Spectroscopic Evaluation of Sun Protection Factors of Sunscreen Preparations Using Dimethylsulfoxide As the Solvent

Abstract

The use of dimethylsulfoxide as a solvent for various sunscreen preparations allows for the direct photometric assay of the sun protection factor(SPF). Plots of the reciprocal of transmittance versus SPF have correlation coefficients that range from 0.831 to 0.979. Most of the error may be ascribed to the large standard deviation inherent in the determination and reporting of the SPF.     

Measuring productivity growth under factor non-substitution: An application to US steam-electric power generation utilities

A theoretical framework is developed for decomposing partial factor productivity and measuring technical inefficiency when the underlying technology is characterized by factor non-substitution. With Farrell’s (1957) radial index of technical inefficiency being inappropriate in this case, Russell non-radial indices are adapted to measure technical inefficiency in a Leontief-type model. A system of factor demand equations with a regime specific technical inefficiency term is proposed and estimated allowing for dependence across inputs using a copula approach. Then the paper presents a complete decomposition of partial factor productivity changes using a dataset of US steam-power electric generation utilities.     

Perturbations of finite networks and asymptotic periodicity of flow semigroups

We consider a transport process on a finite network and introduce a new special transformation of the underlying graph that is then used to yield an alternative proof of the main theorem on asymptotic periodicity of the flow semigroup proven in Kramar and Sikolya (Math. Z. 249:139–162, 2005). The perturbation technique we develop allows us to prove this theorem starting from a special case, thus greatly simplifying the proof. This technique is in Kunszenti-Kovács (Perturbations of networks and asymptotic periodicity of recurrent flows: the infinite case, Preprint, 2008) adapted to infinite networks, where it allows for significant generalisations of previous results.     

Normal distribution based pseudo ML for missing data: With applications to mean and covariance structure analysis

When missing data are either missing completely at random (MCAR) or missing at random (MAR), the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation procedure preserves many of its properties. However, in any statistical modeling, the distribution specification for the likelihood function is at best only an approximation to the real world. In particular, since the normal-distribution-based ML is typically applied to data with heterogeneous marginal skewness and kurtosis, it is necessary to know whether such a practice still generates consistent parameter estimates. When the manifest variables are linear combinations of independent random components and missing data are MAR, this paper shows that the normal-distribution-based MLE is consistent regardless of the distribution of the sample. Examples also show that the consistency of the MLE is not guaranteed for all nonnormally distributed samples. When the population follows a confirmatory factor model, and data are missing due to the magnitude of the factors, the MLE may not be consistent even when data are normally distributed. When data are missing due to the magnitude of measurement errors/uniqueness, MLEs for many of the covariance parameters related to the missing variables are still consistent. This paper also identifies and discusses the factors that affect the asymptotic biases of the MLE when data are not missing at random. In addition, the paper also shows that, under certain data models and MAR mechanism, the MLE is asymptotically normally distributed and the asymptotic covariance matrix is consistently estimated by the commonly used sandwich-type covariance matrix. The results indicate that certain formulas and/or conclusions in the existing literature may not be entirely correct.     

A new approach to the characterization of the nano-surface structure by using factor analysis

The study provides a new approach to explore the existence of a nanostructure on the benzoic acid-modified glassy carbon electrode (BA-GC) system by applying factor analysis with varimax rotation of factors. The infrared spectra (IR) spectra of the bare glassy carbon electrodes (GC) and the BA-GC electrode systems with benzoic acid-nanofilm (BA-FILM) were obtained by using 10 different surface modification experiments. The IR data of the bare GC, BA-GC and BA-FILM were categorized into three series corresponding to the GC, BA-GC and BA-FILM. The factor analysis method was separately applied to each group to extract the factor loadings. By making use of these loadings, the rotated factor loadings corresponding to the first two factors were computed to estimate the relationship among and within groups. The results provided by the factor analysis method indicate the existence of the BA-FILM on the BA modified glassy carbon electrode.     

正多边形板的塑性动力响应小挠度分析和大挠度分析

本文基于刚性板块的总体平衡,建立运动方程,首次完整地分析了正多边形板的塑性动力响应,得到了周边简支或固支的正多边形板在均布矩形脉冲作用下的塑性动力响应小挠度解析解,并用膜力因子法作了大挠度理论分析。所得的结果包含了作为特例的正方形板、圆板等情形,具有广泛应用价值,同时具有理论上和数学上的意义。     

Blended Conjugated Host and Unconjugated Dopant Polymers Towards N-type All-Polymer Conductors and High-ZT Thermoelectrics

N-Type thermoelectrics typically consist of small molecule dopant+polymer host. Only a few polymer dopant+polymer host systems have been reported, and these have lower thermoelectric parameters. N-type polymers with high crystallinity and order are generally used for high-conductivity ( ) organic conductors. Few n-type polymers with only short-range lamellar stacking for high-conductivity materials have been reported. Here, we describe an n-type short-range lamellar-stacked all-polymer thermoelectric system with highest of 78 S⁻¹, power factor (PF) of 163 μW m⁻¹ K⁻², and maximum Figure of merit (ZT) of 0.53 at room temperature with a dopant/host ratio of 75 wt%. The minor effect of polymer dopant on the molecular arrangement of conjugated polymer PDPIN at high ratios, high doping capability, high Seebeck coefficient (S) absolute values relative to , and atypical decreased thermal conductivity ( ) with increased doping ratio contribute to the promising performance.