An investigation of the synthesis and thermal stability of poly(dl-lactide)

Summary The synthesis and thermal degradability of poly (DL-lactide) were investigated. Key factors affecting the polymer molecular weight were found to be monomer recrystallization, initiator concentration and the vacuum level during drying/sealing of the polymerization reaction ampoule. It was found that poly (DL-lactide) is thermally unstable above its melting temperature. Monomer recrystallization, polymer precipitation and a low initiator content of the polymer significantly inhibited the rate and extent of thermal degradation.     

Technology adaptation: a typology for strategic human resource management

Organizational adjustment to technological change and its impact upon human resources should be based on an understanding of employee perceptions and behavioural responses to such developments. An analytic framework which relates strategic choice to internal labour market and employee determinism is derived from the methods employed by organizational theorists and psychologists to generate a set of typologies. The framework divides variables in four classes: (1) natural selection, with minimum choice and adaptation or selection out; (2) differentiation, with high choice and high employee determinism and adaptation within constraints; (3) strategic choice, with maximum choice and adaptation by design; and (4) undifferentiated choice, with incremental choice and adaptation by chance. Useful in reconciling previously inconsistent or incompatible theories of technological change, the framework is offered as a co-ordination device to integrate the results of divergent approaches to technological adaptation studies.     

Bologna process revisited: educating information security and malware experts

The Bologna process has resulted in the re- structuring of undergraduate and graduate education across Europe. This paper outlines what these changes mean for acquiring degrees in information security and how various universities have tried to respond to these demands. What is unclear at this stage is how the offering of continuous master degrees at Polytechnic and Applied Science Universities will affect the content and curriculum being taught in computer science and information security in particular. This question must be addressed since polytechnics are more industry focused and less research oriented than their university-counterparts. What seems to be clear at this stage is that continuous type master programs in computer science demand a greater level of mathematical knowledge than specialized masters. Moreover, due to the amount of credits that must be acquired, graduates of these types of programs will bring a deeper knowledge about the specialization such as, information security or malware, they acquired at university. This movement toward greater convergence in post secondary education may not have made things easier for recruiters, who are trying to hire graduates in information security or anti-virus experts. In fact, as this paper shows while the Bologna process may have eliminated the obvious differences, countless intricate and not so obvious differences have been added making it sometimes obscure for a bystander.     

Bestimmung des Herbicids Glyphosat und dessen Hauptmetabolit Aminomethylphosphons?ure (AMPA) in Trinkwasser mit Hilfe der HPLC

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine Methode zur Bestimmung von Glyphosat und dessen Hauptmetabolit Aminomethylphosphonsäure (AMPA) in Trinkwasser beschrieben, die es erlaubt, den in der Schweiz geforderten Toleranzwert von 0,1 g/1 zu erreichen (Nachweisgrenze 0,02 g/l). Die Wasserprobe wird dabei direkt mit 9-Fluorenylmethyl-chloroformaat (FMOCCI) versetzt, um extrahierbare und gleichzeitig fluorescierende Derivate zu erhalten. Diese werden nach Ausschütteln mit einem organischen Lösungsmittelgemisch durch HPLC mit Fluorescenzdetektor bestimmt. In bisher 151 untersuchten Trinkwasserproben des Kantons Bern konnten weder Glyphosat noch AMPA nachgewiesen werden.

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Determination of glyphosate herbicide and its main metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in drinking water by HPLC

Summary A method for the determination of glyphosate and its major metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) is described. With a detection limit of 0.02 g/l, the method suitably fulfills the requirements of the Swiss legislation (tolerance value of 0.1 g/l water). The compounds are derivatized directly in the original water sample with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOCCI) in order to obtain extractable and fluorescent derivatives. These are extracted with organic solvents and determined by HPLC using a fluorescence detector. Neither of the compounds could be detected in 151 tap water samples from the Canton of Berne.

     

Processing of Particle-Stabilized Wet Foams Into Porous Ceramics

Direct foaming of colloidal suspensions is a simple and versatile approach for the fabrication of macroporous ceramic materials. Wet foams produced by this method can be stabilized by long-chain surfactants or by colloidal particles. In this work, we investigate the processing of particle-stabilized wet foams into crack-free macroporous ceramics. The processing steps are discussed with particular emphasis on the consolidation and drying process of wet foams. Macroporous alumina ceramics prepared using different consolidation and drying methods are compared in terms of their final microstructure, porosity, and compressive strength. Consolidation of the wet foam by particle coagulation before drying resulted in porous alumina with a closed-cell structure, a porosity of 86.5%, an average cell size of 35 μm, and a remarkable compressive strength of 16.3 MPa. On the other hand, wet foams consolidated via gelation of the liquid within the foam lamella led to porous structures with interconnected cells in the size range from 100 to 150 μm. The tailored microstructure and high mechanical strength of the macroporous ceramics can be of interest for the manufacture of bio-scaffolds, thermal insulators, impact absorbers, separation membranes, and light weight ceramics.     

Interlayer cooling potential in vertically integrated packages

The heat-removal capability of area-interconnect-compatible interlayer cooling in vertically integrated, high-performance chip stacks was characterized with de-ionized water as coolant. Correlation-based predictions and computational fluid dynamic modeling of cross-flow heat-removal structures show that the coolant temperature increase due to sensible heat absorption limits the cooling performance at hydraulic diameters ≤200 μm. An experimental investigation with uniform and double-side heat flux at Reynolds numbers ≤1,000 and heat transfer areas of 1 cm² was carried out to identify the most efficient interlayer heat-removal structure. The following structures were tested: parallel plate, microchannel, pin fin, and their combinations with pins using in-line and staggered configurations with round and drop-like shapes at pitches ranging from 50 to 200 μm and fluid structure heights of 100–200 μm. A hydrodynamic flow regime transition responsible for a local junction temperature minimum was observed for pin fin in-line structures. The experimental data was extrapolated to predict maximal heat flux in chip stacks having a 4-cm² heat transfer area. The performance of interlayer cooling strongly depends on this parameter, and drops from >200 W/cm² at 1 cm² and >50 μm interconnect pitch to <100 W/cm² at 4 cm². From experimental data, friction factor and Nusselt number correlations were derived for pin fin in-line and staggered structures.     

Charging and discharging of insulating particles on the surface of a grounded electrode

The aim of the present paper is to analyze the corona charging of millimeter-size insulating disks, as well as their discharging when they are no longer exposed to the action of an external electric field. The experiments were carried out on a roll-type electrostatic laboratory separator, equipped with a wire-type corona electrode, simulating the actual charging/discharging conditions in an industrial unit. Disks of various sizes were charged on the surface of the roll electrode, then the high voltage supplied to the corona electrode was turned off and the particles were collected in a Faraday pail, connected to an electrometer. The charge measurements were performed at various time intervals from high-voltage turn-off. In this way, the charge decay could be recorded and the discharge process fully characterized. The measured data show that the discharge process depends on the nature, size, and shape of the particles, as well as on the contact conditions between the particles and the grounded roll electrode. These data could guide the design of the electrostatic separation experiments that precede any new industrial application of this technology.     

New calix[4]arenedimethacrylate derivatives for dental composites

Calix[4]arenes were double alkylated with various alkylhalogenides and the residual OH functions were subsequently dimethacrylated with methacryloyl chloride. The successful synthesis of polymerizable calixarenes was proved using ¹H NMR spectroscopy, matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry. The polymerization behaviour was confirmed by copolymerization with methacrylic acid methyl ester. Furthermore, the flexural strength, the flexural modulus of elasticity, the exothermic course of the photo‐curing reaction and the polymerization shrinkage of experimental dental filling composites containing the modified calixarenes were evaluated. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry