Thermoplastic polymers quality control

A technique is proposed for improving the accuracy of the heat of fusion of semicrystalline polymers by DSC. The results of three commercially available instruments are compared.     

NATA: 50 years experience with accreditation

 Laboratory accreditation is becoming increasingly accepted around the world as a means of identifying technically competent laboratories. It is also being used as a mechanism for the acceptance of test data both nationally and internationally. The concept and mechanisms of accreditation have been developed over the past 50 years. The first national laboratory accreditation system appeared in Australia in 1947. This organisation, known as the National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA), has since taken a leading role in developing accreditation practices that are now used world-wide in evaluating testing, measurement and calibration laboratories. This paper examines the development of the world's first and largest laboratory accreditation system, and looks at the difficulties and triumphs in gaining acceptance and recognition by government and industry of the benefits of laboratory accreditation. Received: 24 June 1996 Accepted: 25 June 1996     

Molecular electric field mapping of some anions and cations of 2- aminopurine and 6- thioguanine

Electric fields of the anions, cations and neutral forms of 2-aminopurine and 6-thioguanine have been mapped. Certain important features of the maps are similar to those found earlier in the neutral and ionic forms of adenine and guanine. The computed electric field patterns satisfactorily explain reactive sites and biological activity of the molecules.     

Molecular Orbital Calculations on 2, 4, 6-Trinitrotoluene

Three ab initio calculations (HF/6-3IG, HF/6-3IG*, and HF/6-3IG**) on 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene were made, The results compare well with xray data, except dihedral angles of NO₂ relative to the plane of the benzene ring. The deviations are attributed to packing forces and steric effects in the crystal. The most stable structure was a torsional angle 10° of the methyl top with the benzene ring, unlike toluene. The rotational barriers of the methyl top and the 4-nitro group are small. Hydrogen bonding, dipole moments and total atomic charges arc calculated.     

Liquid crystal properties of some substituted pyrazines

A number of biphenyl, terphenyl analogues and ethynes which contain a pyrazine ring have been made and their liquid crystal transition temperatures, together with examples of birefringence measurements, are reported. All the 2,5-disubstituted pyrazine systems are liquid crystalline showing high birefringence values for the biphenyl and terphenyl analogues, whereas the 1,5-disubstituted systems are not liquid crystalline. The pyrazine ethyne systems exhibit very high birefringence values. X-ray diffraction has been used to identify the liquid crystal phases of 2-n-nonyloxy-5-(4'-propylbiphenyl-4-yl)pyrazine.     

Short alanine-based peptides may form 3(10)-helices and not alpha-helices in aqueous solution.

Short alanine peptides, containing 16 or 17 residues, appear to form alpha-helices in aqueous solution. But the main spectroscopic analyses used on helical peptides (circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance) cannot distinguish between an alpha-helix (in which the ith residue is hydrogen-bonded to residue i + 4; ref. 9) and the next most common peptide helix, the 3(10)-helix10 (i-->i + 3 hydrogen-bonding). To address this problem we have designed single and doubly spin-labelled analogues of alanine-based peptides in which the nitroxide spin label forms an unbranched side chain extending from the sulphur atom of a cysteine residue. Here we report the circular dichroism, Fourier-transform infrared and electron-spin resonance spectra of these peptides under helix-forming conditions. The infrared absorbance gives an amide I' band with a frequency that is substantially different from that observed for alpha-helices. The electron-spin resonance spectra of doubly labelled helices show that the ranking of distances between side chains, around a single turn (residues 4-8), is inconsistent with an alpha-helical structure. Our experiments suggest that the more likely peptide geometry is a 3(10)-helix.     

Incremental evolution of induced anisotropy

The aim of this article is to define a model that describes the evolution of the yield surface during plasticity. We propose a modelisation that is completely different from the classical approach as far as conception is concerned. It consists of describing the yield surface evolution with the help of velocity. The yield function is not directly known but is obtained by integrating a differential law starting from an initial surface. A very simple evolution law is used; the complexity of the induced anisotropy is obtained by incremental accumulation.     

Magnetic resonance imaging and pulsed Doppler sonography of poststenotic jets: Correlation between signal void and flow velocity distribution

To correlate the appearance of poststenotic jets on gradient echo images with features of localized Doppler spectra of the jets, we studied an in vitro model of steady flow-through stenoses of 86, 96, and 99% area reduction. As fluids, water and a 40% glycerol solution in water were used. MRI was performed with a 1.5 T whole body imager and gradient echo images were obtained in planes parallel to the direction of flow. Doppler spectra were acquired separately from the MR measurements at 1 cm intervals for a distance of 10 cm downstream from the stenosis. Poststenotic signal void was observed for water and for the 40% glycerol solution only if the mean velocity within the stenosis exceeded a limit of 50–60 cm/sec. On the MR images, the jets could be divided into two segments: A proximal jet segment of uniform width equal to the diameter of the stenosis, followed by a distal jet segment which was characterized by broadening and then dissipating signal void. Except for the 99% stenosis, a high signal intensity core was present within the proximal jet segment. In the proximal jet segment, the Doppler measurements showed a low temporal fluctuation of the maximal flow velocity and only little flow opposite to the main flow direction. In the distal jet segment, the velocity fluctuation and the intensity of reverse flow increased sharply. The high signal intensity core of the jet was associated with a poststenotic zone of constant maximal flow velocity. The results demonstrate a close relationship between characteristic features of poststenotic jets in MRI and pulsed Doppler sonography.