 200 kcps (equivalent to 37 kcps in 2-D). The gains of the 3-D method assessed by this analysis are significant, and are shown to be highly dependent on count rate and object dimensions.