N-acryloyl–N′-phenylpiperazine as curing activator of unsaturated resins

N-acryloyl–N′-phenylpiperazine and three of its homopolymers of different molecular weight are tested as low toxicity redox activators in the BPO curing of unsaturated polyester resins. Gel times and other time and temperature parameters drawn from standard exothermal curves are determined with two kinds of resin, at different bath temperatures and amounts of activator. The reciprocal of gel time follows a kinetic equation with average order 0.85 with respect to the activator, and an activation energy of 19 kcal/mol. With polymeric activators it is a simple decreasing exponential function of intrinsic viscosity. Correlations are observed for other parameters relative to the second, faster step of the curing process, in general less sensitive to the mentioned variables. The crosslinked resins show mechanical properties similar to those obtainable with dimethylaniline as activator.     

Dynamic and Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Some Specialty Fluoroelastomers for Low Tg Seal Materials

The viscoelastic behaviour of three different low Tg fluoroelastomer materials belonging to the class of Fluorosilicones (FVMQ), Perfluoropolyether-hydrosilanes (Sifel™) and Perfluoropolyether-polyurethanes (FEU) was investigated. Materials considered were high hardness rubbers and were characterized by dynamic-mechanical analysis (DMA), thermo-mechanical analysis (TMA), and swelling tests in Fuel C and other solvent mixtures. DMA spectra in dynamic scan allowed the determination of Tg and other minor intensity relaxation phenomena. Thermo-mechanical analysis was used to measure the thermal expansion coefficient α _L and the low temperature retraction curve R _e(T) in creep and recovery experiments with different test conditions. Highly diversified behaviours were observed, apparently related to polymer Tg and damping in the rubbery plateau. Swelling measurements showed a better performance for the two perfluoropolyether samples than for fluorosilicones.     

Synthesis and regulation of leukaemia inhibitory factor in cultured bovine oviduct cells by hormones

Group II introns are large, self-splicing RNAs and mobile genetic elements that provide good model systems for studies of RNA folding. The structures and mechanistic functions of individual domains are being elucidated, and long-range tertiary interactions between the domains are being identified, thus helping to define the three-dimensional architecture of the intron.     

Aqueous polyurethane dispersions: A comparative study of polymerization processes

Restrictions on volatile organic compounds have forced the producers of solvent‐based polymers to develop safer products. Water dispersions of polyurethanes are successfully replacing solvent‐borne products in the coating industry, but relatively little systematic work has been reported that compares polyurethanes obtained by different processes. In this study, polyurethanes were produced with three polymerization processes: in a solution, in a dispersion with the acetone process, and in a dispersion with the prepolymer mixing process. The same prepolymer was synthesized in all cases, and the reaction was concluded under the conditions required by the three different methods. In the first phase, nonextended polyurethanes were prepared with different functional group ratios (NCO/OH), and an evaluation of the quality of the dispersions and solutions and of the morphology of the dry polymers was made by a comparison of the products from the three preparation routes. Second, the growth of the molecular weight in water was studied for the prepolymer mixing process. NCO‐terminated prepolymers were dispersed in water and then extended by aliphatic diamines. The extender was added in different percentages that referred to the NCO equivalents of the prepolymer. This led to an evaluation of the effect of the dispersing medium on chain extension. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 88: 716–723, 2003     

Bioinspired Security Analysis of Wireless Protocols

Fraglets represent an execution model for communication protocols that resembles the chemical reactions in living organisms. The strong connection between their way of transforming and reacting and formal rewriting systems makes a fraglet program amenable to automatic verification. Grounded on past work, this paper investigates feasibility of adopting fraglets as model for specifying security protocols and analysing their properties. In particular, we give concrete sample analyses over a secure RFID protocol, showing evolution of the protocol run as chemical dynamics and simulating an adversary trying to circumvent the intended steps. The results of our analysis confirm the effectiveness of the cryptofraglets framework for the model and analysis of security properties and eventually show its potential to identify and uncover protocol flaws.     

Confirmation of fenthion metabolites in oranges by IT-MS and QqTOF-MS

Identification of degradation products of the organophophorous pesticide fenthion formed in two orange varieties, Valencia Navel and Navel Late, under field conditions has been assessed using liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and ion trap mass spectrometry. The structural elucidation of the metabolites was accomplished by the accurate mass measurements provided by the quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer in MS and MS/MS modes. This instrument achieved elemental composition diagnosis for the precursor and product ions with absolute mass error of <5 ppm, which unambiguously establishes the identity of the metabolites even at low concentration. The presence of these compounds was also confirmed by electrospray ionization-ion trap mass spectrometry, performing successive fragmentation steps (MS(n)). Once identified, each molecule was confirmed by comparison with its analytical standard, also used to explore the quantitative capabilities of both mass analyzers. The extraction method was evaluated because it predetermines the metabolites that can be found (e.g., according to their polarity). Recoveries ranged from 70% for fenoxon sulfoxide (the most polar) to 101% for fenthion (the most apolar), which also indicates the method's facility to extract other more polar metabolites if present. Satisfactory linear range (r > 0.99) of more than 2 orders of magnitude was obtained with both analyzers for standards prepared in methanol and in untreated orange extracts. However, the matrix-matched standards showed suppression of the mass signal due to the matrix effect, especially for fenoxon sulfoxide and sulfone. The limits of quantification ranged from 0.005 to 0.015 mg/kg. The QqTOF-MS provided better quantification limits for fenthion and its sulfoxide and sulfone than the IT-MS. The resulting fenthion degration curves in oranges indicated that it was mainly degraded by sunlight photolysis to its sulfoxide and sulfone. However, hydrolysis was also observed by the appearance of fenoxon, fenoxon sulfoxide, and fenoxon sulfone, but always in low concentrations, which can be related to the rain events.     

Formal Models and Analysis of Secure Multicast in Wired and Wireless Networks

The spreading of multicast technology enables the development of group communication and so dealing with digital streams becomes more and more common over the Internet. Given the flourishing of security threats, the distribution of streamed data must be equipped with sufficient security guarantees. To this aim, some architectures have been proposed, to supply the distribution of the stream with guarantees of, e.g., authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality of the digital contents. This paper shows a formal capability of capturing some features of secure multicast protocols. In particular, both the modeling and the analysis of some case studies are shown, starting from basic schemes for signing digital streams, passing through protocols dealing with packet loss and time-synchronization requirements, concluding with a secure distribution of a secret key. A process-algebraic framework will be exploited, equipped with schemata for analysing security properties and compositional principles for evaluating if a property is satisfied over a system with more than two components.     

Formal analysis of some secure procedures for certificate delivery

This paper describes and formally analyses two communication protocols that manage the secure emission of digital certificates. The formal analysis is carried out by means of a software tool for the automatic verification of cryptographic protocols with finite behaviour. The tool is able to discover, at a conceptual level, attacks against security procedures. The methodology is general enough to be applied to several kinds of cryptographic procedures and protocols. It is the opinion of the authors that this approach contributes towards a better understanding of the structure and aims of a protocol, for developers, analysers and final users. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of compaction pressure on the conductivity and structure in undoped poly(1,4-phenylene) (PPP)

Poly(paraphenylene) has been prepared according to two different procedures. The d.c. conductivity measurements, obtained under compaction pressure, were correlated to the structural modifications undergone in the same pressure range. X-ray diffraction line profile analysis has been applied to determine the variations in the microstructural parameters.