THE QUALITATIVE CONTENT OF RENEWABLE RESOURCE MODELS

This paper analyzes the extent to which standard dynamic renewable resource models possess refutable implications. Both the steady state comparative static and local comparative dynamic properties of the standard model are studied. A unified framework is developed which enables one to analyze the qualitative properties of any standard renewable resource model. This is achieved by explicitly linking the local stability, steady state comparative static, and local comparative dynamic properties of the model.     

Sulfonated poly(aryl ether ketone)s containing naphthalene moieties obtained by direct copolymerization as novel polymers for proton exchange membranes

A series of sulfonated poly(aryl ether ketone)s (SPAEKs) were prepared by aromatic nucleophilic polycondensation of 2,6‐dihydroxynaphthalene with 5,5′‐carbonyl‐bis(2‐fluorobenzenesulfonate) and 4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone. The structure and degree of sulfonation (DS) of the SPAEKs were characterized using ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The experimentally observed DS values were close to the expected values derived from the starting material ratios. The thermal stabilities of the SPAEKs were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, which showed that in acid and sodium salt forms they were thermally stable in air up to about 240 and 380 °C, respectively. Transparent membranes cast from the directly polymerized SPAEKs exhibited good mechanical properties in both dry and hydrated states. The dependence of water uptake and of membrane swelling on the DS at different temperatures was studied. SPAEK membranes with a DS from 0.72 to 1.60 maintained adequate mechanical properties after immersion in water at 80 °C for 24 h. The proton conductivity of SPAEK membranes with different degrees of sulfonation was measured as a function of temperature. The proton conductivity of the SPAEK films increased with increased DS, and the highest room temperature conductivity (4.2 × 10^?2 S/cm) was recorded for a SPAEK membrane with a DS of 1.60, which further increased to 1.1 × 10^?1 S/cm at 80 °C. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2866–2876, 2004     

Partial structure elucidation of the most abundant octa and nonachlorotoxaphene congeners in marine mammals by using conventional electron ionization mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry

Summary Conventional electron ionization (EI) mass spectrometry (MS) and MS/MS techniques were applied to the analysis of two abundant octa and nonachlorobornanes isolated from seals of the Baltic sea and originating from technical toxaphene. The exact sterical structures of the two compounds were previously determined using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy by two independent research groups. The MS and MS/MS data generated in this study allowed partial structure elucidation of these polychlorobornanes, in particular revealing the distribution of the Cl substituents between the six-membered carbon ring, the bridge and the bridgehead in the parent bornane structure. Fragmentation of the six-membered carbon ring and the bridge by retro-Diels-Alder (RDA) and related mechanisms was discovered by studying specific parent/daughter ion transitions. The detailed fragmentation pathways formulated may be applicable to the structure elucidation of other toxaphene congeners and the monitoring of strategic transitions is highly selective for the detection of these compounds in technical toxaphene and in environmental samples.     

Glass transitions and mixed phases in block SBS

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) does not allow for easy determination of the glass‐transition temperature (T_g) of the polystyrene (PS) block in styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) block copolymers. Modulated DSC (MDSC), which deconvolutes the standard DSC signal into reversing and nonreversing signals, was used to determine the (T_g) of both the polybutadiene (PB) and PS blocks in SBS. The T_g of the PB block was sharp, at ?92 °C, but that for the PS blocks was extremely broad, from ?60 to 125 °C with a maximum at 68 °C because of blending with PB. PS blocks were found only to exist in a mixed PS–PB phase. This concurred with the results from dynamic mechanical analysis. Annealing did not allow for a segregation of the PS blocks into a pure phase, but allowed for the segregation of the mixed phase into two mixed phases, one that was PB‐rich and the other that was PS‐rich. It is concluded that three phases coexist in SBS: PB, PB‐rich, and PS‐rich phases. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 276–279, 2005     

Effect of maltodextrins on the surface activity of small-molecule surfactants

We report on the effect of commercially important polysaccharides (maltodextrins with variable dextrose equivalent (Paselli SA-2, MD-6 and MD-10) on the surface activity at the air–water interface of small-molecule surfactants (sms), possessing different hydrophobic–lipophilic balance ((SSL (Na⁺), the main component is a sodium salt of stearol–lactoyl lactic acid, and PGE (080), polyglycerol ester of C18 fatty acid), and widely used in food products. A marked change of the surface activity of sms was found in the presence of maltodextrins by tensiometry. The combined data of laser multiangle light scattering and mixing calorimetry have suggested that this result is governed by specific complex formation between maltodextrins and sms in aqueous medium. Measurements have been made of the molar mass, the second virial coefficient and the enthalpy of intermolecular interactions in aqueous solutions. The implication of a degree of polymerization of maltodextrins in this phenomenon was shown. The interrelation between the molecular parameters of the formed complexes and their surface activity at the air–water interface has been revealed and discussed.     

Interface analysis of the system Si/YBa2Cu3O7?x

Summary The influence of different preparation conditions and substrate surface orientations on the superconducting properties of thin YBa₂Cu₃O_7–x (YBCO) films on silicon was studied. Comparative electrical and surface spectroscopic measurements were performed. SAM and SIMS depth profile analysis show an enrichment of barium at the interface between the superconductor and silicon for samples with T_c<76 K. Comparison with XPS data obtained for thin silicon films on YBCO indicates the formation of barium and yttrium silicates at the interface under these conditions.     

Applications of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB MS) to organometallic and coordination chemistry

This article describes the technique of fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB MS) and its applications to the analysis of organometallic and coordination complexes. Sections on ion generation and matrices are followed by a Periodic Group-based review of FAB MS results obtained from Transition Metal and Main Group compounds, organometallic cluster carbonyls and their derivatives, and salts of poly-oxo-anions. The literature has been surveyed from 1981 to approximately mid-1986.     

Altered protein synthesis in rat kidney cells exposed to semiconductor materials

It is thought that the extensive industrial use of arsenic, gallium and indium, which have applications as the materials for III–V semiconductors, will increase human exposure to these compounds in the near future. We have undertaken the development of new biological indicators for assessing exposure to these elements. Element-specific alterations in protein synthesis patterns were expected to occur following exposure to arsenic compounds. We examined alterations in protein synthesis in primary cultures of rat kidney proximal tubule epithelial cells by sodium arsenite, gallium chloride and indium chloride, utilizing two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. After incubation with the chemicals for 20 h, newly synthesized proteins were labeled with [³⁵S]methionine. A protein with a molecular weight (M_r) of 30 000 was markedly induced on exposure to 10 μM arsenite or 300 μM gallium chloride, and synthesis of proteins with M_r values of 85 000, 71 000, 65 000, 51 000, 38 000 and 28 000 were also increased by exposure to arsenite and gallium chloride. No significant changes were observed upon exposure to indium. Some of these increased proteins could be heat-shock proteins.