Distribution of higher-order structures in injection-molded polypropylenes

Flexural test specimens were injection-molded from six homoisotactic polypropylenes with MFI = 0.49-25.1 dg/min under cylinder temperatures of 200-320°C. Distributions in the flow direction of higher-order structures such as crystallinity X_c, thickness of skin layer, a*-axis-oriented component fraction [A*], and crystalline orientation functions and distributions in the thickness direction of higher-order structures such as X_c, β-crystal contents, [A*], and crystalline orientation functions were studied. These higher-order structures are inhomogeneous in the flow and thickness directions, which strongly influences the product properties such as mechanical and thermal properties. Molecular orientation process in injection molding was theoretically analyzed from a viewpoint of growth of recoverable shear strain at the gate and its relaxation in the cavity, which could considerably well explain the variations in the flow and thickness directions of the quantities such as thickness of the skin layer and crystalline orientation functions which express the degree of molecular orientation.     

Structure and properties of injection‐molded polypropylenes with different molecular weight distribution and tacticity characteristics

Two series of polypropylenes with different molecular weight distribution and tacticity characteristics were injection molded into flexural test specimens by varying cylinder temperature and the effects of the molecular weight distribution and tacticity on the structure and properties of the moldings were studied. Measured propertied were flexural modulus, flexural strength, heat distortion temperature, Izod impact strength, and mold shrinkage and structures studied were crystallinity, the thickness of skin layer, a*‐axis‐oriented component fraction and crystalline orientation functions. The relations between the structures and properties were also studied. It was found that the molecular weight distribution and tacticity characteristics affect the properties mainly through the molecular orientation and crystallinity, respectively. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 2142–2156, 2002     

Rheological properties of polypropylene/high-density polyethylene blend melts. II. Dynamic viscoelastic properties

Three kinds of isotactic polypropylenes with different MFI were melt-blended with three kinds of high-density polyethylenes with different MFI using a screw extruder and the dynamic viscoelastic properties were studied. The storage moduli G′(ω) of the blends showed second plateaus and the dynamic viscosities η′(ω) of the blends showed two-step drops with increasing angular frequency ω. Such phenomenon was particularly notable for blend systems in which particles of lower viscosity were suspended in the disperse medium of higher viscosity and is considered to be the cause of abnormally large die swell.     

A hemispheric division of labor aids mental rotation.

In the present study, we investigated whether a hemispheric division of labor is most advantageous to performance when lateralized inputs place unequal resource demands on the left and right cerebral hemispheres. In each trial, participants decided whether 2 rotated letters, presented either in the same visual field (within-field trials) or in opposite visual fields (across-field trials), were both of normal orientation, or whether one was normal and the other was mirror-reversed. To discriminate a letter's orientation, one must rotate the letter to the upright position. Therefore, we manipulated whether the two letters imposed similar or dissimilar demands on cognitive resources by varying the number of degrees that each letter needed to be rotated to reach the upright position. As predicted, in 2 experiments we found that the across-field advantage increased as the number of degrees each letter needed to be rotated became more dissimilar. These findings support a current model of hemispheric interactions, which posits that an unequal hemispheric distribution of cognitive load allows the cerebral hemispheres to take the lead for different aspects of cognitive processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Generalized Technique for Register Counting and its Application to Cost-Optimal DSP Architecture Synthesis

In this paper we propose a generalized technique to count the required number of registers in a schedule which supports overlapped scheduling and can be applied to the case where a general digit-serial data format is used. This technique is integrated into an integer linear programming (ILP) model for time-constrained scheduling. In the ILP model, appropriate processors of certain data formats are chosen from a library of processors and data format converters are automatically inserted between processors of different data formats if necessary. Then the required number of registers for each data format is evaluated correctly by the proposed technique. Hence an optimal architecture for a given digital signal processing algorithm is synthesized where the cost of registers as well as the cost of processors and data format converters are minimized. It is shown that by including the cost of registers in the synthesis task as proposed in this paper leads to up to 12.8% savings in the total cost of the synthesized architecture when compared with synthesis performed without including the register cost in the total cost.     

An absolute requirement of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate for the Lactobacillus caseiL-lactate dehydrogenase activity induced by a single amino acid substitution

Lactobacillus casei allosteric L-lactate dehydrogenase (L-LDH)absolutely requires fructose 1,6-bisphosphate [Fru(1,6)P2] forits catalytic activity under neutral conditions, but exhibitsmarked catalytic activity in the absence of Fru(1,6)P₂ underacidic conditions through the homotropic activation effect ofsubstrate pyruvate. In this enzyme, a single amino acid replacement,i.e. that of His205 conserved in the Fru(1,6)P₂-binding siteof certain allosteric L-LDHs of lactic acid bacteria with Thr,did not induce a marked loss of the activation effect of Fru(1,6)P₂or divalent metal ions, which are potent activators that improvethe activation function of Fru(1,6)P₂ under neutral conditions.However, this replacement induced a great loss of the Fru(1,6)P₂-independentactivation effect of pyruvate or pyruvate analogs under acidicconditions, consequently indicating an absolute Fru(1,6)P₂ requirementfor the enzyme activity. The replacement also induced a significantreduction in the pH-dependent sensitivity of the enzyme to Fru(1,6)P₂,through a slight decrease and increase of the Fru(1,6)P₂ sensitivityunder acidic and neutral conditions, respectively, indicatingthat His205 is also largely involved in the pH-dependent sensitivityof L.casei L-LDH to Fru(1,6)P₂. The role of His205 in the allostericregulation of the enzyme is discussed on the basis of the knowncrystal structures of L-LDHs.     

Effect of degree of polymerization on gelation and flow processability of poly(vinyl chloride)

The effect of degree of polymerization (DP) on the gelation and flow processability of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was studied. Sheets with adjusted degree of gelation were prepared by rolling rigid pipe formulation suspension PVC compounds with DPs of 800, 1050 and 1300 by changing the milling temperature. Their degrees of gelation were measured with DSC and their capillary flow properties were measured with a capillary rheometer at 150, 170 and 190°C and the effect of DP on the relation between gelation and flow processabilities was studied. Because of the higher shearing heat during milling, the sample with the higher DP had a higher history temperature and thus tended to show a higher degree of gelation. The viscosity increased as the gelation increased. The dependency of viscosity on DP was higher at higher milling and extrusion temperatures and thus at a higher degree of gelation and a lower shear rate. This was assumed to be attributed to the more prominent uniform molecular flow as against the particle flow. The die swell increased with increasing the milling and extrusion temperatures and hence with increasing the gelation. A sample with a lower DP tended to show a larger die swell and this tendency was even more pronounced at the higher extrusion temperature. The melt fracture easily occurred when a sample with advanced gelation was extruded at low temperature. Whereas at low milling temperatures a sample with the lower DP showed a lower critical shear rate at onset of melt fracture, and thus easily generating melt fracture, at high milling temperatures it showed a higher critical shear rate and hence scarcely generated melt fracture. These experimental results were explained by the fact and concept that a sample with a lower DP shows a higher increase in the gelation during extrusion and/or the slighter feature of particle flow as against the uniform molecular flow at the same gelation level. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 1915–1938, 2004     

Sustained photobiological hydrogen production in the presence of N2 by nitrogenase mutants of the heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium Anabaena

Heterocyst-forming cells of the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 ΔHup, lacking an uptake hydrogenase, photobiologically produce H₂ by nitrogenase. Under N₂-rich atmosphere, the nitrogenase activity declines in a rather short time due to the sufficiency of combined nitrogen. From the parental ΔHup strain, site-directed double-crossover variants, dc-Q193S and dc-R284H, were created with amino acid substitutions presumed to be located in the vicinity of the FeMo-cofactor of nitrogenase. Unlike the case for the ΔHup strain, H₂ production activities of the variants were not decreased by the presence of high concentrations of N₂ and they continuously produced H₂ over 21 days with occasional headspace gas replacement. This property of N₂ insensitivity is a potentially useful strategy for reducing the cost of the culture gas in future practical applications of sustainable biofuel production. This Anabaena strain has only the Mo-containing nitrogenase which reduces acetylene to ethylene, but the dc-Q193S variant also produced ethane at low but measurable rates along with greater rates of ethylene production.     

Effects of fatty acid and emulsifier on the complex formation and in vitro digestibility of gelatinized potato starch

The effects of fatty acid, monoacylglycerol, and polyglycerol fatty acid ester with varying chain length in their acyl chains on the extent of complex formation (complex index) and in vitro enzymatic digestibility of gelatinized potato starch were investigated. The complex index increased with increase in the concentration of the ligands (fatty acid, monoacylglycerol, and polyglycerol fatty acid ester), with the plateau in the complex index value depending on the type of ligands. In comparison of complex index among fatty acid-samples, the complex index maximum increased as the chain length increased up to octanoic acid and then decreased. In comparison of complex index among fatty acid-, monoacylglycerol-, and polyglycerol fatty acid ester-samples at each acyl chain, the complex index maximum followed the order polyglycerol fatty acid ester > monoacylglycerol > fatty acid. Fatty acid, monoacylglycerol, and polyglycerol fatty acid ester with long acyl chains greatly reduced the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch. Polyglycerol fatty acid ester with palmitic acid chains was the strongest inhibitor of starch hydrolysis, suggesting that further complex formation may occur during the hydrolysis of gelatinized starch (enzyme-annealing).