Studies on the lipids of sheep red blood cells. II. The incorporation of phosphorus into phospholipids of HK and LK cells

The incorporation of inorganic phosphate (as NaH₂PO₄) into the phospholipids of sheep red blood cells was studied in vitro in blood samples from five highpotassium (HK) and five low-potassium (LK) sheep. The erythrocytes from HK sheep incorporated more activity in 4 hr than those from the LK sheep. However no activity was incorporated into the major phospholipids of the cells (phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl serine, and sphingomyelin) of either group. The phosphatidic acid fraction was labeled in both groups and to a significantly greater extent in the HK samples. However the highest activity in the phospholipid of sheep red-cells was located in three unknown compounds not previously detected. Their specific activities were the same in the HK and the LK samples although they were present in slightly larger amounts in the HK samples. In general, incorporation was at a rather low level, and from stoichiometric considerations it was concluded that the metabolism in the red-cell phospholipids could not be directly involved in the active transport of ions across the cell membrane. This work also confirmed a previous report that no quantitative differences exist among the major phospholipid classes in the two types of cells.     

Cure kinetics of a low epoxide/hydroxyl group-ratio bisphenol a epoxy resin–anhydride system by infrared absorption spectroscopy

An infrared absorption spectroscopy study of the curing kinetics of a low (1.12) epoxide/hydroxyl-group ratio bisphenol A epoxy resin—phthalic anhydride system is reported. A full infrared peak assignment to molecular vibrational modes is given for the range 400 to 4000 cm^?1, and the optical density behavior of all peaks during reaction is discussed in detail. Proposed rival reaction mechanisms are considered and their respective kinetic behavior discussed. The reaction was found to follow consecutive-step addition esterification and simultaneous addition etherification, and epoxide—hydroxyl group and carboxylic acid dimer hydrogen bonding was found to occur. The reaction behavior supports a proposed hydroxyl group-limited inhomogeneous bulk reaction mechanism of a colloid type.     

Nearly-Linear Work Parallel SDD Solvers,Low-Diameter Decomposition,and Low-Stretch Subgraphs

We present the design and analysis of a nearly-linear work parallel algorithm for solving symmetric diagonally dominant (SDD) linear systems. On input an SDD n-by-n matrix A with m nonzero entries and a vector b, our algorithm computes a vector \(\tilde{x}\) such that \(\|\tilde{x} - A^{+}b\|_{A} \leq\varepsilon\cdot\|{A^{+}b}\|_{A}\) in \(O(m\log^{O(1)}{n}\log {\frac{1}{\varepsilon}})\) work and \(O(m^{1/3+\theta}\log\frac{1}{\varepsilon})\) depth for any θ>0, where A ⁺ denotes the Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse of A. The algorithm relies on a parallel algorithm for generating low-stretch spanning trees or spanning subgraphs. To this end, we first develop a parallel decomposition algorithm that in O(mlog ^O(1) n) work and polylogarithmic depth, partitions a graph with n nodes and m edges into components with polylogarithmic diameter such that only a small fraction of the original edges are between the components. This can be used to generate low-stretch spanning trees with average stretch O(n ^α ) in O(mlog ^O(1) n) work and O(n ^α ) depth for any α>0. Alternatively, it can be used to generate spanning subgraphs with polylogarithmic average stretch in O(mlog ^O(1) n) work and polylogarithmic depth. We apply this subgraph construction to derive a parallel linear solver. By using this solver in known applications, our results imply improved parallel randomized algorithms for several problems, including single-source shortest paths, maximum flow, minimum-cost flow, and approximate maximum flow.     

The effect of platinum and silver deposits in the photocatalytic oxidation of resorcinol

The effects of platinum (Pt) and silver (Ag) metallisation in the photocatalytic oxidation of resorcinol at pH 3 ± 0.5 have been investigated. The photocatalytic degradation of resorcinol was significantly improved by Pt/TiO₂, while the presence of Ag/TiO₂ enhanced the initial photocatalytic degradation rate of resorcinol slightly. Likewise, the photocatalytic mineralisation of resorcinol continued to be enhanced by Pt/TiO₂, but it was retarded when Ag/TiO₂ was used.

The function of Pt and Ag deposits on the surface of TiO₂ has been found to be markedly influenced by the interaction of resorcinol and its degradation products with the metal deposits. The presence of Pt or Ag on the surface of TiO₂ altered the distribution of degradation products of resorcinol as well as the production of photoactive species for the photocatalytic oxidation of resorcinol. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), zeta potential and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses have indicated that the contrasting effect of Pt and Ag deposits were governed by the oxidation states and the catalytic property of metal deposits. In addition to that, it has been found that the roles of metal deposits are specific and should not be generalised.     

Cure kinetics of a high epoxide/hydroxyl group-ratio bisphenol a epoxy resin—anhydride system by infrared absorption spectroscopy

An infrared absorption spectroscopy study of the curing (gelation and postcure) kinetics of a high (4.7) epoxide/hydroxyl group-ratio diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)–mixed anhydride epoxy resin system is reported. Peak assignments to molecular vibrational modes are given for the range 400–4000 cm^?1, and the optical density behavior of all peaks during reaction is discussed in detail. Chemical reaction was found to follow consecutive-step addition esterification and simultaneous addition etherification. Epoxide hydroxyl-group and carboxylic acid dimer hydrogen bonding was found to occur. The gelation phase of reaction is complex, exhibiting rapid initial hydroxyl–anhydride reactions followed by S-shaped kinetics approaching an incompletely reacted limit. Postcure exhibits functional group kinetic behavior similar to that occurring in low epoxide/hydroxyl group-ratio bisphenol A epoxy resin–phthalic anhydride systems and produces similar final chemical structures. The reaction behavior of low and high epoxide/hydroxyl group-ratio bisphenol A epoxy resin–anhydride systems arises from an hydroxyl group-limited inhomogeneous reaction mechanism involving bisphenol A epoxy resin molecular aggregates. The importance of free hydroxyl group content is discussed.     

Studies of water-soluble oligomers formed in emulsion copolymerization

A polymer chain transfer agent was synthesized by the reaction between poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) latex particles and 2-aminoethanethiol in a basic environment. In subsequent emulsion polymerization reactions, low molecular weight species were formed when waterborn oligomeric radicals diffused to the surface of these seed particles. These low molecular weight oligomers were separated by membrane filtration and their composition and molecular weight weight were analyzed by FTIR and mass spectroscopy. The measured composition results were compared with those that were calculated from the copolymerization equation. The molecular weights were compared with earlier experimental results that were obtained by isolation of oligomers formed when a water-soluble inhibitor was added to a reacting emulsion. Three seeded emulsion copolymerization systems, that is, styrene–acrylic acid, styrenemethacrylic acid, and styrene–methyl methacrylate, were investigated. The distribution of monomer in the water phase and in the copolymer particles was analyzed. The results show that the oligomer compositions for different copolymerization systems can be approximated reasonable well by the copolymerization equation, using the reactivity ratios obtained from bulk copolymerization. The length of the oligomer radicals formed depends on their composition and the properties of the polymer particles, such as surface charge, composition, size, and concentration. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Densification and Sintering Kinetics in Sintered Silicon Nitride

The sintering sequence of Y₂O₃-Al₂O₃-doped Si₃N₄ was investigated with respect to the relationship between densification, α→β transformation, and microstructural development. Quenching studies were performed to reveal these interactions during a complete sintering cycle. Isothermal studies were conducted to examine the sintering kinetics and compared to Kingery's liquid-phase sintering model. The bulk density increased to ≥90% of theoretical density with only minor transformation taking place. Major transformation occurred in a late sintering stage and was accompanied by the development of elongated grains. The kinetic order of the densification process, taking into account an appropriate correction, was larger than any of the rate exponents predicted by the Kingery model, indicating that other single or mixed mechanisms were active.     

HOW LIQUIDS SPREAD ON SOLIDS

A theory of the wetting of solids by liquids is put forward. The theory accounts for capillary pressure gradient, gravitational potential gradient, surface tension gradient, disjoining pressure gradient driving forces of flow in thick thin-films and of surface diffusion in thin thin-films. Disjoining pressure stems from the way intermolecular forces aggregate in submicroscopically thin films. For thick thin-films of slowly varying thickness the lubrication approximation to velocity distributions is appropriate. With this approximation the spontaneous, unsteady, two-dimensional spreading of liquid is shown to be governed by a nonlinear convective-diffusion equation for the evolution of the film thickness profile. The predictions of the theory agree with Marmur and Lelah's (1980, 1981) observations of water drops spreading on glass and with Bascom, Cottington and Singleterry's (1964) and Ludviksson and Lightfoot's (1971) observations of oils spreading on high energy surfaces. The theory is used to analyze Derjaguin and co-workers' (1944, 1957, 1970) blowing-off experiments designed to measure thin-film rheology. The theory is also used to buttress the proposition that much contact angle hysteresis is due simply to slow attainment of equilibrium.     

Modeling of the dynamics of transient liquid films in ternary systems

The presence of a concentration gradient across a thin liquid film leads to the phenomenon of isothermal liquid film migration (LFM). In most cases, the concentration gradient is due to coherency stresses, and the migration of the liquid film results in the relaxation of these stresses. It is also possible to envisage cases in which LFM occurs as a result of chemical solubility differences between stable and metastable phases. Both situations are examined in this contribution with special emphasis on the effect of adding a second solute element to the liquid phase. The kinetics of LFM is examined as a function of the initial liquid concentration and the ratio of the solute diffusion coefficients in a model coherency-driven ternary system. The growth of the Γ₂ inside δ particles in the Zn-Fe-Al system is presented as a possible example of chemically driven LFM. This article was presented at the Multicomponent-Multiphase Diffusion Symposium in Honor of Mysore A. Dayananda, which was held during TMS 2006, the 135th Annual Meeting and Exhibition, March 12–16, 2006, in San Antonio, TX. The symposium was organized by Yongho Sohn of University of Central Florida, Carelyn E. Campbell of National Institute of Standards and Technology, Richard D. Sisson, Jr., of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and John E. Morral of Ohio State University.     

In situ, noninvasive characterization of superhydrophobic coatings

Light scattering was used to measure the time-dependent loss of air entrapped within a submerged microporous hydrophobic surface subjected to different environmental conditions. The loss of trapped air resulted in a measurable decrease in surface reflectivity and the kinetics of the process was determined in real time and compared to surface properties, such as porosity and morphology. The light-scattering results were compared with measurements of skin-friction drag, static contact angle, and contact-angle hysteresis. The in situ, noninvasive optical technique was shown to correlate well with the more conventional methods for quantifying surface hydrophobicity, such as flow slip and contact angle.