THERMAL TRANSITIONS AND MORPHOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF POLYETHER ETHER KETONE AND LIQUID CRYSTALLINE POLYMER BLENDS

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and thermotropic liquid crystalline polymer (TLCP) based on hydroxy benzoic acid and hydroxy naphthoic acid (HBA/HNA) were prepared on a single-screw extruder with rotor speed 45 rpm at 350°C. Thermal analysis data, especially the glass transition temperature (T_g), indicated that the blends were incompatible in the entire range of concentration. Melting temperature (T_m) of the blends was found to be close to melting temperature of pure PEEK. Thermogravimetric analysis data show the poor thermal stability of the blends compared to the parent material. The percent weight loss increased with increasing LCP concentration. Analysis with a scanning electron microscope clearly indicated that a distinctive fibrous morphology was developed in the extruded samples at the low concentration of LCP, but the adhesion of the fiber to the PEEK matrix was poor, with circular voids around the LCP phase at higher concentration.     

Coating characteristics of electron beam cured Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether diacrylate-co-aliphatic urethane diacrylate resins

Electron beam (EB) was used to cure coatings of Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether diacrylate (BDGDA) containing varying proportions of aliphatic urethane diacrylate (AUA). The cured BDGDA-co-AUA polymer coatings were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), gel fraction and swelling estimation techniques. FTIR study showed that the coating formulations were completely cured at a dose of 420 kGy. The effect of AUA on the end use performance properties of BDGDA coating namely, abrasion resistance, specular gloss at 60° angle, tubular impact resistance, pencil hardness, pendulum hardness, scratch resistance, mar resistance, stain resistance, steam resistance and cigarette burn resistance was also investigated. It was observed that incorporation of urethane acrylate oligomer in the epoxy acrylate formulation improved abrasion resistance, gloss and impact resistance. However, scratch resistance, mar resistance and hardness of the BDGDA coatings decreased due to incorporation of AUA. All coating formulations exhibited excellent stains and steam resistance properties, but showed poor cigarette burn resistance.     

脂肪醇乙氧基化物的环氧乙烷加合数对非离子/阴离子表面活性剂混合体系洗涤力的影响

研究了在非离子表面活性剂／阴离子表面活性剂／电解质的混合体系中,直链脂肪醇乙氧基化的ＥＯ数对体系洗涤力的影响效果,并用相转移化温度（ＰＴＴ）和油／水界面张力（ＩＦＴ）的观点对实验结果进行了解释,研究表明,随着体系中非离子与阴离子表面活性剂相对含量的增大,为达到最大洗涤力,非离子表面活性剂的ＥＯ数也需随之增大;随着体系中电解质含量的增大,最佳ＥＯ数也需随之增大,但前者的影响效果远高于后者。     

Growth of one-dimensional polyindole nanostructures

One-dimensional (1D) nanostructured polyindole (Nano-Pind) was synthesized with 10 minutes (Pind-10 m) and 24 hours (Pind-24 h) of polymerization time using a facile chemical oxidative polymerization method. The obtained Nano-Pinds were explored to study the differences in their structural, optical, spectral and conducting properties with regard to the variation in polymerization duration. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) reveal formation of long and smooth surfaced 1D nanostructures of Pind with diameter of approximately 25-125 nm and lengths of several microns. Structural chemical analysis of the Nano-Pinds conducted by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Fluorescence spectroscopic measurements support their formations, thereby indicating Pind-24 h to exhibit sharper and far better resolved spectral profile than that of Pind-10 m. The Nano-Pinds exhibit good blue-light emitting property, and improved Electrical Conductivity (EC) than earlier reported globular Pinds, suggesting their potential applications in nanotechnology, especially in the field of optoelectronics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on 1D nanostructures of Pind.     

Reliability evaluation of hybrid power markets based on multiple transaction matrix and optimal transaction curtailment

A Monte Carlo simulation technique evaluates the reliability indices of restructured power systems with a hybrid market. A model for optimal transaction curtailment for a contingency state in a hybrid market is developed to incorporate the changes brought about by deregulation. The objective of the contingency optimal transaction curtailment for each individual generation company is to minimise its revenue loss. The problem is formulated as a linear programming problem and solved using an optimisation technique. Customer load curtailment, which is the basic parameter for reliability evaluation, is determined using a load-shedding philosophy which is based on the results of the optimal transaction curtailment by the genco. Supply and demand transactions of the market participants are represented by a transaction matrix. The impact of the firm and nonfirm bilateral and reserve contracts on customer reliabilities have been studied. The technique has been illustrated by application to the IEEE Reliability Test System.     

Comparative Study on Microstructural Characteristics and Compression Deformation Behaviour of Alumina and Cenosphere Reinforced Aluminum Syntactic Foam Made Through Stir Casting Technique

In order to examine the effect of microballoons type on microstructure and compressive deformation behaviour of aluminum syntactic foam, alumina reinforced and cenosphere reinforced aluminum syntactic foams have been made through stir-casting technique. Alumina microballoons reinforced aluminum syntactic foam (AMRASF) has been developed using stir casting technique. Volume fraction of alumina microballoons in AMRASF varies in the range of 0.39–0.74. The compressive deformation behavior of these AMRASF is compared with that of cenosphere reinforced aluminum syntactic foam (CPRASF). The AMRASF does not exhibit clear plastic collapse stage as observed in case of CPRSAF. It is further noted that AMRASF shows the existence of work hardening phenomena after yielding but CPRASF does not show any significant work hardening after yielding even at higher relative densities of foam. This is explained on the basis of characteristics of alumina microballoons and cenospheres and interface characteristics between matrix and respective microballoons used. Effect of individual microballoons’ characteristics on the foam properties has also been explained.     

Genetic mapping using haplotype, association and linkage methods suggests a locus for severe bipolar disorder (BPI) at 18q22-q23

Manic depressive illness, or bipolar disorder (BP), is characterized by episodes of elevated mood (mania) and depression. We designed a multistage study in the genetically isolated population of the Central Valley of Costa Rica to identify genes that promote susceptibility to severe BP (termed BPI), and screened the genome ot two Costa Rican BPI pedigrees (McInnes et al., submitted). We considered only individuals who fulfilled very stringent diagnostic criteria for BPI to be affected. The strongest evidence for a BPI locus was observed in 18q22-q23. We tested 16 additional markers in this region and seven yielded peak lod scores over 1.0. These suggestive lod scores were obtained over a far greater chromosomal length (about 40 cM) than in any other genome region. This localization is supported by marker haplotypes shared by 23 of 26 BPI affected individuals studied. Additionally, marker allele frequencies over portions of this region are significantly different in the patient sample from those of the general Costa Rican population. Finally, we performed an analysis which made use of both the evidence for linkage and for association in 18q23, and we observed significant lod scores for two markers in this region.     

Life-cycle, longevity and fecundity of Blomia tropicalis (Acari: Glycyphagidae) in a tropical laboratory

HSV-1716 is a replication-restricted, neuroattenuated ICP 34.5 gene mutant of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Because of the attenuated phenotype of ICP 34.5 mutants in rodent models of HSV disease, they have been promoted as potential vaccine strains and gene therapy vectors and have been used by us and others as therapeutic agents for the treatment of experimental malignant tumors. However, all data on the phenotype of HSV-1716 and other ICP 34.5 mutants are from animal model systems, while humans are the natural hosts of HSV-1. To achieve an initial characterization of the phenotype of 1716 in human tissue, we have studied its replication in mature human skin xenografts on SCID mice. We find that replication of 1716 is severely restricted in such human skin grafts relative to both parental wild-type HSV-1 strain 17+ and the HSV-1716 revertant virus 1716R, in which the 759-bp ICP 34.5 gene deletions have been repaired. Moreover, the replication of both 1716 and 17+ is significantly better in the human skin grafts than it is in mouse skin. The implications of these findings are discussed.