Infrared laser-induced decomposition of 2,2-dimethyloxetane

The unimolecular decomposition of 2,2 dimethyloxetance to give either isobutence and formaldehyde or ethene and acetone induced by a pulsed CO₂ laser has been investigated. Absorption characteristics and fractional decomposition have been studied as a function of laser fluence, irradiation frequency, reactant pressure, and added inert bath gas. Both absorption cross section and fractional decomposition are approximately independent of pressure of 2,2-dimethyloxetane below 50 times; 10^?3 torr and increase with pressure at higher pressures of 2,2-dimethyloxetane. At pressures sufficiently low that collisions are negligible during the laser pulse, added inert gases reduce the amount of decomposition. Calculations of the fractional decomposition have been carried out based on RRKM theory and assuming either a Boltzmann or a Poisson intermolecular energy distribution. Master equation calculations of both absorption and decomposition for 10R20 irradiation have also been performed. Agreement between observed and calculated results for 10R20 irradiation could be obtained only by assuming that most, but not all, of the molecules in the irradiated volume absorb the laser radiation. Differences between the absorptions of the 10R20 and 9P20 lines and in the resulting extents of decomposition indicate that the fraction of irradiated molecules which absorbs 9P20 radiation is smaller than the fraction which absorbs 10R20 radiation.     

Influence of Data Acquisition Environment on Accuracy of Acoustic Voice Quality Measurements

Accuracy of acoustic voice analysis is influenced by the quality of recording. Lately, articles have suggested that soundcards perform equivalently to specialized professional-grade data acquisition (DA) systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of DA environment (DA system and microphone) on acoustic voice quality measurement (VQM) while balancing for gender, age, intersubject and intrasubject variability, and analysis software. More specifically, the relative performance of different hardware environments and the relationship between their technical characteristics and VQM performance was investigated. The discretization error and the effective dynamic range of the different DA environments were measured. We used 3 software systems to record and measure separately 2000 acoustic samples of sustained phonation for fundamental frequency, jitter, and shimmer. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed with these parameters as the dependent variables. The results of the study suggested that professional-grade DA hardware is strongly recommended to provide accurate and valid voice assessment. The fundamental frequency measurement differences across DA environments were highly correlated to the discretization error (r=1.00), whereas jitter and shimmer were highly correlated to the effective dynamic range of the DA environments (r=-0.68 and r=-0.86, respectively).     

Retention behaviour of an homologous series of oligodeoxythymidilic acids using reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography

Summary The retention behaviour of an homologous series of phosphorylated oligodeoxythymidylic acid (pd(T)_5–18) oligonucleotides was studied using reversed-phase ion-pair chromatography with isocratic elution conditions. The effects of temperature, pH, eluent ionic strength, percentage organic modifier, concentration and alkyl chain length of the ion-pairing reagent were investigated. The retention behaviour was generally explicable by current theoretical models of ion-pair chromatography. However, the marked effect of mobile phase pH on the retention of the oligonucleotides was unexpected, and this was ascribed to the presence of ionisable residual silanols on the surface of the reversed-phase packing material.     

Study of a thermotropic liquid-crystalline polyester at elevated pressures

A thermotropic liquid-crystalline copolyester of 20% hydroxybenzoic acid, 40% isophthalic acid, and 40% hydroquinone polymer was studied at elevated pressures. The characterization techniques at elevated pressures (0–1000 bar) included high-pressure differential thermal analysis and dilatometry; at atmospheric pressure, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal optical analysis, and x-ray analysis were employed. The mechanical properties of the solid specimens prepared at different pressures were studied by compression and dynamic rotation mechanical testing techniques. High-pressure induced a new crystal habit in the solid state and a new mesophase in the melt. These transitions are summarized in a proposed phase diagram. Mechanical tests on the material produced at elevated pressure indicate the possibility of improved properties, implying that the pressure-dependent morphological changes in thermotropic copolyesters could be of practical significance. The finding of a pressure-induced mesophase also confirmed the possibility of extending the range of polymers which might exhibit liquid crystallinity via the application of pressure.