Recognition of Monohydrogen Anions of Geometrical and Positional Isomers of Dicarboxylic Acids Based on Polymeric Liquid Membranes Incorporating Polyamine Host

Macrocyclic lipophilic polyamines were applied as the sensory elements of polymeric liquid membrane electrodes. These hosts gain the anion receptor functionality upon protons uptake from the aqueous solutions. The electrodes studied were able to distinguish potentiometricaly isomers of monocharged and doublecharged forms of ethylene and benzene dicarboxylic acids. The selectivity of interaction between protonated hosts and anionic guests relays not only on the electrostatic interactions, but on hydrogen bounds formations as well. The influence of lipophilicity of protonated hosts on the potential response generation was discussed.     

Fracture strength of class II slot cavities restored with polymerizable restorative materials

This study compared the fracture strength of Class II slot cavities restored with polymerizable restorative materials. Sixty, caries-free, posterior teeth were divided into five groups of 12 teeth. The Class II slot cavities were prepared. The teeth were restored with two packable composites (Filtek P60, Surefil), a microhybrid composite (Filtek Z250)and two ormocer (Definite, Admira). The restorations were then subjected to fracture resistance tests. The marginal ridges of the restorations were loaded at an angle of 13.5° to the long axis of the tooth in an Universal Testing Machine until failure. Analysis of mean forces indicated that, Filtek P60, Surefil and Filtek Z250 exhibited better performance than Definite and Admira. The tested resin composites differed in their mechanical properties. This study suggested that fracture behavior were highly influenced by the filler system. Overall, Filtek P60, Surefil, Filtek Z250, demonstrated good fracture resistance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stress Distribution in an Elastic Body with a Periodically Curved Row of Fibers

Within the framework of a piecewise homogeneous body model, with the use of exact three-dimensional equations of elasticity theory for anisotropic bodies, a method is developed for investigating the stress distribution in an infinite elastic matrix containing a periodically curved row of cophasal fibers. It is assumed that fiber materials are the same and fiber midlines lie in the same plane. The self-balanced stresses arising in the interphase in uniaxial loading the composite along the fibers are investigated. The influences of problem parameters on these stresses are analyzed. The corresponding numerical results are presented.     

Limit Regimes of Braking of Disc-Type Composite Flywheels Made by Filament Winding

A set of invariants describing the limit regimes of braking disk-type wound composite flywheels is suggested. The limit regime is determined by using a linear failure criterion. It is shown that, for generating short-time impulses of very high power, a set of small identical flywheels is more effective than one large flywheel with an equivalent mass. Particular examples illustrating the theory considered are discussed.     

Sulfur Concentration in Nanoporous Alumina Membrane

Nanoporous alumina membrane prepared by anodic oxidation using sulfuric acid electrolyte was subjected to TG-DTA and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS or ESCA) to further study the distribution of sulfur. In XPS study, Ar⁺ ion bombardment was performed on the sample to etch the surface at a rate of 3 nm min^-1. As a result, sulfur was found to be concentrated within a depth of 3nm from the surface. The S content of the surface was found to be 2.7±0.5 wt%, and that at a depth of ca. 3 nm and ca. 10 nm was found to be as low as about 0.6±0.11 wt% (5.37±1.0 wt%→ 1.26±0.2wt% SO₂). In TG-DTA, the mass loss of 7.3% was in fair agreement with that calculated on XPS results (7.1±1.2%). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mesh-Independent Modeling and Moiré Interferometry Studies of Damage Accumulation in Open-Hole Composite Laminates

Mechanics of Composite Materials - A three-dimensional ply-level modeling of multiple matrix cracking near an open hole in a quasi-isotropic composite laminate was performed. A mesh-independent...     

Bounds for non‐periodic mixtures of infinitely many materials

We prove bounds on the homogenized coefficients for general non‐periodic mixtures of an arbitrary number of isotropic materials, in the heat conduction framework. The component materials and their proportions are given through the Young measure associated to the sequence of coefficient functions. Upper and lower bounds inequalities are deduced in terms of algebraic relations between this Young measure and the eigenvalues of the H‐limit matrix. The proofs employ arguments of compensated compactness and fine properties of Young measures. When restricted to the periodic case, we recover known bounds. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of a model of cure process for composites

We consider a composite material composed of fibres included in a resin which becomes solid when it is heated up (reaction of reticulation). The mathematical modelling of the cure process is given by a kinetic equation describing the evolution of the reaction of reticulation coupled with the heat equation. In this paper, we are interested in the computation of approximate solutions. We propose a family of discretized problems depending on two parameters (β₁, β₂) ε [0, 1]² which split the linear and non‐ linear terms in implicit and explicit parts. We prove the stability and convergence of the discretization for any (β₁, β₂) ε [½, 1 ] × [0, 1]. We present also some numerical results. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The shear modulus in the fiber direction of unidirectional fiber composites based on the concept of mesophase

A new and accurate relationship for the shear modulus in the fiber direction of unidirectional fiber composites is derived, based on the Kerner model concepts but not using its approximate relationships. Furthermore, this model is extended by taking into account the mesophase between the fiber and the matrix accomodating smoothly the mechanical properties between neighbouring phases. The introduction of the mesophase results in an improvement of the theoretical predictions, which now approach close to experimental values for the moduli of different fibrous composites.     

Determination of the rate of rapid lipid transfer induced by poly(ethylene glycol) using the SLM Fourier transform phase and modulation spectrofluorometer

Rate constants were determined for the transfer of the fluorescent lipid probe 1-palmitoyl-2-[[2-[4-(6-phenyl-trans-1,3,5-hexatrienyl)phenyl]ethyl] oxy]carbonyl]-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine (DPHpPC) between large, unilamellar extrusion vesicles composed either of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) or of DPPC mixed with a small amount (0.5 mol%) of lyso phosphatidylcholine (Lyso PC). Transfer of the lipid probe in the presence of varying concentrations of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) was monitored using the SLM 48000-MHF Multi-Harmonic Fourier Transform phase and modulation spectrofluorometer to collect multifrequency phase and modulation fluorescence data sets on a subsecond time scale. The unique ability of this instrument to yield accurate fluorescence lifetime data on this time scale allowed transfer to be detected in terms of a time-dependent change in the fluorescent lifetime distribution associated with the lipid-like DPHpPC probe. This probe demonstrates two short fluoresence decay times (ca. 1.1–1.4 and 4.3–4.8 ns) in a probe-rich environment but a single long lifetime (ca. 7 ns) in a probe-poor environment. A simple two-state model for initial lipid transfer was used to analyze the multifrequency data sets collected over a 4-s time frame to obtain the time rate of change of the concentrations of donor and acceptor probe populations following rapid mixing of vesicles with PEG. The ability to measure fluorescence lifetimes on this time scale has allowed us to show that the of rate of lipid transfer increased dramatically at 35% PEG in both fusing and nonfusing vesicle systems. These results are interpreted in terms of a distinct interbilayer structure associated with intimate bilayer contact induced by high and potentially fusogenic concentrations of PEG.