Investigation of the influence of different commercial softeners on the stability of poly(lactic acid) fabrics during storage

We have studied the potential degradation of poly(lactic acid)-based fabrics treated with commercial softeners and stored under two sets of conditions for one year. Initial wet-processing caused a fall in molecular weight of about 28%, irrespective of after-treatment. Storage at 40 °C and 80% RH produced further degradation which, with few exceptions, was aggravated by the presence of softeners. Ultimately, all samples degraded beyond the point of commercial usefulness. No clear distinction could be made between the effects of softeners having differing compositions. In contrast, fabrics stored under milder conditions of 23 °C and 50% RH showed no significant time-dependent polymer degradation, irrespective of the treatment applied. There were slight changes in tensile properties and some evidence of physical structural effects having occurred, which we attribute to physical aging. However, we do not believe these to be so serious as to call into question the long-term viability of PLA-based textile products.     

Structure elucidation of highly polar basic degradants by on-line hydrogen/deuterium exchange hydrophilic interaction chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

A hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) method was used to separate a commonly used pharmaceutical starting material, 4-aminomethylpyridine (4-AMP), and its degradants. The structures of the major degradants were characterized and elucidated without prior isolation by accurate mass measurement, MS/MS analysis and on-line hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange experiments. The mass spectra obtained from H/D exchange experiments are particularly useful to differentiate structural isomers, to elucidate the fragmentation pathways, and to aid in structure elucidation in the absence of MS/MS fragmentation information. The impact of deuterium oxide and temperature on HILIC separation has also been explored here. The integration of H/D exchange with HILIC has been described here for the first time and has been demonstrated to be a powerful structure elucidation tool via the study of degradants in 4-AMP.     

Oxygen as a site specific probe of the structure of water and oxide materials

The method of oxygen isotope substitution in neutron diffraction is introduced as a site specific structural probe. It is employed to measure the structure of light versus heavy water, thus circumventing the assumption of isomorphism between H and D as used in more traditional neutron diffraction methods. The intramolecular and intermolecular O-H and O-D pair correlations are in excellent agreement with path integral molecular dynamics simulations, both techniques showing a difference of ?0.5% between the O-H and O-D intramolecular bond distances. The results support the validity of a competing quantum effects model for water in which its structural and dynamical properties are governed by an offset between intramolecular and intermolecular quantum contributions.     

Controlling ghost traps in holographic optical tweezers

Computer-generated holograms displayed by phase-modulating spatial light modulators have become a well-established tool for beam shaping purposes in holographic optical tweezers. Still, the generation of light intensity patterns with high spatial symmetry and simultaneously without interfering ghost traps is a challenge. We have implemented an iterative Fourier transform algorithm that is capable of controlling these ghost traps and demonstrate the benefit of this approach in the experiment.     

Boron trifluoride–etherate mediated synthesis of 3-desoxyanthocyanidins including a total synthesis of tricetanidin from black tea

The synthesis of a series of 3-desoxyanthocyanidins via a BF₃·Et₂O-mediated aldol condensation between a substituted acetophenone and salicylaldehyde derivatives is described. Using this new synthetic methodology the synthesis of tricetanidin, a natural pigment isolated from black tea, was accomplished.     

Permutations Generated by Stacks and Deques

Lower and upper bounds are given for the the number of permutations of length n generated by two stacks in series, two stacks in parallel, and a general deque.     

On the determination and construction of optimal row-column designs having unequal row and column sizes

In this paper we consider experimental situations requiring usage of a row-column design where v treatments are to be applied to experimental units arranged in b ₁ rows and b ₂ columns where row i has size k _1i , i=1,..., b ₁ and column j has size k _2j , j=1,..., b ₂. Conditions analogous to those given in Kunert (1983, Ann. Statis., 11, 247–257) and Cheng (1978, Ann. Statist., 6, 1262–1272) are given which can often be used to establish the optimality of a given row-column design from the optimality of an associated block design. In addition, sufficient conditions are derived which guarantee the existence of an optimal row-column design which can be constructed by appropriately arranging treatments within blocks of an optimal block design.Visiting from the Indian Statistical Institute.     

The effect of polyethylene addition on the morphology of polystyrene/polyamide blends

The effect of a small admixture of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) with a high or low viscosity to polystyrene/polyamide (PS/PA) blends of various compositions was studied. PS/PA blends with composition near 50/50 form sheet‐like or fiber‐like morphology at mixing that passes to the cocontinuous structure during compression molding. Ternary PS/PA/HDPE blends with PS/PA ratio about 50/50 show similar behavior. Generally, neither continuity nor shape of PS and PA phases was changed qualitatively by the addition of a small amount of HDPE. In agreement with existing rules for ternary blends, HDPE particles prefer a contact with PS phase to PA phase. On the other hand, none of these rules explains why a number of small HDPE subinclusions were dispersed into PS particles instead of HDPE‐PS core‐shell structure with a lower Gibbs free energy. Quantitative evaluation of the size of PA particles in blends with PS matrix showed that the previously proposed rule stating, that the addition of a small amount of a third immiscible component leads to a strong decrease in the size of dispersed particles, was not valid for the blends studied in this work. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 2158–2170, 2009