Synthesis,thermal, and photocrosslinking studies of thermotropic liquid crystalline poly(benzylidene‐ether)esters containing α,β‐unsaturated ketone moiety in the main chain

A series of poly(benzylidene‐ether)esters containing a photoreactive benzylidene chromophore in the main chain were synthesized from 2,6‐bis(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxybenzylidene)cyclohexanone (BHMBCH) with various aliphatic and aromatic diacid chlorides by an interfacial polycondensation technique. The intrinsic viscosity of the synthesized homo and copolymers determined by Ubbelohde viscometer was found to be 0.12 to 0.17 dL/g. The molecular structure of the monomer and polymers was confirmed by FT‐IR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectral analyses. These polymers were studied for their thermal stability and photochemical properties. Thermal properties were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was found that the polymers were stable up to 280 °C and start degrading thereafter. Increase in acid methylene spacer length decreased the thermal stability. The self‐extinguishing property of the synthesized polymers was studied by calculating the limiting oxygen index (LOI) value using a Van Krevelen's equation. The influence of the length of methylene spacer on phase transition was investigated using DSC and odd‐even effect has been observed. Hot‐stage optical polarizing microscopic (HOPM) study showed that most of the polymers exhibited birefringence and opalescence properties. The photolysis of liquid crystalline poly(benzylidene‐ether)esters revealed that α,β‐unsaturated ketone moiety in the main chain dimerises through 2π + 2π cycloaddition reaction to form a cyclobutane derivative and leads to crosslinking. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013     

Response of a “Plastic hinge” to low-cycle alternating deflections

The paper describes an experimental technique for obtaining the response of a “plastic hinge” to low-cycle alternating loads in which a deflection (strain) range is prescribed. The cycle of loading is confined to equal amplitudes of positive and negative curvature. This response is expressed in terms of a nonlinear moment-curvature relationship which may subsequently be employed in “pseudo-static” structural analysis to derive the load-deflection characteristics of elastic-plastic beams at various stages of cyclic history. A brief account is presented of a fatigue machine designed and constructed for testing mild steel at low endurance levels. A fixture for pure bending is designed to adapt the machine for testing beams and also to provide a measuring system for the applied alternating moments. A meter to measure the curvature in this environment is also described in detail. Similar fixtures are also described for testing cantilever-beam specimens. Moment-curvature models are generated for beams under terminal alternating moments in which ambient strain conditions are controlled. Paper was presented at 1967 SESA Annual Meeting held in Chicago on October 31–November 3.     

Quantitation of treatment volumes from CT and MRI in high-grade gliomas: implications for radiotherapy.

Long-term survival of patients with high-grade gliomas remains extremely poor. The main reason for such an outcome is local failure, or recurrence, after surgery and/or radiotherapy. Higher doses of radiation may result in decreased local failure rates provided that the location (and extent) of gross tumor and microscopic disease can be defined accurately. The abnormalities appearing in images from diagnostic modalities, such as CT and MRI, are being used as a starting point and as a guide for the clinical definition of tumor and its extensions. However, some recent studies on two-dimensional specimens, correlating histopathological findings to CT and MRI images, showed that the resulting definition of tumor cell extensions was unsatisfactory, different, and in need of ample margins. We carried out a retrospective analysis to compare the target volumes that would have been defined by CT, T2-weighted MRI, and T1-weighted postgadolinium MRI images of the same individual and to explore the implications of the resulting volume definitions for radiotherapy. The results of our limited study, based on the margins used, indicate that the CT-defined target volume is consistently larger than that from either of the two MRI modalities and suggest that noncoplanar approaches for its treatment and other local approaches for tumor boost should be considered. We conclude that until more definitive histopathological guidelines correlated to image features have been formulated and agreed upon, one should try to make full use of all available diagnostic information in order to minimize the possibility of geographical miss of target extensions.     

Kinetics of oxidation of heterocyclic secondary alcohols by N-chloro-r-2,c-6-diphenyl-t-3 methyl piperidin-4-one (NCP) in perchloric acid medium

An investigation of the kinetics of oxidation of epimeric piperidin-4-ols, oxan-4-ols, and cyclohexanol by N-chloro-r -2, c -6-diphenyl-t -3-methylpiperidin-4-one (NCP) in aqueous acetic acid in the presence of perchloric acid shows that the reaction is first-order each in substrate and oxidant. Both H₃O⁺ and Cl^? which catalyze the reaction, exhibit a fractional order kinetics. While increase in ionic strength increases the rate slightly, an inverse dependence is observed between rate and solvent polarity. Addition of r -2-c -6-diphenyl-t -3-methylpiperidin-4-one, one of the reaction products, did not influence the rate. Also, no kinetic isotope effect has been observed. A plausible mechanism consistent with these observations is proposed and the relative reactivities of the substrates are explained on conformational grounds. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Oxidative cleavage of S-arylmercaptoacetic acids by sodium perborate: Kinetic and correlation study

Kinetics of oxidation of twenty six S-arylmercaptoacetic acids (SAMA) (I) by sodium perborate (PB) have been studied in acid medium. The product of oxidation is the corresponding thiophenol. The rate data of meta-and para-substituted acids have been correlated with DSP equations. While the para-compounds correlate well with σ_I and σ_R° values, the meta-compounds correlate well with σ_I and σ values. The reaction constants are negative and of smaller magnitudes. Further, the ortho-substituted acids show a good correlation with a triparametric equation involving Taft's σ_I and _R° and Charton's steric parameter ν. There is a considerable steric contribution to the total ortho-substituent effect. Based on these observations, mechanism involving the formation of protonated arylsulfinylacetic acid intermediate, followed by an intramolecular rearrangement leading to the product thiophenol has been proposed. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Estimation and Comparison of Pore Charge on Titania and Zirconia Membranes Prepared by Sol-Gel Route Using Zeta Potential Measurement

An attempt has been made to synthesize ceramic titania and zirconia membranes by sol-gel process by filtering respective viscous colloidal sol through microporous alumina support and gelling followed by sintering at 400°C and 470°C respectively. The static charge on the pores of the so formed membranes and the pore size distribution determine the applicability in filtering colloidal solution. The mean pore size from SEM were found to be 0.65 m and 0.54 m for titania and zirconia membranes respectively with 1.47 × 10⁷/cm² as pore density for both. The filtration characteristics during membrane layer formation showed that the membrane layer formation started after 35 minutes in the case of titania membrane and 40 minutes in the case of zirconia membrane. From the gravimetric estimation of water content of the membranes the thickness of the membrane was found out to be 3 m and the porosity was found out to be 0.30 for both the cases. The particle charge density was estimated from the zeta potential and the particle size. The pore charge density was estimated from the particle charge density, pore density, pore diameter and the thickness of the membrane layer. The membrane pore charge density was found to vary between 3 to –1 Coulombs/cm² in the case of titania membrane and 7 to –0.5 Coulombs/cm² in the case of zirconia membrane in the pH range 1–12.     

Substituent and solvent effects on electronic absorption spectra of some N-(substitutedphenyl)benzene sulphonamides

The effects of substituents and solvents have been studied through the absorption spectra of nearly 23 ortho- and para-N-(substitutedphenyl)benzene sulphonamides in the range of 200-400 nm. The effects of substituents on the absorption spectra of compounds under present investigation are interpreted by correlation of absorption frequencies with simple and extended Hammett equations. Effect of solvent polarity and hydrogen bonding on the absorption spectra are interpreted by means of Kamlet equation and the results are discussed.