Chromium in biological materials — IAEA intercomparison results

Summary Some reasons for the relatively large confidence intervals for Cr in IAEA Reference Materials are critically evaluated. Possible sources of error in the determination of Cr are mentioned.

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Chrom in biologischen Materialien — Ergebnisse von IAEA-Ringversuchen

     

Survey and evaluation of available biological reference materials for trace element analysis

Summary A database recently prepared by IAEA contains information on 60 internationally available biological reference materials (BRMs) from 9 producers. The data recorded for each material include: name, code No., cost, list of elements, and minimum weight of material recommended for analysis. For each element the concentration and its confidence interval (CI) are recorded, as well as an indication of whether the concentration value is certified or noncertified (e.g. an information value).Large differences among producers are observed in respect of how the concentration values and their CIs are defined, and how other relevant information is reported in the certificates of analysis. International recommendations on how this should be done generally do not seem to be followed.For several elements of biomedical interest there is a serious lack of BRMs namely: Al, F, I, Mo, Si, Sn and V. In addition, the CIs for the following elements are generally excessively large: Al, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se and V.     

Dynamic mechanical and crystal-strain measurements on ultrahigh modulus oriented polyoxymethylene: A revised value for the true crystal modulus

Dynamic mechanical measurements on ultrahigh modulus polyoxymethylene have been undertaken over the temperature range ?150 to 20°C. Measurements of the longitudinal crystal modulus have also been made by studying changes in the (009) reflection with load, over a similar range of temperatures. The dynamic Young's modulus at 5 Hz reaches a value at low temperatures of 64.5 GPa for the most highly oriented sample. The crystal modulus at low temperatures is 105 GPa, which is almost twice the previously reported room-temperature value.     

Two contact problems in anisotropic thermoelasticity

Some basic equations recently derived by Clements are used to consider two contact problems in anisotropic thermoelasticity. The first problem concerns the determination of the thermal stress in an anisotropic half-space due to a heated load over a section of the boundary. The second problem concerns the indentation of a half-space by a heated rigid punch. In particular, indentation by a cylindrical punch is considered and some numerical results obtained.

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Zusammenfassung Einige Grundgleichungen, die Clements neulich abgeleitet hat, dienen als Grundlage, um zwei Kontaktprobleme in der anisotropischen Thermoelastizität zu betrachten. Im ersten Problem geht es darum, die Wärmespannung in einem anisotropischen Halbraum zu bestimmen, die von einer erhitzten Last über einem Teil der Grenzlinie hervorgebracht wird.Im zweiten Problem geht es darum, einen Halbraum durch eine erhitzte starre Punze auszuzacken. Insbesondere wird das Auszacken durch eine kreisartize Punze betrachtet, und es ergeben sich numerische Angaben.

     

Melting behavior of ultrahigh modulus linear polyethylene

The differential-scanning calorimetry (DSC) behavior of drawn linear polyethylene (LPE) has been investigated as a function of draw ratio and molecular weight. All the samples examined showed a dependence of the melting temperature on heating rate, an effect generally known as superheating. The magnitude of this effect, as well as the maximum melting temperatures, increased markedly at high draw ratio and high molecular weight. The highest melting temperature recorded was 145°C for a tape of draw ratio 25 and weight-average molecular weight of 312,000. The results were first considered in terms of the information which might be provided regarding crystal thickness. It was concluded that the DSC data are consistent with previous wide-angle x-ray diffraction results in confirming that an extended chain morphology similar to that observed in pressure crystallized LPE is not present in these samples. Secondly, the superheating effects were examined in the light of the possible configurational constraints on the amorphous regions of drawn polymers, along the lines proposed by Zachmann. It is possible to understand the effects of draw ratio and molecular weight very well on this basis, in a manner consistent with previous structural results on these materials.     

Electrodynamic Dust Shields on the International Space Station: Exposure to the space environment

Electrodynamic Dust Shields (EDS) have been in development at NASA as a dust mitigation method for lunar and Martian missions. An active dust mitigation strategy, such as that provided by the EDS, that can remove dust from surfaces, is of crucial importance to the planetary exploration program. We report on the development of a flight experiment to fully expose four EDS panels to the space environment. This flight experiment is part of the Materials International Space Station experiment X (MISSE-X), an external platform on the International Space Station that will expose materials to the space environment.     

Thermosensitive hard spheres

We demonstrate an extension of a UV-Vis spectroscopy method to determine the phase boundaries for thermosensitive colloids as an alternative to the time-consuming sedimentation method. The Bragg attenuation peak from colloidal crystallites was monitored during the quasi-equilibrium colloidal crystal melting. The melting and freezing boundaries of the coexistence region were determined via a blue shift of Bragg's peak and the disappearance of peak area. We confirm this method using poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) particles at different charge densities and temperatures far below the lower critical solution temperature. At low pH, the particles behave as thermosensitive hard spheres.     

New techniques to evaluate the incendivity of insulators

New techniques for evaluating the incendiary behavior of insulators is presented. The onset of incendive brush discharges in air is evaluated using standard spark probe techniques for the case simulating approaches of an electrically grounded sphere to a charged insulator in the presence of a flammable atmosphere. However, this standard technique is unsuitable for the case of brush discharges that may occur during the charging–separation process for two insulator materials. We present experimental techniques to evaluate this hazard in the presence of a flammable atmosphere which is ideally suited to measure the incendiary nature of micro-discharges upon separation, a measurement never before performed. Other measurement techniques unique to this study include: surface potential measurements of insulators before, during and after contact and separation, as well as methods to verify fieldmeter calibrations using a charge insulator surface opposed to standard high voltage plates.     

Cycloaddition Reactions of 7‐Benzylidenecycloocta‐1,3,5‐triene with Ethenetetracarbonitrile and 4‐Phenyl‐3H‐1,2,4‐triazole‐3,5(4H)‐dione

An (E)/(Z) mixture (3 : 2) of 7‐benzylidenecycloocta‐1,3,5‐triene ( 5 ) is obtained when 1‐benzylcycloocta‐1,3,5,7‐tetraene ( 7 ), prepared by an improved procedure, is treated with t‐BuOK in THF. Alternatively, a ca. 9 : 1 mixture (E)/(Z)‐ 5 can be prepared in a Wittig reaction involving benzaldehyde and cycloocta‐2,4,6‐trien‐1‐ylidenetriphenylphoshorane ( 9 ). Treatment of (E)/(Z)‐ 5 88 : 12 with ethenetetracarbonitrile (TCNE) gave a complex mixture of products, from which seven mono‐adducts and two bis‐adducts were isolated (Sect. 2.2.1). Of the mono‐adducts, four are π4+π2 adducts: two ((E)‐ and (Z)‐isomers) are derived from valence tautomers of the two isomers of (E)/(Z)‐ 5 , while it is tentatively suggested that the other two (again (E)‐ and (Z)‐isomers) are formed from the intermediacy of a pentadienyl zwitterion (Sect. 2.3). The remaining three mono‐adducts, two of which are epimers, are π8+π2 adducts. It is suggested that they are derived from the intermediacy of homotropylium zwitterions (Sect. 2.3). For the two bis‐adducts, it is postulated that they are derived from an initial π2+π2 cycloaddition involving the homotropylium zwitterions followed by π4+π2 cycloaddition to the valence tautomer of each of the π2+π2 cycloadducts. With 4‐phenyl‐3H‐1,2,4‐triazole‐3,5(4H)‐dione ( 6 ), (E)/(Z)‐ 5 91 : 9 yielded two π4+π2 cycloadducts ((E)‐ and (Z)‐isomers) as well as two epimeric π8+π2 cycloadducts (Sect. 2.2.2). The intermediacy of pentadienyl (tentative suggestion) and homotropylium zwitterions accounts for the formation of the products (Sect. 2.3).