Heterograft copolymers of poly(ε‐caprolactone) prepared by combination of ATRA “grafting onto” and ATRP “grafting from” processes

This paper aims at reporting on the synthesis of a heterograft copolymer by combining the “grafting onto” process based on atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) and the “grafting from” process by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The statistical copolymerization of ε‐caprolactone (εCL) and α‐chloro‐ε‐caprolactone (αClεCL) was initiated by 2,2‐dibutyl‐2‐stanna‐1,3‐dioxepane (DSDOP), followed by ATRA of parts of the chlorinated units of poly(αClεCL‐co‐εCL) on the terminal double bond of α‐MeO,ω‐CH₂?CH? CH₂? CO₂‐poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The amphiphilic poly(εCL‐g‐EO) graft copolymer collected at this stage forms micelles as supported by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The unreacted pendant chloro groups of poly(εCL‐g‐EO) were used to initiate the ATRP of styrene with formation of copolymer with two populations of randomly distributed grafts, that is PEO and polystyrene. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6015–6024, 2006     

Etude de la réaction de l'acétylacétone avec les diamines hétéroaromatiques

The inluence of the starting o-diamine on the reaction products is shown in the condensation of heteroaromatic o-diamines with acetylacetone; 2,3- and 3,4-diaminopyridines gave only a crotonic intermediate providing imidazopyridines. On the other hand, 1,5-diaminoimidazoles gave tow types of compounds, imidazotriazepines and imidazopyridines. Triazolopyridazines were formed from 3,4-diaminotriazoles.     

Tone detection and synthetic speech discrimination in band-reject noise by hearing-impaired listeners

Frequency resolution was evaluated for two normal-hearing and seven hearing-impaired subjects with moderate, flat sensorineural hearing loss by measuring percent correct detection of a 2000-Hz tone as the width of a notch in band-reject noise increased. The level of the tone was fixed for each subject at a criterion performance level in broadband noise. Discrimination of synthetic speech syllables that differed in spectral content in the 2000-Hz region was evaluated as a function of the notch width in the same band-reject noise. Recognition of natural speech consonant/vowel syllables in quiet was also tested; results were analyzed for percent correct performance and relative information transmitted for voicing and place features. In the hearing-impaired subjects, frequency resolution at 2000 Hz was significantly correlated with the discrimination of synthetic speech information in the 2000-Hz region and was not related to the recognition of natural speech nonsense syllables unless (a) the speech stimuli contained the vowel /i/ rather than /a/, and (b) the score reflected information transmitted for place of articulation rather than percent correct.     

Gamma-ray spectroscopy with relativistic exotic heavy-ions

Feasibility of gamma-ray spectroscopy at relativistic energies with exotic heavy-ions and new generation of germanium detectors (segmented Clover) is discussed. An experiment with such detector array and radioactive is discussed.     

A multipotential hydrolytic reactor using the yeast strainKluyveromyces marxianus

In previous publications, we described the continuous production of D-fructose from enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin with immobilized permeabiliized cells ofKluyveromyces marxianus and the increase of productivity obtained by using a mutant selected by NTG action on the wild-type strain. By improving reactor performance, it has been possible to reach 2000 g/L/d of liberated sugar from an inulin solution with the mutant strain.

In addition, it has been shown that the KF 28 mutant was an invertase and pectinase hyperproducer. These enzymatic activities are also secreted by the speciesKluyveromyces marxianus. Therefore, we investigated the possibility of using immobilized cells of this yeast as a multipotential hydrolysis reactor. A sucrose hydrolysis reactor and a pectin hydrolysis reactor were set up. It is shown here that the majority of the optimized parameters from the inulin hydrolysis reactor can be transported directly to the other reactors. However, some parameters have to be adapted, especially for pectin hydrolysis.