Physical aging of a polyetherimide: Creep and DSC measurements

Creep and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements have been used to study the physical aging behavior of a polyetherimide. Isothermal aging temperatures ranged from 160°C to T_g with aging times ranging from 10 min to 8 days. The only measurable effect of physical aging on the short-time creep curves is a shift of the creep compliance to longer times. Andrade plots of the compliance versus the cube root of time are linear at short times with the slope β decreasing with increasing aging time to a constant value once equilibrium is reached. Log β³ is related directly to the degree to which the creep curves shift to longer times with physical aging, and is used in this work as a measure of physical aging. A reduced curve of log β³ versus log aging time is obtained for the aging temperatures investigated by appropriate vertical and horizontal shifts. The enthalpy change during aging increases linearly with the logarithm of the aging time, t_a, leveling off at equilibrium at values which increase with decreasing aging temperature. Hence, both nonequilibrium and equilibrium temperature shift factors can be calculated from the DSC data. Good agreement is observed between the equilibrium temperature shift factors obtained from the creep and DSC data. The temperature dependence of the nonequilibrium temperature shift factors is found to be an order of magnitude smaller than that of the equilibrium shift factors. The time scales to reach equilibrium for enthalpy and for mechanical measurements are found to be the same within experimental error. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Light Scattering by Cylindrical Fibers with High Aspect Ratio Using the Null‐Field Method with Discrete Sources

The problem of computing light scattering by cylindrical fibers with high aspect ratio in the framework of the Null‐Field method with discrete sources is treated. Numerical experiments for investigating the scattering properties of two fiber geometries are performed using distributed spherical vector wave functions as discrete sources.     

The effect of crystallinity on chain mobility and free volume in the amorphous regions of a miscible polycarbonate/polyester blend

Homopolymers and blends of polycarbonate/ThermX have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, density measurements, and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy. The study focuses on the chain mobility and free volume in the amorphous miscible regions of the blends and how this mobility and free volume are affected by increasing crystallinity. It is proposed that judicious annealing, which results in increasing crystallinity (while avoiding ageing or transesterification), induces a constraint on the amorphous region leading to an increase in T_g and coalescence of free volume sites. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Bounds on the cardinalities of families of nearly neighborly quadrilaterals

We show nearly neighborly families of nine quadrilaterals and conjecture that this is the maximum. Using techniques developed by J. Zaks for nearly neighborly tetrahedra, we show that a nearly neighborly family of quadrilaterals has at most 14 members. A nearly neighborly family of quadrilaterals is said to share a base line if all nearly neighborly quadrilaterals lie on the same side of the line and the line contains a side of each. These families form an important special case. We show that there are 35 inequivalent examples of nearly neighborly families of four quadrilaterals on a base line, but that it is impossible to have a family of five nearly neighborly quadrilaterals on a base line.This work was supported in part by the University of Illinois Research Board, UIUC, Urbana, IL.     

Preparative separation and analysis of the enantiomers of [3H]Abbott-69992, an HIV anti-infective nucleoside, by ligand-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography.

Several chiral stationary phases (CSPs) were examined to separate the enantiomers of A-69992, a chiral HIV anti-infective nucleoside. The only CSP found to be effective was Nucleosil Chiral-1, a ligand-exchange CSP, which was used to prepare microgram amounts of the enantiomers of high optical purity. This appears to be the first separation of the enantiomers of a nucleoside by chiral high-performance liquid chromatography.     

THE MODELING AND ESTIMATION OF THE SHORT-RUN SUPPLY OF ROUNDWOOD UNDER NONLINEAR INCOME TAXES

This paper deals with the theory and estimation of the short-run supply of roundwood under nonlinear (progressive) income taxation. The theoretical part of the paper uses the two-period consumption harvesting model to introduce nonlinear income taxes into the forest management problem and presents a simple method to determine the optimal supply of roundwood in this case. In the empirical part of the paper, the model is specified in a way suitable for econometric analysis. The estimation method is the maximum likelihood method, and the estimation results seem to support the theoretical model. Finally, some results from model simulation imply that income taxation may have a nonnegligible impact on the supply of roundwood.