Determination of tetrachloroethylene—Results of a collaborative study and the standardized method

The development, by collaborative study, of a standardized method for the determination of tetrachloroethylene in olive oils is described. The results of the study, which was carried out in 1989 under the direction of the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), are presented and show that tetrachloroethylene can be readily determined, to an acceptable degree of precision, by gas-liquid chromatography with electron capture detection. A limited number of results obtained for the determination of trichloroethylene and chloroform by the same method indicate that a similar precision could be obtained with the method when determining these solvents also.     

Effect of plasticizers on the thermal decomposition of chlorinated polyvinylchloride

Plasticized samples of chlorinated polyvinylchloride (CPVC) were investigated by using thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Three different plasticizers were studied, namely, dioctyl phthalate (DOP), alkyldiaryl phosphate ester (Santiciser 2148), and triaryl phosphate ester (Reofos 50). TG experiments in nitrogen showed one major decomposition stage, involving dehydrochlorination, and minor pyrolysis reaction of the hydrocarbon residue. In contrast to the three stages previously reported to occur in the nonplasticized‐stabilized CPVC, TG analyses in air showed two distinctive decomposition stages for the plasticized CPVC samples. The DOP system provided a suggestion of a third stage. The first decomposition stage was due not only to the loss of all the chlorine present, but also to loss of the plasticizer or its decomposition products. The second decomposition stage was mostly due to char oxidation, the char being formed almost exclusively from the DCE and VDC units in CPVC polymer. DSC results showed that in the presence of nitrogen, there was no significant plasticizer effect on the thermal decomposition behavior of CPVC up to about 330°C, while in air the DSC traces also show no significant differences below 400°C. The two phosphate plasticizers showed no significant differences in their effect on the thermal decomposition behavior of CPVC under the same experimental conditions. It is believed that P₂O₅ and polyphosphoric acid are among the main constituents of the residua. These would impart a protective glassy surface to the char. This will facilitate effective flame retardant action. This preliminary conclusion is based on the premise that the more stable the char layers are, the more resilient will be the protective layer, and consequently, the better the flame retardant effect. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 11:21–27, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Fatigue failure mechanisms in polymers

Fatigue testing of polymers has revealed significant differences between the fatigue response of polymers and metals. Generally, fatigue failure in metals is a process of crack initiation, propagation, and failure. Also, fatigue damage in metals is cumulative and cycle dependent, but remains essentially independent of test frequency. Unlike that of metals, the fatigue behavior of polymers is influenced by viscoelastic effects. At high frequencies, softening and melting occur, and fatigue failure depends largely on the test frequency. At lower frequencies, fatigue failure becomes less sensitive to test frequency and results from crack initiation and propagation. These polymer characteristics arise from the production of hysteresis energy during fatigue. A portion of this energy is released as heat, some of which is dissipated, but most is absorbed in the sample, raising its temperature. This temperature rise leads to degradation of the material and a short fatigue life. Experiments were conducted to measure hysteresis energy and temperature rise for a talc-filled polypropylene. A mathematical model was developed to calculate the energy and temperature distribution during fatigue. Correlation of the temperature rise predicted by the model with that observed experimentally provided values for the various energy terms that quantitatively defined the thermomechanical fatigue response of this polymer.     

Determination of the vapor pressures of select polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans at 75-275 °C

Vapor pressures were determined for several polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) at 75-275 °C, extending the available literature data to more relevant temperature regions and providing the first experimental data for 2,3,7-trichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7-TriCD). A modification of the effusion technique, based upon controlling the diffusion of the target compound and subsequent high resolution gas chromatography/low resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/LRMS) analysis, was proven comparable to other accepted methods for determining the vapor pressures of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Vapor pressures for octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) and octachlorodibenzofuran (OCDF) were in excellent agreement with those reported in literature. The application of the current method for the vapor pressure determinations of eight polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs) in the extended temperature range (up to 275 °C) is reported. The extension of the vapor pressures to such temperatures, unprecedented for the PCDDs/Fs, is important for vapor-particle partitioning modeling in regions relevant to PCDD/F formation and control. Estimates for the melting temperatures and enthalpies of sublimation and vaporization are also reported, the latter for which no experimentally determined values have been found in the literature. The use of the method to deliver reproducible, trace concentrations (ppt-ppb) of targets was applied to the calibration of the jet-REMPI/TOFMS as an online detector for low chlorinated PCDDs/Fs.     

Cuticular hydrocarbons ofReticulitermes virginicus (Banks) and their role as potential species- and caste-recognition cues

The cuticular hydrocarbon components of four castes ofReticulitermes virginicus (Banks) have been identified and quantitated. Components identified includen-alkanes; 2-, 3-, 11-, 13-, and 15-methyl-alkanes; 11,15-dimethylalkanes, (Z)-9-alkenes; (Z,Z)-7,9-dienes; and (E/Z)-6,9-dienes ranging in carbon number from C₂₁ to C₄₀. All caste forms ofR.virginicus contained the same components, but showed caste-specific proportions. Comparison of these hydrocarbons with those of the sympatric termiteR. flavipes (Kollar) suggest that cuticular hydrocarbons might serve as species- and caste-recognition cues. A bioassay was developed to test this species-recognition hypothesis, with the experimental results supporting the hypothesis.Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae.     

Context-based information analysis for the Web environment

Finding the relevant set of information that satisfies an information request of a Web user in the availability of today’s vast amount of digital data is becoming a challenging problem. Currently, available Information Retrieval (IR) Systems are designed to return long lists of results, only a few of which are relevant for a specific user. In this paper, an IR method called Context-Based Information Analysis (CONIA) that investigates the context information of the user and user’s information request to provide relevant results for the given domain users is introduced. In this paper, relevance is measured by the semantics of the information provided in the documents. The information extracted from lexical and domain ontologies is integrated by the user’s interest information to expand the terms entered in the request. The obtained set of terms is categorized by a novel approach, and the relations between the categories are obtained from the ontologies. This categorization is used to improve the quality of the document selection by going beyond checking the availability of the words in the document by analyzing the semantic composition of the mapped terms.     

Geschäftsmodelle

The business model concept, although a relatively new topic for research, has garnered growing attention over the past decade. Whilst it has been robustly defined, the concept has so far attracted very little substantive research. In the context of the wide-spread digitization of businesses and society at large, the logic inherent in a business model has become critical for business success and, hence, a focus for academic inquiry. The business model concept is identified as the missing link between business strategy, processes, and Information Technology (IT). The authors argue that the BISE community offers distinct and unique competencies (e.g., translating business strategies into IT systems, managing business and IT processes, etc.) that can be harnessed for significant research contributions to this field. Within this research gap three distinct streams are delineated, namely, business models in IT industries, IT enabled or digital business models, and IT support for developing and managing business models. For these streams, the current state of the art, suggest critical research questions, and suitable research methodologies are outlined.     

Measurement of the size, shape and orientation of convex bodies

Different types of solid bodies (particles) with specific shape and size are needed for industrial processes. For spherical particles, ‘sizer’ measurements are usually reported as sphere diameters. For non-spherical particles, particle shape and especially orientation must be taken into account. Particles of a specific shape will present different views when looked at from different directions.We have employed a Camsizer^® instrument to measure the distribution of projected area under different physical conditions for solid cylindrical particles:

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Under ‘ideal’ conditions, corresponding to a uniform distribution of particle orientation, measurements agreed with predictions. The celebrated theorem of Cauchy applies only to this case.

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For two other situations, measured and predicted results differed. However, from the experimental data it was possible to infer the particle orientations and hence theoretically predict the projected area distribution. Excellent agreement between theory and practice was then restored.