Thermodynamic Modeling of the Miscibility Gaps and the Metastable Liquidi in the MgO-SiO2, CaO-SiO2, and SrO-SiO2 Systems

A range of compositions and temperatures below the monotectic temperature exists where there are thermodynamic restrictions that prevent the equilibrium solid from forming directly from the undercooled homogeneous liquid. In this region, the solid can form only after liquid-liquid phase separation has occurred. As suggested by earlier research, the thermodynamic restrictions on the crystallization process may be useful to control the crystallized grain structure in glass-ceramic systems. Thus, understanding the thermodynamic limitations on the formation of the solid in monotectic systems could have commercial significance. In the present paper, the metastable liquidus boundaries, liquid miscibility gaps, and spinodal curves in binary MgO-SiO₂, CaO-SiO₂, and SrO-SiO₂ systems are calculated by using analytical expressions for the Gibbs free energies of the liquid phases. Calculating the metastable liquidus rather than using a simple extrapolation as originally proposed in the aforementioned previous research provides greater control of the heat-treatment processes and, thus, greater control over the resulting microstructure.     

Low-frequency Beats Produced by Interference of Laser Modes

Abstract

A helium-neon laser operating in three or more axial modes can generate, at a photo detector with a nonlinear response to intensity, beat signals with frequencies corresponding to the second differences between the frequencies of these modes. This paper presents a quantum-field theoretical treatment of the formation of such low-frequency beats, as well as experimental data demonstrating that interference effects corresponding to the production of such beats can be observed even at light levels at which the probability of at least one photon from each of the three modes being present simultaneously in the optical path is negligible.     

One-trial cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization in preweanling rats: Role of contextual stimuli.

Using a one-trial procedure, preweanling rats exhibit robust sensitization regardless of whether drug pretreatment and testing occur in the same or different environments. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether one-trial context-specific and context-independent sensitization of preweanling rats could be dissociated by varying the pretreatment dose of cocaine, by varying the pretreatment drug, or by minimizing interoceptive cues. In Experiments 1a and 1b, rats were pretreated with a broad dose range of cocaine (0–40 mg/kg) before placement in a novel activity chamber or the home cage. In Experiment 2, rats were pretreated with a locomotor-enhancing drug (e.g., methylphenidate, U50,488, or MK-801) before placement in a novel activity or anesthesia chamber. In Experiment 3, rats were anesthetized with isoflurane before cocaine administration to minimize the effects of interoceptive and injection cues. In all experiments, rats were challenged with cocaine on the test day (24 hr later), with locomotion being measured in activity chambers. Results showed that (a) the pretreatment dose of cocaine (10–40 mg/kg) did not differentially affect context-specific and context-independent sensitization; (b) cross-sensitization between methylphenidate and cocaine was observed in the context-specific condition, but not when using a context-independent procedure; and (c) sensitization was evident if injection and interoceptive cues were minimized. One possibility is that associative processes do not modulate the one-trial sensitization of preweanling rats. Alternatively, “unitization” may cause preweanling rats to treat the different environments as equivalent, thus permitting robust sensitization even when drug pretreatment and testing occur in different environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluation of polycaprolactone − poly‐D,L‐lactide copolymer as biomaterial for breast tissue engineering

The potential of the copolymer polycaprolactone‐co‐ poly‐d ,l ‐lactic acid (PCLLA ) as a biomaterial for scaffold‐based therapy for breast tissue engineering applications was assessed. First, the synthesized PCLLA was evaluated for its processability by means of additive manufacturing (AM ). We found that the synthesized PCLLA could be fabricated into scaffolds with an overall gross morphology and porosity similar to that of polycaprolactone. The PCLLA scaffolds possessed a compressive Young's modulus (ca 46 kPa ) similar to that of native breast (0.5 ? 25 kPa ), but lacked thermal stability and underwent thermal degradation during the fabrication process. The PCLLA scaffolds underwent rapid degradation in vitro which was characterized by loss of the scaffolds' mechanical integrity and a drastic decrease in mass‐average molar mass (M _w) and number‐average molar mass (M _n) after 4 weeks of immersion in phosphate buffer solution maintained at 37 °C. The tin‐catalysed PCLLA scaffold was also found to have cytotoxic effects on cells. Although the initial mechanical properties of the PCLLA scaffolds generally showed potential for applications in breast tissue regeneration, the thermal stability of the copolymer for AM processes, biocompatibility towards cells and degradation rate is not satisfactory at this stage. Therefore, we conclude that research efforts should be geared towards fine‐tuning the copolymer synthesizing methods. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of roasting oil composition on the stability of roasted high-oleic peanuts

Off-flavor due to lipid degradation is an important factor in the shelf life of peanut products. The use of recently developed peanuts with high-oleic acid/linoleic acid (O/L) ratio has the potential to significantly extend the shelf life of roasted peanuts. To determine the full potential for shelf-life improvement of oil-roasted high-O/L peanuts, a study was conducted to examine the effects of roasting high-O/L peanuts (O/L=30) in high-O/L (O/L=23.2) or conventional (O/L=1.5) peanut oil. Peanuts were roasted at 177°C to Hunter L values of 49±1. Roasted peanuts were stored at 30°C for 20 wk. Samples were taken at regular intervals to determine PV, oxidative stability index (OSI), moisture content, and water activity. The O/L ratio of high-O/L roasted peanuts was 27.9 vs. 13.6 for the conventional oil-roasted peanuts. After 20 wk of storage, PV of conventional oil-roasted peanuts was 10.8 compared to 5.3 for the high-O/L-roasted peanuts. OSI values were 88.5 and 52.4 immediately after roasting for the high-O/L-roasted vs. conventional oil-roasted peanuts. OSI for both decreased, but differences remained similar throughout the storage period. Shelf life of high-O/L peanuts decreased when roasted in conventional O/L-peanut oil vs. high-O/L peanut oil.