Recent changes in A-level Mathematics: is the availability and uptake of mechanics declining yet more?

In the past 6 years changes have occurred in GCE A-levels. Inparticular, there have been several major changes in A-levelMathematics courses. As engineering students are usually requiredto have studied A-level Mathematics, or its equivalent, thesechanges have had an effect on their prior mathematical knowledge.Moreover, engineering students traditionally obtained a goodgrounding in mechanics as part of their A-level Mathematicsqualification. However, mechanics, which was once included inthe core syllabus, is now optional. This article investigatesthe current availability and uptake of mechanics modules withinA-level Mathematics courses in schools. Comparisons are drawnbetween these results and results of a survey of schools in2004 and surveys of first year engineering students conductedin 2004 and 2005. It is found that there is a decline in theavailability of mechanics modules and the uptake of more thanone mechanics module has also decreased. The implications ofthese findings for engineering educators are discussed.     

Studies on calcium‐containing poly(urethane ether)s

The calcium salt of mono(hydroxyethoxyethyl)phthalate [Ca(HEEP)₂] was synthesized by the reaction of diethylene glycol, phthalic anhydride, and calcium acetate. Calcium‐containing poly(urethane ether)s (PUEs) were synthesized by the reaction of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HMDI) or tolylene 2,4‐diisocyanate (TDI) with a mixture of Ca(HEEP)₂ and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG₃₀₀ or PEG₄₀₀) with di‐n‐butyltin dilaurate as a catalyst. A series of calcium‐containing PUEs of different compositions were synthesized with Ca(HEEP)₂/PEG₃₀₀ (or PEG₄₀₀)/diisocyanate (HMDI or TDI) molar ratios of 2:2:4, 3:1:4, and 1:3:4 so that the coating properties of the PUEs could be studied. Blank PUEs without calcium‐containing ionic diols were also prepared by the reaction of PEG₃₀₀ or PEG₄₀₀ with HMDI or TDI. The PUEs were well characterized by Fourier transform infrared, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, solid‐state cross‐polarity/magic‐angle‐spinning ¹³C NMR, viscosity, solubility, and X‐ray diffraction studies. The thermal properties of the polymers were also studied with thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The PUEs were applied as top coats on acrylic‐coated leather, and their physicomechanical properties were also studied. The coating properties of PUEs, such as the tensile strength, elongation at break, tear strength, water vapor permeability, flexing endurance, cold crack resistance, abrasion resistance, color fastness, and adhesive strength, were better than the standard values. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2865–2878, 2003     

Latex particles bearing hydrophilic grafted hairs with controlled chain length and functionality synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer

A method is described for synthesizing latex particles with anchored hairs by the grafting of hydrophilic chains, synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer, onto functionalized latex particles. These have the potential to bind biologically active species. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1188–1195, 2003     

Dispersion and distribution of organically modified montmorillonite in nylon‐66 matrix

Nylon‐66 nanocomposites were prepared by melt‐compounding nylon‐66 with an alkyl ammonium surfactant pretreated montmorillonite (MMT). The thermal stability of the organic MMT powders was measured by thermogravimetric analysis. The decomposition of the surfactant on the MMT occurred from 200 to 500 °C. The low onset decomposition temperature of the organic MMT is one shortcoming when it is used to prepare polymer nanocomposites at high melt‐compounding temperatures. To provide greater property enhancement and better thermal stability of the polymer/MMT nanocomposites, it is necessary to develop MMT modified with more thermally stable surfactants. The dispersion and spatial distribution of the organic MMT layers in the nylon‐66 matrix were characterized by X‐ray diffraction. The organic MMT layers were exfoliated but not randomly dispersed in the nylon‐66 matrix. A model was proposed to describe the spatial distribution of the organic MMT layers in an injection‐molded rectangular bar of nylon‐66/organic MMT nanocomposites. Most organic MMT layers were oriented in the injection‐molding direction. Layers near the four surfaces of the bar were parallel to their corresponding surfaces; whereas those in the bulk differed from the near‐surface layers and rotated themselves about the injection‐molding direction. The influence of the spatial distribution of the organic MMT on crystallization of nylon‐66 was also investigated. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1234–1243, 2003     

Controlled/living polymerization of 2‐(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate and its block copolymer with tert‐butyl methacrylate by atom transfer radical polymerization

Polymerization of 2‐(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DEAEMA) via homogeneous atom transfer radical polymerization under various reaction conditions is described. The effects of the initiators and solvents were examined. With 1,1,4,7,10,10‐hexamethyl triethylenetetramine/copper(I) chloride/p‐toluenesulfonyl chloride as the ligand/catalyst/initiator system in methanol, poly(DEAEMA) with a polydispersity index as low as 1.07 was synthesized. Kinetic studies demonstrated the polymerization was very well controlled and exhibited the living characteristic of the process. Well‐defined block copolymers of DEAEMA and tert‐butyl methacrylate (tBMA) were successfully synthesized. The copolymers could be synthesized with equally good results by starting with either p(DEAEMA) or p(tBMA) as the macroinitiators. However, only the macroinitiators terminated with chlorine should be used. The corresponding macroinitiators with bromine as a transferable group did not yield well‐defined copolymers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2688–2695, 2003     

Annealing behavior of gel‐spun polyethylene fibers at temperatures lower than needed for significant shrinkage

The annealing at 373 K of ultrastrong, gel‐spun polyethylene (PE) has been studied. At this temperature, the fibers show no significant shrinkage. Still, a significant decrease in the mechanical properties is observed. The fibers have been analyzed with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). During the annealing, the glass transition of the intermediate phase is exceeded, as shown by DSC. When split for structure analysis by AFM, the annealed fibers undergo plastic deformation around the base fibrils instead of brittle fracture. The quasi‐isothermal TMDSC experiments are compared to the minor structural changes seen with SAXS and AFM. The loss of performance of the PE fibers at 373 K is suggested to be caused by the oriented intermediate phase, and not by major changes in the structure or morphology. The overall metastable, semicrystalline structure is shown by TMDSC to posses local regions that can melt reversibly. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 403–417, 2003     

Development of a parallel storm surge model

A new parallel storm surge model, the Parallel Environmental Model (PEM), is developed and tested by comparisons with analytic solutions. The PEM is a 2‐D vertically averaged, wetting and drying numerical model and can be operated in explicit, semi‐implicit and fully implicit modes. In the implicit mode, the propagation, Coriolis and bottom friction terms can all be treated implicitly. The advection and diffusion terms are solved with a parallel Eulerian–Lagrangian scheme developed for this study. The model is developed specifically for use on parallel computer systems and will function accordingly in either explicit of implicit modes. Storm boundary conditions are based on a simple exponential decay of pressure from the centre of a storm. The simulated flooding caused by a major Category 5 hurricane making landfall in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida is then presented as an example application of the PEM. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis transitions of partially and fully substituted cellulose fatty esters

The main transitions of cellulose fatty esters with different degrees of substitution (DSs) were investigated with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Two distinct main relaxations were observed in partially substituted cellulose esters (PSCEs). They were attributed to the glass‐transition temperature and to the chain local motion of the aliphatic substituents. The temperatures of both transitions decreased when DS or the number of carbon atoms (n) of the acyl substituent increased. Conversely, all the transitions of fully substituted cellulose esters occurred within a narrow temperature range, and they did not vary significantly with n. This phenomenon was explained by the formation of a crystalline phase of the fatty substituents. The presence of few residual OH groups in PSCEs was responsible for a large increase in the storage bending modulus, and it eliminated the effect of n on damping. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 281–288, 2003     

2‐connected 7‐coverings of 3‐connected graphs on surfaces

An m‐covering of a graph G is a spanning subgraph of G with maximum degree at most m. In this paper, we shall show that every 3‐connected graph on a surface with Euler genus k ≥ 2 with sufficiently large representativity has a 2‐connected 7‐covering with at most 6k ? 12 vertices of degree 7. We also construct, for every surface F² with Euler genus k ≥ 2, a 3‐connected graph G on F² with arbitrarily large representativity each of whose 2‐connected 7‐coverings contains at least 6k ? 12 vertices of degree 7. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 43: 26–36, 2003     

Determination of carbamazepine by chemiluminescence detection using chemically prepared tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) as oxidant.

A new chemiluminescence method for the determination of carbamazepine (CBZ) has been developed. The method is based on the chemiluminescence produced in the reaction of tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(III) and CBZ in an acidic medium. The chemiluminescence intensity was enhanced by organic solvents in the reaction system. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the calibration curve was linear over the range 4.0 x 10(-3)-8.6 x 10(-7) mol/L for CBZ. The detection limit (S/N = 3) was 2.5 x 10(-7) mol/L and the relative standard deviation of six replicate measurements was 2.6% for 4.0 x 10(-4) mol/L of CBZ. The possible reaction mechanism were also discussed. The chemiluminescence method was successfully applied to assay the CBZ contents in pharmaceutical tablets.