Phase transitions in biodegradable films based on blends of gelatin and poly (vinyl alcohol)

The aim of this work was to study the effect of the hydrolysis degree (HD) and the concentration (C PVA) of two types of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and the effect of the type and the concentration of plasticizers on the phase properties of biodegradable films based on blends of gelatin and PVA, using a response-surface methodology. The films were made by casting and the studied properties were their glass (Tg) and melting (Tm) transition temperatures, which were determined by diferential scanning calorimetry (DSC). For the data obtained on the first scan, the fitting of the linear model was statistically significant and predictive only for the second melting temperature. In this case, the most important effect on the second Tm of the first scan was due to the HD of the PVA. In relation to the second scan, the linear model could be fit to Tg data with only two statistically significant parameters. Both the PVA and plasticizer concentrations had an important effect on Tg. Concerning the second Tm of the second scan, the linear model was fit to data with two statistically significant parameters, namely the HD and the plasticizer concentration. But, the most important effect was provoked by the HD of the PVA.

Phase transitions and spatially ordered counterion association in ionic-lipid membranes: A statistical model

We propose a statistical model to account for the gel-fluid anomalous phase transitions in charged bilayer- or lamellae-forming ionic lipids. The model Hamiltonian comprises effective attractive interactions to describe neutral-lipid membranes as well as the effect of electrostatic repulsions of the discrete ionic charges on the lipid headgroups. The latter can be counterion dissociated (charged) or counterion associated (neutral), while the lipid acyl chains may be in gel (low-temperature or high-lateral-pressure) or fluid (high-temperature or low-lateral-pressure) states. The system is modeled as a lattice gas with two distinct particle types-each one associated, respectively, with the polar-headgroup and the acyl-chain states-which can be mapped onto an Ashkin-Teller model with the inclusion of cubic terms. The model displays a rich thermodynamic behavior in terms of the chemical potential of counterions (related to added salt concentration) and lateral pressure. In particular, we show the existence of semidissociated thermodynamic phases related to the onset of charge order in the system. This type of order stems from spatially ordered counterion association to the lipid headgroups, in which charged and neutral lipids alternate in a checkerboard-like order. Within the mean-field approximation, we predict that the acyl-chain order-disorder transition is discontinuous, with the first-order line ending at a critical point, as in the neutral case. Moreover, the charge order gives rise to continuous transitions, with the associated second-order lines joining the aforementioned first-order line at critical end points. We explore the thermodynamic behavior of some physical quantities, like the specific heat at constant lateral pressure and the degree of ionization, associated with the fraction of charged lipid headgroups.

Phase transitions and regions of stability in Reissner-Nordstrom holographic superconductors

The phase transition of Reissner-Nordstrom AdS(4) interacting with a massive charged scalar field has been further revisited. We found exactly one stable and one unstable quasinormal mode region for the scalar field. The two of them are separated by the first marginally stable solution.

Phase transitions of frozen camu-camu (Myrciaria dubia (HBK) McVaugh) pulp: Effect of cryostabilizer addition

Camu-camu is a tropical fruit with very high vitamin C content and commercialized as frozen pulp. Enthalpies of freezing, temperatures of the onset of ice melting, and glass transition temperatures of the maximally freeze-concentrated phase (T`(g)) of camu-camu pulp and of samples containing maltodextrin (DE20) and sucrose were measured by differential scanning calorimetry. Maltodextrin exhibited the largest freeze stabilization potential, increasing T`(g) from -58.2 degrees C (natural pulp) to -39.6 degrees C when 30% (w/w) maltodextrin DE 20 was added. Sucrose showed negligible effect on T`(g) but enhanced considerably the freezing point depression and less amount of ice was formed.

Phase transitions of cassava starch dispersions prepared with glycerol solutions

The aim of this work was to study the glass transition, the glass transition of the maximally freeze-concentrated fractions, the ice melting and the gelatinization phenomenon in dispersions of starch prepared using glycerol- water solutions. The starch concentration was maintained constant at 50 g cassava starch/100 g starch dispersions, but the concentration of the glycerol solutions was variable (C-g= 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mass/mass%). The phase transitions of these dispersions were studied by calorimetric methods, using a conventional differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and a more sensitive equipment (micro-DSC). Apparently, in the glycerol diluted solutions (20 and 40%), the glycerol molecules interacted strongly with the glucose molecules of starch. While in the more concentrated glycerol domains (C-g> 40%), the behaviour was controlled by migration of water molecules from the starch granules, due to a hypertonic character of glycerol, which affected all phase transitions.

Bootstrap percolation on homogeneous trees has 2 phase transitions

We study the threshold theta bootstrap percolation model on the homogeneous tree with degree b + 1, 2 <= theta <= b, and initial density p. It is known that there exists a nontrivial critical value for p, which we call p(f), such that a) for p > p(f), the final bootstrapped configuration is fully occupied for almost every initial configuration, and b) if p < p(f) , then for almost every initial configuration, the final bootstrapped configuration has density of occupied vertices less than 1. In this paper, we establish the existence of a distinct critical value for p, p(c), such that 0 < p(c) < p(f), with the following properties: 1) if p <= p(c), then for almost every initial configuration there is no infinite cluster of occupied vertices in the final bootstrapped configuration; 2) if p > p(c), then for almost every initial configuration there are infinite clusters of occupied vertices in the final bootstrapped configuration. Moreover, we show that 3) for p < p(c), the distribution of the occupied cluster size in the final bootstrapped configuration has an exponential tail; 4) at p = p(c), the expected occupied cluster size in the final bootstrapped configuration is infinite; 5) the probability of percolation of occupied vertices in the final bootstrapped configuration is continuous on [0, p(f)] and analytic on (p(c), p(f) ), admitting an analytic continuation from the right at p (c) and, only in the case theta = b, also from the left at p(f).

An asymmetric sandpile model with height restriction

We analyze by numerical simulations and mean-field approximations an asymmetric version of the stochastic sandpile model with height restriction in one dimension. Each site can have at most two particles. Single particles are inactive and do not move. Two particles occupying the same site are active and may hop to neighboring sites following an asymmetric rule. Jumps to the right or to the left occur with distinct probabilities. In the active state, there will be a net current of particles to the right or to the left. We have found that the critical behavior related to the transition from the active to the absorbing state is distinct from the symmetrical case, making the asymmetry a relevant field.

Conservative ensembles for nonequilibrium lattice-gas systems

We show how to set up a constant particle ensemble for the steady state of nonequilibrium lattice-gas systems which originally are defined on a constant rate ensemble. We focus on nonequilibrium systems in which particles are created and annihilated on the sites of a lattice and described by a master equation. We consider also the case in which a quantity other than the number of particle is conserved. The conservative ensembles can be useful in the study of phase transitions and critical phenomena particularly discontinuous phase transitions.

Monte Carlo investigation of the critical behavior of Stavskaya's probabilistic cellular automaton

Stavskaya's model is a one-dimensional probabilistic cellular automaton (PCA) introduced in the end of the 1960s as an example of a model displaying a nonequilibrium phase transition. Although its absorbing state phase transition is well understood nowadays, the model never received a full numerical treatment to investigate its critical behavior. In this Brief Report we characterize the critical behavior of Stavskaya's PCA by means of Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis. The critical exponents of the model are calculated and indicate that its phase transition belongs to the directed percolation universality class of critical behavior, as would be expected on the basis of the directed percolation conjecture. We also explicitly establish the relationship of the model with the Domany-Kinzel PCA on its directed site percolation line, a connection that seems to have gone unnoticed in the literature so far.

Continuous structural transitions in quasi-one-dimensional classical Wigner crystals

We study the structural phase transitions in confined systems of strongly interacting particles. We consider infinite quasi-one-dimensional systems with different pairwise repulsive interactions in the presence of an external confinement following a power law. Within the framework of Landau's theory, we find the necessary conditions to observe continuous transitions and demonstrate that the only allowed continuous transition is between the single-and the double-chain configurations and that it only takes place when the confinement is parabolic. We determine analytically the behavior of the system at the transition point and calculate the critical exponents. Furthermore, we perform Monte Carlo simulations and find a perfect agreement between theory and numerics.

Study of phase transition in (Pb,Ba)TiO(3) thin films

Dielectric and Raman scattering experiments were performed on polycrystalline Pb(1-x)Ba(x)TiO(3) thin films (x=0.40 and 0.60) as a function of temperature. The dielectric study on single phase compositions revealed that a diffuse-type phase transition occurred upon transformation of the cubic paraelectric to the tetragonal ferroelectric phase in all thin films, which showed a broadening of the dielectric peak. Diffusivity was found to increase with increasing barium contents in the composition range under study. In addition, the temperature dependence of Raman scattering spectra was investigated through the ferroelectric phase transition. The temperature dependence of the phonon frequencies was used to characterize the phase transitions. Raman modes persisted above the tetragonal to cubic phase transition temperature, although all optical modes should be Raman inactive. The origin of these modes was interpreted as a breakdown of the local cubic symmetry by chemical disorder. The lack of a well-defined transition temperature and the presence of broadbands in some temperature intervals above the paraferroelectric phase transition temperature suggest a diffuse-type phase transition. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Metastable Phase Diagram of Nanocrystalline ZrO(2)-Sc(2)O(3) Solid Solutions

We have investigated the crystal structures and phase transitions of nanocrystalline ZrO(2)-1 to -13 mol % Sc(2)O(3) by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. ZrO(2)-Sc(2)O(3) nanopowders were synthesized by using a stoichiometric nitrate-lysine get-combustion route. Calcination processes at 650 and at 850 degrees C yielded nanocrystalline materials with average crystallite sizes of (10 +/- 1) and (25 +/- 2) nm, respectively. Only metastable tetragonal forms and the cubic phase were identified, whereas the stable monoclinic and rhombohedral phases were not detected in the compositional range analyzed in this work. Differently from the results of investigations reported in the literature for ZrO(2)-Sc(2)O(3) materials with large crystallite sizes, this study demonstrates that, if the crystallite sizes are small enough (in the nanometric range), the metastable t ``-form of the tetragonal phase is retained. We have also determined the t`-t `` and t ``-cubic compositional boundaries at room temperature and analyzed these transitions at high temperature. Finally, using these results, we built up a metastable phase diagram for nanocrystalline compositionally homogeneous ZrO(2)-Sc(2)O(3) solid solutions that strongly differs from that previously determined from compositionally homogeneous ZrO(2)-Sc(2)O(3), Solid solutions with much larger crystallite sizes.

Thermal Phase Behavior of DMPG Bilayers in Aqueous Dispersions as Revealed by (2)H- and (31)P-NMR

The synthetic lipid 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-3-phosphoglycerol (DMPG), when dispersed in water/NaCl exhibits a complex phase behavior caused by its almost unlimited swelling in excess water. Using deuterium ((2)H)- and phosphorus ((31)P)-NMR we have studied the molecular properties of DMPG/water/NaCl dispersions as a function of lipid and NaCl concentration. We have measured the order profile of the hydrophobic part of the lipid bilayer with deuterated DMPG while the orientation of the phosphoglycerol headgroup was deduced from the (31)P NMR chemical shielding anisotropy. At temperatures > 30 degrees C we observe well-resolved (2)H- and (31)P NMR spectra not much different from other liquid crystalline bilayers. From the order profiles it is possible to deduce the average length of the flexible fatty acyl chain. Unusual spectra are obtained in the temperature interval of 20-25 degrees C, indicating one or several phase transitions. The most dramatic changes are seen at low lipid concentration and low ionic strength. Under these conditions and at 25 degrees C, the phosphoglycerol headgroup rotates into the hydrocarbon layer and the hydrocarbon chains show larger flexing motions than at higher temperatures. The orientation of the phosphoglycerol headgroup depends on the bilayer surface charge and correlates with the degree of dissociation of DMPG-Na(+). The larger the negative surface charge, the more the headgroup rotates toward the nonpolar region.

Critical behavior of a contact process with aperiodic transition rates

We performed Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the steady-state critical behavior of a one-dimensional contact process with an aperiodic distribution of rates of transition. As in the presence of randomness, spatial fluctuations can lead to changes of critical behavior. For sufficiently weak fluctuations, we give numerical evidence to show that there is no departure from the universal critical behavior of the underlying uniform model. For strong spatial fluctuations, the analysis of the data indicates a change of critical universality class.

The magnetic phase diagram of Gd(2)Sn(2)O(7)

Measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of the frustrated pyrochlore magnet Gd(2)Sn(2)O(7) have been performed at temperatures below T = 5 K and in magnetic fields up to H = 12 T. The phase boundaries determined from these measurements are mapped out in an H-T phase diagram. In this gadolinium compound, where the crystal-field splitting is small and the exchange and dipolar energy are comparable, the Zeeman energy overcomes these competing energies, resulting in at least four magnetic phase transitions below 1 K. These data are compared against those for Gd(2)Ti(2)O(7) and will, we hope, stimulate further studies.