Miscibility of bisphenol-A polycarbonate with poly(methyl methacrylate)

The miscibility of bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has been reexamined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical indications for phase separation on heating, i.e., lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. Various methods have been used to prepare the blends including methylene chloride (CH₂Cl₂) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution casting, melt mixing, and precipitation of PC and PMMA simultaneously from THF solution by using the nonsolvents methanol and heptane. It is shown that the resulting phase behavior for PC/PMMA blends is strongly affected by the blend preparation method. However, these blends are miscible over the whole blend composition range (unambiguous single composition-dependent T_g's and LCST behavior) when prepared by precipitation from solution using heptane as the nonsolvent. To the contrary, solution-cast and melt-mixed PC/PMMA blends were all phase separated, which may be attributed to the “solvent” effect and LCST behavior, respectively, not discovered in previous reports. Methanol precipitation does not lead to fully mixed blends, which demonstrates the importance of the choice of nonsolvent when using the precipitation method.     

Dynamic response of permalloy/Cu/Co magnetoresistive sandwiches

The dynamic response of trilayer magnetoresistive permalloy/Cu/Co films was studied by high-frequency permeability spectra measurements. The resonance frequency is shown to depend on the interlayer copper thickness. This dependence is related to exchange coupling between permalloy and cobalt and the interaction field is estimated using the Landau–Lifschitz–Gilbert model.     

Analytic continuation and identities involving heat,Poisson, wave and Bessel kernels

In this article we use classical formulas involving the K–Bessel function in two variables to express the Poisson kernel on a Riemannian manifold in terms of the heat kernel. We then use the small time asymptotics of the heat kernel on certain Riemannian manifolds to obtain a meromorphic continuation of the associated Poisson kernel to all values of complex time with identifiable singularities. This result reproves in a different setting by different means a well–known theorem due to Duistermaat and Guillemin [DG 75]. Also, we develop analytic expressions for the heat kernel beyond asymptotic expansions. (© 2003 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Some aerodynamic and acoustic characteristicsof acute laryngitis

The purpose of the present study was to describe the effects ofacute laryngitis on some aerodynamic, acoustic, and perceptual measures. Eleven subjects with diagnosed acute laryngitis due to upper respiratory infection were recorded during a laryngitic episode and 1 week to 10 days after amelioration of the laryngitic condition. Fundamental frequency values, collapsed across the five vowels, were significantly reduced in the laryngitic compared with the normal speaking condition. The decrease in fundamental frequency associated with acute laryngitis suggests an increase in the mass of the vocal folds. In addition, aerodynamic values differed significantly for the laryngitic condition compared with the normal speaking condition, suggesting the presence of laryngeal hypofunction. Perceptual data indicated that speakers in the laryngitic condition were judged to have a hoarse voice when compared with the normal speaking condition.     

2,3,4,5,6‐Penta­nitro­aniline 1,2‐dichloro­ethane disolvate: `push–pull' deformation of aromatic rings by intra­molecular charge transfer

The title compound, C₆H₂N₆O₁₀·2C₂H₄Cl₂, forms layered stacks of penta­nitro­aniline mol­ecules, which possess twofold symmetry. The voids between these stacks are occupied by dichloro­ethane mol­ecules, which reside near a 2/m symmetry element and display pseudo‐inversion symmetry. The C atoms in one of the two solvent mol­ecules are threefold disordered. In the penta­nitro­aniline mol­ecule, considerable distortion of the benzenoid ring, coupled with the short C—N(H₂) bond and out‐of‐plane NO₂ twistings, point to significant intra­molecular `push–pull' charge transfer at the amino‐ and nitro‐substituted (ortho and para) positions, as theoretically quantified by natural bond orbital analysis of the π‐electron density.     

On the stability of bcc Co in Co/Fe superlattices an NMR and XRD study

While RHEED observations show that 10 to 11 As is the stability limit for an open bcc Co layer when grown on an Fe substrate, our XRD and NMR studies have shown that, in MBE grown Co/Fe superlattices, cobalt can be stabilised in a bcc structure up to a critical Co thickness of 21 Ås. In order to understand this apparent discrepancy, NMR experiments have been carried out in Co_x/Fe_y multilayers with thickness varying in the range 5 Å < x < 42 Å and 24 Å < y < 60 Å, grown on GaAs (1 1 0) as well as on MgO (1 0 0) substrates. The analysis of the chemical short range order by NMR concludes that the larger bcc Co thickness observed in superlattices results from the formation of a rather homogeneous CoFe_20% bcc alloy which contains the supplementary 10–11 As of Co and which coexists with pure Co grains. The concentration of about 20% Fe in the alloyed part of the Co layer happens to be close to the stability limit for a bcc structure in the equilibrium phase diagram of bulk CoFe alloys. However, while a mixture of bcc and fcc phases is observed in bulk alloys, the bcc structure is preserved in all phases under the MBE growth conditions and below the critical thickness. Above the critical thickness amixture of bcc Co, bcc CoFe and hcp Co is observed.     

Symmetric Markov chains in ℤd: How fast can they move?

Summary Consider a reversible Markov chain X _n which takes values in a subset of ^d. If the steps of the chain are uniformly bounded and the invariant measure satisfies a mild regularity condition, Varopoulos, Carne and Kesten have obtained estimates on \lambda n^{1/2} )$$ " align="middle" border="0"> which exhibit a Gaussian tail in but blow up as n. Following Kesten's approach we derive bounds which are uniform in n in some special cases. Our main result, however, is an example which shows that in general the estimates of Varopoulos, Carne and Kesten are essentially best possible.Research partially supported by an S.E.R.C. (U.K.) visiting fellowship and an operating grant from N.S.E.R.C. of Canada     

Strong, low-energy two-photon absorption in extended amine-terminated cyano-substituted phenylenevinylene oligomers

Three quadrupolar oligophenylenevinylenes with five rings in the conjugated backbone, terminal donor groups, and various acceptors and/or donors along the backbone were synthesized and their two-photon spectroscopic properties investigated. These chromophores exhibit large two-photon absorption cross sections over a wide wavelength range and two distinct peaks, the strongest of which (deltamax > 3600 GM) is observed at 960-970 nm, a wavelength close to twice the value of the linear absorption maximum (2lambda(1)max). The findings on these chromophores are compared with those for analogous molecules with shorter conjugation length, for which the main two-photon band is at significantly shorter wavelength than 2lambda(1)max.