Cellulose-polyamide 66 blends. Part II: Mechanical behavior

Blends of the natural polymer cellulose with a synthetic polymer, polyamide 66, are studied in order to determine if the expected strong interaction between them, due to hydrogen bonds, could improve their mechanical properties such as strength and elongation at break. In a previous work {Part I, J. Polym. Sci. Polym. Phys., 32 , 1437 (1994)}, the preparation technique and the characterization of cellulose-polyamide 66 (PA66) blends were described in detail. Several samples in the composition range between 0 to 70 wt % of PA66 were carefully dried and examined using dynamic mechanical and tensile tests. Based on previous work a new percolation model has been developed. It takes both linear and nonlinear mechanical behaviors into account and allows for the effect of adhesion between material domains. From comparison between experimental and predicted data, it is concluded that a partial miscibility between the amorphous phases of cellulose and PA66 exists and is responsible for a strong adhesion at their interface. Solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance has also been used to study these samples and supports the existence of strong interactions between both homopolymers. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Reaction of monocyclic ferrocenyl-4,5-dihydropyrazoles with β-dicarbonyl compounds

Monocyclic 3- and 5-ferrocenyl-4,5-dihydropyrazoles with a free NH group in the molecule react with acetylacetone to form the corresponding enaminocarbonyl compounds. The latter were isolated as a single isomer, presumably E. 3-Ferrocenyldihydropyrazoles and 5-ferrocenyl-3-(p-methoxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydropyrazole analogously react with acetoacetic ester. 5-Ferrocenyl-3-phenyl-, 3-(p-bromophenyl)-5-ferrocenyl, and 3,5-diferrocenyl-4,5-dihydropyrazoles react with acetoacetic ester to form acetoacetylpyrazolides.Translated from Zhurnal Obshchei Khimii, Vol. 74, No. 12, 2004, pp. 1942–1947.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by E. Klimova, Vazquez Lopez, T. Klimova, Martinez Garcia, Meleshonkova, Ruiz Ramirez.This revised version was published online in April 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Phototoxic effects of Hypericum extract in cultures of human keratinocytes compared with those of psoralen

Extracts of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) are used in the treatment of depression. They contain the plant pigment hypericin and hypericin derivates. These compounds have light-dependent activities. In order to estimate the potential risk of phototoxic skin damage during antidepressive therapy, we investigated the phototoxic activity of hypericin extract using cultures of human keratinocytes and compared it with the effect of the well-known phototoxic agent psoralen. The absorbance spectrum of our Hypericum extract revealed maxima in the whole UV range and in parts of the visible range. We cultivated human keratinocytes in the presence of different Hypericum concentrations and irradiated the cells with 150 mJ/cm2 UVB, 1 J/cm2 UVA or 3 h with a white light of photon flux density 2.6 mumol m-2 s-1. The determination of the bromodeoxyuridine incorporation rate showed a concentration- and light-dependent decrease in DNA synthesis with high hypericin concentrations (> or = 50 micrograms/mL) combined with UVA or visible light radiation. In the case of UVB irradiation a clear phototoxic cell reaction was not detected. We found phototoxic effects even with 10 ng/mL psoralen using UVA with the same study design as in the case of the Hypericum extract. These results confirm the phototoxic activity of Hypericum extract on human keratinocytes. However, the blood levels that are to be expected during antidepressive therapy are presumably too low to induce phototoxic skin reactions.     

Temporal cleaning of a high-energy fiber-based ultrafast laser using cross-polarized wave generation

We report the use of cross-polarized wave generation to perform both pulse shortening and temporal cleaning of a high-energy ytterbium-doped fiber-based femtosecond laser system. The nonlinear processes allow both a highly efficient nonlinear conversion of 20% and a large compression ratio of 3.5, with inherently improved coherent and incoherent contrasts. This results in the generation of 37 μJ, 115 fs pulses at a repetition rate of 100 kHz with high temporal quality.     

Analysis of ultrasonic guided waves propagating in long bones and cortical thickness based on time-frequency methods

The ultrasonic signals in long bones contain multiple guided modes which are mutual superposed.The velocities of guided waves in long bones are very sensitive to cortical thickness (CTh).In this paper,Hilbert-Huang transform(HHT) was proposed to analyze multi-mode guided waves,which can decompose superposed waves into many independent modes.Then the group velocity of each mode was obtained at corresponding frequency,which was compared with the results of short time Fourier transform(STFT).The CTh was also obtained by comparing with the theoretical calculation.The results showed that the experimental determined thickness was in agreement with the actual CTh,indicating that measuring the velocity of the guided mode can be used to estimate the CTh.The HHT is an effective method to identify multimode guided waves.     

基于时频分布的盲信号分离方法研究长骨中的多模式导波信号

由于超声导波对长骨皮质骨的材料特性及厚度变化非常敏感,因此用导波评价长骨状况的研究已成为近年来的一个研究热点。在接收到的导波中,往往多种模式混叠在一起,使得进一步求取每种导波模式的群速度等与骨质状况密切相关的参数时遇到困难。本文采用基于时频分布的盲信号分离(TFBSS)方法对长骨中混叠的多模式进行分离,然后对分离后的单一导波模式求取群速度。研究结果表明TFBSS方法能够准确的分离出混叠的多模式导波,且实验测量的群速度与其理论值吻合。利用导波的群速度就可以得到长骨皮质骨的厚度,这对诊断其骨质状况具有重要意义。     

A high statistics measurement of the Lambda(+)(c) lifetime

A high statistics measurement of the Lambda(+)(c) lifetime from the Fermilab fixed-target FOCUS photoproduction experiment is presented. We describe the analysis technique with particular attention to the determination of the systematic uncertainty. The measured value of 204.6 +/- 3.4 (stat) +/- 2.5 (syst) fs from 8034 +/- 122 Lambda(+)(c)-->pK(-)pi(+) decays represents a significant improvement over the present world average.