Evaluation of compatibility in polymer blend systems by simultaneous DSC-FTIR measurement

The concept of crystallization dynamics method evaluating the miscibility of binary blend system including crystalline component was proposed. Three characteristic rates, nucleation, crystal growth rates (N*, G*) and growth rate of conformation (G _c*) were used to evaluate the miscibility of PVDF/at-PMMA and PVDF/iso-PMMA by the simultaneous DSC-FTIR. N*, G* and G _c* depended remarkably on both temperature and blend fraction (ϕ_PMMA) for PVDF/at-PMMA system, which indicated the miscible system. PVDF/iso-PMMA showed small ϕ_PMMA dependency of N*, G* and G _c*, was estimated the immiscible system. The ΔT/T _m⁰ values, corresponding to Gibbs energy required to attend the constant G* and G _c*, evaluated from G* and G _c* showed the good linear relationships with different slope. The experimental results suggested that the concentration fluctuation existed in PVDF/iso-PMMA system.     

Characteristics of Ti0.97Co0.03O2:Sb0.01 dilute magnetic semiconducting thin films deposited at 500 °C by pulsed laser deposition

Epitaxial Ti_0.97Co_0.03O₂:Sb_0.01(TCO:Sb) films were deposited on R-Al₂O₃ (1 1 0 2) substrates at 500 °C in various deposition pressures by pulsed laser deposition. The solubility of cobalt within the films increases with decreasing deposition pressure at a deposition temperature of 500 °C. The TCO:Sb films deposited at 5×10⁻⁶ Torr exhibit a p-type anomalous Hall effect having a hole concentration of 6.1×10²²/cm³ at 300 K. On the other hand, films deposited at 4×10⁻⁴ Torr exhibits an n-type anomalous Hall effect having an electron concentration of about 1.1×10²¹/cm³. p- or n-type DMS characteristics depends on the change of the structure of TCO:Sb films and the solubility of Co is possible by controlling the deposition pressure.     

Codes Over the p-adic Integers

We study codes over the p-adic integers and correct errors in the existing literature. We show that MDS codes exist over the p-adics for all lengths, ranks and p. We show that self-dual codes exist over the 2-adics if and only if the length is a multiple of 8 and that self-dual codes exist over the p-adics with p odd if and only if the length is 0 (mod 4) for p ≡ 3 (mod 4) and 0 (mod 2) for p ≡ 1 (mod 4).     

In‐line monitoring of UV photopolymerization with a quartz crystal resonator

An in‐line monitoring device using a quartz crystal resonator for thin film polymerization was proposed, and its performance has been evaluated by implementing in the UV polymerization of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate with a photoinitiator of 1‐chloroanthraquinone. Because the variation of resonant resistance of the resonator is proportional to the square root of viscosity change that is closely related to the polymerization degree, the resistance can be used as a measure of the polymerization degree. The resistance measurements were compared with the outcome of instrumental analyses of polymerization degree using an FTIR spectrometer and a gel permeation chromatograph. The experimental results showed that the resistance measurements were consistent with the experimental outcome of the instrumental analyses, and this indicates the effectiveness of the proposed device. Owing to the simplicity and availability of the resonator system, its wide utilization in the monitoring of a variety of film polymerization processes, including photoresistor application, is expected. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2428–2439, 2006     

Synthesis and luminescence characteristics of conjugated dendrimers with 2,4,6‐triaryl‐1,3,5‐triazine periphery

We have synthesized conjugated dendrimer with triazine peripheries, and their luminescence properties were investigated. The dendrimers consist of dendritic triazine wedges for electron transport, distyrylbenzene core as an emitting moiety, and t‐butyl peripheral groups for good processing properties. The dendrimers have LUMO values of about ?2.7 eV possibly because of the triazine moiety with high electron affinity. Photoluminescence study indicates that energy transfer occurs from the triazine wedges to the stilbene bridge, and finally to the core chromophore units due to a cascade decrease of bandgap from the peripheral wedge to core moiety. Therefore, the emission wavelength was determined by the structure of the core unit. The energy transfer efficiency of distyrylbenzene‐cored dendrimers was about 75 and 55% for Trz‐1GD‐DSB and Trz‐2GD‐DSB, respectively. A preliminary electroluminescence property also was investigated. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 254–263, 2006     

Badge-type diffusive sampler using 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone for measuring formaldehyde in indoor air.

The evaluation of a badge-type diffusive sampler for measuring formaldehyde using 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone (MBTH) was investigated. On average, the formaldehyde concentration in blanks was reduced by approximately 31% by cleaning procedures. The cleaning techniques did not significantly differ in effectiveness. The maximum sampling rate was 22.4 +/- 3.5 mL min(-1) at MBTH concentrations of 0.05%. The formaldehyde concentration in blanks did not appreciably increase over a period of about 1 month at room temperature, and was 0.36 +/- 0.03 microg, with a relative standard deviation of 8%. The diffusive sampler had good precision and accuracy for measuring formaldehyde in indoor environments. For a 24-h exposure time, the limits of detection and quantification calculated with the field blanks were 9.7 and 13.8 ppb, respectively. The minimum exposure times were calculated based on the measured and calculated limits of quantification, the sampling rate, and the atmospheric formaldehyde concentration. The capacity of the diffusive sampler with 0.5% MBTH was 3 ppm h(-1), approximately 1.5-times the capacity when the MBTH concentrations were 0.05%.     

A pair of orthogonal frames

We start with a characterization of a pair of frames to be orthogonal in a shift-invariant space and then give a simple construction of a pair of orthogonal shift-invariant frames. This is applied to obtain a construction of a pair of Gabor orthogonal frames as an example. This is also developed further to obtain constructions of a pair of orthogonal wavelet frames.     

Two methods for semi-automated quantification of changes in ventricular volume and their use in schizophrenia

Two semi-automated methods for quantification of ventricular volume change from baseline and follow-up magnetic resonance imaging scans have been developed. Technique 1 employs direct segmentation of the ventricles from both the scans using thresholding and contour extraction. Technique 2 operates on difference images produced by voxel based intensity subtraction of the baseline from the registered follow-up images. Here, all voxels with intensities above a noise threshold and in a restricted area are monitored to compute volumetric changes. In phantom measurements the first technique was accurate to 0.0046%, the second to 0.167% of the phantom volume. Results from normal volunteers was that the average ventricular volume changed by 1.52% and 1.54% for images acquired within 9 months using techniques 1 and 2, respectively. With schizophrenic patients mean change of 10.78% and 9.43% were found employing the first and second procedures, respectively. All measurements agreed with a radiologist’s visual grading of the changes. Robust, objective, fast, easy-to-use, and fairly accurate procedures have been developed and validated to quantify volumetric changes.