Characterization of a 4-miktoarm star copolymer of the (PS-b-PI)3 PS type by temperature gradient interaction chromatography

Temperature gradient interaction chromatography (TGIC) was applied for the separation of a complex miktoarm star copolymer which has one polystyrene (PS) arm and three polystyrene-b-polyisoprene (PS-b-PI) diblock copolymer arms. Such miktoarm star polymers are much more difficult to characterize than branched homopolymers since the byproduct, typically polymers with missing arm(s) or coupled products, have not only different molecular weights but also different compositions. TGIC was able to fully separate the byproducts, and the composition of the molecular species corresponding to the different separated elution peaks was determined by two methods, fractionation/NMR and multiple detection (UV and RI). A reasonable agreement between the results of the two methods was obtained. By using the composition found, the corresponding molecular weights were determined by multi-angle light scattering detection. Based on the composition and the molecular weight we were able to identify the structure of the different molecular species.     

Optimality relationships forp-cyclic SOR

Summary The optimality question for blockp-cyclic SOR iterations discussed in Young and Varga is answered under natural conditions on the spectrum of the block Jacobi matrix. In particular, it is shown that repartitioning a blockp-cyclic matrix into a blockq-cyclic form,q, results in asymptotically faster SOR convergence for the same amount of work per iteration. As a consequence block 2-cyclic SOR is optimal under these conditions.Research supported in part by the US Air Force under Grant no. AFOSR-88-0285 and the National Science Foundation under grant no. DMS-85-21154 Present address: Boeing Computer Services, P.O. Box 24346, MS 7L-21, Seattle, WA 98124-0346, USA     

Experience Gained Using Second-Moment Closure Modeling for Transitional Flows Due to Boundary Layer Separation

This paper presents detailed information on the experience gained during the attempts to model a set of transitional flows due to boundary layer separation. These flows are developed on a flat plate with a semi-circular leading edge and they have been coded by the ERCOFTAC Special Interest Group on Transition, as T3L flows. Different freestream velocities and turbulence intensities configure these transitional flows and, by consequence, govern the transition mechanism, resulting in larger or smaller transitional regions. The modeling of the T3L flows has been performed by adopting a low-Reynolds number second-moment closure turbulence model. The results showed satisfactory agreement with the experimental measurements, although some difficulties regarding successful convergence have been faced. The final conclusion is that turbulence modeling can present quite accurate results for transitional flows without any additional use of ad-hoc modifications or additional equations based on various transition models and intermittency transport modeling.     

The electronic structure of vanadium carbide, VC

Within an energy range of 2.4 eV, we have explored 29 of the 36 states of the diatomic molecule VC that arise from the atoms in their ground state, V(4s23d3;4F)+C(2s2 2p2;3P). We use multireference methods with large atomic natural orbital basis sets. The ground state is of 2Delta symmetry with the first two excited states, 4Delta and 2Sigma+, located 4.2 and 7.0 kcal/mol above the X state. All the states examined in this work are relatively strongly bound and show significant charge transfer from V to C. The binding energy of the X 2Delta state is estimated to be 95.3 kcal/mol in good agreement with the experimental value.     

Extraction studies of antimony bromide into benzene

Antimony(III) can be extracted rapidly and quantitatively into benzene from a 10 M H₂SO₄–0.03 M HBr system. The extracted antimony bromide has an antimony to bromine ratio of 1:3. Under the above optimum conditions for extraction of antimony, the behaviour of 35 other elements was studied; As³⁺, Ge⁴⁺, Se⁴⁺, and Sn²⁺ were extracted almost quantitatively, and the percentage extraction of Hg²⁺, Bi³⁺, and Te⁴⁺ was 74.1%, 10% and 5.5% respectively. The extraction of the elements into benzene from a 5 M H₂SO₄–0.01 M KI system was also investigated, A comparison of the two systems is given.     

Diblock copolymers of polystyrene‐b‐poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene) exhibiting unique three‐phase microdomain morphologies

The synthesis and molecular characterization of a series of conformationally asymmetric polystyrene‐block‐poly(1,3‐cyclohexadiene) (PS‐b‐PCHD) diblock copolymers (PCHD: ～90% 1,4 and ～10% 1,2), by sequential anionic copolymerization high vacuum techniques, is reported. A wide range of volume fractions (0.27 ≤ ?_PS ≤ 0.91) was studied by transmission electron microscopy and small‐angle X‐ray scattering in order to explore in detail the microphase separation behavior of these flexible/semiflexible diblock copolymers. Unusual morphologies, consisting of PCHD core(PCHD‐1,4)–shell(PCHD‐1,2) cylinders in PS matrix and three‐phase (PS, PCHD‐1,4, PCHD‐1,2) four‐layer lamellae, were observed suggesting that the chain stiffness of the PCHD block and the strong dependence of the interaction parameter χ on the PCHD microstructures are important factors for the formation of this unusual microphase separation behavior in PS‐b‐PCHD diblock copolymers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 1564–1572     

Synthesis of a Novel Chitosan/Basil Oil Blend and Development of Novel Low Density Poly Ethylene/Chitosan/Basil Oil Active Packaging Films Following a Melt-Extrusion Process for Enhancing Chicken Breast Fillets Shelf-Life

An innovative process for the adsorption of the hydrophobic Basil-Oil (BO) into the hydrophilic food byproduct chitosan (CS) and the development of an advanced low-density polyethylene/chitosan/basil-oil (LDPE/CS_BO) active packaging film was investigated in this work. The idea of this study was the use of the BO as both a bioactive agent and a compatibilizer. The CS was modified to a CS_BO hydrophobic blend via a green evaporation/adsorption process. This blend was incorporated directly in the LDPE to produce films with advanced properties. All the obtained composite films exhibited improved packaging properties. The film with 10% CS_BO content exhibited the best packaging properties, i.e., 33.0% higher tensile stress, 31.0% higher water barrier, 54.3% higher oxygen barrier, and 12.3% higher antioxidant activity values compared to the corresponding values of the LDPE films. The lipid oxidation values of chicken breast fillets which were packaged under vacuum using this film were measured after seven and after fourteen days of storage. These values were found to be lower by around 41% and 45%, respectively, compared with the corresponding lipid oxidation values of pure LDPE film.     

On the universal Gröbner bases of toric ideals of graphs

The universal Gröbner basis of an ideal is a Gröbner basis with respect to all term orders simultaneously. We characterize in graph theoretical terms the elements of the universal Gröbner basis of the toric ideal of a graph. We also provide a new degree bound. Finally, we give examples of graphs for which the true degrees of their circuits are less than the degrees of some elements of the Graver basis.     

Separation-induced boundary layer transition: Modeling with a non-linear eddy-viscosity model coupled with the laminar kinetic energy equation

We present an effort to model the separation-induced transition on a flat plate with a semi-circular leading edge, using a cubic non-linear eddy-viscosity model combined with the laminar kinetic energy. A non-linear model, compared to a linear one, has the advantage to resolve the anisotropic behavior of the Reynolds-stresses in the near-wall region and it provides a more accurate expression for the generation of turbulence in the transport equation of the turbulence kinetic energy. Although in its original formulation the model is not able to accurately predict the separation-induced transition, the inclusion of the laminar kinetic energy increases its accuracy. The adoption of the laminar kinetic energy by the non-linear model is presented in detail, together with some additional modifications required for the adaption of the laminar kinetic energy into the basic concepts of the non-linear eddy-viscosity model. The computational results using the proposed combined model are shown together with the ones obtained using an isotropic linear eddy-viscosity model, which adopts also the laminar kinetic energy concept and in comparison with the existing experimental data.