Isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate)/layered double hydroxide nanocomposites

Poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)/layered double hydroxides (LDHs) nanocomposites were prepared by mixing PHB and poly(ethylene glycol) phosphonates (PEOPAs)‐modified LDH (PMLDH) in chloroform solution. Both X‐ray diffraction data and TEM micrographs of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites indicate that the PMLDHs are randomly dispersed and exfoliated into the PHB matrix. In this study, the effect of PMLDH on the isothermal crystallization behavior of PHB was investigated using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy. Isothermal crystallization results of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites show that the addition of 2 wt % PMLDH into PHB induced more heterogeneous nucleation in the crystallization significantly increasing the crystallization rate and reducing their activation energy. By adding more PMLDH into the PHB probably causes more steric hindrance of the diffusion of PHB, reducing the transportation ability of polymer chains during crystallization, thus increasing the activation energy. The correlation among crystallization kinetics, melting behavior and crystalline structure of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites can also be discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3337–3347, 2006     

An implicit method for linear ill‐posed problems with perturbed operators

An implicit iterative method is applied to solving linear ill‐posed problems with perturbed operators. It is proved that the optimal convergence rate can be obtained after choosing suitable number of iterations. A generalized Morozov's discrepancy principle is proposed for the problems, and then the optimal convergence rate can also be obtained by an a posteriori strategy. The convergence results show that the algorithm is a robust regularization method. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Almost global existence for Hamiltonian semilinear Klein‐Gordon equations with small Cauchy data on Zoll manifolds

This paper is devoted to the proof of almost global existence results for Klein‐Gordon equations on Zoll manifolds (e.g., spheres of arbitrary dimension) with Hamiltonian nonlinearities, when the Cauchy data are smooth and small. The proof relies on Birkhoff normal form methods and on the specific distribution of eigenvalues of the Laplacian perturbed by a potential on Zoll manifolds. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

MORPHOLOGY OF BLACK CARBON AEROSOLS AND UBIQUITY OF 50-NANOMETER BLACK CARBON AEROSOLS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Different-sized aerosols were collected by an Andersen air sampler to observe the detailed morphology of the black carbon （BC） aerosols which were separated chemically from the other accompanying aerosols, using a Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer （SEM-EDX）. The results indicate that most BC aerosols are spherical particles of about 50 nm in diameter and with a homogeneous surface. Results also show that these particles aggregate with other aerosols or with themselves to form larger agglomerates in the micrometer range. The shape of these 50-nm BC spherical particles was found to be very similar to that of BC particles released from petroleum-powered vehicular internal combustion engines. These spherical BC particles were shown to be different from the previously reported fullerenes found using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry （MALDI-TOF-MS）.     

Magnetic behavior of core–shell particles

We have prepared composite magnetic core–shell particles using the process of soap-free emulsion polymerization and the co-precipitation method. The shell of the synthesized composite sphere is cobalt ferrite (CoFe₂O₄) nanoparticles and the core consists of poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) polymer. The mean crystallite sizes of the coated CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles were controlled in the range of 2.4–6.7 nm by the concentration of [NH₄⁺] and heated temperature. The magnetic properties of the core–shell spherical particles can go from superparamagnetic to ferromagnetic behavior depending on the crystalline sizes of CoFe₂O₄.     

Asymmetric responses of international stock markets to trading volume

The major goal of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that stock returns and return volatility are asymmetric, threshold nonlinear, functions of change in trading volume. A minor goal is to examine whether return spillover effects also display such asymmetry. Employing a double-threshold GARCH model with trading volume as a threshold variable, we find strong evidence supporting this hypothesis in five international market return series. Asymmetric causality tests lend further support to our trading volume threshold model and conclusions. Specifically, an increase in volume is positively associated, while decreasing volume is negatively associated, with the major price index in four of the five markets. The volatility of each series also displays an asymmetric reaction, four of the markets display higher volatility following increases in trading volume. Using posterior odds ratio, the proposed threshold model is strongly favored in three of the five markets, compared to a US news double threshold GARCH model and a symmetric GARCH model. We also find significant nonlinear asymmetric return spillover effects from the US market.     

Analysis of a type of nonsmooth dynamical systems

In this paper, a class of nonsmooth dynamical systems is analyzed. Extensive simulations reveal the chaotic behavior in these systems. By introducing a parameter, a chain of systems with one end being a linear stable system and the other being a chaotic system is constructed. Then the phase transition process through the chain is investigated as the parameter varies. Difficulties involved in analyzing this class of systems are also discussed.     

Matrix model in a class of time dependent supersymmetric backgrounds

We discuss the matrix model in a class of 11D time dependent supersymmetric backgrounds as obtained in [B. Chen, Phys. Lett. B 632 (2006) 393, hep-th/0508191]. We construct the matrix model action through the matrix regularization of the membrane action in the background. We show that the action is exact to all orders of fermionic coordinates. Furthermore we discuss the fuzzy sphere solutions in this background.     

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     

A note on balance vertices in trees

The notion of balanced bipartitions of the vertices in a tree T was introduced and studied by Reid (Networks 34 (1999) 264). Reid proved that the set of balance vertices of a tree T consists of a single vertex or two adjacent vertices. In this note, we give a simple proof of that result.