Polymer–montmorillonite clay nanocomposites. Part 1: Complexation of montmorillonite clay with a vinyl monomer

An organo‐clay complex was formed by the exchange reaction of a quaternary ammonium salt of a derivatized styrene monomer with Na⁺‐montmorillonite clay. The binding of the derivatized styrene monomer with the montmorillonite clay was confirmed by FTIR and the diffused reflectance analysis. The increase of the d‐spacing of the derivatized styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite clay complex to 1.47 nm, measured by X‐ray diffraction, indicates that a monolayer of the monomer is adsorbed between adjacent montmorillonite layers. A molecular modeling of the monomer suggested a benzene ring tilted to the c‐axis of the montmorillonite clay. The carbon content of the styrene‐N⁺–montmorillonite clay of 11.02 % suggested a complete surface coverage of the clay by the monomer and a surface coverage of 0.74 nm² per exchange site of the montmorillonite. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Five steps to maximizing dollars when the objective is money

Jeffrey Krivis and Mariam Zadeh, of Los Angeles, focus on communication styles in order to improve settlements. The authors provide four tables of keywords that identify the way people get their points across. These signals allow negotiators to meet their adversaries on their opponents' terms, and provide improved results for their own clients.     

Seismic performance of reduced web section moment connections

Seismic behavior of beam-to-column connections can be improved by shifting the location of inelasticity away from the column’s face. Such connections can be achieved by reducing the flange area at a specific distance from the beam-column connection, called reduced beam section (RBS), or by reducing web area by introducing a perforation into the web, called reduced web section (RWS). This paper presents a parametric study that is carried out on the effect of the perforation size, perforation location, and the beam span length in the RWS connections, using finite element modeling. Next, an interaction formula is derived for design purposes, and a step by step design method is developed. Finally, a frame is analyzed to verify the reliability of the proposed design process and assess the impact of the RWS connections on the behavior of special moment frames. The study concludes that RWS connections can effectively improve seismic performance of special moment frames, causing plastic hinges to form around the perforation away from the column’s face.     

A computational study on the relative reactivity of reductively activated 1,4-benzoquinone and its isoelectronic analogs

The redox capacities of p-benzoquinone (I) and its analogs p-benzoquinone imine (VI) and p-benzoquinone diimine (XI) as the simplest model systems for the biochemically important quinone site of the pharmacophores of the anthracyclines has been investigated by AM1 semi-empirical and ab initio methods. The reductive activation of the parent (Q) model systems to their various redox states (quinone radical anion (Q.-), semiquinone (QH.), semiquinone anion (QH-) and hydroquinone (QH2)), the internal geometrical reorganization and the redox capacities of the redox states have been examined by using energy-partitioning analysis, reaction enthalpies/energies for electron and proton attachments, adiabatic ionization potentials (IPad) and electron affinities (EAad), adiabatic electronegativities (Xad), dipole moments, electrostatic potentials and spin-density surfaces. EAad data and results of energy-partitioning analysis suggest that the one-electron Q to Q.- reducibility of VI is diminished when compared to that of I. The data also predict that reduction to QH., QH- and QH2 is more favorable in VI (cf. I). Deprotonation enthalpy/energy calculations predict that the oxidizability of the reduced forms of VI is diminished when compared to I. Overall, the calculations suggest that the redox cycling of VI should be diminished if deprotonation is the first step of the autoxidation of the reduced forms. The results suggest that the electron affinity of Q and deprotonation of the reduced forms (e.g., QH.) may play important roles in the redox cycling of the anthracyclines. It is further suggested that these same factors are probably responsible for the reduced toxicity of 5-iminodaunomycin, which consists of VI as part of its pharmacophore. A comparison of the AM1 results with ab initio results suggests that the AM1 method is capable of predicting trends in redox capacity, nucleophilicity, electrophilicity and electron affinity in the systems investigated.     

An automated methodology for the classification of focal and nonfocal EEG signals using a hybrid classification approach

The uncertainty in human brain leads to the formation of epilepsy disease in human. The automatic detection and severity analysis of epilepsy disease is proposed in this article using a hybrid classification algorithm. The proposed method consists of decomposition stage, feature extraction, and classification stages. The electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are decomposed using dual-tree complex wavelet transform and then features are extracted from these coefficients. These features are then classified using the neural network classification approach in order to classify the EEG signals into either focal or nonfocal EEG signals. Furthermore, severity of the focal EEG signal is analyzed using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system classification approach. The proposed hybrid classification method for the classification of focal signals and nonfocal signals achieved 98.6% of sensitivity, 99.1% of specificity, and 99.4% of accuracy. The average detection rate for both focal and nonfocal dataset is about 98.5%.     

Machine learning-based model of surface tension of liquid metals: a step in designing multicomponent alloys for additive manufacturing

Journal of Materials Science - The surface tension (ST) of metallic alloys is a key property in many processing techniques. Notably, the ST value of liquid metals is crucial in additive...     

Molecular Methodologies for Improved Polymicrobial Sepsis Diagnosis

Polymicrobial sepsis is associated with worse patient outcomes than monomicrobial sepsis. Routinely used culture-dependent microbiological diagnostic techniques have low sensitivity, often leading to missed identification of all causative organisms. To overcome these limitations, culture-independent methods incorporating advanced molecular technologies have recently been explored. However, contamination, assay inhibition and interference from host DNA are issues that must be addressed before these methods can be relied on for routine clinical use. While the host component of the complex sepsis host–pathogen interplay is well described, less is known about the pathogen’s role, including pathogen–pathogen interactions in polymicrobial sepsis. This review highlights the clinical significance of polymicrobial sepsis and addresses how promising alternative molecular microbiology methods can be improved to detect polymicrobial infections. It also discusses how the application of shotgun metagenomics can be used to uncover pathogen/pathogen interactions in polymicrobial sepsis cases and their potential role in the clinical course of this condition.     

Ni Nanoparticles Stabilized by Hyperbranched Polymer: Does the Architecture of the Polymer Affect the Nanoparticle Characteristics and Their Performance in Catalysis?

Heat-up and hot-injection methods were employed to synthesize Ni nanoparticles (NPs) with narrow size distribution in the presence of hyperbranched pyridylphenylene polymer (PPP) as a stabilizing agent. It was shown that depending on the synthetic method, Ni NPs were formed either in a cross-linked polymer network or stabilized by a soluble hyperbranched polymer. Ni NPs were characterized by a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning TEM, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and magnetic measurements. The architecture of polymer support was found to significantly effect Ni NPs characteristics and behavior. The Ni NPs demonstrated a high catalytic activity in a model Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. No significant drop in activity was observed upon repeated use after magnetic separation in five consecutive catalytic cycles. We believe that hyperbranched PPP can serve as universal platform for the controllable synthesis of Ni NPs, acting as highly active and stable catalysts.